Happy weekend!

I went to the 2007 NPC Southeastern Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure show yesterday morning with my friend Tanisha from the John Stone Fitness forums. We had a great time watching the ladies and gentlemen pose for the judges and looking at some amusing fitness swag being sold by the merchants like the baby onesies that said, “My Mommy can lift more than your Daddy.”

What was surprising to me was how small the figure girls really were in person when they walked off stage. When you see them in magazines like Oxygen and up under the stage lights in their sparkly competition suits, you get the impression that they must all be 6′ Amazons with oversized muscles, but in reality, most of the competitors were 5′3″ or shorter, and probably between 110-125 lbs.

Just TRY to look oversized or bulky when you are only 115 pounds, I dare ya!

It’s not possible.

In terms of width/clothing size, I guarantee you that as buff as these gals look on stage and in photos, if you passed them in street clothes you’d just think, “Wow, that woman has great muscle tone and probably wears a size 2. I wish I had her arms.”

What you see on stage is deceptive because the women are deliberately posing and flexing to make their arm and leg muscles look larger and more defined and their backs and shoulders look wider to exaggerate their v-taper to make their waists look smaller. When relaxed, they do NOT look like that, trust me.

It’s a bit like seeing a lizard puff out it’s throat or a sleek cat fluff out it’s fur to look bigger. Eventually, they relax and return to normal size.

So I guess the takeaway from my experience and observations is this: Don’t be afraid to train with heavy weights and DO pay attention to clean eating. Genetically-average women who lift heavy and do not take steroids will NEVER be able to get huge like the chemically-enhanced professional bodybuilders in muscle magazines. The majority of the figure and fitness competitors I saw were smaller volume-wise than 95% of the adult women I see on the streets, at the office, and in the stores every day who *only* do cardio and/or light weights–assuming they exercise at all.

And for those of you clinging to the rationale that getting lean will cause you to lose all of your “curves,” (Do rolls count as curves? I suppose they do in the dictionary sense, but I don’t know many women who fear losing their rolls…) I just want to point out that when you lift weights, do your cardio, and eat clean, you tend to wind up with the coveted hourglass silhouette that everyone wants, minus the jiggle, cellulite, and girth. It’s amazing how defined shoulders and arms, lean legs, firm glutes, and a trim waist can give the illusion of curves, even if your chest has decided that it’s not really needed anymore.

I had my big cheat meal yesterday, and I am sort of sorry to say that it consisted mostly of pie, delicious, decadent pie. LOL…Well, I kept my calories within my 2000 limit for my cheat meal day, so it’s all good. Forza went well, and I will be running my 3 mile outdoor training run later today.

I need to get to the grocery store(s) to pick up this week’s bulk cooking supplies, but I am SO ready for a 2 week block of clean eats. I expect to have my cheat meal for this week on Wednesday night instead of Saturday when Chris and I meet up with my folks at Crazy Buffet for all you can eat crab legs and sushi. I may not bother with the cheat item.

Weigh in yesterday prior to the cheat meal was a new low for this challenge: 139.6 lbs/26.3% Tanita.

This morning I was back up to 142.0/27.1% Tanita, but I know it’s a temporary increase.

==============
WORKOUT
==============
Saturday
- Forza (60 min)

Sunday
- 3 mile outdoor run (~30 min)