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| 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!
