Checkin' Out the Competition

Sorry it's been awhile since I last blogged. Blogging is a diversion activity from cheating. And yes. I have been cheating. Just a bit. Here and there. I still managed to get down to 118.8, but after Mother's Day weekend (yes I treat it as a 3-day holiday, since Father's Day is a 365-day holiday, I figure it's only fair), I'm sure I negated that loss! But I did do something productive this weekend, besides my 7-mile hill run.

On Saturday, I joined my trainer for a little field trip to Cottonwood Heights High School where we joined the 30-some other people in the audience to watch fit, trim, spray-tanned, and bedazzled ladies strike poses on a stage. If you, like myself, are new to this scene, then you'll enjoy my observations of a figure & bodybuilding competition. We arrived a few minutes late, tossing our ten dollar bills at the ticket boy and scuttled in to make sure we hadn't missed the figure category. From the various unique poses on the stage, Jill knew right away they were still on the bikini category.

What surprised me right away were the variety of shapes and sizes up there. Now don't get me wrong, no girl was by any means plump, but some were softer and curvier than others. You had to admire their courage, even if some so apparently looked out of place. Some looked awkward in their poses (slouchy or stiff) or overly made up (wigs, overdone spray tans, eyelash extension, bumpits). Then others looked like pros. They could hold a pose unwaveringly, and their bodies were flawless. I realized with shock that even if I were up on that stage today, I'd blend in pretty well, at least once the spray tan camouflaged my stretch marks and if I sported a blingy bikini. A "bikini" body is one that is trim but not too muscular, curvy without being meaty, thin without being gaunt. In actuality, I may already be too "buff" for bikini.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite there for figure. Definitely need to lose some more body fat. While the bikini girls were allowed to choose their own poses (front, side, back) and strut with some attitude, figure girls have more specific poses, though for the side pose, they get to choose their best side. The figure girls were divided into two categories: short & tall. But Jill said in bigger competitions, there's actually, short, medium, tall. The judges/officials decide what category to put you in, but I'm guessing I would usually end up in the short. While the bikini girls got to wear any kind of bikini they wanted to, figure girls have to wear the blinged out teensy-weensy triangle bikinis. (If you have sewing talents, this is the business to get into, people! $300 for about 1/8 yd of shiny velvet and a handful of fake jewel stones.)

Now, if you really don't want much competition, enter the women's bodybuilding category. Here, there's also short & tall, as well as lightweight and . . . heavyweight? Guess I should've paid more attention, but I knew this category had nothing to do with me, so I didn't take notes. These ladies are the ones who look, well, not like ladies. Their poses are even more specific. An announcer's voice, btw, tells them what poses to do and which direction to face. Then they stand there, sometimes cramping up, sometimes shaking as they flex their muscles as hard as they can for the judges who sit below. It's interesting. These women spent months, maybe years, working for this body, and they only get a few minutes to actually show it and be judged on it. The bodybuilders also get to do a routine in the evening, but we don't stay for that. Again, it doesn't apply to me, though a routine would be fun to watch, at least more interesting than the stiff, precise poses.

Within 30 minutes, it was all done. We didn't stay for the awards, but today I met the girl who won for bikini-- read my next blog entry, it will explain . . .

So what's in it for these girls, is the question.What did they win? As far as I know, a trophy. Self-satisfaction. A sense of achievement. But no money. These regional competitions are for experience, and the more they place in, the better their odds of getting to compete at higher levels, where there are cash prizes and sponsors and all that tangible stuff that says, yes, you are a winner! Which is why the crowd was small and the competition not too fierce.

Sounds like my kind of competition . . . I wouldn't feel bad at all if I placed 2nd out of two :) The question now is, will I do it? I felt pretty confident about it after watching the competition. But then Trainer Jill emailed me my new eating plan . . . broccoli & green beans for breakfast?

I'll keep you posted . . .