Stage Make Up for Figure

by Kris Pitcher

At o'dark thirty, while I was getting myself ready for the USA's several weeks back...I thought it would be a good idea to take some selfies as I put my stage face on. Getting yourself made up for competition takes some practice, and I've found a look that I like.

from start to finish!

Here's a progression of what I call "crazy eye". My first selfie, which I'm not a fan of (selfies that is)and I'm not good at, is one of me relaxing. I think it's funny because it shows the difference in color between my competition color, and my face. Shock! Awe! Yawn. Moving on...

Before I go on, I should show you the mess of stuff I laid out on the counter the night before.

that's a lot of stuff!

 

Competitors like to be organized, and this is a sure sign of organized chaos. There's a lot going on there, including my little bit of coffee in that cup (very important). These are my essentials. Tools of the trade. And having everything out in front of me, I was ready to get started. The second crazy eye picture is of the base I apply in my crease. Doesn't look very pretty at that point. Even the third picture showing additional layers of color packed on...still not real pretty.

 

You have to trust the process, and if you've practiced your look, you know it's going to turn out right. See all those brushes? I love them for blending. In my initial application I use a combination of glycerin and water with my powdered colors to create a bright and lasting product on the eye. But as you can see, it's harsh.

 

Blending is your friend. Creating depth is important, and keep in mind the judges are a good 20 feet away, and you are under very bright lights. I can always relax once I've successfully applied my lashes. There's nothing quite like wrestling lashes...

 

I am happy with my finished look and it works well for me. I've found products I love, that last, and last, and have perfected my application to about 30 minutes. Whether you do your own make up, or have the luxury of having it done professionally, getting it right brings your package together. Go figure! 

 

Thou Shalt Not, Competition Commandments

by Kris Pitcher

There should be vows taken prior to entering the sacred relationship of contest prep dieting. I've thought of a few, and you've likely heard these from me before. No judgment here, simply suggestions. Maybe this is like religion, or sex...topics you just shouldn't, but here we go.

Thou shalt not:

1. Cheat - Start your plan and stick to your plan, it's your plan. Stop cheating on yourself.
2. Lie to your Coach - Exclusion of information, not telling them things that MIGHT impact your progress, and outright pants on fire tactics put you at a disadvantage.
3. Repent with Cardio - You cannot absolve your sins with cardio. Period.
4. Procrastinate -  Your fellow competitors are already up getting going on their day, motivate.
5. Blame - Actions and choices are yours...even when you have a coach.
6. Whine - Choose how you present yourself, your competition is watching. If you are whining she's smiling.
7. Skip - Eat. Your. Food. Eat all of it, your coach knows what they are doing and have designed a program for you. If you aren't eating your food because you think less is better...you're going to stall and they won't be able to figure out why. You're doing #2 - liar.
8. Underestimate the Power of Rest - You must get your rest, and your sleep. You need recovery and repair. This happens at rest, while you sleep. Get your eight hours if you want to make gains and loose fat.
9. Drop the Details - The fine details matter in this sport. Get organized.
10. Leave your Cooler at Home - Take everything with you. Always. Have the meals you need, take an extra one on errands. Be prepared.

These are the 10 "thou shalt not's" for you to think about. Adopting these philosophies will help make you a better more prepared athlete with a stronger resilience. It takes a lot to compete, keeping your head together is a big part of that. You don't have to do everything perfect all the time, but keeping the important things in line makes a big difference. Keep these competition commandments in your back pocket. Happy training!  

My Meat Hair Era

by Kris Pitcher

"Your hair products smell slightly smoky." he said as he hugged me close to his thick chest. The giggles erupted inside of me. We had settled in to watch a movie. As of late, a rare event.

I went on to explain I had grilled close to twelve pounds of chicken, and two huge steaks on the bbq earlier in the day. That smell wasn't my hair products...it was the mark of my "meat hair".

My reality is we just closed the books on our stove project. Projects take time. And in all fairness, we had some travel during the time frame as well. Not that I was marking time on the calendar...but I was without a stove for over six weeks.

I grilled eggs, greens, and any kind of meat you could throw at me. Please, don't throw meat at me. You get the idea. I was pretty handy with the bbq. I did have some "burn incidences", there was the terrible finger nail incident as well...but that only happened once.

All in all I fared pretty well without a MAJOR appliance. My husband grilled too. But, apparently he didn't smell his own hair. He doesn't have that much hair.

So I thought it was pretty hilarious that he assumed my hair products were scented with the succulent smoky smell of meat. Maybe there's something there? A million dollar idea? Bacon glaze for curly hair? Anyone?

