When people hear the term “bikini competitor,” many think of women going on a stage in meniscal bikinis and showing off their bodies like it is no ones business. But, it is so much more than that and that is what many outsiders do not understand. The time and effort put into something like this is truly indescribable and until someone does it, they will not understand it fully. As Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage”, which is true, but being on stage for a bikini competition and the pressures of it are much more intense than the platforms of our every day lives.
Preparing for competitions and the pressures of it is not easy at all especially with the obstacles that come with it. There is much more to it than a spray tan, some squats, and a lean body. Although it is a physical sport, it is also a sport that takes a great deal of mental strength. It takes a lot of time, effort, dedication, motivation, and the ability to overcome obstacles you have never thought of even trying. There are pressures of being on stage in front of hundreds to thousands of people. The pressure of having a certain look to your body. The obstacle of challenging yourself to be better than the person that was standing in front of the mirror yesterday, the obstacle of having a limitless amount of will power to not eat that donut, or that piece of pizza. There are obstacles and pressures all around that competitors face as they live their everyday lives whether its not being able to eat a homemade dinner at home, or if it is subconscious like body shaming.
Much of this sport is being in the gym, but a lot of it is what you eat and the nutrients your body consumes. During show prep every. single. day. counts. And I am not saying that lightly either…every single day, every single workout (lifting session and cardio session), every ounce of water, every gram of food, every minute of sleep…every second of every day counts. Eating five to six times a day, eating in two to three hour intervals all at certain times of the day, going to the gym sometimes twice-three times day between your lift, cardio, and practicing posing, making sure that the carbohydrate and fat intake are all before a certain time in the day, all of this is super important and CRUCIAL for success as a competitor. Overtime, this all became a habit for myself and became easier.
There came a point in my preps, and even after where it got pretty hard. The notion that you had to have a certain body type and had to be at a certain level was pretty difficult for me to mentally handle. People my age are very judgmental, and that is an obstacle for myself I had to learn to overcome. I used to take everyones comments to heart but I learned that I am doing this for no one but myself. I chose to change my life for the better, and although I may not be up to everyone else’s standard on what they think I should look like, I know how hard I worked day in and day out.
This lifestyle I had created for myself, especially at the young age of 19, has truly changed my mind set about my health, my life, and my overall outlook on the world itself. It is such an amazing feeling to have so much drive and passion for something, no matter what anyone says. To be able to put aside everyones nasty and demeaning remarks and comments to something they know very minimal about, has made me a stronger person.
Everyone has a passion, everyone has a goal in life, everyone has this crazy dream, and I am crazy enough to chase mine.
Much Love,
Alex
thebalanceddonut.com 