5 1/2 Weeks Out & Learning to be Patient with my Body

Almost 5 weeks out and I am seeing some progress. My body has been responding slower then I expected, but there is progress! I think at the 12 week point, I expected to get to the competition looking like Jaime Baird but I don't think it's going to happen :) I am realizing that since my body has been this way since I was 13, it might take more then 12 weeks to whip it into shape (ya think?). My biggest challenges have been my lower back (love handles), butt, and thighs. Although, I have seen change in the back end. I take periodic pictures of my backside to track my progress, kinda strange I know :) There has been transformation but not as fast as I would have liked. If I keep doing the work I am doing, and eating right, I will get where I want to be with my body- even if I am at my top physique by next March.
I have to learn to be OK with taking my time as a physique athlete. The girls I see on stage have done hard work, year after year. They show up on stage, year after year, and they work for their placing, year after year. I may not place top 5 this year, but next year I will, then the year after that, 1st place here I come! Although if this can happen faster I wouldn't mind :)
Here are some recent progress pictures:

The side by side pics are from January (on left) and today, February 21st (on right). The picture, when transferred onto the computer, kind of smooths out my muscles, the picture on my phone shows more definition. The tops of my shoulders have become bigger and my arms have more definition, especially my forearms. You can see more definition in the single picture I posted to the top right. Also, my legs have gotten smaller and more shapely. I am losing fat and gaining muscle, exactly what is supposed to happen! I am getting there!!! I will post more pics in a week or two. Wait for it....