Week Prior to Competition Diet

The final week prior to a competition, you make sure that you eliminate all the extra sodium so you don't retain water.

That means that I can no longer have protein shakes, they are loaded with sodium. I cannot eat egg whites either, they have lots of sodium too.

So when I get up at 4:00 am, I usually have a thick, delicious chocolate meal replacement shake, but no more for the next week. 

And I need to eat protein for breakfast and right before bed, and I usually have microwaved egg whites, plain right now, but when I am not within a month of a competition I will put on salsa, ketchup, hot sauce, all sorts of things. 

What's a girl to do?

Ground chicken breast.

Yup,  I will get up at 4:00 am and start eating chicken. I will also need a carb so I will have cream of rice. I may mix them together too, like some homemade baby food.

And when I get home from training, meal 2 will be ground chicken breast, and cream of rice again.

Right before bed? Ground chicken breast.

It is very important to read labels when you buy your food, including chicken.  Many companies are notorious for adding a sodium solution to "plump" up their meats, so they weigh more and they are charging you for salt water. 

You may think you are doing everything right, but in reality, you may be buying garbage just because it may be less expensive, and it is pumped full of a 14% solution of sodium.....and you will swell like a balloon. 

Read the labels. A 4 ounce serving of chicken breast should not have more than 70 to 75 mg of sodium in it, that is the naturally occurring amount. They are also required to state on the package if there is a sodium solution used, it could actually be a heath concern for some individuals. The label is very, very tiny though.

If you buy your meat at a butcher counter, they have all the data in the back, they can tell you, make them check. 

Here I have my ground chicken breast all cooked and weighed out. I have packages ranging from 2 ounces to 4 ounces each. My week will vary, I will have higher protein and lower carbs through Wednesday, then I raise the carbs and lower the protein, to shuttle all the carbs into the muscles. I am not so keen on the meals where I get only 2 ounces of protein, it's like a garnish to tell you the truth!

Friday night will be a big meal, steak, baked potato, cheesecake so I look full and healthy the next day.  I will surely write about that meal, I get to make my own (famous) cheesecake, and enjoy it Friday night and Saturday morning for breakfast too.