Lean Bodies - Lisa Peper

Here are a few more pictures .  A recap and update coming soon!

I am so thrilled to have placed 5th in the D Class at the IFBB North Americas this past weekend! I had no expectations of doing so well, and even making the top 10 would have been exciting. So, needless to say, I’m very happy with my 5th place trophy, especially considering it was my first national show, and my third show ever. Many, many thanks to Erik - everything came together perfectly. Having a coach who really knows what they are doing makes the world of difference - not only was my contest prep so much more comfortable and enjoyable, despite losing around 20 lbs in 14 weeks, the final preparations went smoothly, and I was completely happy with the end results. I’ll write more about the weekend soon, but for now - here are some pictures!

The awards presentation - I couldn’t have smiled any bigger!

Back in the hotel room in my 1 piece suit.

Trophy!!

Me and my girlfriend Jess, who did my hair and make-up.

Front comparisons in the 1 piece round.

More to come…

Here are some pics from this morning - keep in mind I’m very much depleted right now. I’m so excited! It’s been such an amazing journey, and I’m looking forward to getting on stage.

The lighting in these pictures really sucks, but I figured bad pictures were better than no pictures at all!

Now is the easiest and toughest part of the prep.  With the competition so close, it’s easy to stay on track with diet and exercise.  The tough part is keeping my emotions in check. All this work.  All these weeks of training and dieting.  All coming down to one day on stage.  One minute I’m feeling confident, strong and lean as can be.  But I have to be honest.  The next minute I’m frantic about my posing, looking at my butt in the mirror and worrying that my upper body is too lean.  What a ride.

Hitting this point – less than three weeks to go – has intensified everything.  I can no longer say,  “Oh, I’ve got plenty of time” in response to my internal worries.  Time is waning and “judgment day” is quickly approaching.  I just keep telling myself that I’m going to make the most of the time I have, do everything I can to prepare, and be confident that I gave it my all.

The hard part about competing against yourself is that winning is never quite enough.  I know I’m going to look better than last year.  In that sense, I’ve already won.  But am I going to look as good as I possibly could?  I don’t know.  That’s when the “if onlys” start.  If only I had kept my weight in check better during my off-season…If only I had built up my shoulders more…If only I had started practicing holding my poses sooner…  Insecurity is a nasty little creature.  While I know I can’t kill it, I can try to control it.

So for now, I’m reminding myself of all I have done, all I have accomplished and the strengths I am bringing to stage.  And while I don’t have a lot of time, I do have some time, and I’m certainly going to use it to the best of my ability.  And more important than ever, I have a great coach who is going to help me get there, and a wonderful people in my life supporting me. 

While the roller coaster will keep rolling, I’m going to do my best to hold on.

Well, less than three weeks to go.  This show is approaching so quickly.  I am getting incredibly excited – and admittedly – a little nervous.  The one thing I can happily say is I am confident I’ll meet my goal of presenting my best physique yet.  Already, I’m leaner than I was last year, and I feel that, while they’re slight, I did make some improvements.  What more can I ask for?  Now it’s just a matter of presenting that on stage.

Over the past three weeks I started to get refeeds – short periods of time where I consume a crazy amount of low-fat carbs.  Friday was my last one.  Whooeee did I feel like a stuffed pig after all that food.  It was like Thanksgiving – food coma and a strong calling for stretchy pants.  It’s crazy how you can go from raving hungry, to never wanting to eat again, to being willing to give a kidney for a sandwich – all in the course of 24 hours!  So far they really worked for me, and I saw some big drops in the past couple of weeks.  I’m hoping to see some more good changes this week, too. 

As the show gets closer, it is getting harder.  I’m starting to notice a change in my energy level some days and a little more irritability, but when I ompare it to how I was last year, it’s not bad at all.  It’s funny to think I’m doing less cardio now, at three weeks out, than I did last year at 14 weeks out.  But the need for discipline and especially emotional discipline is still there.  This sport plays with your mind, and you have to be able to keep everything in check. 

So from here on out, it’s tunnel vision.  I’m right on track with where I want to be, so its just a matter of executing these next three weeks to make it come together on stage.  I’ve got to hammer down some details of the trip, such as how many suitcases can I take on the plane? And how much can they weigh?  I really need to make myself practice posing more and holding my poses, because I know at my height (5’5 ½ ”) I’m going to be up there for a LONG time.  Of course, there are a million other little things I won’t bore you with, but there’s plenty to keep me busy up until the show.

