Cassie's Figure Competition Journal

[Boss Man]

Apparently you Transatlantic folks like to eat Bison.

Personally I think if that was me I wouldn't want to. If it is meant to roam wild, why not let it?

They do look a bit funny though, but obviously with the horns and sheer bulk, dangerous to some extent.

Cassie it doesn't suck to be you ever. Just be careful not to go too low Sodium, incase you get a Cramping problem.

[cassiegose]

Sodium is important in neurotransmitters as well. It also drives the Na/K pump across your cell membranes.

P.S. Boss-- Christmas bonus last year was 4 lbs of ground bear meat. boss shot it. Roam free, indeed. I as a vegetarian at the time as well.

Yes, I understand the importance of sodium, however cutting it out of your diet helps immensly with water retention to create a more defined look. Most competitors cut sodium out of their diet in the last 4 weeks prior to competing... I didn't feel like it was totally necessary to cut it at 4 weeks out, however cutting it at this time is helping immensly. Many foods (such as eggwhites and chicken) have sodium in them and i'm still eating these foods. However, have cut out foods with added sodium (sugar free jello, salad dressings, cottage cheese)... If that makes any sense.

[lareinamae]

Water buffalo...hehehe...

Cassie, I think you are blessed with the ability to read your body and you know what your body needs most to boost yourself to maximum buffness for the show. Just keep listening and you'll do great! ;o)

[cassiegose]

Water buffalo...hehehe...

Cassie, I think you are blessed with the ability to read your body and you know what your body needs most to boost yourself to maximum buffness for the show. Just keep listening and you'll do great! ;o)

I think i got the term water buffalo from you yesterday didn't I? Seemed like a perfect description.

Being able to read your body is something that is (in opinion) very important and really quite easy once you stop and actually listen to what its saying! Also, playing with things like water, carbs, protein, sodium, artificial sugars, wheat, fat, and dairy has really shown me how different foods affect me. Its amazing once you start to play with your foods and listen/watch how your body responds to different things! For years I ate wheat and couldn't figure out why I was bloated and felt like crap all the time.... after taking that out I felt like a brand new woman!! And water... oh man if i don't get enough water.. well its not good.. pretty much messes whole body up! Sodium- If i eat too much sodium i will seriously look like i've gained 5 pounds of FAT over night! No beuno! Artificial sugars (aspartame)- I'm not even going to go into details on this one as its a bit more info then people need. However body really doesn't like the stuff at all!

Sooo what i'm trying to say is as you get more into this health and nutrition stuff you should also start playing with foods to see how they affect you. Its pretty cool when you start to figure it all out. I've never felt better now that i've started to pay more attention to what bodys telling me!

[cassiegose]

15 days to go!..2 weeks and one day!

I updated progress pics today. I feel like I've made progress in the last week and am planning on cranking down even more this week to further tighten up. Its been pretty rough. I'm exhausted... and really ready to eat something other than green veggies and lean protein... Although I must say I'm still pretty excited for oatmeal (even though I've cut way back on it) and sweet potatoes are tasting better everyday!

Workouts have been a struggle this week... Just don't have the energy. Work and housework have also been a huge struggle as I well... Its amazing how much lack of carbohydrates affect a persons ability to function!! Luckily, boss at work hasn't noticed (or atleast hasn't let on that hes noticed) that I've been mentally MIA for the past month and fiance has been totally understanding and has really helped out alot with household chores. Thank goodness for him! I know that I wouldn't have made it this far without his support and help.

As for preparing for the upcoming show... I picked up stage makeup last night and am planning on ordering tanning lotion this week. Still waiting for the posing suit to come in.. Ordered it 3 weeks ago so it should be here any day. I still have to embellish it so I'm really hoping it will get here soon! Plus I need to make sure the darn thing fits!

Well thats all I know today. I hope everybody has had a great week!

Cassie

[Boss Man]

You look amazing misses. I know that when the day comes, you will look even better than you do all ready. The main thing is to keep doing the best you can between now and then.

You will have your other show to come after that, so another chance to get noticed, impress, and show people what a true star you really are.

It's been a long road, but it's been a worthwhile one. It's proved so much to you about yourself, and it's shown a lot of people a lot about you. I've been very proud to see a beautiful butterfly, find her true wings and start to take flight.

Very close now, so chin up, be strong, keep smiling and GOOD LUCK.

.

[cassiegose]

Thank you everybody for your kind words and continued support! You all are the BEST!

[lareinamae]

Did you get your suit yet? How is the posing practice going? How many days left!!? Countdown's on, hunny and you are gonna rock the stage!

[newmami]

You Rock! You are an inspiration to me and I'm pretty sure to everyone else. Good Luck! I'm cheering for you !

[ldematto]

Cassie - you are the perfect combination of shapely curves and muscles - you maintain all your feminity with a body that is rock hard and ready to dazzle the stage with your presence! I wish you all the best in the upcoming competition, but win or lose, remember you've got what it takes to always be a winner in life!

[cassiegose]

12 days!!!

I can't believe how fast the past 6 months have FLOWN by! Its hard to believe that I started dieting on March 30th and have actually managed to make it so long while retaining sanity!

