I am working my butt off to do one too. If I am not ready in 3 months I will be doing a competition in 7 months as well. I would love to have people to talk to along the way. I find the dieting for it VERY hard, probably the hardest part. I think this is a great idea.

hey ladies im right with you. just started the new diet today for 2 competitions this spring. sooo much to do sooo little time!!

Hi ladies. I am going into my second season as a figure competitor. I did the 2012 Spring season, and have been building since then. My next show is April 20th. I would love to have some more support and friendship along the way. This is a very small world, actually...we just may end up back stage together some day!!

I was supposed to compete in October but my BF is at 24% and after working at this since July is not dropping fast enough. There is no way I could get to 15% and still be healthy. My trainer wants me to shoot for April so I'm working my meal and training plan. I have to drop BF and build lean muscle. Would love to connect with others planning for next year.

pepper-I'm not planning on competing(not yet anyway), but my goal is the same-lose fat and building lean muscle. Feel free to friend me:-)

Thanks Mandy. I'll do some reading on the clean eating. My diet isn't HORRIBLE by any means, but I do use things like agave nectar. Not sure if that is "clean" or not. I view it as "way better than table sugar".

Hi Ladies!

I'm training for my first competition in the spring as well! I'm aiming for April/May but I don't have an exact date set yet. I also have alot of BF to drop. My diet's not terrible but could be cleaner... and is going to have to be! I'm planning on starting my 'cut' 12 weeks out so for now I'm just focusing on making better decisions and gradual weight loss. We'll see how it's going in a few months and adjust from there!

The complicating factor? I'm also training for a half-marathon in January (my 9th). Unfortunatly the training and nutrition for the race and the show don't jive very well together!

Looking forward to sharing the success (and the pain...) with you all!

I just did my 1st(and admittedly probably only) 1/2 on Sept 2:-) I actually quit lifting in favor of running training for about 19 weeks(length of the running program I was following). If at all possible, do NOT quit lifting. I had to stop because I have 2 kids and with summer, I wasn't able to commit all of that time. I wish I had just bit the bullet and paid for their scrawny butts to be in gym daycare while I lifted a few times a week and still ran. I lost all of my progress and basically had to start from square 1 with lifting. I am SOOOO happy to be back to doing the workouts I REALLY love and enjoy and I still run a bit for my cardio. Also-be prepared to take the week after the half off totally. I ran the whole 13.1 and I injured my foot--an area I had had 0 trouble with prior to the race. I didn't want to take any time off and basically FORCED myself to in order to heal.
So-my advice-Do the running training 3x a week-2 short runs and a longer run on the weekend and find at LEAST 1 day to do a full body circuit of heavy lifting--more would be better, but I know how time seems to slip away.
FWIW, I'm doing a 12 week program now for lifting and, while not on a hugely STRICT diet needed for a comp, I am really focusing on cleaning up my eating and getting lots of protein, so I'll post before and after pics when the 12 weeks is up. Best of luck and feel free to friend me:-)

Start doing it now and you can re-assess where you're at as it gets closer. If you dont commit to it now, though, you might keep slipping!

I'll join in the conversation here.

Just finished my first season as a figure competitor after doing 3 shows this year and am now in my off-season. My first 2013 show will be on March 30. Some of the goals others have listed here are definitely doable with clean eating and hard work in the gym while still maintaining overall health. I dropped 10% BF in 6 months and did it in a healthy way, so it can be done.

Now my struggle is to put weight back on and build some muscle. I'm having a hard time eating enough clean foods to put on weight. I'm just not hungry, and I hate eating just for the sake of eating! I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a gradual process, and that I have 6 months to get there. I competed in the 133-138 range in my three shows this year at 5'10". I hope to be at about 140-145 stage weight next spring and still be as lean as I was for those shows.

Hello All,
I'm new to the group. I was training for my first comp to be Nov. 3rd but I was not going to be ready so my new goal is to compete in April/May of 2013. Diet is the hardest part of me, I get very emotional and feel sorry for my husband that he has to deal with my mood swings, LOL. I just started back today on more of a "competition" type diet and did 1 hour of fasted cardio this morning. I'd love to embark on this journey with you. I also have a fitness motivation page on FB and Instagram so feel free to "like" and follow me. Facebook.com/fitness.motivation.for.ordinary.people and IG handle is fitnessmotivation_fmfop. Also, feel free to friend me on MFP as well. Anyone from the Raleigh, NC, area?? I'd love a workout partner

Hey girls!

How are we all doing? I can't believe it is 5 months out from competition (for some of us)! A lot of us seem to be competing around the same time frame and i agree with previous posts that we may all end up back stage together at some point!!!

My diet has been slightly off point lately and my workouts have been bad for the past week due to illness. I think i am still doing good though for 5 months out. I am really going to re-evaluate where i am at near the end of November/beginning of December. If i have to diet down more and change my workouts i definitely will!

Hope everyone is doing well and achieving all of their goals!!

Just checking in for a quick update. Weight is up to 146 pounds, which is good, since I kinda stalled out at 143 for quite a while. Managing to take in 1200 calories a day. I still need to work up to about 1700, according to my coach, but babysteps, LOL! 1200 is hard enough for me as it is...

I had a little bit of a setback in the form of a back injury last week, and missed an entire week of workouts. It all of a sudden felt better on Saturday (after a big pop), so I think something was just out of whack. Did light cardio yesterday and resumed weights today with no issues. So, it's back on track for me in that regard.

I may change up my show plans slightly for 2013. I was planning on a March 30 NPC show for my first show of 2013, but two things are making me second guess that a bit. One, another show I'm planning on (an organization I placed well in for 2012) is only one week later. Two, I'll be at Disney World two weeks prior to the March 30 show for my daughter's cheer competition, and I'm not sure how I'd managed being two weeks out on a very stressful trip. So, there's another NPC national qualifier in our area in May. I might scrap my plans for March 30, focus on the April 6 ABA show for my first one of 2013, and then jump into NPC in May.

Did my first competition in August 12, and I am competing again on April 6th 2013! Hoping to do at least 2 competitions in 2013!

kiki-sorry to hear about the back injury! I HATE when pain and illness get in the way of my plans!

ariana-congrats on your 6th place finish! You beat out over 1/2 of the competitors. I hope you are proud of yourself:-)

Annaruthus-your pics are amazing! What class were you competing in? I'm trying to figure out the differences in bikini,. fitness, bodybuilding, blahblah blah!LOL

jodi-nice work with the weight loss! And glad you found a job you love. That helps with life SO much!

I hit a horrible plateau for 3 weeks and FINALLY broke it and lost another pound. It is frustrating getting old and not having my metabolism from when I was 20!LOL I upped my cardio at the suggestion of an MFPer who competes, so that may have been the key to that issue. I'm now working on not going over my alloted sugar recs since another MFPer kindly pointed out to me that that was probably killing a lot of possible progress. My goal is to have a body like those in bikini comps by beginning of April for my 10 year anniversary. So, while not a "competition", it is really important to me on a number of levels. I'm fluffier than you all are, so it will be a battle, but I'm up for the fight!

And thank you. I felt amazing when those pics were taken :-)