I'm back!

[JJFigure]

Well, the WFF Worlds were interesting. I placed 7th - a little disappointing considering I was better conditioned than a couple of the girls who placed ahead of me. I felt pretty bad until a couple of the judges came up to me later and told me I should have placed higher - then I felt better. I felt even better after someone explained the politics behind the WFF events - especially those held in non-English speaking countries. The majority of the judges were from Eastern Block countries or from Germany; the majority of the placings went to Eastern Block or German women. What are you gonna do?

I did learn a lot; European posing is different from US posing - more flexibility in the poses - the judges don't care how much you customize a pose to fit your physique. One of the competitors I met from Scotland (World/European/Universe champion, judge, and head of WFF and NABBA Scotland) helped me re-work some of my poses to fit my longer frame. Most of the women were very petite - I felt like an amazon next to them. I was very surprised how small - both in heigh and size - the women were. They looked much larger on video. They also didn't speak English - at least not well enough to actually converse. There were a few men from Scotland and England we met and spent time with, but no other English speaking women.

I also met an IFBB pro from England who was judging - he liked my physique/conditioning, but told me the other judges preferred the unhealthy level of leanness look - something I'd been trying to avoid. He told me if I wanted to get top 3 placement, I should lose 10 more lbs. - ouch! That'd bring me in around 120 lbs. for my next comp - at a height of 5'10". Like I said - figure in Europe is quite different from figure in the US! At least I have something to shoot for - no one had ever given me a hard number for weight loss before.

Here's the only picture I have so far - I should be getting a few more digital shots soon, and I'll post them when I get them. This is a picture of Mike from Scotland, myself, and Dayo from England. It was taken after being up all night (comp went from 10:00 am Sat morning - 4:00 am Sunday morning), so it's amazing we were still smiling.

http://www.geocities.com/jjfigure//WFFUniverse2002.html

 

[KEL]

Congratulations! You look fabulous!

 

[Puddles]

European posing is different from US posing - more flexibility in the poses - the judges don't care how much you customize a pose to fit your physique

Welcome back home! I can't imagine you 10 lbs. thinner, you look splendid just as you are now. Nice job!

Do you like the freedom of European posing? Is this something you'd like to continue or would you rather stick with the US?

 

[JJFigure]

I definitely like European posing better than US! For example, a front relaxed pose isn't the most attractive pose (for me, at least). Keeping your ankles together isn't a very feminine look; in Europe, you'll never see a woman do a front relaxed with ankles together - instead, they'll hit a front pose that shows off a little feminine curve. For someone my height, this means one leg forward and knee bent inward, to show both a little hip curve as well as separation between the quad and ham. Mike also told me to place both hands on my hips for the front relaxed, to help bring out my shoulders and prevent my legs from looking too long (yes, that can be a negative thing). In the US, I'd never even consider putting my hands on my hips for a front relaxed.

 

[newgirl-chargeback]

Well I think you look absolulely gorgeous. And I am not sure that 10 pounds off whether European judging or not, would be beneficial to your look. You are stunning...period. How could you possibly lose more weigth without sacrificing muscle?

Again you look incredible and are an inspiration.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Well, it's about frigging TIME!! Honey, I'm already at the resignation stage of mourning your loss from the board


But now ...... Yaaayyy!! JJ's BACK!!!





You're playing with my emotions here!

You look GREAT, girl. Congratulations on your placing. I personally think that's pretty damn good for your first international show. What a pity politics has to be a part of placings, though.

So .... you've been touring around Europe the last few weeks while we sit here biting our nails for you?

Put on any weight yet?

 

[JJFigure]

I'm at 131 lbs. (up 4 lbs. from comp), and debating whether or not to let myself put on much more. I'm a little scared by that 10 lb. loss thing - I've never wanted to have to diet off more than 10-12 lbs. I'm still thinking about my game plan, although I got my invite to the 2003 NABBA Worlds and 2003 WFF Universe (June 7 and June 14), so I'd better get my act together soon.

That said, I went to Washington State for Christmas, where Mom had made lots of cookies for me. I swear, one day all I ate were sugar cookies. And maybe a little fudge. Maybe a few caramels, too. You get the idea. Now I'm back to normal, clean eating - just haven't decided when I'll start back up on the anabolic diet.

 

[Sassy69]

I'm with Lobo -- 5'10" 118 lbs? God. I competed at 133 and I felt like a bag of bones and I'm only 5'7". I mean I was SORE like in my joints and everything. Pure misery. You look awesome!

If you want to follow their "suggestion" you might want to split the difference and not go less than 5 lbs lighter but maybe build up your shoulders or do something different to create the illusion of being leaner. Figure is supposed to be a more feminine compromise for BB I guess, but going that lean is turning figure into Crack Model competition instead. Yikes. Follow your brain, your common sense and your body!

 

[JJFigure]

The women were really small, and the women who will be competing at NABBA's Worlds were really lean - BB lean without BB size. 10 lbs. more definitely scares me, but my lower body could be leaner, so I'll shoot for the lower body weight but keep an eye on the muscle loss and halt the weight loss if I'm losing too much muscle. Meanwhile, I'll be focusing on adding more upper body muscle and maintain lower body size to try and even things out a little more. Never a dull moment!!

 

[valerie]

Hey Girl!! Great Job! We missed you, I have to agree with the concensus here, the 10 lbs additional loss is cutting it soo close to the junkie chic look. You looked wonderful.

I live in Wa state, hope you had a nice stay-valerie