Happy Father's Day to all of you dads. I thought that today would be a good day to start this blog and let all of you know what I am embarking on. Some of you may know that I am currently training for my first figure competition. If you don't know what a figure competition is, the easiest way to find out would probably be to google it, or pick up a copy of Oxygen magazine. No, I will not be getting all muscular like a bodybuilder (not that there is anything wrong with that, just not the route I want to go), but there is a lot of muscle building and fat loss involved.

I never thought that having a baby would lead me to do this. . .I have always enjoyed working out and those of you who knew me in high school remember me taking conditioning and having fun working out with weights!!! After I had Brennen, I really needed to get into shape and started doing Body-for-Life, a workout and eating program (and so much more. . .) designed by Bill Phillips. Through this, I met some wonderful people online at the site where I keep my fitness journal (www.bflnebraska.com- then go to forum). Tonia Goodman, the wife of Jim, who started the forum, began doing figure comps a little over a year ago, and really got my interest up.

So, to try and make a long story short, I thought that I would take my fitness journey to the next level and give this a try. My first comp. is September 16th in Kansas City. I chose to make this my first comp because Tonia, who is also my trainer, is also doing it, along with some online friends, Jen and Jenni.

I officially started Tonia's training program May 31st and we honestly weren't sure if I could be ready in time. My bodyfat at the time was 17% and I have/had a lot of muscle to build; however, after 2 weeks on her program designed for me, it was down to 11% on June 10th. Obviously, this seems like a lot of fat loss for 2 weeks. I made the trainer at the gym here in town take it twice (he is the one who always does it for consistency) and it came out the same both times. We figured that it came in high at 17% for some reason. I still expect to have it taken again next weekend and it being way higher!!!! Oh well, whatever it is, at least it is going down. The reading can vary by 3% in either direction. So, after seeing my pics (which just by looking she guessed me at 11% or 12%), Tonia says that I will definitely be ready comp. September 16th.

So, I write all of this just to make it public. I am going to need some major support and encouragement over the next few months. This is not going to be easy at all, but I guess nothing worth it ever is. I will start carb-cycling in a week or so, and this can also cause major emotions and forgetfullness (more than normal!), so please bare with me! I also need accountability which by doing this, I am putting myself out there and want to be held to my word. There are times that I think "I am okay the way I am and look how far I've come", but I realize that if I want to make this goal a reality that I can't think like that anymore.

So, I will try and post here as much as possible and feel free to comment with any questions, etc. . .Thanks in advance for all of your love and support!

Jerianne