And so ends my meat hair era with the successful installation of our new stove. May there be fewer burn incidents, zero tragic nail breakages...and lots more snuggles. Cheers to major appliances, and baked meat!

What's Next?

by Kris Pitcher

If there's one question I've heard a lot lately it's, "What's next?" It almost makes my brain hurt. What's next...what competition is next for me? The other iteration is, "Are you done?" Done? I'm not exactly sure what that means either...

Done implies finished. I am not finished competing. I am however "done" for a while. It's called off season. We've talked about that. I have goals to work on, things I need to accomplish to make me more competitive.

What's next is a fair question. I will need to re-qualify. If you place in the top 5 at a national show you are still qualified at the national level. That's not where I placed. As such, I will need to compete at a national qualifier and place in the top 3 to re-qualify. That's what's next.

When will that happen? Also a fair question. A year out. Potentially next fall. I'll take a year to grow and make progress, then I'll diet down and compete. I'll get that re-qualification then it will be time to pick a national level show.

My husband and I have talked about getting on the same diet/competition schedule. There's a concept. It works for us to diet together so there's no problem there. And it's nice to be able to vacation and eat together. We're working toward that. Getting on the same competition schedule.

That's what's next and I'm pretty excited to be moving forward with my off season plans and goals. The work begins and we'll see if we can't make some significant improvements this year. It's always exciting to see what you can do given the focus and attention to diet and training.

What's next? Getting bigger and better! Here we go! Stick around for the journey, let's see what we can bring to the national stage next year.

Karma Corn

by Kris Pitcher

It was a random week night. Nothing special was going on. There was no celebration, no movie...just a week night. Quietly, I removed the cellophane wrapper and put the package in the microwave.

Knowing it would only be moments until I was "found out", I waited. Then the reaction came as the kernels began to pop. "I smell karma corn!" he said.

Caramel corn? I wish! We didn't have any caramel corn. What was he talking about? Then I walked into the living room with my bag of steamy hot corn. "It's karma corn because I ate that during your ENTIRE prep." he said laughing at me.

Yes, karma is, well you know. Now it's my husband who is dieting while I am not. The tide has turned. And I guess it's pay back time for those trips to McDonald's, for the grocery lists containing dark chocolate, for the raisins and dried cranberries...for the almond milk, and for the peanut butter slathered english muffins toasted to perfection.

But to tell you the truth, none of that phased me during my prep. I never felt deprived, or as if I was dealt an unfair hand. I had chosen my lot. My goals were mine.

This little bender of mine isn't going to last either. Don't get me wrong here, I haven't gone off the rails. The week after the USA's I packed my 4 meals and headed off to work each day. I simply added some extra goodies. Once I was home I finished my last 2 meals eating what I was supposed to eat.

I took a rest from cardio, but got my lifts in, ate my protein and enjoyed the mental break of restriction. Now I am back on plan. A new plan. My off season plan. It is structured, just as structured as a prep diet. The goals are just different.

There will still be a cheat meal each week where I can have something I've been looking forward to (or seen an ad for on TV). I'll still keep gluten and dairy out of my diet, it's working for me. But for my week of relaxed eating...I did enjoy my karma corn. Sorry honey, pay back is...well, you know!

What is an Off Season?

by Kris Pitcher

Recently I was asked, "What is an off season?" While it was a question from someone prepping for their first competition, I thought it was something worth thinking about. It's certainly a topic people think about in a lot of different ways.

For some, it simply means they are not dieting and training for a contest. They aren't specifically doing anything structured, and may even be off the rails elbow deep in chocolate martinis and tapas three nights a week.

For others, off season is a very opportunistic time to make changes in their physique. It's opportunistic because following your dieting and competitive phase, your body is primed to make gains. I've blogged about the chemistry of that.

People are comfortable with different levels of structure during their off season, and depending on the level at which you compete...that may be fine. I've never understood the person who starts working out at the 16 week point when they begin dieting for a contest. I don't get that? Why aren't you lifting all year?

Anyway, my off season is VERY structured. I want to take full advantage of the opportunity to make gains. And making gains takes time. That's why you can't compete month after month, provided you want to look any different. If you just want to look the same, go for it, although your metabolic systems may not be in great shape. That's another story.

I follow a structured diet seven days a week. My diet allows for a cheat meal. This season, we'll play with my macros a bit more than we've done in the past to see how my body reacts. It's a project. A fun project.

Our goal is to put some muscle on me. I've already said goodbye to my competition body. I've been too lean, for too long. I know that's gone. Bye-bye. No abs will be showing. Gone. Adios.

