CRAIG PRODUCTIONS LLC

I am always amazed when I do a competition and talk to other mother competitors backstage. It is truly a remarkable thing for a woman, a mom, to take her body through a pregnancy, watch her belly grow larger than she ever thought possible and then taking it to the level necessary to step on stage. I am always inspired by the women I meet at a contest who juggle the mom-competitor lifestyle. It is a level of commitment and dedication that not many possess.

I was standing in the audience at the Emerald Cup watching one of the figure masters classes on stage when I heard a guy standing behind me say..."I just don't get it. Why would a woman with 3 kids want to get up there in next-to-nothing? It's just stupid." Yeah, you bet it took every ounce of restraint I had not to turn around and give the guy a piece of my mind...and a taste of my fist. (and he was a little guy too...I totally coulda taken him down) I'm going to go ahead and take the liberty of speaking on behalf of my fellow mom-competitors on this issue: we don't do it for YOU, we do it for ourselves. We do it to challenge ourselves, to take ourselves to new levels. Getting up on stage is not about "hey, look at me, aren't I hot?" It's more like "I did this, I did this for myself, I took myself from a huge whale with an 8lb baby inside of me (or two), built some nice muscle and got leaner than I ever thought possible."

So to the little man in the wings...she did that because she is determined, disciplined, committed, driven and passionate. Can you say the same for yourself? ;)

So, to all my fellow mom-competitors, you are AMAZING!!! You inspire me, you make me want to be better and do better. For that, I thank you. I wish you all a wonderful Mother's Day!

Also, as the Emerald Cup has come and gone, my posting here has become less frequent as it has for all of us bloggers. I still plan to blog here about once a week, but if you want to keep up with me you can follow me on my personal blog at http://www.iriefitgirl.blogspot.com/ I write to my blog almost daily...it's a very real (yes, even more real than this blog) glimpse into my life. :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, LADIES!!!

~Julie~

Fearless, with cape in hand

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