NPC Bikini Contest 2015 Recap

Weekends sure seem to be flying by these days.  I spent this last one in Atlanta with lots of blogging friends at the Haven blog conference.  I can sincerely tell you that the women of Haven are so genuine and fun to be around.  I’m so glad I went and I encourage any of you thinking about going next year to for sure go!
If you’ve been following my blog for the last three months, you know I was preparing for my second NPC bikini contest.  I competed for the first time last July and I got the itch to do it again mostly because I needed to get back in shape after falling off the wagon after my first competition.  I had a harder time sticking strictly to my diet this time (I’d say I did 90%, but I had dessert cheats along the way that I shouldn’t have had).  And that’s the thing about a contest like this, when you get there for the day of the show, you can surely tell who cheated and who didn’t.  Or maybe whose been training longer because their bodies are just crazy good.  The competition in Houston was fierce this year with so many phenomenal competitors.  But, committing to competing in a bikini contest also caused me to train harder and eat better than I would have if I didn’t have the contest looming.  That’s the real reason I competed, because the contest day has never been my favorite part.

2015 BIKINI CONTEST RECAP

This year, I placed 9th in the Bikini Novice division and 13th in the Bikini Masters division (ages 35-44).  I’m proud of what I accomplished and definitely feel like the women who placed above me deserved it.  I’m not crazy about my stage pictures, but I figured you might want to see them.   It’s wild how nervous you can be with only a few seconds on stage, but this audience was really big and intimidating.  I wish I was smiling more in the photos.  My coach, John Sherman, even texted me later and said I needed to smile more at the night show, which I did. My cousin (a fellow competitor) gave me a tip to start smiling right before going on stage and then placing your tongue against the back of your two front teeth/roof of your mouth to hold your smile in place.  It worked later!

 

BIKINI

I loved my red suit that I got from Angel Competition Bikinis.  I thought they did a great job and I liked the dangly rhinestone side connectors.  I ordered completely online, so I just sent my measurements in and they custom made the suit. I was nervous about the fit, but it ended up fitting perfectly!

TRAINING

I trained for 12 weeks and took weekly progress photos along the way.  I started at about 25% body fat and got down to about 18% when I competed.  Ideally, I would’ve gotten down to 15%, but that would have taken me another month probably.

TANNING

Friday before the contest, my friend Jessica (who was also competing) did my spray tan (2 coats in the morning and a third that night).  She happens to own a spray tanning company Beautifully Bronzed, so that worked out perfectly.  We rinsed off in between the 2nd and 3rd coats and I also rinsed on Saturday morning, but in retrospect, we shouldn’t have.  It’s better to be ridiculously dark (like embarrassed to be seen in public) in person to look like a great tan on stage because those stage lights are so bright they wash you out and you look so much better darker- it shows your muscles and definition better.  This picture below is after the first two coats on Friday morning.
I can tell you that two coats of spray tan is sticky and takes forever to dry!  It starts rubbing off on everything and is really hard to keep even throughout your body.  And, the next day especially you start to stink.  It’s one of the icky things about competing.  Then, it takes forever to wash off.  About a week and during that week you look all splotchy until it comes off completely.

SHOW DAY

The actual day of the contest was the longest day.  I rode with Jessica and we had to be there by 8:30 a.m.  I packed everything I needed to do my hair and makeup, including a small stand up vanity mirror, warm jacket (it was freezing in there), bottled water, an apple, my bikini and heels.
To save money, I did my own hair and make-up this time and I just did it at the auditorium while we waited.  I ended up deciding to curl my hair at the last minute to give it more body.
There’s a lot of waiting around at a contest like this while the other competitors are on stage and they always put the bikini division last.  I’m so thankful that several friends came to support me.  I know it’s not the most entertaining thing waiting around, but I think they had some fun watching the physique guys on stage.
Backstage is full of nervous/excited competitors getting final coats of spray tan/glaze and the guys are doing push-ups and the girls are practicing their posing and touching up hair and make up.  It’s really crazy back there.