You need to be able to get your head straight during your off season. Adjusting your focus and your goals is critical. I'm fully aware I don't get to keep that contest ready body, and eat more. That would be crazy think.

It will take a solid year to make the changes we want to make in my physique. It. Takes. Time. Then I'll diet down and pick a contest. That's so far out, it's out of my head right now. My job is to rest, eat, and lift, and work, and clean, and cook...oh tangent...

But you get the idea. I need to focus on my off season. I need to put in the work to make my goals happen. Keeping my head straight as the competitors around me are getting all cut and lean, getting up on stage and bringing home the hardware will be my job. That's not where I am. I am in a different place. (A place where no skin will be showing, and where my cheeks will be full.)

You can think of time as a big circle. You may be prepping for a contest, you may be in off season, or you may be taking a short break from all of it where you aren't concerned about anything. But you can't be dieting all the time. You need to take time off, an off season, to make progress. It's when you give your systems a break.

You and your coach, if you have one, should be thinking about your off season BEFORE you hit the stage for your contest. If you don't have a plan for the days following your show, and the weeks after leading into your off season, I'd say you need a new coach - or you need to get a coach.

Knowing what you'll do right after your show will mean the difference between a horrible rebound, and taking advantage of your opportunity to make gains. It's all up to you how you utilize your off season. And what you bring to the stage next season will show all of us just what you decided.   

NPC USA's, I Have Arrived

by Kris Pitcher

What a season! Whew! I owe a huge thank you to those of you who have supported my efforts this year. Thank you for helping me take my competitive spirit to a higher level. And higher it was!

The NPC USA's in Vegas were big. The kind of big where you are issued your competitor number and it's in the high 600's. There were close to 1000 competitors, the best of the best. Things are organized, efficient and timely.

I was one of 3 competitors my husband had in the show, and he did a great job keeping track of us all, keeping us all eating the right things at the right times, and getting us to the right place at the right time. All the while, he was doing his cardio twice a day, getting his lifting in, and all his meals too. He's in diet mode himself. But this is about ME!

There were 22 ladies in the Figure C class. We presented in line ups of 7-9 doing quarter turns, then came out for our individuals doing front/model/back/model...then to the diagonal for call outs.

It was kind of like waiting to be picked for a kick ball team at recess in the fourth grade. Excruciating. You smile and pose with your hip positioned so the judging panel can see your number. You smile, and you smile. And you wait. Not in first call out.

Still smiling. Posing, waiting, smiling. The head judge calls out numbers, not mine. Not in second call out. Smiling, turn my hip...see my number, smile. Third call out, pass my number. No disappointment on this face. Buck up. Smile. They're done judging.

Final call out. And like fourth grade, I'm finally picked. But I present myself as though it were the first call out. Quarter turns, they aren't really even looking. But this is my moment. I've worked hard, and I take it, and shine.

And we're off stage. I text Jacques, "Oh well. :)" I'm happy inside. In that moment I'm feeling proud of my accomplishments, of my progress. I'm thinking, I met my goals of maybe posing better, and I'm pretty sure my color was darker than at Jr's., I knew I hadn't gotten any bigger ;)

I put my dress on, took my shoes off, grabbed my bag and went out to the lobby to catch up with Jacques. A competitor could at that moment feel a lot of things, she could feel a number of ways. I felt primarily excited about my impending off season.

Knowing what I need to work on, I'm ready to get to it. A competitor could feel she wasn't judged fairly, she got lost in the crowd, or she wasn't connected to the right people. None of those things crossed my mind.

What crosses my mind is, I need to be bigger. I need bigger shoulders, a thicker back...bigger glutes. It's time to grow! When I look at myself against the first place winner, now an IFBB pro...it's pretty clear what I need to work on.

The other thing that crosses my mind is, I deserve to compete at this level. Meaning, I looked like I belonged there. It's just that of those 22 (best in the nations), I was in the bottom half. With 8 other deserving ladies. We'll work hard and be back to compete next year.

When you compete at this level, there are only 5 who will take home a trophy, only 1 will win, 2 will earn their pro card, 15 who will "place", and the rest of us go home with work to do. We choose how we see ourselves in that moment, in the moments following. We decide what we do with that energy.

I've seen people get really, really upset. You must have objectivity in this sport. You must be able to see yourself amongst your peers and recognize the differences in where you are and where you need to go. You have to be able to see the big picture, and yourself in it.

Finals came, and I glazed up just as if I'd be called out in that top 5. I took my 8 seconds of fame on stage and presented myself as they read my name. It's the national stage, and I have arrived. See you next year! 

The Figure Class C winner, and me...it's grow time!