Competition Diet: The Real Challenge

Whatever competition that you are getting ready for always gets more intense as the big day approaches. You have to step up your training and if it involves stage time you have to tighten and fine tune the diet and your physique. For me the training is the easy part except for the aches and pains that seem to be more frequent and more intense every year. The Diet is the hard part for me. My husband (Scott) is a Dentist and I wish that he could just pull my sweet tooth and i would be good to go. This is my 27th year competing. So far I have done bodybuilding, figure, back to bodybuilding and this year for the first time Physique. My hubby never once falters on the diet. He is 100% on the money. I have no idea how he does it. I on the other hand, am constantly wanting to put bread sticks up my nose just so that I can smell them all day. I work as an Anesthesiologist and I do wear a mask so I probably could do it and no one would be the wiser. They might however wonder why the satisfied look in my eyes. The other thing that I have caught myself doing is actually licking the bread at restaurants. Just pressing it on my tongue long enough to taste it and then discarding it. I'm afraid that I corrupted Scott on this one. If and when I do stray from the diet I end up doing countless hours on the stair master or elliptical to make up for it in my own mind. We, the competitors (and I know that I am not alone) are driven by the goal and unforgiving to ourselves when we falter. I am wanting to get some T-shirts made that range from week to week during contest prep. For example - 7 weeks out-still approachable / 3 weeks out - don't even think about it / 1 week out-Be afraid, be VERY afraid! I think these might be helpful to the people around us. I have about 9 more pounds to lose before the competition so now it is crunch time. I will have to stop licking the bread and just suck it up. I am, for all you people who see me on a regular basis, 7 weeks out and still approachable!