Cassie's 2010 Contest Prep Journal

[Bonnie]

I think accomplishing what u have so far is fantastic & the show with your friend will be awesome, because u two will be sharing the experience.Glad u r back home & rested, you are a wise beyond your years to have figured all this out & it sounds great.Welcome back

[ironwill]

Welcome back Cassie.....I was going to write a long paragraph, as I analyze your entry ( brain does that for some reason) but I'll keep it simple. Welcome back, you certainly have proved, without a doubt, that you have the willpower to overcome anything, and that you can whip your body into submission. Be proud of what you've done, we are all proud of you, and you are an inspiration, and have so much helpful advice, and are always answering posts, and helping people. It's great to reflect on what you have come through, and learn from it, its all part of growing, and your doing a fantastic job. Keep your chin up, and be proud.....and always remember to have a little fun.....life is short, and the good Lord wants us to enjoy life.


YAY CASSIE!!!! Great job, We're proud of you

[Nokie173]

Thanks for the update. I won’t make this post long as well, so short it will be. You have done and sacrifice so much to do what you do. Heck someone like me can only awe your willpower. Just that alone you’ve accomplished so much and yes, it’s ok to take a break and enjoy your life… we all deserve to enjoy life and do the things we love. We are so proud of you Cassie…. Big bear hugs!!!!!

[skully]

Congrats Cassie. You've worked so hard. From human to human, please have a cake soon. From exercise partner to another, don't eat a whole cake or half a cake as I did.

I think what you're doing is great and a great example for other people, but sometimes you need to just have a break from it all, no matter how important it is for you.

[Boss Man]

Firstly, what you do around here is beyond measure. I refuse to let you think, that you have to give "x" amount of time to ths site. You're not here for that, you're here because you want to be. You are NOT anyones to expect the time from. Shapefit doesn't own a part of you when you become a Moderator and you are not here to be anyones PA. You encourage, reach out to and offer private assistance to those, you chose to do that for, same as I do and anyone here does.

You will ALWAYS be incredibly appreciated and cared about, regards everything you do here. Your ability to be all that you are here, is about quality, not quantity and about how what you do, fits into your life and makes you feel.

If I thought for one moment you were proritising this site sometimes ahead of other things, or agreeing to personally assist people publicly or privately, at the potential detriment to your own needs, I'd personally chew you a new one, because I will not have you reproaching yourself, for how much you have been and think you should have been on here.

We are all a community and all as equal and as valid as each other. Those of us that have been around for a long or a bit of time, do not demand of others, nor expect in certain circumstances, others to be there for them, or have the right answer.

The day I see people assuming some kind of pecking order, based on rank or knowledge others don't possess, I will politely tell that person we don't do that here and if that doesn't please them, then there's always leaving as an option. We don't force people to stay or post to any extent. We only ask of people that they follow a few sensible rules, for the good of all, not impose pissy ones or loads of rules and regs, that make people feel hindered, repressed or uncomfortable.

So don't you EVER talk about yourself, as if you're letting people down, because you have NEVER done that. You're human, so occasionally something may happen you meant to do, or didn't do that should have been done, same with me and everyone here.

All you have done since you came here, is behave in an incredibly beautiful way, to practically everyone, that showed us and you, humility, respect and above all that they understand what we are doing and want here and are 100% for it.

You are what you are in a natural way, so don't force it okay, don't make it something that takes away, just something that allows you to give, without costing yourself emotionally, as you're not someone that wears a mask, or lives a facade on here, to hide the tears of a clown, or the mind of a tormented person.

Yes in your past you did have a few issues privately, which you have told us about, but emotionally and mentally you're in the best place a lot and with a decent life, so for goodness sake, be you for YOU, not for us, because us, this and everything about it, is not right now going to disspear, nor hopefully shall it ever dissapear and we / it will be here for you as much as you are for us / it.

As for your admissions, I completely understand. I would be delighted to see you one day be a pro, the way you have always said you want to be, but it wouldn't matter that much to me, if you turned round in a year from now and said I'm not doing it again. I hope you don't do that, but whatever happens, whenever it happens, you have proven yourself to be a wonderful athlete, rolemodel and inspiration about how to be Human, how to be a Lady and how to be what is right for society and others. Your qualities and all the different types of beautiful you are, remain as precious now as they were the first time you posted.

We will never stop giving back to you, unless you stop giving to us and walk away. We will be here for you like you are with us. You're not just a moderator, a part of a small, capable unit, but you're a friend of the people. You're friend and I am so MASSIVELY PROUD OF YOU all the time Cassie and I never want to see you talking, as if you let people down and in some way have inexcusable flaws and are not all you may seem.

You're everything you are because it's naturally done and because you've worked hard to be you, throughout some difficult life stuff, but you're here now, smiling, and living some dreams, goals and knowing you have achievements nobody can take away from you, athletically, intellectually, emotionally and mentally.

So I'm sending you a BIG HUG, to reiterate everything I think about you. I am proud of your involvement here, proud to have reccomended you for added privileges and proud of all you have achieved and are.

Don't be you out of duty, or to please others, do it because it's natural, do everything you do because it feels right, because you want to do it and don't compromise unless you have no choice. Sometimes life is like that, but don't do it in situations where you have a choice.

We don't want you to be anything but naturally yourself. We think so much of you for it, and admire and appreciate it that way, because it's the best thing that you are.

GOOD LUCK with everything coming up. You CAN one day be not just a winner, but a champion, I have nor never will doubt it, but I won't be concerned when the day comes you say enough is enough, whenever that is, (hopefully not too soon ).

WELL DONE on what yo did at the weekend. Wherever you placed doesn't matter, you're still that winner, rolemodel and inspiration you were before and they're just a few of things that make think the very, very best of you .

