Part I: My Journey

Part I: Preparation time

Even though my stage-time was back in 2014, almost 1,5 year ago, I would like to share this story with you. 

My journey started when I took my BF to a fitness competition for his Bday. We went driving for about 1,5 hours all the way to the South of the Netherlands, where there was a A/B competition ongoing. When we arrived, we chuckled at the men, all tanned and swollen from the steroids (most of them at least). When arrived at the theater, I was however impressed when seeing the ladies on stage. The bodies were stunning and the bikini's  were beautiful, the one with more bling than the other! What I noticed, however, was that many girls seemed quite nervous on stage and that was showing in their performance. They seemed tense and did not act natural. The stage is to shine; own the stage! It was itching; I was eager to be on stage again (I used to perform when I was younger in dancing and acting, just as a hobby). I enjoy the spotlight and have missed the adrenaline rushing trough my body when going on that stage. The simultaneous feeling of power and vulnerability, being in the center of attention. The 'high' of being on the stage. But also the journey towards the stage, the dedication, the team-work (hardly ever you will do it by yourself). Standing for something, working dedicated; this gives you identity.  That place and that moment, that is when I decided I wanted to be on that stage.

I reached out to a PT, the best in it's class to help me to with my journey to the stage. While preparing, he provided the best physical advise and this really made a difference! It showed! My muscles grew, I got leaner (of course in combination with strict clean eating; remember; abs are made in the kitchen!) The past months, I thought I have been training hard already. I went to the gym 4-5x a week, did weight training and finished most times with half an hour - a full hour cardio. When doing my first training with my PT, I asked myself; 'what was I doing all this time'? This training was so intense; I lifted heavier weights than I ever thought I could lift, I did supersets, and it seemed that cardio was included in the full workout as the pace was so fast, it felt like my heart was in my throat! Wow, that is what you call a work-out. With 'just' 3 full-body workouts a week, mixing up with cardio (max 30min. High intensity a day) and clean eating, my body shaped more and more towards the body ready for stage.

Working hard! On my way to the stage...