Tips for the First Time Competitor and the Very First Competition…

To assist other first time NPC Bikini Division athletes, I am sharing tips and advice so that you might be one step ahead of me when the day of your very first competition arrives.
The key to remember is you need to avoid any additional stress added to your psyche.  Stress produces cortisol and prolonged high levels of cortisol produce a number of negative side effects one of which happens to be the production of abdominal fat, so that alone should encourage you to eliminate as much stress from your life as possible.  Obviously that is not going to happen from one day of stress, but it is good information to help give you one more reason to eliminate unnecessary stress from your life.  :-)
Plan well so when your competition day arrives it will truly be an enjoyable experience despite the fact that it will be some what overwhelming.
Remember that every step of the way will be foreign to you.  Just know the day will be some what overwhelming, but look at each new thing as something cool and fun, not something worthy of stressing or freaking out over…have fun!

Entry forms
Most will allow you to enter the day of the event.  I recommend you send you entry form in advance and not wait until the last   minute.
Sending the form in early:
Gives you one more reason to NOT talk yourself out of participating in the event.
Helps reduce any unnecessary stress the day of the event, which is hugely important.
May provide you with a treat you would not get if you entered the day of the event.
For example, at the Bev Francis, because I   registered early, I received a metal for participation.  That was kind of cool.
Travel
Travel 2 days prior to your event.  The further out you travel, the less stressful the travel will be and it will allow you time should something happen during your trip.
Drive if you can.
If you will be flying….see Meals section

Meals

1. Stick to your meal plan, but be prepared to add additional “trigger foods” shoud you warrante the need.
   a.  For me, the extra food was complex carbs to help fill out my physique and reduce the vascularity.  The complex  carbs I ate extra were additional sweet potatoes in between my regularly scheduled meals.
2.  Some people retain water so they will eat extra asparagus which is a great natural diuretic. (No comment about the other thing asparagus is known for doing.)
3. Speaking of “trigger” foods, it is important for you to be very aware of your body and how it responds to different foods.  This will come over time by default, but now that you know, go ahead and keep a journal.  For example, I know that eating anything sweet will make me very vascular.  Countering that by eating complex carbs will help eliminate the pronounced veins.
4. In addition to traveling with all your food for the weekend, bring a smaller cooler for the day of the event so you do not have
   to lug around a giant cooler.  In your small cooler, you should include:
   a.  All the meals you will need for when you are away from where you are staying, plus one more just to be safe.  There will be delays so do not find yourself short a meal.
   b.  Your extra “trigger” foods.
   c.  For after Finals:

1.  WATER!  Because you will reduce the amount of water you consume leading up to the competition, by the end of Finals, you will be peeling your tongue off the roof of your mouth.  By the time I made it to Finals, all I could think about were the coolers station around the athletes’ holding area and backstage. As soon as I finished I drank a cup of water right in the stage wings!  I was
not waiting one more second.
2.  A treat!  You deserve if for all the hard work and focus you accomplished just to get to the competition.  My team mates
brought a variety of treats and were very sweet to share.  India made her own trail mix which I thought was a great idea.  Carrie made insanely delicious Oreo truffle balls.  Good night!  They were just stupid good!  My mouth is watering again just thinking
about them.  I am using this opportunity to bake, which I LOVE to do.  I am reseaching more about clean eating options to bake.
3.  Water! This is not a typo….seriously, bring at  least a liter.   You will thank me later.
5.  After the event, plan to treat yourself to a reward meal, but keep in mind your future competition plans if applicable.  I personally did not want to go hog wild because I was only 5 weeks out from my next competition so I stuck with my typical reward meal and added a little ice cream afterwards.  I love my ice cream and had not had a bite of it since March.  I have every intention
of eating ice cream as a treat after each competition.

