Overweight to Fitness Competition??

Yes. I did.
I decided to compete in November of 2011, the competition was April of 2012.

I lived and breathed food prep and the gym. It was tough but I also loved the prep. There was a good group at the gym and most of the time it was fun. My husband was super supportive. I made a huge transformation, I dropped over 30lbs.

I did not like the stage part. My biggest advice is practice practice practice posing. I though I did but really wasn't prepared.

While overall I don't regret it, I did struggle a lot. It is hard to get so lean then go back to a bit higher body fat. I struggled with the perception of my body for a long time after. I also struggled with keeping the weight off. Eventually I got to where I wanted to be it it was hard.
My advice on that is take your time. I really wasn't ready to be on the stage. Avoid crash dieting. Take the time to drop to a lower BF level, work on your physique then decide to compete when you are ready.

There are a few good threads on bodybuilding.com about deciding to compete. I can't search them right now though, sorry.

My before and after

cherryblossombabe wrote: »

That's truly amazing what you did! In 5 months, that's such an achievement. Just being on that stage must have felt amazing, after all your hard work.

Did you have a coach or trainer to guide you to be stage ready?

Did you lift heavy then do a cut? Or were you lifting and in a calorie deflect at the same time?

Do you think you will compete agin in a competition?

Sorry for all the questions lol I'm just so intrigued.

Thanks for the link I will most definitely check that out and also thank you for sharing your story. It has really inspired me.

I had a coach. She wrote my workout program and diet plan. She also helped with posing and stuff. She didn't do my workouts with me, but she was at my gym so she could answer questions and form check. I couldn't have done it without a coach.

I lifted heavy for years, however, at that time I was coming off a long layoff. I went straight into a cut because I had so much to lose. So lifting heavy during a cut.

That's a good question. I don't know. I was trying to get pregnant the following year so opted not to compete (and did end up getting pregnant). I also have a lot of interests, currently longer distance triathlons which is hard to balance with the type of workouts I'd need to be doing to improve.
But every year when people are getting ready I get the itch to do it.
So my answer is maybe.