Flexible Dieting After 3 Months

It's now been three months that I have "eschewed" the traditional bodybuilders diet, and I could not be happier! I look......good.....don't you think? 

The photo above was taken Monday evening, after training hamstrings with Roy at BodyComp Gym, it is always a brutal workout these days, I don't  mean "brutal" as in bad, I mean, I am pushing myself as hard as I possibly can. I know I am improving and getting stronger, not only can I tell by how I feel, but the weights go up, every time. 

Roy and I stick to 2 or 3 exercises at the most, heavy weight and long rest periods (for the most part, some are shorter for smaller muscle groups). On Monday nights we target the hamstrings (which of course hits my glutes too); we do the laying leg curl and then a single leg back extension (with heavy weight) on the Glute Ham Raise. Roy remarked that I had improved, he tracks every single rep and time from every workout, I increased my reps! As with most of my other training, I will repeat my workout on my own, and I will increase the weight. Hamstrings have a slight modification though as we need to hit all the areas so on Thursdays I will do standing leg curl on my own, then the single leg back extensions on the Glute Ham Raise.

The picture above was last Friday as we trained shoulders, my chest is looking ripped and my deltoids are getting rounder, I am pleased with the progress.

So what have I changed besides the eating? I am taking a couple new supplements, Alpha Lipoic Acid pre and post training, and glucosamine, that's all that is new in the arsenal.

I actually discontinued several things I was taking, after I read about their lack of effectiveness on the website examine.com it's a great site to learn about supplements from an independent third party! I purchased the $29.00 membership and feel it was well worth it considering how much mis- information is out there regarding supplements.

Below is a little .gif of my pictures that I sent to my nutrition coach, Layne Norton today. It's funny, I am eating over 2000 calories a day (up over 500 a day from late July) and I have...ahem....lost weight! In these pictures, which were taken in the middle of the day, I am 125 pounds, but in the morning lately upon waking, I am 124!

In my last few posts I believe I discussed how hard it was to "believe", to "let go" and to "trust" this process, for so many years I was following the crowd of "chicken breast/broccoli/brown rice" eaters.....no more!

I still love brown rice and eat it almost everyday, but I also eat bread, English muffins, yams, quinoa, fruit, lots of fruit, yogurt (oh you didn't know those last two were carbs huh?) In my diet, there is no such thing as "starch" or non starch, it's all carbs! Some meals when I want a lot of food I will eat a huge plate of vegetables to make my carb numbers, but other times when I don't want a lot (like right before lifting) I will have some warmed mashed yams and cinnamon and a yogurt with my whey protein drink.

My new favorite yogurt! I love all of their "bite" flavors, but this is by far the best! This is mint with dark chocolate chips. 100 calories.

Below is Friday again, the legs have certainly filled out haven't they? The secret? Food. Good food, sufficient food, more food, real food. David and I go out regularly now, and I eat right off the menu. Sure, I have to sometimes choose very carefully, but I still eat at restaurants. I am a normal person (as normal as I can get). 

Lifting these days has been very satisfying, the extra calories give me the physical and mental energy required to keep up the rigorous training (I still train once a day four days a week and twice a day three days a week). The "diet" is allowing me to very slowly add muscle and drop fat, the magic trick everyone is seeking! I really could just stay right here where I am, but alas, Layne has increased calories again this week....


And the glutes again, getting rounder and more prominent, but not from the sides! 

Ah, and an update on the feet- You may (or may not) recall that I was being treated for Plantar Fasciitis, a very painful inflammation of the foot, I had it in both feet. I wore night splints for 25 nights (I chucked them the last 3, I couldn't stand it any longer); I iced and rolled them on lacrosse balls daily; and I took powerful anti-inflammatories. I went back to the Podiatrist, my right foot is great- but the left is not 100% healed. He said a cortisone shot would probably be more painful than the relief it would give me, especially since I was 95% healed, so he has sent me off to Physical Therapy for 6 weeks! I haven't started yet, but hope to next week. 