 

We ended up going on stage at about 2:00 and were done by 3:30.  Jessica did so well and looked absolutely gorgeous.  She place 11th in both Bikini Novice and Bikini Open.
Then, we had to be back at 5:30 for the night show, which lasted until about 10:30 p.m.  Talk about a long day!  I was just so ready to be over it by the time it ended!  Of course I had my little good luck charm with me and he was the sweetest. He’s actually giving me a kiss in the picture below. 🙂  My hubby was a trooper too, hanging with us all day.  He bought the celebratory pint of Haagen Dazs Carmel Cone ice cream I’d been dreaming about!
Thank YOU SO VERY MUCH for sticking with me throughout these last 3 months as I prepared and shared my fitness journey with you.  Reading your encouraging and supportive comments here and on my Instagram have given me that extra boost of confidence I needed when I was feeling insecure.  I appreciate you so much!

MORE BIKINI PREP POSTS

If you missed some of my Bikini Prep Posts, you can get caught up here:

 

And check out my FITNESS tab for all health & fitness related posts.
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keep in touch! 

 

 

 

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

45 Comments

  1. Completing this task in itself is amazing to to place 9th and 15th WONDERFUL! Great job! I hope you are so proud of yourself. I have been toying with the idea of competing but I want to finish my marathon training first. Congratulations again!

    1. 9th and 13th! Ha! 😉 thank you so much! If you end up competing, please let me know! I would love to hear how it goes for you. Best of luck with your marathon! That's serious commitment!

  2. Congratulations to you! I have been following and I know how tough prep can be for not only you, but for family. You did great and looked great!!! Thank you for sharing your journey!

    1. I definitely have to give credit to my family for sticking me through without this whole process! That's why I said I would not compete in the summer again because it messed with planning a family vacation. Thank you for the compliment!

  3. Congrats on reaching your personal goal! I don't know that I would ever have the courage to step on stage and have strangers judge me based on looks alone – bravo to you!! Your drive, preparation, and perseverance are a great testimonial to teaching children through example. Hope you enjoyed a nice glass of wine to celebrate! 🙂
    – Amanda @ life on linton

  4. Great job! You look great and it's a fantastic achievement to have the guts to get up there in the first place, regardless of how you place. Not to mention the discipline you need to get there! Sorry I missed you at Haven – I would have loved to have met you. It was a whirlwind!

  5. Awesome job!!! Congrats, it takes a lot of courage to get out there and compete. You looked fantastic and it's been really interesting to learn more about the prep process. I love to work out and a competition has always been in the back of my mind but I'm just not sure I have the time or dedication to see it through. I commend you. Take care!

    1. I say if you're interested in it, get with the trainer or coach and just talk about it and get more information. You will love getting in such great shape. And it happens in a relatively short period of time. We are all capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for! Thank you so much for following along on this journey of mine.

  6. Megan, you look amazing! The red bikini was such a great choice because it looks like not many others had the same color. Honestly, more women would want to look like you than the ones who likely placed higher than you. You look lean, toned, and strong without looking bulky and beefy. 🙂 Fantastic job! Thank you for sharing your successes!

    1. Oh no! You didn't see the winners! Maybe I can find some photos – they looked really clean but still feminine and gorgeous! But I still appreciate that! So sweet!

  7. OMG that red bikini is gorgeous! You looked beautiful. Congratulations, from your pics there looked to be a lot of competitors. After 12 weeks of training your hubs gave you the best prize with the ice cream (hate to say that but I know it tasted so good).

