by Beth Adair

Ever take on a fun new project, & later wonder if you just bit off more than you can chew? I’m no novice to plunging in “headfirst” to new projects, but today I did get a tad uneasy with walking in and taking my first posing class.

My latest project on the “front burner” is my fall bikini model contest. Today I signed up with a posing coach, Steve Mousharbash who runs TeamFlawlessPhysique.com.

I have the training started, as when the gyms were back open, I got back to a weight room. I have been consulting once a week with my trainer, Lyn Lichty, for a few weeks now, and doing other training on my own.   It’s “time to get serious” & start addressing other aspects of the contest. After chatting with a few competitors up in New Jersey, I realized I needed to get some help with learning how to pose.

Learning how to pose isn’t easy. Boy is that an understatement. Today we spent an hour going over a few moves for foot, arm and hand placement. We slightly touched on stage walking, but Steve emphasized other posing first, and we’ll fool with learning the other parts later. Once I’ve mastered this, I’ll move to the whole set of movements. All the while I was there, a sweet girl, Britni, would take a few pictures and a video for me to use to practice.

I’m not in contest shape as of yet, but motivated to work harder and it’s time to “clean it up” with my diet.  I’ve been running “half throttle”, but I’m less intimidated after today. On Sunday, I’ll be 16 weeks out, and better prepared.  I’ll spend Saturday morning doing food prep. I only need to cut 5-6 lbs..  Once I’m better at posing, I’ll share a video.  Today’s photo is a flash screen from the video, & I’m over to the side, while Steve demonstrated.  We blamed my 6 lb. overage on “covid”, as it just seemed appropriate.  This of course, brought a lot of laughs.

Funnest part to the meeting today was that Steve had met Paul Buceta. I had worked with Paul up in Canada and realizing how small the fitness world is, Steve, Britni and I all chatted on NPC, World’s and IFBB. We had a lot of laughs. They had the same enthusiasm as Paul and his wife, Kim.

I hope all of your projects are fun, and if you take on a huge one, sometimes diving in “headfirst” is best. The unknown can be less fearful the sooner you delve into where your weaknesses lie. It’s like running your first marathon in a race known for hills or strong winds, getting your class syllabus, or taking a new job and not fully understanding all of the duties.  You’ll still be getting through each day with resilience and resolving to make each day better than the last.

My new project will be a fun focus for 4 months. Make each one of yours fun, too.

@bethadair13 Insta & Twitter