CUT THE CRAP!!! (Pre-competition diet)

Learning to Diet as a Figure Athlete!! An ongoing process and experiment!!

Yep...it all started with cutting out the crap! Alcohol - out, pizza - out, white starchy breads - out, almost everything processed - OUT OUT OUT, chocolate - out!!

Remember, I decided I was going to TRY and get my act together to train for this competition and we hadn't even rolled through the holidays yet. Looking back I did well. I think there were three days around New Years where I felt a little guilty about how much I'd eaten. See, since I'd never dieted for competition I didn't know how early I actually needed to start. I didn't hire a nutritionist this year, but I asked a lot of people a lot of questions. I just did a lot of research. I also had my best friend to bounce ideas off of...she's a dietitian. I kept my meal plan super duper basic and it worked for the most part...at least to lean me out. It worked well with the amount of time I trained at the gym and my overall lifestyle. Here's a sample day for me in the Jan/Feb (March/early April much stricter):

breakfast
Oatmeal/egg whites/ grapefruit

midmorning
tuna

lunch
tuna or chicken (plain...no salts)
half sweet potato or brown rice
asparagus or broccoli or spinach w/ apple cidar vinagar as "dressing"

afternoon snack
handful of plain unsalted peanuts/ or scoop of NATURAL peanut butter w/ grapefruit

dinner
tuna or chicken w/ one of the above listed veggies. veggies are all great really...it would change depending on what you're training for

(I'm not giving specific ounces/amounts of anything because I think it's very important you do your research, and do what's best for you...Talk to a professional nutritionist or dietitian)-- Too much of a good thing can also be unhealthy!! (example: high protein intake can be hard on your kidneys)

Remember what works for me as a competitor, won't work for everyone as a competitor. Our bodies are all very different! This probably has too much protein to be an everyday diet for a non-competitor, but it gives you the idea. Now the final month carbs get cut and it's basically fish chicken and several kinds of veggies.

I was so low on energy my last two weeks before Emerald Cup, my workouts were just going through the motions, but I was doing them. I was cutting fat!! Crazy stuff!

Next Blog: Vancouver Prep to Emerald Cup Prep...My Personal Experience