For those of you who may have an unhealthy relationship with food, I highly suggest you start to consider "Flexible Dieting" or "IIFYM" (If It Fits Your Macro's). Find a reputable coach who can help you establish your macro's or go to a great site called IIFYM.com that is full of useful information for the do-it-yourselfers! 

Feel free to email me if you have questions about it, and join me on Google+, I have been having a lot of fun posting there these days!

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!

Eating and Training to Add Muscle

I have absolutely no desire to look like a bodybuilder, yet many people think I do, they are just "uneducated" in the sport and think that all women with muscles are Bodybuilders. I am trying to add muscle, still. 

The last month has been a whirlwind for me, it's month two of adhering to my new diet, I am no longer eating chicken, broccoli and brown rice meal after meal.  Oh I still love those things and eat them every week, but I eat so much more than that! I think it would be easier to tell you what I do NOT eat.

Most packaged and pre made foods. I will eat Greek yogurt, breads and cheese, but no boxes of low fat chips, crackers, snack foods. I don't eat sausages, although I probably could and I am not a bacon eater by choice. I still refrain from drinking much alcohol, although Layne has taught me how to incorporate it if I want a glass or two on occasion; I prefer to save it for special events, I feel better without it.

Things I am enjoying that I really rarely ate for the last several years: Greek yogurt, fruit (lots of fruit - especially watermelon and apples), cheese, fatty meats (all cuts of beef, lamb, pork, chicken), breads, English muffins, toast and jam, olive oil on foods, pasta, french toast, you name it!

I just have to meticulously account for everything I eat and it must be timed correctly around my training. 

I have learned so much about how my body responds to certain foods and amounts, there is no need to be a martyr, you can live your life, compete or just look amazing! 

I shall never, ever, ever again be one of the competitors who starves herself and eats only the few staples: Tilapia, broccoli, asparagus, brown rice and yams. Never will I be a cardio queen! I never really was anyway, I always knew that a lot of cardio is bad for your body and makes you look drawn, tired and depleted, and I have always believed that someone who does hours of cardio just doesn't have their diet dialed in correctly.  

However,  I used to enjoy doing cardio more often than I get to now. I used to like hitting the stairs across the street from my house! I am currently only doing High Intensity Interval Training two times a week, and the duration is so short it leaves plenty of time to spend on abs, something I always skipped! 

The pictures above were taken 3 weeks apart. On the left (September 8) I was 126.5 pounds; on the right (September 28) I was 126 pounds. Almost exactly the same weight but in the right I look much more muscular and shapely. My shoulders are rounder and more prominent, and do I even need to say anything about the infamous glutes? 

It's a combination of the hard training and lifting I do everyday: my trainer, Roy Ganju, the owner of BodyComp Gym, is pushing me to lift heavier and heavier now that I am eating more; and the food, the variety and the timing of it all. I never realized just how important the timing was. 

I must say that I feel better and look better than ever. My weight fluctuates but is still lower than when I started working with Layne Norton, I believe I have lost bodyfat, but it's odd how much bigger, fuller and more muscular I look.

My emotional state is better, David is always telling me that (is he dropping hints???). I am happier, I feel much more freedom, although the daily meal calculations are still quite a job for me. I just have to plan ahead a couple days.

No longer do I have the massive food prep days, since I don't eat the same thing everyday it's not realistic or necessary. And, Layne changes my macro-nutrients every week, so I prepare my meals two days ahead, that's it.  I still cook a lot of chicken at once, or rice but not at all like I was doing in the past.

My squat has really improved, and this has no doubt helped my glute development, and that's in part due to an injury I sustained back in July. I developed plantar fasciitis again, I last had it about 10 years ago and it took two years to heal.

I am squatting lower, my back is better aligned and I am squatting heavier. I don't discuss "one rep maxes" I am talking reps here! I am squatting 170 pounds now!!

I have been taking some heavy duty anti-inflammatories, icing my feet 15 minutes daily with water frozen in coke bottles.

And I am rolling them for 15 minutes daily on lacrosse balls. Stretching, I am doing a lot of stretching too.

