Well finally, I placed fourth; there were five in my class. I enjoyed it however the lead up was quite stressful along with the general things my youngest son got chicken pox and was quite sick and all he wanted was his mum. Also my daughter decided not to help me with the tanning, she had social engagements that were far more important, my cousin would have helped however she has not had chicken pox so didn’t want to be near my son. So I did it myself, some bits are harder to get too!! At the last minute, on the day my best mate helped me out; she was great and learnt very quickly.

Overall I can’t say I was happy with my condition, I was carrying more body fat than Wagga and from the pics any size I had gained appears to be lost due to the extremely strict diet I followed for 5 weeks. My body fought it all the way, I certainly would not suggest nothing but lean protein and fibrous veggies for any length of time for myself again, I think my body thought I was starving, although I was hungry all the time, I thought if you were starving you didn’t get hungry. But I had to give it a go myself to find this out, might work for some but not this guinea pig. Sam suggested not to follow it for more than a week however I panicked and kept on it. I decided to still go through with the comp for the experience. I have learnt a great deal through this whole process and I’ve decided to keep more accurate records of my progress in future. This should help to avoid leaving anything that needs addressing to so late in the process to try to remedy it. I spoke with one of the judges and that was useful and we will take this into consideration.

Actually one very good thing has come out of it. I am more determined than ever to improve especially considering the girls in my age group, they were awesome, great physiques, really good condition, and nice muscle mass and lean!! So before I step back on stage I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, so bring it on.

Now I have to work out the cardio that works for me to shift body fat, as what I was doing doesn’t seem to be working anymore. I am also going to try some different nutritional approaches as well.

Thank you all very much for your support along the way, I appreciate it greatly.