Omg guys I can't believe I haven't posted, updated, filled you guys in on my life. Hopefully you've been checking out my Instagram feed and captions for updates. I have to say my first competition really left a bad taste in my mouth and I didn't want to speak badly about the company, show, anything like that... but it's been months now and I really don't care anymore. Sadly, the Muscle Contest Grand Prix show in April was not a fun experience. It was a drag, I felt invisible and an after thought on stage because I wasn't part of a team. I swear they had their winners chosen before the show. There were like 30 people in my class which is a BIG show! So imagine being a judge sitting through all of those classes. Novice classes A-D and Open A-F with 20+ girls in each class. The shows started at 8am, I thought I'd be on stage around one. WRONG. I didn't go on stage until around 3-4! The venue didn't have food and I hadn't planned on a 3PM stage time so I was starving! I had rice cakes but that was nothing. Definitely a "first show" mistake, I have learned from that. So anyway, by the time I got on stage the judges seemed OVER IT. I tried to make eye contact with at least one judge, not one was ever looking at me! At least FAKE like you're judging. Omg I felt like complete shit standing up there and could not wait for it to be over. You can see from my photos I went up there with confidence and all was well in that category, I just pushed through and rocked it. Of course it didn't matter, didn't place, didn't even get a real placing. They literally placed top five and threw the rest of us to the side. So. Yeah.
I was pretty pissed about the whole situation, experience, everything so I didn't even want anything to do with blogging about it, talking about it, anything. I'm not saying that my body was PERFECT and that I should have gotten first or anything like that. I know what I need to work on and know how I can improve, it just would have been nice to be seen by the judges. I spoke with some of the girls back stage and they said the same thing, that the judges weren't looking. So after the morning/ afternoon show I just said fuck it let's go eat! We went to Denny's and I ordered some fries and a quesadilla. I'd admitted to myself that this show was a waste of my time and money and nothing I do is going to change that. I couldn't even eat the food, it was too salty and greasy. So we went back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel I thought maybe I can have a second chance to be seen. I switched my bikini to the red one, practiced my walk even more, and was excited to hit the stage again. So it's finally time for the night show (bikini is last) around 9pm, I get on stage, look down, the judges aren't even there! Ah so sad. I learned that the night show is for family so a lot of girls don't even come to the night show if they don't get first call outs. This would have been GREAT to know, otherwise I would not have wasted my time. Seriously, colossal waste of my time! So after the show, took pics, and left to The Cheesecake Factory for my mac and cheese :) I had no problem eating that lol.
I know, I know, I'm supposed to be positive and say "oh it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it", but you guys know me and I'm going for pro. The only good thing that came from that show were the awesome girls I met, and the pointers I got from girls who've done multiple shows. I've learned that you have to research what shows will work best for YOU. I am muscular, I have muscle, and ASS. I cannot be judged next to skinny twigs with no muscle and expect to win. More about that later. Not that those skinny twigs don't look great, have had an awesome fitness journey, and are just amazing, you just have to know what shows you'll have a better chance at. Research includes going on
NPCNewsOnline.com viewing the shows, photos of winners, comparisons, etc. Anyway, that's in the past and I have moved on! I'm just very anti Muscle Contest shows at the moment, I feel like all they care about is money. Especially after the Spectrum Fitness Productions show I went to on June 7th!!
OMG. The professionalism, the coverage, the interaction, the venue, hotel, registration, EVERYTHING was amazing. Seriously, It was like a trip to the midwest vs a trip to Paris. The productions of show quality is miles apart. The SFP show was a lot smaller than the MC one, about 9-15 ladies per class instead of 20-30+. I think there should be a cap for national qualifier shows, but that's just me. They wouldn't want a cap though because then they'd be capping their income potential. Okay so the SFP was June 7th in Sacramento. I drove there from SoCal. Yes I drove that far just to NOT do a Muscle Contest show. Sadly, I had to go by myself because my boyfriend DeAngelo had drill (army) that weekend :( So I also have NO stage shots from the show. I regret not buying photos. Ugh. Anyway, man we were spoiled at this show. The event was AT the hotel where we were staying so we didn't have to freaking sit at an auditorium all damn day waiting until our time on stage. Another AMAZING thing: they text us when it's time for us to go on stage. I don't even think you guys realize how amazing and relieving this is. We don't have to be freaking out wondering when we'll be on stage, if we've missed our class, most of all we don't HAVE to watch the whole show. No offense to the physique men, but jesus there are always SO many of them and I get tired of looking at the same thing for hours lol. Throughout the prep they have you hashtag your photos with #NPCNorcal, feature athletes, say good luck to athletes, LIKE your photos, they post motivation everyday, it's just great. You can just tell that they care so much. Customer service is great, you can see that they respond to all of their questions on their site with no problem, they're just so nice! If you want to do a show I highly recommend
SpectrumFitnessProductions.com, the next show is August 2nd!
