Thank you, everyone! I had so much fun at this show! I felt such a sense of freedom from the moment I planted a bare foot on the stage, and an immense weight of uncertainty was suddenly lifted off of my shoulders. There wasn't any confusion of how I needed to come into this show. Lean, hard, dry, symmetrical, feminine. Those were the basic points of criteria I needed to follow. I could barely contain my excitement when it came time to actually hit the poses. To show off the muscle you've worked so hard for and be rewarded for it! What a feeling!
I hope more figure girls who are deemed "too muscular" make the move. I'm putting a challenge out there for y'all. Do it! Change the sport. Switch divisions. Take what you present on the figure stage and do it as a bodybuilder. You'll love it! You don't have to be huge to create success for yourself in bodybuilding. I weighed 103.5 pounds on Friday morning before the show and about 106 lbs. after carbing up. Remember: quality...not necessarily quantity.
And yes, I'm still natural. I used Taraxatone in the few days leading up to the show, and I drank coffee along with half a tablet of aspirin prior to cardio in the mornings. I took BCAA's before each workout and swallowed a boatload of vitamins each day. That was my supplementation. Nothing else. I will always do this as a natural. There are no other options as far as I'm concerned. I will not cross that line.
While I appreciate the vote of confidence, Alicia, I really doubt I'll ever attain a pro card in bodybuilding unless it would be at the Team U next year, and I definitely have my work cut out for me in the meantime. I can't see myself on stage with the likes of Colette Nelson, Kim Perez, Bonnie Priest, Iris Kyle, etc. I'm just a munchkinite...lol! But I'm happy now. For once, I'm happy! I didn't stress, fret, or despair over whether I would get screwed in the placings again. And it's nice to look at images of myself and say, "Ahh...I know where I can improve," and actually feel like it will make a difference, whereas in figure nothing I did was ever good enough.
And for those of you who don't like my look...guess what? Don't look at it. Simple as that.
I happen to like my look. This is one artist who is proud of her work.