In addition to that, I have to sleep with night splints on. These are basically hard casts that go from my toes, along the bottom of my feet, up to my knee. I place my feet and legs in them and then wrap them with ace bandage. My foot is in a constant stretched position, all night long. The doctor had them made for me and he is confident this will "cure all my ails" 

For someone who sleeps naked, this is a very, very uncomfortable event, let me tell you!

But, one of my issues for years has been very tight calves and poor dorsi-flexion, these night splints seem to be solving the issue! I can now drop down to the ground, right into a squat, almost like a child! 

Below you can see the progression as I wrap my feet and legs up before bedtime, this is a nightly ritual now for four very long weeks! 

The end result below, nothing on but my casts on my legs! David and I laughed and laughed this first night, and I have since learned to wrap them up very quickly on my own. 

Sleeping as I said is difficult, and then of course there is the whole getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night issue too!

But I think about people who may not have a choice and have to live with something like this (or actually worse) every single day of their lives, for me it's a temporary setback, and I can wear regular shoes during the day. I will survive this event in my life.

 10 nights down, 18 to go! then watch me squat!

DXA Scan for BodyComposition

Here I am, all 126.5 pounds of me, soaking wet. Literally! I just got out of the shower, hair is still wet, and even when I am in the bathroom getting ready for work I have my water bottle with me (strategically placed so this doesn't become a lewd picture). Seriously  always, always, always have water with you, everywhere you go. Most people are dehydrated.  Your brain and joints cannot function when you are dehydrated and you look like garbage too! 

When I decided I wanted to work with Layne Norton, I had to find out exactly where I was starting, and that meant bodyfat testing.

My goal is to increase lean muscle, and you can measure and use visual clues, but nothing is more scientific than real body composition testing.

Over the last few years I have had mine tested on a regular basis, with Hydro-static testing. It’s done in a tank of water and is pretty darn accurate. It’s not very fun though. You can read about my previous sessions below.

Hydrostatic testing 2013

Hydrostatic testing 2012

Hydrostatic testing 2011

I still keep in touch with friends from my last gym, and “R” said she was having her body composition tested with a DXA scan (formerly known as a DEXA scan).  
I didn't like the idea at all, getting an x-ray for shits and giggles? Sounded rather irresponsible, I mean my body trusts my brain to treat it right, it’s not fair to abuse that privilege.

I happened to have an appointment with my physician coming up so I asked him how safe it was, and he said it was very low dose and once or twice a year wouldn't hurt, and I could see my bone density too.

I scheduled it at the Body Composition Center in Redwood City. 

It was easy, didn't have to get wet and I just lay there on the table.

I was surprised at the outcome. First, I had calculated my bodyfat to be in the 11% range and I was wrong. I had been using the numbers from my previous Hydro-static testing and didn't realize that tells you only two things:  The amount of fat in your body and then everything else all lumped together.

It doesn't separate muscle from organs!

So once you account for my very heavy brain (yuck, yuck, yuck) and other internal organs, it turned out I was at 13.7% bodyfat, a normal “off season” for me, as I have mentioned, I stay lean your round (and I know that’s should change slightly).

But as I said, it wasn't the bodyfat I was interested in, it was muscle, I wanted to see how much muscle I had, because after I am done with my program, and before I start to diet for my next competition, I want to gain muscle and I want to have this done again to see how much I gained.

I have 106.1 pounds of muscle on my body.

I have 17.7 pounds of fat on my body.

I have 5.5 pounds of bone and organs in my body.

The analysis goes on to show exactly where it is located, and further divides it by the right and left sides!

Actually I have lost three pounds since this was done, so my bodyfat is a bit lower now, but as I said, with my new diet it may inch up a it, but I am prepared!

What was most interesting to me was the technician stated she had never seen a man or woman with as little visceral fat as I had. I have a whopping .15 (yes, that is point 15) pounds of fat around my internal organs. I guess I am pretty darn healthy!

And my bone density? A whole other page is devoted to that and it’s stellar! Weights are a girl’s best friend!

