Moved My Blog

     Hi everyone! I've moved my blog to  http://www.melissatarrab.tumblr.com/
I'll be posting a new entry in the next day or two.  You'll also find all of my old blogger posts there.

Thank you for following me on my journey to becoming a figure pro!

2nd Place Win

     It’s been 2 weeks since the show. I was going to write in sooner but since the last few months have been so hectic,  I decided to take it easy and lay low for a bit. But what a great show it was! By far my best yet. I won 2^nd ,  the closest I’ve ever come to becoming a pro. I’m so happy with all the changes I’ve made since last year. Everything from my posing, to my physique and my suit have improved so much. And I have to say, I really love being on that stage. As nerve wrecking as pre-judging is, I ironically feel comfortable out there.

     Before I go on, I have some acknowledgments I'd like to send out. I want to thank my friend Mark Correa for being my guiding light through this and every competition.  All of his advice, especially his nutritional advice has been priceless. Thank you for listening to and answering all my endless questions. My friend Geraldine Abergas,  Marks beautiful girlfriend who took the time out to help me improve my posing technique. She also perfectly applied the Dream Tan, giving me the best tan I've ever had. And of course my loving boyfriend Aaron Holland, who has always been so supportive of me. Mentally, emotionally, and financially. Thank you for putting up with my scheduled lifestyle all my waves of crankiness.  Without them, I would never have been able to do this. Their help and support have been invaluable.
Last but not least, I want to thank my family, friends and clients for all of their continued support.

     So here are my stats. I came in at 112 lbs, 14% body fat. Just where I figured I’d end up.  That’s exactly where I was for the same show last year. But when I look at pictures of myself from last years show, I look much different. That’s because my composition has changed. I put on some muscle during my off season. However, I had to get aggressive with my diet in order to be ready for this show on time, so I lost a bit of muscle along the way. I lost some size in my shoulders and arms, and lost a bit of width in my back.  Had I not been as aggressive, I wouldn’t have come in as conditioned as I was and may not have placed as well. 

     My next show is on September 17^th. Although I can’t really put on muscle in 2 months, I can certainly fill out. I won’t have to be as aggressive with my diet so the plan is to come in fuller and do better than the last show.  I’ve done so well since I started competing, that I feel like I belong on that stage. I’m still very new to this sport and am enjoying all the changes and learning I’ve been experiencing along the way. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of this season has in store for me. I’ve had a great start so far.

The journey continues…

*Check out the before and after pics. I told you I’d post. Before was taken on 4/23/11 (don’t mind the silly face and hand gestures!), after was on 6/24/11.

This Is It!

     I can’t believe it’s here already. Tomorrow’s the big day. The day I’ve worked so hard for over the last 3 months is finally here! There have been so many bumps along the way, but now everything has fallen into place….and the timing couldn’t be better.  

    

     First and most important of all, my beautiful mother is finally home and doing better than ever since getting sick. She looks great and is improving every day. I know that this time, she will not go back to the hospital and will be getting back to her normal life again. That in itself has made me happier than I could ever be!

    

     All the stress I’ve been under has made me break out. I was worried my skin wouldn’t clear up in time for the show. But it’s finally looking much better.

    

     Posing has never come easy for me. I’ve been practicing every single day. At first I was having a hard time and getting really frustrated. But now, my transitions are much smoother and I’m hitting my poses better than ever.  Watching the DVD’s of last years shows, I saw that my posing needed a lot of work. Thanks to the help of my friend, I have made some nice improvements.

    

     As for my body, it has changed so much since my last entry. I haven’t assessed myself for a few weeks so I don’t know where I’m at. But it doesn’t matter what the numbers are at this point. What matters is I like what I see. I look better now than I have for any show in the past. In fact, it’s pretty amazing how much my body has changed in the last few weeks.  I just found a picture of myself from April, when I had my first assessment. It really put into perspective how far I’ve come. I’ll post before & after pictures in my next entry. Lowering my carbs the way I did really changed my body. I’ll assess before the show, but only out of curiosity, for my own records. I always like to know how I’m coming into a competition.

    

     And the last thing is my new suit. I picked it up last weekend and I’m so happy with it! The color, stone work and fit all exceeded my expectations. It made me realize that the suit I had last year, although pretty, did not fit me the way it should have. My new suit is perfect in every way!

     I am so ready for this! With each day, excitement keeps building.  I know that one way or the other, all my hard work will certainly pay off. Whether I win my pro card or not (winning is the plan of course!), I’m going to at least make the top 5 and come home with another trophy.

Wish me luck! Hopefully when I write my next entry, I’ll be a new WNBF Figure Pro.

3 Weeks Out

I am now 3 weeks out. Well, technically a little under. When I first started cutting down a few months ago, my goal was to get down to 11% body fat. The way things are at this point, I realize that I won’t be able to reach that goal. I found myself so fixated on that number. But at the end of the day it’s how I look on stage that matters. The judges don’t know what percent I am. Making sure I look conditioned, my muscles are nice and full and I hit my poses right is going to go a long way. I stressed myself out trying to hit that 11% mark. But I’ll probably come in closer to 14%. As of my last assessment this past weekend, my body fat is around 16%, and I weigh 119 lbs.  

There are a few factors that got in the way of hitting my goal number. When I first started cutting down my mom got sick. So as much as I tried to be on top of my eating, circumstances led me to veer off of my diet. Then there’s stress. Aside from all the health issues associated with it, stress certainly does not help when trying to lose body fat. When you’re stressed, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol which is linked to the storage of body fat, especially abdominal fat. I have been more stressed in these last few months that I have in years. That didn’t help my cause. The other set back was all those extra carbs I was taking in that I didn’t account for. It’s when I lowered my carb intake and really tried to keep my stress in check, that I started dropping down. My body should change quite a bit these next 3 weeks. My carbs are super low right now. I’m taking in only 46g per day. It’s tough. I’m enduring the lack of energy, hunger and suffering that all competitors experience. Something I didn’t go through last year. As tough as it is, I remain focused and driven. And although my body fat will be higher than it was at my last show, I have a bit more muscle giving me a different body.  I went to get fitted for a new suit over the weekend which got me even more excited. It’ll be ready the week before my show. I can’t wait to see the new me in my new suit on that stage!

No matter what happens on June 25^th, I’ll be happy. Despite all the circumstances, I think I’m still in a good place and think I’ll do well. Whatever the outcome may be, I’ve got a great head start for the next show in September. And as an added bonus, I got my body beach ready just in time for summer!

Challenges

I know it’s been a long time since my last blog. Things have been pretty crazy and I just haven’t had much spare time.  My mom has been in and out of the hospital since the beginning of March. As of yesterday out, and god willing will stay out for good! I’ve been juggling that with training my clients and my own training, which has been more intense than ever. And to top it off, my boyfriend is having surgery in less than 2 weeks. The start of this year has proven to be physically and emotionally challenging.  I’ve been quite stressed to say the least. However, despite everything going on, training for this show has been my one source of sanity. Although getting ready for a competition is very stressful in itself, it’s giving me a goal to work on and helping me take my mind off of everything that’s going on. Some people have suggested maybe I shouldn’t do the show. No way! This is giving me something to strive for and has been a great outlet for my stress. Overcoming these hurdles is just making me a stronger person.

Life will always be full of challenges. Some harder than others. You can’t just turn around and run away whenever you’re faced with one.  It’s how you take on and overcome those challenges that make a true champion.

So here’s an update on my progress.  I’ve had to make a big change in my diet. Since my last entry, I’ve dropped my carbs down and added a 6^th day of cardio. One week into that, I made my first significant drop in body fat. However, I quickly hit a plateau and had to make another change. I’m doing a ton of work in the gym, even doing double cardio days to make sure I get everything in.  It’s my diet not my training that’s the problem.  So as per the advice of my friend/boss/competition mentor (thanks Mark!!), I dropped my carbs down even more…a lot more. In fact when I hit that plateau, I re-evaluated everything that I was consuming and realized that there were a lot of things I haven’t been accounting for in my carb intake. Such as fruit, broccoli and my pre workout drink. It all added up to a lot. Therefore I was taking in more carbs than I should have been. When you compete, every single thing you consume must be accounted for. Everything! This way you know that you’re staying within your numbers. It’s a lot of work, I know...but so worth it. I made my most recent diet change on Monday and am already seeing a big difference. I had my first posing practice session today and am really happy with what I see. I have about 4 weeks left and my body will continue to change quite a bit. I have a new found confidence that I’m going to come into this show my best ever.

I can’t wait!

More updates to come…

Plan of Action

I’m 7 weeks out and am more driven than ever. It seems that last weekends moment of weakness has pushed me to another level.  Although it wasn’t wise, I think that maybe I needed that to bump things up a notch (or two). It’s not like I wasn’t motivated before. But because I slipped up, I’m more determined than ever to do whatever I have to,  to  make sure I’m ready by June 25^th. Yesterday, I went to my grandmothers house for Mother’s Day. I was surrounded by amazing Cuban food (yum!). But I had none of it. I brought my plain Jane, pre-packaged, weighed out meals with me and stuck to my plan. The night before I went to a party. There were all types of munchies and people drinking all over the place. And there I was, sipping on my water.  The more situations like that I experience without caving, the stronger it makes me.  I have decided to cut out all cheat meals until after my show. Last year I had 1-2 cheat meals/week until 4 week out.

