I'm about to embark upon a new and exciting experiment.
If you know me, or have read my story, you know that I love competition. I love working towards goals, especially when they are fitness related. Up to this point, I've competed in three different figure competitions. While I enjoyed them immensely, I thought that I'd hung up my bedazzled suit for good once I ventured into olympic weightlifting. It was a new thrill and a new way of competing - for athleticism, rather than aesthetics.
But why can't I have both?
My Experiment
I've been fortunate enough to have some amazing coaches, specifically Kellie Davis. She got me through all 3 of my first figure competitions. She had such a balanced approach to diet and exercise, something that is surprisingly hard to find within the sport. I learned SO much through her coaching and I am forever grateful. Since those shows, I have developed an even better understanding and appreciation of balanced nutrition. Now that I am equipped with my past experiences and knowledge of my own, why can't I coach myself through competition prep?
Over the next 17 weeks, I'd like to take you along for the journey as I prep for my next Figure Competition! I'll be doing things the My Engineered Nutrition way. No foods will necessarily be off limits as long as I find a balance with my nutrition. My training will be a mix of what I enjoy: strength training, Olympic weightlifting, plyometrics and HIIT. No cookie cutter diet plan, no endless hours of cardio, no short cuts - just dedication, hard work and some fun along the way!
The Misconception
If you Google 'Figure Prep' you will find hundreds of results that tell you the "way to prep" is to eat 5-7 small meals a day, perform steady-state fasted cardio every morning upon waking and follow a very basic strength training program, consisting of body part splits (i.e. Legs, Back, Chest, Bis and Tris). This is often the same cookie cutter program that most girls will follow when getting ready for a show. Why should there only be one 'right' way for every single person?
My Plan
I want to be completely transparent throughout this process. I will share my weekly progress, nutrition and macro amounts, workouts, recipes, struggles, successes - you name it, I'll be sharing it! It is definitely somewhat daunting to be going at this without an official coach, but I'm lucky enough to have a stellar support team with my family and close friends. Along the way I want to dive deeper into topics (i.e. supplements, nutrition, training regimen, posing, the day of, etc.) and give you my take on each of them. My hope is to show you that ANYONE can achieve their goal, whether it be a figure competition, weightlifting meet or just want to lose some extra weight, as long as they are dedicated and put their mind to it.
The image on the right is a comparison of my current state today versus my last figure show in March 2014. Going with the theme of transparency, I'm showing you that sure, I'm not stage ready, BUT I'm happy with my body! I'm not doing this simply to lose weight or because I'm unhappy with my body. I know I've got a lot of beautiful muscle underneath to showcase and I can't wait to see what package I bring to stage this time around!
This is a competition of me vs. me.
I have selected an NPC show on February 13, 2016, here in the Bay Area. I certainly have my work cut out for me as during that 16 weeks I will also encounter Halloween, Thanksgiving, my Birthday, Christmas and New Years. I want to prove that you can still enjoy these special holiday times and stay on track towards reaching a fitness goal, it just may take a bit more planning and effort.
I'm up for the challenge.
At this time, I am 17 weeks out from the show. Rather than JUMPING right into the full swing of prep mode, I'm giving myself an on-ramp week, with my "official" prep occurring over a 16 week time frame. During this week I will get back into the swing of things with tracking my nutrition, measuring proper portions, learning my new weight training routine and most importantly, ensuring I get ample sleep for recovery!
Now, let's get this party started!
Current Stats
Like I previously mentioned, I'll be diving into all of the nitty gritty in later posts. Instead of making this post longer than it already is, I will save the particulars about my nutrition for another day. For this on-ramp week, these numbers are more so just a starting point to see where I'm at. As the weeks progress, I will modify my nutrition based on my progress, measurements and photo check-ins.
Training Day Macros:
- 1890 Calories
- 155 g Protein
- 182 g Carbohydrates
- 60 g Fat
Non-Training Day Macros:
- 1600 Calories
- 160 g Protein
- 55 g Carbohydrates
- 82 g Fat
Measurements:
- Weight [lbs] - 150
- Waist [in] - 28
- Abdomen [in] - 31
- Hips [in] - 39.25
- Thighs [in] - 22.75
- Upper Arm [in] - 11.5
- Bust [in] - 33.5
That's all for now! I'll be posting my progress every Monday for the next 16 weeks, along with intermittent articles on various aspects of my contest prep. Be sure to check back or let me know if you have any topic you'd specifically like me to discuss.
