This week, host Celeste Rains-Turk sits down with Chris Nicole cohost on the Prep Life podcast who started her competition journey in 2015 as a hobby and prepped for one show a year. She holds certifications in both nutrition and exercise from NPTI along with Precision Nutrition Chris starts off by sharing how the encouragement of a friend initially brought her to competing as well as her desire to take her fitness hobby to the next level. She shares how her type A personality played a large roll in her journey and how it had attached her own self worth to her adherence of her plan.  As the episode progresses, Chris talks about her own history with disordered eating. She shares how inquiries from friends and family about her weight loss made her only want to control it more through over exercising and under eating. It was a pivotal moment when she was lying on her back and realized she could see her own skeleton that made her realize that she needed help. This history doesn’t hold her back in her preps, however, because she has learned how to properly frame her mindset around her goals so that they are healthy. She shares the importance of setting a goal for a certain leanness for a temporary time and not to live at. Chris continues to talk about her most recent show and taking last place. She shares how she felt in denial of it for quite some time, but after a few months she realized how disappointed she was in the placing. Chris talks about how she tried to control her reverse despite what her coach wanted her to do and how they were able to sit down and develop a plan for making the most of the improvement season. On the note of physical health, Chris shares her own struggles with hypoglycemia as well as scoliosis and the impact that both have on competing for her. She talks about how hypoglycemia causes her to rethink the way that most people would eat in a prep and experimenting with what works best for her. Because of the scoliosis she has had since a young age, Chris talks about modifications she has had to make to her posing in order to appear balanced while on the stage. Throughout the episode, Chris’ passion for mental health and self improvement is apparent and she talks about one of the tactics she uses in order to get the most out of every day. She shares the important aspects of her morning routine and the appointment she creates with herself as well as the daily discussion she has with her boyfriend that features two important questions to positively reflect on the activities of the day. As the episode comes to a close, Chris shares her best advice to both new competitors and those on their way to their pro card. In this insightful episode, she continues to stress the ever important theme of competing and life in general, “Your value doesn’t come from the things you do, it comes from who you are.” CONNECT WITH CHRIS: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/chrisnicole_ifbbpro/ ALL LINKS: https://linktr.ee/chrisnicole_ifbbpro HEAR HER COACH SERIES EPISODE WITH GLAM GIRL: http://www.celestial.fit/confessions-of-a-bikini-pro-podcast/coaches-series-glam-girl-bikini CONNECT WITH CELESTE:  IG: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/ WEBSITE: http://www.celestial.fit/ EPISODE TIME STAMPS [2:50] Pre Stage Rituals [4:10] Increasing stage time to one minute as an IFBB Pro [6:33] Transitioning a fitness hobby to a competition career [8:23] Using the perfectionist mentality in life as an athlete [10:47] Putting Self worth into adherence [13:17] The drive to compete [15:31] Pivotal moments that stressed the importance of mental health [18:22] Previous struggles with disordered eating [23:53] Changing a mindset around getting leaner [27:02] Placing last at her most recent show [34:21] Feeling pressure to perform a certain way as an IFBB pro and a coach [38:34] The impact being an IFBB Pro has on coaching [44:12] Feedback from shows [47:21] Managing Stress and Hormones in the improvement season [51:19] Handling gut health and hypoglycemia while nourishing her body [55:32] Impact scoliosis has on competing [1:01:11] Prioritizing a morning routine [1:06:47] The impact reviewing the day has on the approach to goal setting [1:11:12] Best advice for the girl who’s never competed and the one who’s on the road to pro