Homestretch now.  Just a few more weeks.

Here are some shots from last night. I’ll update more this weekend!

 Sometimes it’s hard to believe I’ve been dieting down for nearly 10 weeks, because, frankly, I feel great.  It hit me as I was leaving the gym yesterday.  I’m this far in, this lean, and I feel great.  I had a good workout, felt strong, and left with that sense of accomplishment a successful workout provides. 

This is a stark contrast to last year.  Last year I would dread my workouts, muddle through them, hate every minute of cardio and drive home in a zombie state.  By this time last year, all I could think about was the end.  I longed for my energy back.  I longed to have a great workout again.  I just wanted to feel normal.

This year, I still feel normal.  I feel great in fact.  And I’m just a little over four weeks out from my show.  I’m excited to get on stage, but not really looking forward to the end.  I love the challenge.  I generally have good energy and certainly don’t feel like I’m suffering.  Yes, I want to eat more, and I get hungry, but it’s not unbearable.  Even more, I still have the drive and fight left in me to take on more.  Instead of dreading getting more cardio or having my meals reduced, I’m focused and determined on doing what it takes to bring my best physique to Cleveland.

It’s all about having the right program, which means having the right trainer.  Working with Erik has made this contest prep so enjoyable for me.  He’s pushing me, not killing me.  Unfortunately, so many women out there are prepping for shows, much like I did last year, wondering how much more they can endure, hating the time spent in the gym, going through their days like zombies and looking forward to nothing more than binging after the show.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  You can prepare for a show and lead a normal life.

With just over four weeks to go, I still have some challenges in front of me.  I still have fat to lose and my butt needs to come down.  I definitely need to practice my posing more.  I have to start thinking about some of the details to presenting my best package that day.  It’s hard to believe it’s just a month away!

Here are some pictures!  I’m really happy with how things are going and am feeling good.  Just five more weeks!

In my opinion, tough love is underrated.  We all appreciate encouragement and sympathy, but when it comes down to it, tough love helps the most.  Feeling good about yourself from sympathy and praise only lasts so long if no behavioral change is made.  Soon you’re back where you started.  Tough love – telling someone they have a choice or they can do more or their excuses are invalid – can help them actually change, and thereby meet their goals.

I may be biased, because as my friends will tell you, I certainly offer more tough love than sympathy.  But I also respond to it.  And this week, I was certainly in some need for some tough love.  Luckily, I have good enough people around to give it to me.

My contest prep is starting to get a little more difficult.  Erik has me doing more cardio, and it has been eight weeks of strict dieting.  This week I started to get whiney and feeling a little sorry for myself.  Granted, I’m really hungry, but I was letting myself think it was worse than it actually was.  I needed some tough love.  I needed someone to point out – it’s not so bad.  In fact, it is nothing compared to last year.  And if I want to be a competitor, I have to have a tougher mindset.  I have choices, and one of those choices is my attitude.  I can’t either dig in and approach this with mental toughness, or I can whine my way through it.

I chose to dig in.  Not following my plan was never an option in my mind, but my attitude was the choice in front of me.  I can’t let my hunger get me down – I have to suck it up and look forward to my progress.  I have to appreciate my challenges, appreciate my determination and appreciate my success.  My mindset it under my control. 

I think that too many times we feel out of control when we actually have plenty of choices in front of us.  When it comes to health and fitness, we chose to either meet our goals or give in to temptation.  It’s a choice.  You’re never too busy or too stressed or too poor to eat right and be active.  You choose what is more important.  And even when we don’t have options in front of us, we can always choose how we’re going to approach something and what attitude we’re going to take.  Every day, every minute, we have the choice to be positive and push forward or to focus on the negative and spin our wheels.  Tough love is pointing out those options.

Funny thing – as soon as I got this dose of tough love and worked on my attitude – I don’t feel so hungry.  I don’t feel things are so difficult.  I feel more empowered and ready to knock out these next six weeks.  And it will get harder, but I’m ready for it, because I’ve committed myself to putting my best physique on stage at the end of August, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.