If you’re prepared to doubt me, prepare to be wrong. . (This one’s a reader) Many of you may know this already, but just over one year ago I decided I wanted to compete in a bodybuilding show. No particular reason; just felt the urge within me to hunker down and see what I was really made of. Spent the better half of the year eating like a monster and getting way too big, and then took 20 weeks to follow an extreme diet and get down to around 10% body fat, maybe less. Weighed about 194 at my heaviest (see last photo) and the scale read 158.4 on show day this past weekend, August 10th. The amount of change I’ve been through in this past year cannot be expressed in words. Those who know me closely know just how true that really is. I’ve learned so much and came out stronger after all the pain I experienced. Hours and hours of cardio, allotting 3 to 4 hours daily to the sport at certain points, tracking macronutrients, steps, sleep, stress management, posing, balancing social life, mental health(!!!), everything comes into play when you’re fine tuning your body like you never have before. It’s discipline. This was my first show and it wasn’t perfect; I cheated on the diet more times than I can count and had a lot of bumps along the way. But you know what? I fucking did it. One year ago I told myself I didn’t care how I placed: I just wanted to come in knowing that I put in the work and looked as best I could, and I did that. I made myself prouder than I ever thought I could. I have a whole new perspective on what life could be, and I have so much more to go. One thing’s for sure: I was built to perform, and that will never stop being true. I need to give a special thank you to @danny.4nier for coming with me on the journey to the show and supporting me 100%. He seriously was my rock for those last few days and I can’t thank him enough. Also to my coach @darin_starr who I partnered with for the final 10 weeks of my diet. I couldn’t have done it without him, no way. I’m going to do great things in this life I was gifted, so I look forward to seeing you there. You’ll be hearing from me. Much Love, Always. Hoopes