Iron Mountain Classic Competition!

Okay, so I will start this post off with a warning....there will be pictures of me scantily clad on this post so if you don't want to see them, then don't scroll down:) I have been kind of surprised by the mixed feedback I have gotten since doing this competition. A lot of it has been negative, which I wasn't really expecting. Most of it had to do with me being "immodest" and it has kind of hurt my feelings a bit. Those of you that truly know me know that I am very modest and very self conscious about my body. I don't like to show off my body, but the purpose of a figure competition is to show off hard earned muscles and you can't really do that without wearing the suit. I equate it to a swimmer who goes to compete in a race....nobody expects them to cover up and not put a swimming suit on. It should not be viewed as a sexual type of thing at all and I have been disappointed with some of the negative remarks people have made. However, with that being said, I have also received A LOT of support and love from people and it has really helped get past the negative stuff. I had so much support at the competition...Kent and Kathleen drove all the way from Twin Falls just to watch me! Seriously...who does that? I loved having them there and appreciate their support so much! Jared and Marianne also took time out of their busy lives and drove there to watch me and took all their kids after just getting back from Mexico. I loved having them there! I also had two of my closest girlfriends there to support what they call "team Amanda". And, of course, my husband who had put up with me and supported me every step of the way was my #1 fan there. I love him so much and know that he's the best husband in the world...sorry ladies, but it's true:) I also had my awesome trainers helping me and supporting me as well. It was an amazing day!

I set a goal and accomplished it! It was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. It's amazing to see what your body can do if you give it the proper fuel and are consistent with it. This pushed my limits in so many ways and made me do things that I never thought I could and I am really proud of myself for doing it! I went into this competition prep with the goal of finding out what my body could do and what it looked like underneath all those comfy layers of fat:) I have been lifting a long time and wanted to set this goal and do it. Even after watching Taylor do this, I had NO IDEA what it would entail to get there. I was in prep for 15 weeks which included eating a very set diet of clean foods and exercising like a mad woman. There were days that I couldn't even imagine why I ever wanted to do this in the first place, but there were also days when I was so pleased with how my progress was coming along that it all evened out. Overall, I feel stronger and more athletic than I ever have. It has given me a new sense of self esteem and I feel so healthy!

So, lets start out with how I did...I placed 3rd in my class and was happy with that! The 1st place girl in my class took home the overall award and looked great. Both the girls who "beat" me have been competing for years and looked really good. I missed 2nd place by 1 point and 4 of the 7 judges thought I should have been second so I was pretty happy with that. I was SOOOOO NERVOUS on stage. I didn't know what to expect and I was literally shaking like a leaf. I couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried..darn adrenaline anyways:) Hopefully, that will get better with time because your stage presentation is very important and can really affect your placing. But, I really didn't care how I placed at all so I was super happy to bring home a 3rd place trophy:) Okay, here are some pics now...

Here's my class in our front poses...super competitive class! Check out my fake tan...pretty crazy huh?

Here's our back pose...yes, that is just as uncomfortable as it looks!

Here's our side poses. The girl in the middle took first and the girl on the far right was 2nd place.

Here's one of just me from the side.

And from the back...

Here's our group with the top 5 trophies:)

Here's my hot hubby....it's crazy how different the tan looks under normal lights huh? Tay looks like an albino next to me:)

Kent and Kathleen after the show! Thanks so much for coming guys!!!

Jared and Marianne...before anybody asks, her hand is on the table behind us...lol!

Here are my trainers...Roger and Ally Baker. Seriously can't thank them enough for what they have done:) The other competitor there is Shawna, another RAB girl...she looks awesome!

Anyways, I think that's enough pics for now. I am so glad that I did this and really admire people who do it because now I know how much hard work and dedication it takes. I want to say thank you to all of you for your support and love. It really helped and means a lot to me!

