Hi Everyone!,
I promised you that I would be back with my preparation to the figure contest... Here we go!
I started to get prepared in February for the contest on June 23 that just passed. I will first talk about my diet and then, how Cathe's videos help me to get to the gold.
Diet (from february 1st to mid-march): our strstegy was to start the leaning process but not to hard core yet. (when I say "we" I mean me and my personal trainer). We opted for the zigzag diet. First, we found (with some formulas) what was my basal metabolic rate (BMR). That is the amount of calories that I spend without doing anything, just by breathing only. Another formula helped me to find my "total calorie expenditure" (TCE) including all of my daily activities. You get a higher number here. It's the addition of your BMR + TCE.
The concept of this diet is to be on lower calories intake than what you actually spend to have a loss of 1 to 1.5 lbs/week. You keep this lower calorie strategy for 3 days (calorie intake = higher than your BMR but lower than your TEX)and the 4th day, you have a high caloric day (this correspond as the same amount of calories that your 2nd formula gave you i.e. you TCE).
Here, the ratio of your macro nutrients (protein - good carbs - good fats) are very important. You should have about 55% of good carbs (like old fashioned oatmeal, brow rice, fruits, plain and unsalted rice cake, vegetables in great quantities, eziekiel, etc.), 30% of proteins (like extra lean beef, chicken, turkey, moose, buffalo, horse, deer, fishes, seafood, whey protein powder, eggs, low fat cottage cheese, etc.) and 15% of good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, nuts ---> almonds, avocado, linen oil, etc). The portions must be the size of your fist or the surface of the palm of you hand if you can not weight your food. I was eating 3 main meals and 3 snacks for a total of 6 small meals.
You can keep the same diet on you low and high calorie days. All you need to do is only decrease the portions for the lower calorie days. The nutrients rations should not change much.
The book that I suggest is "burn the fat, feed the muscle" by Tom Venuto. He give all this info, all the formulas and it's very easy to understand. No need a degree in Kinesiology to be able to understand!! Also, the "Eat clean diet" by Tosca Reno. This book is awesome. It's not about the zig zag diet but it is a simple and real way to guide you through a new diet lifestyle. She is coming with the "eat clean" recipes book this november or december.
From mid-marc to 1 week prior the competition: We accelerate the process by cutting off a lots of carbs, leaving lots of proteins, veggies, a little bit of fat. My breakfast was the meal with most carbs and 2 last meals barely have any carbs at all.
The week before the contest, I was on a deplete diet from the sunday til the wednesday at night. Only proteins and fat. I still could have wate intake (because we do a light dehydration the night and day before the show). Thrusday to the competition (usually the shows are on Saturday), I was having some good carbs with a low glycemic index (meaning that they entered your bloodstream at a slow pace and don't make your insulin shooting sky high. Insulin is an hormone relased when carbs are being absorbed. It supports the sugar metabolism (People with a problem with their insulin have a diebetic condition). Depending on the type of carb you eat it will make it fluctuate a lot (not good) of vey little (good). This hormone is also known to be a fat storage componant. So the less you mess with it, the better. Avoid all refined sugar and processed food.)
But... you need to be supervised by a professional to compete and play with all these variables. That why I suggest to start with "the eat-cleat diet" book of Tosca Reno.
I am going to stop here for today and next time, I will continue on with my strategy and Cathe's video's!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. You can also e-mail me at:
[email protected]
Have a great one and talk to you soon!
Nancy
