Keri Lynn Ford

I look back and recap my journey from start to finish. Over 6 months of training has led to this moment. At the start of my journey back in November of 2011, I couldn't get through one of the workouts without sitting down to prevent myself from puking. I pushed to lift heavy and with power. At one point I was lifting a 50 lb dumbbell for a single-arm row for almost 12 reps. I felt like a machine in the gym. Although I had energy, I didn't look forward to the gym because the workouts were so long and I always felt light headed and nauseous during training, haha. My recovery time sucked. Cardio was about an hour at a moderate intensity. I enjoyed holiday food and drink in moderation. I was at 28% body fat.

This was my video from "off-season" training:

In January, we set our sights on the WBFF (World Beauty Fashion & Fitness) Kansas City Show on May 12, 2012. I was still lifting heavy and fast. I was doing slow, low intensity fat-burning cardio for longer periods of time. I really enjoyed the almonds, filet mignon, bananas, oatmeal and rice cakes in my diet. I was full all the time, eating every 2.5 hours. I was at 22% body fat. 

This was my video from 16 weeks out:

Time was flying by and the May 12th WBFF Kansas City show was coming up FAST. A strict fat loss diet and all of my hard work in the gym would determine if I had dropped enough body fat in order to realistically compete in 12 weeks. During this time I was still lifting hard, focusing more on getting all of my reps out instead of upping the amount of weight within each set. I was doing slow, low intensity fat-burning cardio for longer periods of time, sometimes twice a day. My feet were blistered and I was already sick of tilapia and cucumbers. I was eating every 3 hours or so. I was hungry. My skin broke out in tiny bumps because it was detoxing from my diet. It went away after about a week. I "cheated" on a February ski trip and ate a Clif bar, part of a protein cookie and yogurt-covered pretzels. The highlight of my day was almond butter or oatmeal.

This was my video from 12 weeks out:

Over the next several weeks, my diet changed to a carb and fat rotation that also varied in the amount of calories I was taking in. I enjoyed this diet because it included a lot of eggs, oatmeal, some berries, avocado and beef. I was eating almost 10 meals a day, every hour and a half. I was no longer hungry. I never cheated on my diet. The workouts continually changed. There were more days with sprints and others with high/low interval cardio. My weight training became less heavy, but reps were higher. Exercises were less isolated movements, and more compound, plyometric drills. My feet were still blistered. Epsom salt baths were part of my weekly regimen. I started noticing veins and muscles and definition where it didn't exist previously. And then remember on St. Patrick's Day I had to go to urgent care because I had somehow gotten a rusty metal filing lodged in my eye and it needed to be surgically removed?! I was about 6 weeks away from the stage.

With less than 6 weeks until show, the workouts became mostly plyometric-based with double sessions of cardio: one in the morning and one in the evening (which, for the record, is NOT sustainable and I don't recommend doing it). This was temporary and soon my body began hitting a wall, so workouts were switched up again going for interval cardio: a half hour high intensity, half hour low with GEO plain recovery shake and half hour high again. It broke the long cardio up and I enjoyed this much more than the long, boring power walking cardio that seemed never ending. I had to force myself to the gym some days. I was tired. I was moody. During this time, I also had a cover shoot with Fitness Models James Ellis and Abe Cruz shot by Noel Daganta. One of my biggest "pinch me" moments. No more Splenda or Stevia. No more seasonings on food. I watch "Cupcake Wars", "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" or "Chopped" on the Food Network all the time. I am craving ice cream, pizza, chocolate cake, chicken parmesan and wine. Is it time for show yet?!!!

This was my video from 3 weeks out:

I finally had my final gown fitting last week. I have been driving an almost an hour each way for the fittings. I also received my theme wear costume and the box was as big as half a mattress. I needed to make the overall size smaller and spray paint the gold parts silver. I had to practice walking in it. I added more rhinestones to my theme wear outfit. I've been to Michael's Arts & Crafts four times in the past week. The box was so big that my husband and I had to tie it to the roof of my car just to drive it to UPS, haha! I had my final bikini suit fitting at Passion Fruits Design too. I loved it. For the past two weeks I have been packing. I bought flavored lollipops, gummy peaches, swedish fish and peanut butter. I felt guilty buying these at the store. I hid them in my guest room until we leave. I also flew up to Sacramento last week for a day trip to work on my posing with my friend and mentor, Lindsay Messina.

My lifting workouts have been light, cardio has been cut back to 40 or 50 minutes alternating each day. I have been practicing my walk and my posing every day. Last week I was drinking 1.5 gallons of water. Up until tomorrow I will be drinking just one gallon. Today is my last gym session. I leave tomorrow for Kansas City. At night, I have been whitening my teeth with the 30-minute Crest white strips which is just enough time between my meals. I have many emotions running through me. I am grateful for the support from my family, friends and my GEO sponsor. I am humbled because this sport is HARD and I respect anyone that does it. I am excited to step on stage and be proud of the work I have done. I am stressed making sure everything is packed and details are figured out. And I am proud of how much I have accomplished. Whatever the outcome, I already feel like a champion. My placing does not determine my success. I determine my success.

Today I am 3 days from show:

Thank you to everyone who has shared this journey with me! It hasn't been easy! You can stay tuned with updates during the show for live photo and award coverage on the WBFF Facebook fan page this Saturday. Prelims start at 10:30am (central time). Finals start at 6pm (central time). I will also post updates on my fan page as often as possible.

xo
Keri