Fuck The Scale

Yeah, that's right! Fuck the scale and my weekly weigh-in continuously telling me I either lose next-to-nothing or stay plateaued at my current weight while I look in the mirror and see a way more shredded physique and feel all-over tighter and nearly show-ready. Am I delusional? I mean, the scale doesn't lie! All I know is that this entire prep season has been a mad bundle of stress for me, mostly because of my inability to get back to my leanest 2013 show weight despite working my motherfucking ass off and never cheating on my diet plan.

Now, I do realize that getting back down to my 2013 leanest is not even what I really want seeing as I took 6 months off in between shows to put on some lean muscle mass but just how much mass is feasible for a natural bikini athlete to put on all by herself without any help from a dietitian or trainer? I would imagine a few pounds potentially but as it stands today, less than two weeks out from the Spirit of America, I am 7.5 pounds heavier than I was last July when I looked my absolute best (in my opinion).

To put things visually, here's a pic of me one week out from the Yankee Classic last July:

And here's a pic of me 1 week later on show-day:

The tan always makes you look more toned and the lack of clothing eliminates any body fat protrusion issues, but it's basically the same look. Now here's a pic of me yesterday:

The same damn physique! Unfortunately I don't have a pic of my back from last year but I can tell you for sure that that is one area that I know I have built-up tremendously. It's definitely my favorite body part right now! I still have a little bit of shredding to go in my core section but with a slight fat cut this week and then my usual peak week tricks the following week, I feel like I can get there...even if I am significantly "heavier" than before. I also know that my bootay has grown tremendously (in a good way) so I'm praying that you can see the difference on stage since that was always my biggest downfall. 

Anyway, my point in this blog is that the scale DOES lie! Not in the sense that the number is wrong but in the sense that a stagnant number does not necessarily indicate stagnant progress. If only I had had someone to measure my body fat percentage over the course of this season maybe I wouldn't have been so continuously stressed. But dammit, I feel good and I think that I look good too! 

Today being Sunday is my legs, core and cardio day. However, my legs are ready to put me in the hospital with the amount of continuous pain they are in between my shin splints (and I'm guessing fractured shins as well!), and tight and painful quads and hip flexors. So, instead I opted to get back into my yoga routine since my personal stretching and foam-rolling just doesn't cut it. I have to say, I feel great right now! I was up extremely early so I embarked on my regular pre-workout fueled leg sesh, followed that up with my 1-hour favourite yoga class, and finally closed it out with my remaining core exercises. I left the gym feeling refreshed, energized, and not any more pained than when I got there. Yoga may not be the calorie burn intended by the cardio but I'd say it was worth the switch-up today! Now I'm back at home, about to make a chicken spinach salad for lunch and then I'll probably head back over to the gym for a little posing practice. It's only 11:00 am and this Sunday Funday is off to an accomplished start!