925.389.6957 Trish@trishmarmo.com

You’re so much more capable than you realize... You CAN do this!®

Fitness Moments®

My Journey to 50–Week 1:  The chronicle of one middle-aged woman’s pursuit of the impossible:  A Bikini Fitness Competition!

 

So you may be wondering, “What on earth possesses a middle-aged mother of five to train for a Bikini Fitness Competition?”  Honestly, I’ve been wondering the same thing myself and as of today, I don’t really know!  I suppose it’s an answer that will come to me at some point–at least I think it will–but honestly, I’m not sure! 

Many of you might think that you have the answer for me:

  • Mid-life Crisis
  • Attention Seeking
  • Bored Housewife
  • Vanity
  • A touch of cray-cray 
  • Insert your own ______________

The truth is, none of those even come close. 

I may not be able to put into words, the feelings swirling inside my brain, but those words I typed above are not my words or my truth. 

They may be yours, they may be society’s, but they’re definitely not mine. 

Technically I’m twelve weeks into my Journey to 50–my Birthday was in October.  Just writing that makes me feel a little bit anxious, like, I’ve been hanging out wasting my time for the past twelve weeks!  Although I decided before my Birthday that I wanted to compete, it took me until December to prepare myself mentally and begin to change my eating habits to support the changes my body will be experiencing. 

Bikini Prep isn’t just “eating healthy”, though that’s a huge component of it.  There’s a mental shift that occurs, in addition to the obvious physical ones, like training. What will make things even more interesting is that I’m perimenopausal.  I’m at the point in my life where, hormonally at least, there is no more predictability.  I know that it’s a sign of what’s to come (menopause), but it also means that training and getting leaner will present me with additional challenges because of it.  It’s not as simple as deciding to compete and then just getting up on stage.  If any of you are younger women thinking of competing, don’t kid yourself.  It’s hard work!

I don’t just hang out on Pinterest all day, trying to decide what type of bikini I want to wear and following Pinterest links to previous competitors “Meal Plans”.  What I’m doing is mentally and physically demanding and requires planning if I’m to keep myself safe.  I tried the unsafe method once and had two TIA’s (mini-strokes).  If I could give ANYONE one piece of advice, it would be this:  Educate yourself! Being my age and being a Mom means that in addition to training, I have other things to consider:

  • I have kids
  • My oldest child has Cystic Fibrosis and just moved home again
  • Three of my kids are in College
  • I have a full-time job (as a Health & Wellness Coach) 
  • I maintain a blog as well as several Social Media accounts
  • I actually have to train for this
  • Training for this is going to be hard (not because training is hard, but because HELLO, have you read the above)?!

And while I’m loathed to add to all the noise that perpetuates the belief that in order for a woman to be “successful” at being just who she is, she somehow has to DO more and BE more, well, I don’t think that’s true either!

There’s just this fire in me that says I want to do this, I need to do this, and “this” thing, this urge or desire isn’t going to go away until I conquer it!  Until I am satisfied. 

I hope you’ll join me each week on my “Journey to 50”.  As is usually the case when I decide to do something that I think is important, the Universe smacks me down a bit.  Not only did I catch a virus this week, my Father-in-law passed away.  So let me add another bullet point to the list because it happens whether we are ready for it or not.

  • Life

 

Want to learn more about mine?  You can check it out here or follow me on Facebook

 

 

Fit MOMs Connect

Apply to become a member of our exclusive Facebook Group!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Are you looking for a convenient way to feed your family healthy meals and free up some time from your busy schedule?

My 15 clean-eating recipes are easy-to-make and can be prepared in just 30 minutes or less!

I'm going to give you:

  • 15 delicious recipes designed for the whole family--the same delicious recipes my family of seven enjoys
  • Additional suggestions on how to round out your meal with healthier-for-you side dishes
  • A beautiful, 17-page PDF that you can print or save
  • Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions
  • Including 5 mouthwatering, guilt-free desserts, that won't increase your waistline

Sign up here to get your FREE COPY of NuTRISHous Healthy Eating Recipes

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest