My Relationship with Food and Training

My life seems to now revolve solely around weight training and eating, seriously. I go to work and then all my time after (and before) is devoted to calculating my marco nutrients, training and sleeping.

I love it, I am spending all of my free time doing exactly what I love. It's been almost 11 weeks that I have been working with Layne Norton for my nutrition and cardio; I never knew how much food can make or break a physique.

All of these pictures were taken in the last two weeks weeks. I am at 125.5 pounds, lean and eating a great deal of food.

I have eaten "healthy" for years, but the timing of the foods and selecting the proper macro nutrients for the specific activity or time of day is essential and I have learned just how important this is. Not only to try to add lean mass, but to maintain a low bodyfat percentage.

I used to eat the same old thing at every meal: for example  4 ounces lean protein, some starch early or vegetables later, a very small amount of fat with each meal, but it was a very little amount. I  got lean, I got ripped, I got bored.

I have been eating so many foods now that I never thought I could, and I am still very lean, I actually still weigh less than when I started with Layne and I am eating approximately 500 calories a day more. Above is a French Toast breakfast I made, sourdough toast dipped in egg whites, cinnamon and vanilla; the remaining egg whites, scrambled; one whole egg; fresh kiwi and mango and some calorie free syrup and jam (use VERY sparingly, they can cause bloating and gas due to the artificial sweeteners).

As you can see in the picture below, my glutes have really grown, and the hamstrings and quads are getting bigger. 

 My delts and arms look amazing, although I still try to grow them bigger every week.

Food, it seems, is always a battle for competitors, and most of them tend to under eat - they are afraid of getting fat. Once you see yourself lean and ripped, it's very difficult (mentally), to allow yourself to get back to a "normal" weight, even then, what most competitors consider "normal" is still much leaner than the average woman considers normal. Yes, the rest of the world thinks we are crazy.

My obsession now seems to be the fact that I am eating so much, I am constantly verifying that it is correct.  I am responsible for my diet- Layne does not tell me what to eat, that is entirely my decision. He tells me the macros- how much carbohydrate, protein, fat and fiber to have each day. 

Sometimes it is so good, I cannot believe I calculated it correctly, and by the way I look, it appears I have been doing an excellent job at it. It's interesting,  I seem to see "flexible dieting" and "IIFYM" everywhere these days, but I'm not sure if it's because I am paying attention to those things, or there is an increased number of people changing to a more civilized way of dieting. 

So far, three people from my gym and two friends have contacted Layne about working with him, based completely on seeing what I eat, how happy I am, and what my physique looks like. Unfortunately he has not been able to take on more clients at this time, but things can change any day so if you are interested, I would check out his website and contact him.

Pasta, I eat pasta and I am not fat!

What am I planning now? I finally, finally feel that I can go out and eat at a restaurant and do a good job of calculating my macros; I am eating dinner with David every night that I am not training with Roy at BodyComp Gym (those nights I get home late so I just have a shake, banana and toast usually), and while we eat the same foods, I will eat a different ratio of the foods than he will;  I am lifting and getting bigger! Lately shirts I have been wearing are tight, uncomfortable tight,  and when I look at myself, I do a double take, I see the changes, I like the changes. 

I don't have any plans right now, and that is very, very unusual for me. I am happy, very content in what I am doing and where I am in life right now. I love waking up early everyday, I hop on my scale to check my weight (I never had one before, and it's one of the things I took from my father's house after he passed away, so I say hi to Dad everyday!). I go to the gym and lift heavy and enthusiastically.

I train with Roy at BodyComp Gym three days a week after work, those are the highlight of my week. We don't do the silly little things I see so many women with their trainers do, like stand on a bosu ball while flapping my arms about, or lift teeny tiny weights to "tone", or do hundreds of bodyweight exercises.  In the pursuit of "bootie, brawn and awesome deltoids", I know two more women who have started training with Roy, he's the man who is responsible for my physique and I wouldn't trade him for anyone! He has some openings, give him a call!

We lift heavy, and hard, and long. Sometimes I sweat and my feet are not even moving! 

I do have a plan in that I am staying the course, eating on target, changing my body composition very slowly but very dramatically and spending all my free time doing what I love - training.

Off season just might be my best season!