I have a link to the actual readout here for you to check out.

My goal now? Get that 106.1 up to a higher number, and not focus on the bodyfat, enjoy the food and the fun, and then see what I can create with my nutrition coach Layne and my trainer Roy as I head into my next Women’s Physique competition in Spring of 2014!

Life, Lifting and Loss of My Father

The photo above is my mother, Earleene on the left, My father, Frank in the center and my mother's younger sister (my aunt), Joyce, on the right when they were very young.

My mother died from cancer in 2009 and my father died of Leukemia on Sunday, July 14, 2013. Joyce is still here, kicking in Las Vegas, I spoke with her today actually.

If you have followed my blog over the years you know all about my mom and my friend Emily, who died from cancer only last year. I feel I have had way too many close encounters with cancer and death, and the loss of loved ones. 

I also had a bout with skin cancer a month ago, below you can see my chest after the cream treatment caused it to flare up. The side effects were so strong they ended up surgically removing it. I have a nice scar now the size of a lopsided quarter on the center of my chest to remind me to wear my sunscreen.

I am fine, it's actually my second cancer experience, and I have my whole body checked every six months for more. 

Needless to say, the last several months have been a bit stressful for me and my family. My father learned about his leukemia in February, he emailed me when I was vacationing in Mexico.  He endured several months of chemo again (it was his 3rd form of cancer in just as many years), and finally he decided he was done with the blood and platelet transfusions. 

My brother flew in from Europe (where he lives) and my sisters and I all cared for him, taking turns doing all of the things one needs to do. Joyce was there almost round the clock.

Here I am, in MyRedRocket (my convertible BMW), eating chocolate as I drive to my father's, he lived down the coast about 3 1/2 hours away (according to him, but none of us ever made it there that quickly).

I got out at Starbucks in King City, only to find chocolate melted on the butt of my light gray yoga pants, and chocolate on my face.....

I joined another gym at my father's place, in a city 13 miles away. In my opinion, nothing should stop you from training and my Dad would have felt the same way. 

Above I am posing at In Shape City in Santa Maria, California. I think I was a bit of a novelty to them, a new gal sauntering in, buff to the max, acting like she owns the place. I was greeted the very first day. A big guy comes in and introduces himself, shaking my hand. "You are in great shape!" he said, "You have all the guys back there talking about you." I thanked him and laughed, and explained I would be around for the next month or so.

I enjoyed my new gym immensely! I spent a lot of time there, Dad slept most of the day and mornings were quiet.

I brought a great deal of my own food, but since my brother, Derek wanted to train and learn to eat the "Kristy way", we did shopping and food prep together. He ended up losing 9 pounds I believe and will go home looking lean as can be!

I did some extra cardio everyday as most of the time at Dad's I was sitting and not particularly active. In Shape had something called a Jacob's Ladder that I loved, it was the most difficult form of cardio I have ever done. Take a look below!

After intervals for 14 minutes. Of course this was leg day too and I had done heavy squats and lunges previously. 

It's important to remember that we need to take care of ourselves when faced with a FUBAR. Do you know what that means? Many people use the acronyms SNAFU and FUBAR and have no idea what they mean. Less common but just as fun are TARFU and BOHICA. It's military speak (Dad was a marine ) -

Fucked

Up 

Beyond

All

Recognition

I go  into "I'm gonna train and no one can stop me" mode when something like this happens and I get lean and mean. Many others revert to old bad habits, alcohol, drugs, smoking, over eating. Not me, I want to take care of myself.

Below is Dad's duffel bag, moldy smelling but I love it! I found it in his closet as I cleaned out his clothes.

I found these great big silky shorts, I don't recall ever seeing him in these! 

Here is my brother, Derek (left) and my son, Cooper at dinner at Jocko's in Nipomo. Three nights after Dad's death, after we had cleared out much of the house, we all went to dinner to celebrate his life, relax and unwind. Death is a very stressful event. I felt like I had been holding my breath for weeks. I enjoyed a gin Gibson; one drink and I was dizzy.

