Why I wouldn’t compete again

Before I had my son I took part in 3 bodybuilding competitions in one year.

I don’t know how on earth my partner put up with it to be honest as it literally takes over your life but I’m glad I did it, I’m a strong believer in everything happening for a reason and it certainly taught me a lot.

Bodybuilding is hard, bodybuilding with Type 1 Diabetes is even harder and I probably put my body under a lot of unnecessary stress.

There are many reasons why I would never compete again but this is some of them.

I thought it would bring me –

Confidence

Body confidence

Self love

Sense of achievement

But what it actually brought me was –

Exhaustion, both mentally and physically

Some level of body dysmorphia

Disordered eating

Overall, an ongoing unhealthy relationship with both food and my body for quite some time.

It wasn’t all negative, I was right in thinking it would give me a sense of achievement as it really did.

It taught me how dedicated I could be to something if I really put my mind to it. It taught me that, although at times I swear I had none, when it came down to it, I had massive amounts of willpower when it came to food.

It showed me that despite my Diabetes I could push my body to achieve physical things just as people without diabetes could.

I put pictures on social media and received messages from others with Type 1 Diabetes saying I had inspired them and that was the most amazing feeling.

Just don’t believe everything you see, I feel slightly guilty for posting the images of me standing on stage, promoting ‘health and fitness’ as in all honesty when you learn the process you put your body through to get ‘stage ready’ there is nothing ‘healthy’ about it at all.

So like I said, I’m glad I competed, it taught me a lot but I wouldn’t do it again.

Whatever you want to achieve just always put your health, both physical and mental, first, it really is the most important thing.