Tanning

Consider being sprayed if you can afford the expense. I did opt to use the services of Jan Tana and was very pleased with the results.
Do not under estimate the need to be dark. As crazy as you look off stage, the darker you are the better you will look on stage.
The lights are extremely harsh and will wash you out completely if your skin is not dark. All the hard work you accomplished in the gym will become invisible if you go on the stage without tanning.
Steps for Tanning:

a. Prep your skin. Do not underestimate the value of this step or you could end up green….yep…green! It is one thing to smell like asparagus, but I am pretty sure you do not want to look like asparagus.

b. Jan Tana recommends you use their exfoliator scrub and lotion in order to ensure the pH of your skin will be able to accept the spray tan positively. Prep a week in advance with exfoliation and slathering lotion on your body.

c. The day you are scheduled to tan, exfoliate, but do not use any lotion or deodorant so that you can avoid turning green.

d. Shave the hair off of your body, even if it is fine, blond hair. It all has to go otherwise, when the spray the tan it will get caught up in the hair on your body and not on your skin.

e. Start this process a week ahead of time to ensure you do not have razor burn.

f. Be prepared to be surprised to find that you just might have a lot more body hair than you realized since it is so fine and blond.

g. Don’t worry; when it grows back it will still be fine and blond.

4. Schedule your tanning session the day before your event.

5. Before you leave for you appointment, prep your hotel room.

a. Replace the bed sheets with dark sheets you bring with you.

b. Replace the towels with dark towels you bring with you.

1. Consider buying in expense , thin, dark towels

2. The thinner the towel the better they pack.

3. Wash the towels before you pack them to ensure you do not have a bunch of cotton rubbing off on you.

c. Remove the bath mat from the bathroom.

6. Arrive wearing very loose fitting, dark clothes. We have a team warm up with is a black and not fitted. After tanning you will not put anything fitted on until Sat when you put on your suit. Do not put your under wear or bra back on after they spray you.

7. Bring a shower cap with you to cover your hair.

8. Be prepared to tan completely naked in a room with other girls who are also being tanned. We had 2 girls tanning, while one stood in front of a fan drying. Modesty goes out the window.

a. We had girls tanning us, but India told me not to be surprised if a guy tans you. Get over it.

b. It’s his job and there is nothing appealing to him about you standing there wearing nothing but a shower cap. It’s their job and nothing more.

9. The day of the event you will tan again, but will wear your suit. Jan Tana was at the event to tan those of us who they sprayed on Friday. They provided touch ups before Finals too.

a. In addition to the 2nd coat of tan, they will also glaze you.

b. Be sure you are not too oily after they spray and wipe you down.

10. Know that while you can shower after the event and some of the tan will come off, you will be scrubbing for days afterwards.


What to bring to the event:

1. See Meals…
2. A small rolling suitcase with a combination lock

a.  I brought my gym bag.  I won’t do this next time.
b.  Fortunately I was with my team, but do not assume someone will be nice enough to watch your things when you need to walk away from them either to go to the bathroom or go on the stage.  Unfortunately some girls who compete are not very nice.
I was told that others have witnessed shoes or makeup mysteriously going  MIA.  Just be aware of the potential.  My personal experience was a good one though.
3.  Shoes
a.  Flip flops to wear with you warm up.  You can wear those to the event.
b.  Posing shoes and a second pair just to be  safe.  If something happens to your  primary pair, e.g., broken heal, MIA, you will be covered if you have a backup  pair.
4.  Your suit.  You should wear your warm up there and change into your suit.  You will leave your suit on for the remainder
of the day after this point.
5.  Glue.  I  used a product called Bikini Bite. I purchased it from Bodybuilding.com.  Amazon carries it too.  This is important to keep you suit covering  you correctly.  Also know it might hurt  when you finally try to take your suit off at the end of the night.  I also think I finally got the last of the  glue off my fanny about a week later!
6.  Make-up and Hair items for touch ups.
7.  A mirror
8.  Something to wear after finals.  We have a fun team dress that is a black tank dress that says Bombshell in stones down one side.  Be sure to stick with dark colors for the next few days.  Your “tan” will transfer  to your clothes.

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