ok honeybee... first off.. let me tell you that you made nice improvements on your lats.. remember me telling you that you needed that? well, congrats..
secondly, you say you want to do a "show".. now, what do you want to compete in? fitness, figure, or bb? because this will greatly determine just how tight you are going to need to get.. because if it is fitness or figure, you probably won't have to go off your "diet" before you begin your diet.. you are already tight enough to do that...
BUT.. if you want to do bodybuilding.. then yes, you will have to get tighter.. and as everyone has already told you, and you already know, you are too acclimated to the foods and amounts that you have been eating for as long as I have known you...
Look... if you can't EAT--- I mean, if you can't handle eating mentally, then competing in bodybuilding is just not right for you... it would be a great hobbie but you MUST go through the weight gain and weight loss in cycles to make any gains.. now I am not talking about getting super huge and bloated.. I am talking about PURPOSEFULLY eating more and of different foods so that you will be able to get tight when the time comes. And you don't have to gorge yourself like many men and women think they need to... but honestly, I have found that when I allow myself a wider variety of foods, my body will respond much much quicker when I go back on the diet... This year I have competed twice already and now I am getting ready for a third show... Last year in my offseason, I did eat alot and made the most gains I have ever made.. BUT I kept my foods super clean (all the same foods that I would "diet" with)-- and when it came time to "diet" the weight did not come off very fast, and I was not as tight as I really should have been come show time. This past offseason, I allowed myself some bread, fruit, even desserts and what-not on occassion (on top of the 2g of pro/pound).. and now I see my body changing at a much faster pace.
When I first ready your reply.. I got pissed off because you are answering your own questions and you ask us for our educated advice.. but you KNOW what you should do.. and you know that nothing that which we tell you, you will follow anyways.. I figured I would give it one last shot.. but if I wasted my time and breath writing all of this.. I will be pissed off... so either.. A. Do not compete, and just keep doing what you are doing, or B. get off the fucking diet for a couple weeks... You say its easier said than done, and at one time I was in the same boat you are.. so I understand.. but today, I am NOT in the same boat.. do you get what I am saying? you don't have to be constantly afraid of getting "fat" or "holding water".. if your goals are in bodybuilding then you have to take the appropriate steps to achieve those goals... so get with it, or get out.
dg