Weighed in at 165 this a.m., down from 197 in June!

Started the full body shave this week (arms… legs…). I feel like a girl.

My clothes don’t fit (the jeans in the picture below used to fit!). People are telling me I look sickly. Believe it or not this makes me happy!

On July 8th Sherri, “The Ladies”, and I went out to lunch with Rob Polenik (my trainer), his mom Betty, who is also competing in this bodybuilding competition, and his ever-wise dad, Joe.

That day, at Olive Garden, Rob told me something that I wrote down in my journal. It has been a point of reference for these last few months… a benchmark. Here’s how I recalled this conversation in my journal:

Rob told me, “If people say ‘you are looking good’, then I’m not doing good. When people say, ‘You’re looking thin. Are you taking this too far?’ Then I’ll know I’m on track.

Then I wrote this… and it remains true…

I’m finding that the hardest part of training for this show is NOT what happens in the gym but what happens OUTSIDE the gym!

We’re headed into the final 3 weeks. These are typically known as the toughest weeks. I am excited about facing them, moving through them, standing on the stage on October 20th, then eating again!