This weekend I got to see my cousin. Her and I were always close as kids and as we grow up we seem to drift apart due to our busy schedules, but we pick up quickly. Therefore her opinions matter to me, but how much should I let them matter?

My cousin competed in several figure competitions 3 years ago. She did very well. After RC convinced me this may be an area I would not only do well, in but something I might actually have a real interest in, I have used my cousin as a source of inspiration and somewhere for me to take my questions.

Recently she told me that I’m probably too muscular for figure. From what I’ve seen I’m not sure I agree. I also know it’s too far in the future to start telling myself I can’t do it. I don’t know what I’m going to look like.

She made some comments that kind of offended me, but I tend to be sensitive and draw conclusions from people’s statements. I feel like her view is a negative one. That either she doesn’t believe I can do it, that I don’t know or have what it takes to do it, or that she is just warning me in advance. I feel more that she doesn’t believe in me.

She warned me that it takes a whole different diet and training regimen. I’m thinking, DUHHHH! Later, after mulling over what she had said, I realized, yes, I’ll have to fine tune some things, but really… losing weight takes a lot of planning, fine tuning, consistency, and devotion. How is that any different than what preparing for a figure competition would request of me?

My cousin has never had an overweight problem. She’s never had to worry about what she eats. It’s easy for her reality to consist of only restricting or monitoring her food intake while she was training to compete. But, in my world, it’s something I’ve grown very familiar to. I can’t expect she understand my world though – she’s never had to live it.

I guess this is just another example in my life of how I tend to let others determine my belief system. Every corner of my life there is a learning experience to be soaked up. In the past I would chosen to ignore them or push them to the side. Anymore, it’s inevitable that I will consume them.