So here’s my plan of action for the next few weeks:

I’m lifting 5 days a week, doing cardio 5 days and off one day. I’ll do mainly 35-40min of low intensity cardio. This means I’m keeping my heart rate between 60-70% of my max heart rate.  And 1-2 times a week, I’ll do high intensity interval training, where my heart rate is at 60-70%, I spike it to 85% then bring it back down, for 20 min. Last year I only did low intensity cardio and want to try some HIIT this time and see how it works for me. The important thing with cutting down is to make sure I drop body fat without losing muscle in the process.

My current split is:

Day 1- Glutes & Hams/Cardio

Day 2- Chest & Bi’s/Cardio

Day 3- Cardio

Day 4- Back & Tri’s/Cardio

Day 5- Quads

Day 6- Shoulders & Calves/Cardio

Day 7- Off

I will likely add a 6^th day of cardio, and my training split will be changing in the coming weeks.

Good thing I work at a gym. I give anyone who works a 9-5 and competes so much credit. This sport is time consuming and alot of work, but so rewarding!

For the next 7 weeks, I’m going to eat, sleep and breathe the gym.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

Hurdles

Last week I posted my first entry. I thought it was a pretty motivational and inspirational blog. Ironically though, I had quite a lame week immediately following that post. For whatever reason, I had such a hard time getting motivated to work out. I kept procrastinating, and taking unusually long breaks between sets. To make matters worse, yesterday was a terrible day food-wise. It started out good, but then quickly went down hill. My will power seemed to be non-existent. I went to a family gathering with my boyfriend where there was what seemed like endless amounts of naughty treats. Oh…and then came desert, showcasing all of my favorite sweets. Cup cakes, brownies and ice cream cake just to name a few. Now last year, being around all of that would make my mouth water and drive me crazy. I’ve changed a lot since then. I’ve developed a strong will power. The strongest I’ve ever had in my life.  You can put anything in my face and I'll just shrug it off. You should see my apartment. I’ve got a bowl full of an assortment of amazing chocolate delights, ice cream, donuts, and more. All lying around in plain sight (don’t ask me why I have all this stuff -and- I DO NOT recommend this to anyone!!).  None of that fazes me anymore, until yesterday that is.  I really don’t know what came over me. What can I say, I’m only human. So I can either harp on it and beat myself up over it, or move on and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m 8 weeks out and if I slip up again, I might as well kiss the show goodbye. Today’s a new day. I had an amazing workout, ate clean all day and I feel great. I created more work for myself because of one bad day, but I’m ready to face the consequences and do what I have to do (yes, believe it or not, one bad day can cause damage).  There are always hurdles, and obstacles along the way. This week was a big one and instead of jumping over the hurdle, I ran right into it.  No more, I’m ready to get back on track.

Until next time….

And so it begins....

Thanks for reading my first blog entry. I hope this will help inspire you in some way.

I’m 9 weeks out from my first show of the season. As I’ve experienced before each show, I have my waves of doubts. One day I feel like I’m going to rock it, the next I wonder if I’ll be ready in time. I especially had doubts leading up to my very first show, this time last year. Despite all the ups and downs, I came into the show more confident than I could have ever imagined.  It was that confidence (along with hard work and a great support system) that helped me win 1^st.  I need to stay positive and keep things in perspective.  If I let doubt take over, I’ll never be ready for any show.  I had my first assessment this past weekend. I’m 126 lbs., at 19% body fat. My goal is to come in at 11%, around 114 lbs. At my last show in November, I came in at 12%, 112 lbs. I can do this.  I’m not going to let doubt interfere anymore. I am so focused and determined to come in my very best in June. With each show that follows, I will come in a better “me” than the last.  One thing I’ve realized is that if you ever doubt yourself, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. I tell my clients that all the time. When they think they can’t go heavier. When they think they can’t do 5 more reps, or 10 more minutes of cardio. When they think they can’t cut down on the sweets. Realize the power of your mind. Whatever your goal may be, never lose touch of it.  Picture yourself reaching it and one day, you will. I know I may not get my pro card at the next show or at any show this year. But one thing is certain. I’m going to give it my all and I’m confident I will one day win it. I know doubt will come back again. It always does. But I refuse to let it get in the way of reaching my goals.