Celebrate Short Term Victories

The New Year has come and gone and I hope you are off to a great start, motivated with plans in action. I am preparing for my 11th year of competing at the professional level. Less than 2 weeks away from the Flex Pro on 18 Feb in Santa Monica, which will be debuting Pro Fitness. I am normally not a fan of competing before the Ms. Fitness International (Arnold Classic). I always enjoy the holidays and give my body the much needed rest it deserves after competing in the Fitness Olympia. So, preparing for the Fitness International right after and sometimes during the holidays is not always easy. The Flex Pro is 2 weeks before the Ms. Fitness International so it tends to be a more difficult prep with less time and often more body fat to get rid of.

Speaking of fat ... when I looked in the mirror to assess my physique and where it was at after the New Year, I acknowledged and proclaimed that I loved my body. I love my body but hate the fat. lol~! I said this to remind myself not to associate negative feelings to myself, my body and my temple, but to attack the fat that I planned to lose over the next 6-8 weeks. It was important to me to maintain a positive self image as I pursued my fitness goals to get my body back into supreme athletic shape and attain that lean mean physique. I knew the work it was going to take would be hard enough; the last thing I needed was negative self talk. I operate better when I am positive, confident and motivated. Like I said, going to war with the fat just makes me feel like a fighter. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13) so losing some body fat so that I can stand on stage and represent an impressive physique is just another opportunity to excel and showcase the blessings of having the strength of my Lord and Savior in my life.

So the first few weeks are always humbling. I train a group of women for fitness, figure and bikini competitions (Save Fitness Team) and I am blessed to see their hard work and dedication on a daily basis. I also can empathize with their training because I often put myself through the same workouts. Several weeks I did my 300 Plyometrics workout (which means that I did 300 reps of plyos in 21min) and felt nauseous. I thought I was going to throw up, and I was right (Right outside my car in the parking lot) Super gross, but I felt much better afterwards, even though I wasted a good serving of Myofusion protein! I certainly pushed myself but it was also a humble indication that I was not in my optimal shape (athletically or aesthetically). I remind myself how important is set short term goals so that I do not get discouraged or frustrated with where I am at but focus on where I am going.

In the last 8 weeks of prep, I have had fun training and eating clean. I have stayed positive about my transformation and enjoyed the process and celebrated short term victories along the way. Stay encouraged my friends as you pursue your fitness goals and be inspired to a better you! And give yourself reasonable time to journey through that transformation!

Blessings,

Tanji Johnson
Arnold Classic Europe Champion
Founder, Save Fitness Team
www.facebook.com/pages/Tanji-Johnson-6x-IFBB-Fitness-Champion
www.tanjijohnson.com
www.savefitness.net