First and foremost you need to be your number one priority. For all of us with kids and a spouse, that will be the toughest challenge yet. The guilt will eat you alive. The thing you need to remember is ultimately this will only benefit them. They will learn dedication, organization and determination.
This is a journey of self discovery, you'll figure out very quickly what your truly made of. You will learn how to deal with life's curve balls in a positive fashion. You will learn how to succeed with all the odds stacked against you.
Second thing you will learn is organization. You need to plan meals, shop ahead and budget not only your finances but your time as well. For example, I work a 9-5 everyday, I get up with my four kids at 4am. We go to Grandmas, where they go back to sleep. I go to the gym, push put anywhere between 25-60 minutes of cardio. Then about an hour of weight training. Then off to work for eight hours. After work I head back to the gym and complete my second session of cardio. I then pick up the kids and get home to make them supper. The days are long and filled with chaos, but that is the will to succeed.
There will be days where you question if all this is worth it. There will be days where you just want to quit, once I describe the end result, that feeling will quickly disappear.
The sacrifices you make are among the biggest you will make. Birthdays, anniversaries, father's day, mother's day, they all get forgotten in the midst of it (sorry for the lack of presents honey!). Ultimately they are getting a hotter, sexier, confident and better you. This has to be about you. Prep yourself for a loss of friends, support, and money. You will gain it all back, only better friends, better support and well the money is still gone.
Get rid of any negative factors now, your success depends on it. Both in and outside the gym. Eat well, train hard and change your thought process. That is contest prep. I will get on to the actual experience in my next blog, and I won't wait so long this time.