[lareinamae]

Isn't she incredible!!? I just LOVE Cassie. She is and always be the little sister I look up to.

"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character." ~T. Alan Armstrong

[cassiegose]

Thank you all for your kind words.

Bossman....

I don't want you to think that I feel like I [i]have[/i] to be spending a certain amount of time on this site everyday. That isn't the case at all. I guess what I was saying is that as I think about things and consider what's most important to me I'm realizing that helping people to achieve their goals might be more important to me than getting up on stage and competing. As I look back at original reasons for wanting to compete primary reason was to change body, and I wanted to change body because I wanted to inspire people and I wanted to inspire people because I wanted to help them change their lives through health and fitness. I decided to do the show to give me a goal to work towards but ulitimately its always been about helping others. One year ago yesterday I looked in the mirror and realized that I didn't like what I saw. I realized that I had been walking around giving advice to people about how to change their bodies and somewhere along the way I had neglected to take care of own. I also realized that people weren't going to take advice very seriously and weren't going to be overly eager to let me help them if I didn't even look like I was taking care of myself. So I set out to change body and now when I look in the mirror I'm proud of the changes that I've made and I feel like hard work has paid off and I'm SO SO proud to be able to call myself a "bodybuilder" as I've found that not everybody has what it takes to make the sacrifices necessary to be able to truly call themselves a "bodybuilder".

So yes, I do realize that nobody expects me to be on this site a certain amount of time each day but the point is that I [i]WANT[/i] to be here. I want to help people and I want to show people the way to a healthier lifestyle. I've never once logged on to this site because I felt like it was something that I had to do, its always a choice and something that I'm happy to do. With the bodybuilding, its beginning to feel more like a chore than a hobby. I do realize that its also a choice that I'm making, its something that I'm [i]choosing[/i] to do.. However the day of the show as i was sitting around starving and dehydrated I just kept asking myself "What is the point of this?" "How is this helping anybody" "How am I bettering the world by getting up on stage in a bikini and being judged on physique?" To be honest since the show I've had the same reacurring question running through mind "What is the point?" A few weeks ago I started helping coworker's friend with her diet. In the past couple of weeks this lady has lost 12 lbs!!! I can't even begin to describe how proud and happy it made me when I found out that shes lost 12 pounds so far! Honestly, hearing about her weight loss gave me WAYYYY more pleasure than getting up on stage for this last show. I'm beginning to realize that this isn't so much about me going around flauting body... yeah I work hard and its nice to have something to show for hard work, however to me its more about helping others so that they too can feel what its like to be healthy, energetic, and happy. I've been so wrapped up on the grueling training and dieting that honestly I feel like I kind of started to forget why I even work out in the first place. For the past few months most of workouts have been a struggle, it has been more about me going to the gym to put in the time than anything. I realized on Monday after taking a few days off and getting a decent amount of calories in system how much I miss working out when I'm well rested and energized! workouts this week have been AWESOME and I'm finally enjoying time in the gym again. Reflecting back on the past few months I also realize that I've been so wrapped up on training and dieting that I've lost site of why I'm doing this in the first place. passion is helping others to become healthier, yet i've been so wrapped up in diet and training that I haven't had the time or energy to help others along the way. Again, whats the point in taking the time and energy to study and learn this stuff if I can't share it with others and help them to better their lives?

I hope this all makes sense... I feel like I'm rambling a bit here. But to clarify, I'm here because I want to be here. It makes heart so happy to see everybody working to better themselves through health and fitness!

*hugs*

Cassie

[Boss Man]

Of course I understand completely and will ALWAYS respect your reasons and attitude to things, so no worries at all .

[cassiegose]

Of course I understand completely and will ALWAYS respect your reasons and attitude to things, so no worries at all .

Thanks pal.

[cassiegose]

who's there?

[Nokie173]

YAY.... Cassie is back!!!!
I hope you are doing well... MISS YOU!!!!!

[cassiegose]

Ok ok I'm back.

Sorry I've been away for a while. Needed to take a little breather and attempt to regain focus.

The past few weeks have been rough. I'm still dieting and training butt off but heart just isn't in it about 50% of the time. Luckily having been on the diet for over a year now I'm so used to eating the same things day in and day out that I've pretty much put myself on auto-pilot and have been sticking to the diet for the most part (did have one day where I allowed myself a cheat meal).

As of now I believe I'm about 11-12% . I'm leaner than I've ever been and still have a good 2 and a half weeks until next show (I'll post updated pics tonight if I have time).

I suppose thats all I know today. I hope all is well with EVERYBODY!

Cassie

[cassiegose]

YAY.... Cassie is back!!!!
I hope you are doing well... MISS YOU!!!!!

Yeah I'm back.

Was having some motivation issues there for a while and got to the point where I just needed to take a break and focus on myself for a while. I'm baaaack and all is well here!

How are you doing Nokie?

[Nokie173]

How are you doing Nokie?

I’m getting better. I lost some motivation too… But I know it’s for the long run and I’m doing all this for myself & health.

I was a bit worried because I haven’t heard from you. I was going to send you hundreds of messages…. Just Kidding!!!! I wanted to lend you an ear if you needed one but I didn’t have your number. But than again… you might need some alone time while I’ll just be a bug-a-boo…. But Im happy to know you’re good. Just let me know if you ever need an ear? In 2 weeks... I’ll have all the time in the world… JK...

[fitoverforty]

Hi Cassie! I'm glad you took some time for yourself, you deserved some "me" time.
Glad to see you are feeling better and all is well!

11 - 12% BF!! That is incredible!! Can't wait to see your new pics.