Congrats Hrpiii! Awesome job
And Bonnie, good luck on your training. Have you ever done a figure competition before? I trained for one 2 years ago at the age of 39. I almost made it but rehurt my lower back and had to pull out. I had back surgery 6 years ago for a herniated disk that still gives me fits if I over do it.
I see where you are about to start the "diet". I found the dieting is the toughest part. It sucks beyond belief! I don't know if you have kids (I have 3) but it sure makes it tougher not to eat all the crap when you are having to make them and your spouse their favorite foods and you are stuck eating clean foods such as chicken breast, fish, broccoli, rice and oatmeal all the time. Fridays was my cheat day. I allowed myself one bad thing and it was usually a small pizza with veggies! lol. The one thing I really got tired of was eating every 2 to 2.5 hours a day. It seems like and I did was eat and drink water. Blah!
I just started back to the gym last week and started my "diet". Are you using a personal trainer? I had hired one at our local gym. He was a bodybuilder who was trying to get his pro card. I got a lot of tips from him and he helped my diet a lot plus he trained me really hard. We did a lot of plyometrics for my legs because I couldn't do heavy squats.
Anyways, good luck. Keep us informed on your progress!