I myself started competing in 2013 and competed consecutively for 4 years following, and I understand the passion and the desire to want to compete. Hell, when I started competing I really had no idea why I even wanted to compete. I just knew that I wanted to be challenged mentally and physically and to get back into some sort of spotlight. Now, after having a few different coaches, competing 8 times, seeing the dark side and bright side of competing I feel like I can put together some sort of list of things to keep in mind before you decide to take that next step for yourself.
1.       Why do you want to compete?
I genuinely believe that the number of people wanting to compete would be a lot less, if social media didn’t exist. When I started competing, I didn’t have Instagram and a “gym selfie” wasn’t part of my vocabulary. I started because I was already attending the gym 6 days a week, my diet was in check (eating a whole food based diet 80% of the time) and my mental health was in great shape. I had a great relationship with food and with myself! In fact, I loved my body and how incredibly fit I was. I had no overuse injuries, I was lean, and I loved to run and lift weights. Everything I did was in moderation. I would eat out with friends, drink wine on occasion and I never felt guilty over it. I genuinely just wanted to be challenged in the sport, and see if it was something that I would enjoy full time as a hobby. I believe now that it’s become this fad. Everyone wants to compete and impress others by saying they’ve done it. Because It’s on their “bucket list” or they want to do a photo shoot around the time of their show. Be sure that the reasons you want to compete outweigh the reasons you shouldn’t. Is it a matter of being a little more strict with dieting and adding some cardio? Are you already living the lifestyle? Or are you going from 0-100 in a matter of days.
2.       What is your daily activity like?
Looking back, I definitely was doing too much cardio leading up to my first show. But everyone thinks that they need to “Get in shape before they get in shape”.  I was doing 30mins of cardio 5x a week which in my opinion is quite a bit. When you’re trying to lean out and create a caloric deficit, you need to increase activity, and decrease calories.  The only place for me to go from there was up. Starting a prep at 150 mins per week is not ideal. Tapering these numbers back a few months before prep, would have been a smarter approach. By then end of my first prep, I was doing two a-days at the gym and my cardio was up to 90mins per day. Keep these numbers in mind because this could very well be you. You could be spending 3-4 hours a day in the gym just to ensure you’re hitting your body fat percentage mark.
3.       What is your daily caloric intake?
I recently took the time to calculate my daily caloric intake before I started competing, and I was consuming on average about 1800 calories a day (weighing 135lbs). My metabolic rate was pretty fire if you ask me, because I was always hungry! I remember preparing breakfast for company one morning and cooking and entire cup of oats. My gf stopped me and said, “I’m not going to eat all that” I said, “This is for me” Ha-ha! Food was fuel and I fueled myself according to my day and my activity. If you’re currently dieting and you’re maintenance calories (calories needed to maintain your weight) are low relative to your body weight, I would NOT recommend competing. I would recommend a reverse diet before you attempt a contest prep. What’s a reverse diet? I have a video on my YouTube channel explaining exactly what that is and how it’s beneficial to your long-term goals. Priming your metabolism for a cut is something that’s rarely discussed and VERY important.
 
4.       Are you Ready to diet for at least 8 months?
Most people assume that all of the hard work starts before you compete. You diet down for 12 weeks (if you’re lucky enough to respond quickly and have minimal fat to lose) and that’s it! You’re shredded for life! When realistically, if you’re smart about the entire process it takes a lot longer than that. I generally start monitoring my diet at about 24 weeks out (6 months) from my contest. A prep for me takes 20 weeks of serious tracking and training. Once show day comes and goes, I’m automatically on to a reverse diet (slowly increasing calories, while decreasing activity) for another 12-16 weeks. So, for 8 months out of the year, I’m meticulously paying attention to what I’m doing. Many people will diet for a contest, and rebound due to the lack of reverse dieting. They stop doing cardio, and eat too many calories for their metabolism to catch up. You need to remember that you’ve been slowly decreasing calories for months, and your metabolism has adapted. It’s going to take equal amounts of effort and time to reduce your level of activity and increase your calories to where they were before you started prep.
 
5.       Do you suffer from mental health issues?
Many believe that competing will solve their body image issues. They believe that if they can see their abs, they will be confident. I can tell you that I’ve been 123lbs and 157lbs with in the span of 8 months and the number that I see on the scale makes no difference. If anything, seeing yourself at a level of body fat which is not sustainable, is harder to accept. Ignorance is sometimes bliss, and accepting that It’s for one day, and one day only is the most important thing to keep in mind when deciding to compete. You need to realize that you are striving for unrealistic, and un natural body fat percentages to win a trophy, or for some just so say you’ve done it. If you currently struggle with eating disorders or disordered eating, competitive bodybuilding wouldn’t cure these issues either. It’s very easy to get caught up in contest preps and become addicted to competing. I’ve seen many people compete year-round and never allow themselves to take a break. It’s easy to keep competing, it’s much harder to take a break and watch from the sidelines. 
 
Bodybuilding competitively is a very serious commitment. You’re drastically changing your life daily for a very small “win”.  I want people to remember that if they decide to compete, this is for ten seconds on stage and at most, a possible title or trophy. It doesn’t outweigh any other priorities in your life and no matter how many times you win/lose that the way you feel about yourself is what matters most. Your family will still love you no matter the outcome and PLEASE keep yourself accountable with possible depression or anxiety issues. It’s very easy to experience either during a contest prep, especially afterwards when the lights fade and there is no contest in sight. The line between “healthy” and “fit” is very thin. You can be the most aesthetically pleasing person on stage and be the unhealthiest person inside. There are other ways to feel good about yourself, ways that don’t include such drastic measures. Competing isn’t for everyone, which is why only some make it through their first prep and continue to do another, and that's ok! If you’re wanting to push yourself and have a goal, try something less extreme. Set yourself a long-term realistic goal and have someone keep you accountable. Book a photo shoot for yourself, plan a trip, or hire someone to teach you about health and fitness for some motivation. Be real with yourself and really think about whether this particular goal is worth all of the sacrifice needed just to step on stage #bikinidiaries