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Carnival Tip #38 - The Struggles Of Peaking For Trinidad Carnival
http://www.trinijunglejuice.com/tjjnews/articles/4354/1/Carnival-Tip-38---The-Struggles-Of-Peaking-For-Trinidad-Carnival-/Page1.html
By Dr. Rhadi Ferguson aka The Carnival Doctor
Published on 23-May-16
 
One of the most difficult challenges about the middle of the year carnival season for those of us who "peak" for Trinidad is that we get caught in that window where we need a break.

Just so that you understand, for those of you that do not understand. 

Many of us carnival junkies use the 10 to 12 week period between Miami Carnival (the last carnival on the carnival circuit) and Trinidad Carnival (the first carnival on the carnival circuit) as the time to get our cardio and nutrition on point.  In Miami we get into what we call "good enough to go"  shape. Which is really the foundation that we need to have so that we don't have so far to go between Miami and Trinidad in order to reach our goal.



One of the most difficult challenges about the middle of the year carnival season for those of us who "peak" for Trinidad is that we get caught in that window where we need a break.

Just so that you understand, for those of you that do not understand. 

Many of us carnival junkies use the 10 to 12 week period between Miami Carnival (the last carnival on the carnival circuit) and Trinidad Carnival (the first carnival on the carnival circuit) as the time to get our cardio and nutrition on point.  In Miami we get into what we call "good enough to go"  shape. Which is really the foundation that we need to have so that we don't have so far to go between Miami and Trinidad in order to reach our goal.

(AND JUST SO THAT YOU KNOW, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T!! You MUST meet your goal because if yuh don't - that blasted costume will NOT fit!!!!!! And some of dem bands ent makin no big man or big woman sizes!! And that is real talk! And also another post and another conversation that we will NOT have today)

The problem is that once we hit Trinidad and then come home, we really want to relax for a week or two. (by relax I mean, eat ric, plantain, roti, rum cake, pigeon peas and rice, johnny cake, macaroni pie, etc.,.)  And for many of us, that is not a luxury that we can afford because Jamaica is right around the corner.   But then after Jamaica..... we really just want to relax.

So this means that many of our carnival in the middle of the year like Bahamas, Cayman, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Crop Over, etc.,.  are a struggle because our costume sizes for Trinidad do not match the size of our costumes for the rest of the year. And every carnival that you register is a reminder that you are severely off your game.  :-(  A sad reminder.

Now this may not be a problem for many of you but for a good number of people it is a huge issue and its not because of an obsession with working out, or weight, or being narcissistic.  What we like to do is what everybody else likes to do for carnival and that is free yourself and let go. And for some people that "freeing up" manifest itself as the freeing up of spiritual weight, for others it is the freeing up of emotional weight and for a good amount of people we enjoy utilizing carnival to get healthy, to keep our levels in check and to free ourselves up of some physical weight.

The bottom line is that in your carnival presentation, you get to present yourself as you would like and the world LOVES you as you are without judgement. This is what I love about carnival.  And this is why many people around the globe are attracted to the carnival movement. It is because it is founded in love, peace and unity.

Now...... many of us understand how real the struggle is after Trinidad so what we try to do is maintain a healthy level of cardio and weight training while indulging in some of our favorite foods while we ready ourselves for Trinidad once again.  And for those of us who commit to not going to TNT next year, the one thing that makes us so afraid of this is that we will not have anything to look forward to in order to keep ourselves physically in check.

And if many of you didn't know this.... well, now you know. 

Dedicated to your improvement,

Dr. Rhadi Ferguson
The Carnival Doctor