Trainer came by today - did a bodyfat measurement, practiced some posing, talked about the solo routine and made diet adjustments.  We are now 8 weeks out from the contest date, July 28th.

Bodyfat came in around 11.5%, I need to be down to about 6% for the show.  It's a good number to be right now, but the diet is now going to be a bit stricter - AND I'll need to do an hour of cardio every morning before work  .

My contest weight is going to put me in the bantam weight category (that's as light as they come)...  there aren't too many in that weight class, so most likely I'll be lumped in with the other light weights - who will all be bigger than I!

It doesn't matter to me whether or not I place - oh, who am I kidding, of course I'd like to place- but the important thing is that I am going through with this.  We'll see afterwards whether I ever do it again!    Never was much of an athlete as a kid, have never ever seen my abs (even in the pic of me at 23)... so I'm feeling a little giddy about the prospect that it's really going to happen.

 No pics to share right now... perhaps closer to contest time some of the practice poses will find their way online.  I feel a little funny about posting them, but I'm going to have to get over that if I plan to be posing onstage in public in front of judges.

There's also a level of personal confidence that's new here too - remember that self-assured, almost arrogant sense of "I got it, you want it, can't have it" some males seem to be born with?  The attitude I envied in all those high school jocks?  I can manage it for about 60 seconds before I start laughing out loud at the absurdity.  And then I just concentrate on what the pose is supposed to feel like.

 Learning curve... b-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-g learning curve...