28 DAYS OUT!!!

I seriously cannot believe that I am saying this, but I am 4 weeks out from my first figure competition today. In some ways the time has gone by really fast. In others, not so much. Since my last post, I have been pretty busy with all of my contest prep, working, stoning my suit, posing practice and working out. I have now been doing 2-a-days for a week and will continue that until my competition. I have to go to the gym in the morning for cardio on an empty stomach and then I have to go back later to do my lifting. I have now been dieting for 11 weeks total with 4 more to go. I am still doing a ketogenic diet with my only source of carbs coming from veggies and have been doing that for 4 weeks now with 4 more to go. Let me tell you....a low carb diet literally turns me into a mean, neurotic mess:) Taylor probably wonders why he ever married me..lol! On some days, I feel just fine, but on others, I feel like I have no energy whatsoever. To add misery to my low energy, I am STARVING all the time. However, Taylor is trying to gain weight to put on muscle mass so he is eating 5,000 calories a day to gain weight. He has found that if he eats any less than that, he doesn't gain weight. So...put those 2 things together and I literally want to strangle him with my bare hands on a daily basis! Every time he says "oh...it's time to eat again and I'm still so full" I can barely restrain myself from doing the flying monkey leap, tackling him, and kicking him while he's down:) But seriously though, all violent thoughts aside, it get really hard sometimes. For example, we went to the Washington Ironman Competition near Seattle last weekend. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive for us and we knew that it was going to be an all day trip. So, I prepared all of my food ahead of time and packed it in my cooler so that I could stick to my meal plan. Well, I didn't account for the fact that I would be up 4 hours later than I usually am and by 9:30 PM, I had eaten all of my meals and was STARVING! We then had to drive home and Tay decided that he was hungry and stopped at Burger King where he proceeded to order a triple whopper and large french fry. Oh my gosh...the smell of french fries in that little car was almost too much for my starving self to take. Then, he started shoving his face full of french fries and I just felt like having a mental breakdown. NOT one of my better days.... Here's a pic of us at the competition. I look like a giraffe with my neck stretched like that:)


So there's the bad and the ugly of my contest prep. Let's move on to the good! I have officially finished stoning my suit, except for the straps!!! I have to wait until I sew the straps to stone them so I know how long they will be. I can do that about 2 weeks out. Here are some pics...they really don't do it justice! It's so pretty! I can't believe I didn't ruin it! One of my prouder "domestic" moments because it was REALLY time consuming and hard to get it to look right.

Here's the top. Remember, I still have to stone the straps, so it will look better after I do that...
Here's the front of my bottoms...
And the back of the bottoms...
Then I tried putting them together, but the bottoms kept sliding down so it looks kind of funny.

Okay, I know some of you have been requesting pics of me and my progress. I am way too self-conscious to post them yet on here, but I promise I will post contest pics:) I am excited to say that I recently turned 30 and have never been in better shape in my life! My coaches have dialed in my diet so that I have been able to maintain my muscle mass and I have NEVER been this lean before. Super exciting! (even if I am carb deprived) I have especially been noticing changes in the past 2 weeks and it seems like my body finally got the memo that it's time to start changing and shredding off the fat:) It's been an amazing journey to realize what my body can do if I give it the proper fuel and stay consistent with it. Most of you know that I am a very self-critical person and always see my flaws first. I am starting to feel so much better about myself and the way I feel. I can feel a difference in the way I hold myself and I am proud of myself for sticking to this. I am excited for the competition, but more than anything, I am excited that I decided to start this journey. I can honestly say that I don't care if I place dead last in my competition...I feel like if I step on the stage knowing I have done everything I could, then I already won. I am so glad that I found my coaches because they provide so much support and encouragement as well as doing all my diet plans. I hold them solely responsible for the changes that have taken place. They have been GREAT! And, as much as I get mad at Tay, I couldn't ask for a more supportive and amazing husband. He puts up with so much from me and I love that hot man more than I can say! Can't wait...only 28 more days to go!