  8. Again, you did this for YOU Megan and you only. I think your goal of getting back in shape after straying from your routine after the last competition was definitely accomplished and that is all that matters. In the world of competitive sports and such, there are always winners and losers, some finish where they hoped and some do not. But, it is how you personally feel after that matters most, not the place as I had mentioned before. While the bikini thing is not for me personally, goal setting and achieving them is, and I applaud you for that!!! I also applaud you for sharing honestly along the way about your struggles as we ALL struggle keeping on task when it comes to achieving things we strive for. We learn a lot about ourselves in these types of environments. On a side note…give sweet James a big hug from me…cannot believe he will start Kindergarten soon!!!!! And gah…my BABY will be in grad school in less than a month!!!!

  9. Congratulations on sticking it out! I followed along on Instagram and checked out your contest photos online. From a sport perspective, I think you were better prepared last year-the diet was better, the tan was darker, suit color was better and when you had the stage make up on, you looked more professional. This year, it seemed like there were more rookie mistakes (too smooth, tan too light, bikini color, no stage makeup, posing). Respectfully, I think you need to get another trainer. He should have corrected your diet early on; dieting is hard work not to get the results you deserve. I think if you want to do this again, I’d take a year off and work on your symmetry in the off season and try again in a year. Once the symmetry is improved, then start early and work on your posing, videotape it and keep working on it some more until it’s second nature. Take a ton of pictures so you can see how your body looks at different angles. Some of the contest photos weren’t very flattering and I think it’s just a matter of learning how to stand and pose better and better posture. Outside from the competition, there really aren’t any losers in a bikini contest. You still got in great shape and you look really good.

    1. Thanks for your feedback. I don't plan on competing again, but your input is still valuable. In retrospect, I would definitely have hired a posing coach but I chose not to AND I definitely didn't practice enough in the weeks leading up to the show. That element is really important. I agree the tan wasn't dark enough, but I liked my makeup better this time and the suit too. My trainer wrote me a great meal plan, but I deviated from it, so I can't blame him for that. I agree about would highly recommend to any other competitors to videotape their posing routine. You can't really know what you look like on stage without that. Thanks so much for following along and your leaving your feedback. Have a great day girlie! 🙂

    2. You too! It's such a competitive sport and nerve wracking as well. Just seeing the audience would be enough to make me forget all the poses, lol.

  10. You should be so proud of yourself! Most of us (me included) could never do something like that, and it's so admirable that you can 🙂 Would love to go to Haven some time. We planned our family vacation before I started blogging, so it just didn't work this year. Fingers crossed for next year!

  11. Congratulations. What an accomplishment. Years ago, my roommate at the time, competed and she would call me on her way home and say "hide the peanut butter! My trainer says I've been eating too much but I'm really struggling today!" it takes serious determination to stick with a diet and exercise plan like that. You should be proud!

  12. Megan, you should be super proud of yourself. You look great! In a few years when you look at your photos again I think you will appreciate even more all that you accomplished. You are smart, talented, genuinely sweet and beautiful, the whole package.

  13. First off- YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!! I know we can all be our own worst critic, but truly, you look incredible! And to think what you accomplished in 12 weeks!!! Beautiful!!
    Second- the red looks drop dead gorgeous on you! And I love that you paired it with a red lipstick!!! Classy, yet so different and unique compared to competitors I've seen. I absolutely LOVE it!

    You did such a great job and I know we are all so proud of you! What an accomplishment!

  14. Congratulations! You did it! I agree with you about the stage being the least favorite part of the whole experience. I loved the whole journey of seeing how far I could push my body and committing to the show is what pushed me to do that so I always felt pressured to follow through and get on stage. It was always minutes before my name was to be called that I would think, "Why they heck am I doing this? I HATE this part!" And, like you, after two shows I was done (I think – ha!). I am so proud of YOU and happy for YOU! I love that red suit too!

  15. Megan you look AMAZING!! Congrats on all of your hard work and dedication. You are such an inspiration! Still on a high from hanging with you last weekend! xo

  16. You have an amazing page! I really loved watching your journey! I am about to get on stage this year for the first time! I found this really great company thts sells such beautiful jewelry nest time you compete you should check them out for your competition. jewelry and shoes!

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