June 23rd is the new June 16th

It's official, the decision has been made. Instead of starting at the OCB organized Central Eastern Seaboard on June 16, 2012 in Wilmington, DE, I will be competing a week later at the Philadelphia Championships in Swarthmore, PA.
This competition is sponsored by the National Physique Committee (NPC), one of the premier amateur physique organization in the world. The NPC was founded in 1982 and many top athletes in bodybuilding, fitness, figure, bikini and physique have started their careers in the it or used it as a stepping stone to move on to the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) Professional League.

After a lot of thinking and consulting with my coach Jack, we came to the conclusion that multiple reasons favor the Philadelphia show date and that the event should be a better first time show for me. 

First and foremost, the actual show date of June 23rd much better accommodates my busy work schedule. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I have to fly out to Las Vegas, NV in June and this business trip falls right into the week leading into the Central Eastern Seaboard show. I am worried that all my hard work will go to waste if I have such a distraction and major stress in a week where I will drop my carb intake completely and drastically reduce my water, as well as sodium intake. An additional week should give my body enough time to rest and recover from the exertions of traveling across country.

Second, I was already kind of looking ahead and thinking about competing in the Delaware State/Delaware Open Championships on August 11th, as well. Since this show is also organized by the NPC, it makes more sense to just do two shows within the same organization, instead of doing two shows with different ones and paying two quite pricy membership fees. 

Third, after looking closer at last year's OCB event, the competitors and their body types, I feel that with my body size and composition I would not really meet the criteria by which OCB competitors are judged.
Being 6'8" tall I have already naturally a slight disadvantage compared to other shorter bodybuilders in terms of proportion and width but think I that I will feel more comfortable, with my the mass and frame, to compete within the NPC.

Since the "new" show date is only seven days after the initially planned event, I will just continue with my preparation the way I have been. The only downside is that I will have to wait an additional week before I can finally "eat" again.

For all my friends who want to support me at my very first bodybuilding show, here are the exact dates and times:

Philadelphia Championships
When: Saturday June 23, 2012
Where: Players Club of Swarthmore, 614 Fairview Rd Swarthmore PA 19081. 
Prejudging begins at noon and the finals are scheduled for 6pm. 

Your support would be greatly appreciated!!!

With this "slight change", I am now officially half way through my contest preparation and, as of today, 48 days out of my first competition. Everything is slowly coming together and the results of changes in my diet and work out, as well as increased cardio and posing are finally starting to show. At his morning's weight-in, the scale read exactly 265.0 lbs., a drop of roughly 26 lbs since the beginning of my journey on March 4th. My energy levels and spirit is still up and my stress level is, without the worries of competing right after a stressful trip, way down. June 23rd, here I come!!!

Once you're halfway home, you know that you can probably get the rest of the way there.