Summer Is Finally Here – Is Your Beach Body?

In my last post I said I was going to be competing in the upcoming OCB Yankee Classic Show in Newburyport, Mass. and while I’ve been training and maintaining a clean-eating diet for it, unfortunately, I will not be able to compete in the show.

My health is great and I WANT to compete (very badly), but I won’t be able to because, for me, at this time, it’s out of my budget to do so. I have other priorities I need to tend to so competing is being placed on the back burner…for now! I have some pretty exciting plans coming up that I am focusing on that will only benefit me and what it is I want to do so I’m going after that right now. 

I know I do not need to explain myself to anyone, but I figured I’d let my readers know since my last post said that I was doing the show. You can mark my words; I WILL be competing in future shows, after all, I have a first place finish I have to go after! Depending on finances and my schedule in November and December, I have a couple shows in mind I’d like to compete in. If not, then I will absolutely be hitting the stage come February 2013. This will definitely give me plenty of time to work on improving my body, too.

Speaking of which, I’ve already seen great improvements since my last show. I really wanted to work on building my shoulders and it’s been paying off! I stopped training my triceps and biceps for the past couple of months. The only time I hit those is as a secondary muscle when I’m training back and chest. Other than that, I’ve been training shoulders twice a week – heavy one day, light the other – hamstrings and glutes (typically together and sometimes twice a week), chest and back. I've even increased training my abs around 2-3 times a week. I have been using my other available day for plyometrics. My cardio has increased a significant amount and I think between that and doing plyos, it’s been making a world of difference. I switch up my cardio all the time – I’m either doing steady state anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or HIIT for 20 to 30 minutes. This week, I am starting to incorporate plyometrics two or more times a week. I’ll be doing this for the next five weeks. Here’s what my schedule looks like as far as cardio goes for the next five weeks:

WEEK 1

Monday: Hill Interval Workout

Tuesday: Plyo Workout

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Jog for 30 minutes

Friday: Running/Plyo Workout

Saturday and Sunday: OFF

WEEK 2

Monday a.m.: Hill interval Workout

Monday p.m.: Plyo Workout

Tuesday: Running/Plyo Workout

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday p.m.: Hill Interval Workout

Friday: Running/Plyo Workout

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 3

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 4

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 5

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday p.m.: Plyo Workout

Sunday: Optional: Jog for 30 minutes or use as rest day

What do you think? Are you up for the challenge? If you’re already working out, this is a great supplement to your training program. If you’re a beginner, you can start out doing what YOUR body is capable of and work your way up! Write down your progress, too! That way you can look back and see how much you’ve improved. Let me know if you’d like to try this and I will share with you the plan for it. Let’s get your beach body underway!

Thanks for reading! Happy training!

My Diet Prep for My Fitness Shows

Mmm breakfast - most important meal of the day!

In my last post I said I would explain how I’ve prepared for my upcoming shows.

Here it is: being strict on my diet and going hard in the gym.

There you have it, folks. Now you know how I’m prepping. Thanks for reading!

In all seriousness, that’s literally what I am doing. I returned from vacation on January 1. While on vacation I let myself enjoy whatever foods and drinks I wanted. It was the holidays, I was around people who were enjoying whatever foods and drinks they wanted to have, and I was on vacation. So, why not let loose and have fun?

For the month of January, without committing to doing any fitness competitions, I told myself if I ate clean and I did well with training that I’d consider doing a show (or two) come February.

I cooked all my meals for the week every Sunday and weighed out my food using a digital scale and measuring cups. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it the right way. I went back to eating every 2-3 hours and increased my water and green tea intake.

• Breakfasts always included 1/4c to 1/2c oatmeal, 1/4c blueberries, and 3/4c egg whites. Supplements included fish oil, CLA, and a multivitamin.
• Snack was two rice cakes, 1tbsp peanut butter, whey protein (mixed with water).
• Lunches varied with 4oz. tuna, chicken, ground turkey or beef in a wheat tortilla, 1c of veggies (broccoli, usually), and a starchy carb (sweet potato, brown rice). Supplements included CLA.
• Snack was 1c fat-free cottage cheese or Greek yogurt and 10-12 salt and vinegar almonds.
• Pre-workout supplement included SuperPump Max and during my workouts included Scivation’s Xtend (Branch Chain Amino Acids aka BCAAs).
• Post workout meal was a whey protein shake mixed with water and 12 gummy bears.
• Dinner was 4-6oz. of lean meat and a small salad with some oil and vinegar.
• Last meal before bed was protein shake with 1oz. of salt and vinegar almonds. Supplements included fish oil, CLA, and multivitamin.

This is just an example of what my typical day looked like. Of course, I would switch things up so I didn’t get too bored or start hating my foods. I did also eat beans, I used reduced-sugar ketchup, and lots of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce!

Every Saturday I allowed myself to have a cheat meal – pizza, French fries, cheeseburger, etc. This helped keep me sane and give me something to look forward to every week, plus it was a reward for me for doing so well during the week!

Once February hit, I cut out all dairy and made the switch from salt and vinegar almonds to regular, raw almonds. I do have high calorie days and low calorie days, too. Whenever I train legs, which is either 2-3 times a week, I make sure my calories for those days are high. Besides my cheat meal, this also helps shock my body and help me burn more fat. Nothing else has really changed as far as my diet goes. I still continue to lose every week, which is my goal for my show. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I will be weighing in and having my trainer, Jamie Marsh, measure me this weekend. From there, I’ll decide if I need to make any changes.

I need to stress this though – WHAT WORKS FOR ME MIGHT NOT WORK FOR YOU! It took me a while to experiment with different foods and how it affects my body. It’s all a science and it’s fun to experiment. After my two shows, I plan to try a completely different way of eating to see how my body does with that. I look forward to that!

Thanks for taking the time to read! Let me know if you have any questions or something else to add in the comment section below.

Happy eating!