Thankful for support
Well, it’s literally days until my stage debut and I can barely contain my nerves or excitement! It’s certainly been a roller coaster ride so far and these last couple of weeks I’ve learnt what I’m really made of.
Easter has been and gone and after not having any eggs I have built up a little stash of goodies for when I’m aloud to pig out (but not too much… promise boss!)
I thought I’d had hard weeks before, but this most recent one has been the worst. My diet has changed and I’ve had no cheat for a while again. I’ve been finding it harder and harder to muster up the energy to get things done.
One afternoon I was in pieces… I’d made it home from work and was exhausted, Craig was off to the gym as soon as I had gotten home and there they were… my two monsters. I had to try and cope with them will 0% in the tank. I struggled to get tea on the table and then took them upstairs to try and get them organised for bed… well… all I could manage to do was to lay on Oscar’s floor and let the kids run riot. When Craig came home my face was tear stained and the place was a tip. Thankfully though, rather than being annoyed he whipped Ava up, got her dressed and tucked her into bed, leaving me to finish getting Oscar organised, it’s these moments I see how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband.
Thinking back to that afternoon has made me realise just how much support I have out there and how it can be the tiniest of gestures that makes the biggest differences.
There are people throughout my everyday life that have made a huge impact on my fitness journey to date. First thing in the morning I see my fellow gym goers and we always talk about how long it is until contest day and they tell me how much of a difference in my physique they can see. This is great to hear as I just can’t see what everyone else sees right now! To me I’m still a size 12 and look normal!
At work there are a couple of people who seem genuinely interested and in my transformation and always ask me how I’m getting on, and tell me that how great I’m looking. This of course is a huge boost!
My coach has been fantastic and helped me through my couple of melt downs where I have totally lost the plot and thought seriously about packing it all in. I’ve not had a coach before so I have nothing to compare to but Paul is by far one of the kindest and most motivating people I have had the pleasure of meeting, I can’t ever imagine having a better coach!
Then there are my gorgeous girls that I have met through being coached by Paul. What can I say about them, other than I have been so lucky to have been put in touch with so many inspiring, confident and motivating girls!! Without our online natters I don’t think I’d be as happy about getting on stage as I am right now! Kelley, Yo & Carly… you rock! #CBB
And not forgetting my personal ‘fluffer’, the beautiful Beckie. She’s the one making me look like a million dollars with my hair and makeup, I’m pretty sure if I didn’t have her help I’d look like a drag queen on stage, I can’t wait until I have the whole look together on Sunday!
Julia and Craig from the Engine Room Gym have been truly wonderful, my posing and routine would be horrific if I hadn’t met Julia, and also thank you for all my virtual hugs, they mean a lot!
There are also all of my friends on Facebook and Twitter who have ‘liked’ and commented on my status’ – just these littlest gestures have given me little shots of willpower and helped to keep me on track.
My training partner Ben, has of course been a huge influence on my progress. From the day I started prep he’s been training with me at 7am every morning, day in day out without fail. Having him there has allowed me to train harder, lift heavier and reach more personal bests that I ever could have done training by myself. He’s kept me motivated and helped me push through those days where I really didn’t want to be at the gym.
I think it took us longer to get a decent shot than it did to train on this morning!
And last but not least my family, where would I be without them? When I first started training becoming ‘too big’ or ‘too manly’ seemed to be a real concern for my family but in the last few weeks I have been sending through my progress photos and I like to think I that my results have shown the true results of lifting weights, not the stereotypical view that women will turn into monsters bigger than men. My family have been really encouraging after seeing my last few photos and it’s this that pleases me the most, I really hope that I’m making my family proud. My mum in law has been especially fantastic, she’s been rooting for me from the very beginning and has been wonderful motivation!
And of course, my hubby. Poor Craig has had to put up with me becoming an absolute monster at times. I’ve had days where I have been totally out of character, incredibly nasty, short tempered, and a total mess. I’ve literally dragged myself home from work, got through the front door and left a trail of destruction throughout the house which thankfully he’s just held his breath, and let me get on with being a zombie and cleaned up after me… most of the time!
Thank you to everyone who reads my blog too, just seeing the number of hits go up with each post makes me know that you’re interested in my journey and I really hope I can motivate others to get into weight training too!
Wish me luck for Sunday, I’ll be posting a tonne of pics on instagram on the day too!
Thank you everyone, I can’t wait to get on that stage now!
My beautiful monsters
