I will admit this off-season hasn't been easy for me. It's been hard for me to not have abs and for all my pants to be either really tight or not fitting at all. I knew this would happen though, I knew that if I wanted to build muscle that I would have to eat more, MUCH MORE, and I never thought that eating all that food would be a struggle, but to be honest it has been a huge struggle. Mentally, physically, emotionally, every aspect has been effected and I was not prepared for that even though I thought I was. I have embraced this challenge, there are times when I think I may never be ready to step back on stage and there are times where I know, with out a doubt I will. Building muscle on my upper body has been my biggest struggle and having to take about 8 weeks off from arm exercises after my elbow surgery hasn't helped. I am happy with how far I have come in any aspect. I have been eating clean and I have two cheat meals a week so my gains are very good and I cannot complain about that. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before in my blogs but I am trying to move for bikini to figure. Figure is what I've always wanted and even though I would probably do better to stick with bikini it's not where my heart is. I still have until November until I step on stage and won't start a competition prep until August so I've still got 4 good months left in this off-season and that will also give me more time to build the muscle I will need. I know this will be a long journey but I am ready to take it. I may have to go through several off-seasons to finally have enough muscle to really be competitive with the other girls but I will keep moving forward and doing my best. This change from bikini to figure and competition prep to off-season has been harder than I ever imagined but I am also grateful for the experience and it has given me a chance to learn more about myself and what I am capable of. CHANGE IS GOOD ;)