Cool, cool, So how did I do?! I got sixth...Out of 9 girls. Not what I wanted obviously, but while in the line up I could already tell it wasn't going to go well. Now this is the complicated part of bikini, they judge you on how the other girls look. If the girls are muscular they judge on muscle, if the girls are skinny with... shoulders? They judge on that. Honestly, I can't stand by the skinny girls and be motivated by that. Not saying they don't work hard, but damn I work HARD on this body and I am not losing muscle just to fit in in the amateur shows. Yes, the amateur shows. These are FITNESS shows and to me being "fit" is not the same as being "skinny" and being a cardio queen. Pick up those weights! I chose this show for many reasons, but a main reason was because it was also a bikini pro show. Ah yes, the pros! They look amazing man, AMAZING! And let me tell you, muscle central! The judges swear up and down that they don't want muscle girls but ALL of the pros are jacked! I want to look like that, but I've had to tone down because all of the shows around me are "skinny girls" in bikinis. It's quite annoying. So yeah, I chose this show because I thought since the pro bodies are fresh in the judges minds, they'd judge us based on their bodies. Nope. Didn't work out for me. BUT despite my placing, I still had fun, it was a great production, I was taken care of, so it was okay. That's how every show should be! And yes I went to The Cheesecake Factory afterwards :)
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So I know I need to work on my glutes and thighs. During the prep for SFP NPCNorcal, I did glutes TWICE a week, shoulders three times a week, added in biceps and chest again, I just went hard. I got super lean, I looked SO much better than my first show, I can't even believe it! For THIS prep I'm (sadly) becoming a cardio queen and trying to get rid of this stubborn thigh fat. Fasted cardio every morning should do the trick. I have about 9 weeks so progress should be amazing. The first show prep I did no carbs the week of the show, for the second show I did carb cycling which worked out way better for me. I still came in a little flat by show time because I thought I'd be able to get another meal in, but the show went by sooo fast since there weren't that many people in the classes. It sucks never knowing the exact time we'll be on stage, but it's okay. I've learned that carbs are VERY important the last two days before show. For this prep for my next show I'll do carb cycling again for five weeks. It's SO effective for me and I stand by it.
So what's next?! I've found two prospective show's I'd like to do in August. I really want to do the Tahoe Show (August 23rd)! I've added up costs though and it's going to be very expensive. Like a $1500 trip! And what if I don't even place? Not worth it to me. BUT to stay away from a MC show, I might just have to. Because (I know I talked a lot of shit about them but,) the other choice IS a Muscle Contest Show: Pacific USAs. It's in San Diego on August 16th. Unfortunately, there really aren't that many NPC shows in SoCal besides MC shows so I'll have to tough it up and do them anyway. At least I know what to expect this time! So we'll see what show I can do, hopefully this is the one I qualify. I've also looked into WBFF shows! Those girls look amazing. Who knows you might be looking at the next Fitness Diva :) WBFF appreciates muscle :)
THE PROS! AND WHAT I ASPIRE TO LOOK LIKE
It's been a crazy and awesome year and I have some amazing progress that I'm very proud of. I love this new lifestyle and I can't imagine not living in it. I'm glad I started competing! Thank you SO much for reading this, I can't even believe you read the whole thing and it's just great to know I have people to support me. Comment, share, be amazing, and thanks so much.
~Mel
I'm five weeks out from the Tahoe Show which means strict strict strict! Up until now, I have done the IIFYM approach (in a clean way, not adding donuts and oreos). I eat a lot throughout the day and work out and burn A LOT of calories and there are a lot of different elements about this prep than last year's. For instance, last year's preps were 100% clean, no cheats, no "maybe this can fit", nothing that wasn't a whole food, grown, or natural. Which there's nothing wrong with that approach at all! It worked greatly, but I wanted to try something different. This prep I had a cheat day every Friday which included eating whatever I wanted with no guilt. Needless to say, this prep has been pretty easy for me. It IS my first show this year so I'm not burned out yet, thankfully! In my opinion, five weeks out is the time where you should be where you want to be despite water weight and final tweaks. At five weeks out, you essentially have three more weeks to be 100% stage ready (which pretty much means cardio). At two weeks out, you need to be stage ready. If you're still trying to make tweaks or build muscle, it's too late. Keep in mind the peak week strategies that can make or break your stage presence. Peak week can be approached in many ways, personally I will be cutting salts, sweeteners, extra fiber, and protein shakes because I know how my body reacts to these things. Water I'll slowly cut towards the end of the week, I'm not going to dehydrate myself all week. I'm very excited and feel that my progress and body looks way better than last years! We'll see how the show goes! 
LiftingLadiesFitness.com is now live and more to come from there. I went fabric shopping last weekend for fabric for.... LEGGINGS! That's right! I'm starting legging line because I'm so tired of buying leggings that show my ass when I bend over. Also, having leggings for girls with big butts, bigger thighs, and little waists who don't want to resort in wearing high waist all the time (I'll have high waist designs too). This will branch off into jeans I'm sure. Isn't it so hard to find jeans having a 36 inch butt and 26 waist? Solutions are coming! Lifting Ladies is the platform for online training and merchandise (t shirts, sports bras, leggings, crop tops, launching soon!). Custom bikinis are also in order. So head over to my sites, check them out, subscribe, like, and thanks for following my fitness journey! 
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