I am finally at the point where I feel totally at peace with progress and confident that I am as ready as I'll ever be. Sure, there are a few things that I could have done differently and will do differently the next time around... however I went into this for the experience and it is these experiences that are going to make me do even better the next time around. I've learned so much about body in this process and have actually learned alot about myself as well (like I get REALLY grumpy on low carb diets!)... and come to think about it I've even learned alot about fiance and how much he must care for me for putting up with me, supporting me, and helping in any and every way possible.

Yesterday I received posing suit. I was a little worried after pulling it out of the wrapping it came in and was wondering if they had made the wrong size for me... this thing is tiny! I was panicking a little bit wondering how on earth i was going to fit into the suit, however after getting home and trying it on I was relieved to find that it actually fits quite well! I will be manipulating water and sodium in the next 12 days so I'm thinking it is going to fit perfectly by the day of the competition. Yay! Now i just have to wait for glue and crystals to get here so I can embellish it.

This morning while I was drying hair (in the gym locker room) I realized that I'm beginning to see a 4 pack in abs (I was kind of posing in the mirror when I noticed... I find myself posing in the mirror a lot lately as I'm so amazed at how much body is changing every day!) Anyways.... I was so excited that I could see a 4 pack that I had to show it to a few of friends as they walked by. I'm sure I was more impressed than friends. I was pretty happy! I'm hoping abs will continue to really tighten up in the next 12 days and be quite noticable by the day of the competition.

Diet... diet now seems to be getting suckier by the day and i'm now pretty much living on veggies and protein. I am allowed one bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and one bowl of sweet potatoes with the next meal, and sometimes i'll eat a few more sweet potatoes before hitting the gym for workout number two... but other than that its ggwhites, fish, chicken, and veggies (which are limited to lettuce, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, green beans, and asparagus). Next week I get to take out all the veggies except for asparagus. Should be interesting! I was a little worried about how i was going to make it through this last 2 weeks... however its really not too bad. I think I'm kind of "in the zone" at this point and not really even thinking about other food.

As I get closer to the show I'm finding that there are alot of little things that take place that most people don't even think about. For instance, many don't know that competitors actually GLUE their suits to themselves to keep their suits from sliding around. This means the day of the show i will be gluing suit to BUTT to keep it from giving me a wedgy. I'm trying to figure out who will be the lucky one to apply the glue. LOL! I'm thinking it will be best friend.. who is entered in the bikini division of the show. Another (stressful!) thing to figure out is who i'm going to get tan for the show. There are sooooo many different products on the market and trying to find advice for what products work the best is incredibly difficult as everybody has a different techinque that works for them. I could just pay to have tan sprayed on at the show (which is what many have been telling me to do) however it costs $100 to have the spray tan applied at the show and there are insanely long lines up the the tanning place... plus you have to get completely naked for some stranger while they spray you down! Yikes! So yesterday I purchased a tanner and am planning on just applying it myself... hope it works.. and I hope I don't end up looking like a pumpkin. Needless to say... for the past couple of days I've had all kinds of stuff swirling around in head as I try to figure out what to do about tanning and where to get the bikini blue... and so on. poor little carb deprived brain is on overload right now and I'm having a hard time pretending to work and be productive while at the office as lord knows brain is not functioning at full capacity.

Phew! That was a long entry!I'd better get back to work before boss figures out that i'm not working and fires me.

I hope all is well with everybody! As always, feel free to shoot me a message if I can help in any way. Thank you guy so much for your continued support and inspiration. You guys are the best and I'm inspired by you every day!

Cassie

[Boss Man]

Tanning.

Pro Tan or sonething like that. Use a small 4" roller, the kind you'd use to put oil based paints on woodwork, and apply tanner with a roller. you'd need someone to do your back for you, but that's how some do it.

Regards definition, It's like I said weeks ago. Some Pro BB's don't get much definition in the Legs coming through until about 3 weeks out, so you had to be aware that certain areas of the body, would not define until very close to comp time.

You're doing the right things here and not getting concerned about things that are going on.

You WILL be ready, and you WILL look amazing. You've worked so, so hard for this, and of course I'm proud of you, and of course I know with this level of dedication, commtment and Heart, you are going to become one heck of an athlete.

You DO have what champions are made of, so I think it's only a matter of time, before you bag a champions trophy, and progress to a higher level

[Nokie173]

Although I haven't been posting much lately... Im still reading your Journal...
Wow... 4 pack abs eh? You are doing sooooo good and keep it up!
And your current recent pictures are great results of your HARD WORK!
We will be here cheering you on!!! YOU ARE A CHAMP

[cassiegose]

Although I haven't been posting much lately... Im still reading your Journal...
Wow... 4 pack abs eh? You are doing sooooo good and keep it up!
And your current recent pictures are great results of your HARD WORK!
We will be here cheering you on!!! YOU ARE A CHAMP

NOKIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Hey girl! I was just thinking about you today! I'm so glad you're still around! Hows it going girl? You've been in thoughts as I know you have a lot going on lately! Great to hear from you! Thanks for the encouragement!

[lareinamae]

11 DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYS! And I will get to see you live - in person, strutting your stuff on stage! Yay! You've come a long way girlfriend!