I am at my home gym, Gold's Campbell here. I came home from Dad's a few times, but was too exhausted and stressed to go to work. I was on Family Medical Leave and missed a month of work. It's OK, my staff are very well crossed trained, very capable and I kept up with emails.

I continued my quest for legs, big, muscular legs and you can see that I am getting there. Two months after my last competition I am up 8 pounds and still lean, I am quite pleased with how my physique is coming along. David keeps looking at me saying "Your legs look great!" and he isn't into all this bodybuilding stuff at all! 

I am doing fine, while losing a loved one is never easy, Dad had us laughing until the end. Well, honestly at times we wanted to strangle him, but then we would huddle in the kitchen, comply with his crazy demands and get on with the care he needed, and appreciated even at his grumpiest moments.

Sometimes I looked at the morphine and the lorazepam and considered taking it myself! But I didn't, it was my way of vocalizing the stress I was feeling.

David and Cooper were very patient, holding down the fort at home and taking care of things I had to have done. Roy was amazing, changing my training schedule at the drop of a hat to accommodate me with my weird schedule in between cities for the last month. 

Sakura sent my father a card for father's day that made both he and I cry, the words were sincere and loving. 

Friday, I was at home, I trained with Roy and then David and I went to lunch. I had a glass of champagne and some wonderful (non-dietetic) food. 

I take Derek to the airport on Sunday, he will return home and to his studies in Paris. I go back to work on Monday and catch up to a month's worth of 'stuff". My sister, Karen also goes back on Monday, she too took a month off to care for Dad. 

Then on Thursday, Cooper and David will move Cooper back to Chico, into his new apartment and I lose another loved one, but hopefully I will see him frequently. 

it's been rough, it's been difficult, it's been stressful and tiring. But I never gave up, never, I am not a quitter. I love life and death is part of life, a very difficult transition, but one we must all come to terms with.

I will miss Dad, but every time I use a microwave I will think of him (it's an inside story that only his caregivers will know), and I still have his striped socks to wear when I go back to finish clearing out his home before the house is sold. 

I will also remember how he marveled at my passion and told me many, many times how proud he was of me and my accomplishments.  I have saved all the emails where he would reply to all my blogs, he read every single one. 

Oh, and the meaning of the other "military slang acronyms"? Check them out HERE! 

Competition Time

My competition day is here! I am happy to be at the end, while I love the preparation and anticipation, it is a lot of work, stress, and time. Like any goal in life that is important, the work achieving it is long, arduous and stressful.

These pictures were taken on Thursday, two days prior to the show. I started my dehydration process, but the days where my body will really make dramatic changes are Friday afternoon and Saturday as everything tightens up.

I am pleased that I weigh one pound more (Friday) than I did last year at the same time, I felt I was too lean and looked it. The guidelines in Physique do not call for super ripped, super lean like Bodybuilding, although there will certainly be competitors there who are. it will be interesting to see if they are the ones who place (meaning the judges won't follow the guidelines established by the NPC), or the less ripped ones will. Only time will tell!

I never lost all the fat in my face as I usually do, don't get me wrong  it's still very lean but not gaunt as it was in the past. And my glutes, they still have ample padding, which is another odd thing. 

I took Thursday and Friday off to pack, shop, cook, and rest. When you are heading into the show it is exhausting. You have reached saturation point, you are tired, truly fatigued, hungry, thirsty, and in need of coffee. Tuesday at work I had a caffeine withdrawal headache all day, so I took 400 mg of caffeine the following days to ease that. I am looking forward to a really hot, black cup of coffee on Sunday morning. I will get up before anyone else and have my coffee and some sourdough toast with melted sharp cheddar cheese. Or maybe cheesecake.

Cooper is home for the weekend, so he and David have boys-night Friday while I am in my hotel with Sakura. Then on Sunday, Mother's Day I will be home with the family again.

Friday afternoon I will be heading to the hotel and will get my spray tan, this is what makes all of the definition show in the muscles. Then Sakura and I will hang out and just talk and rest. Resting is important for a few days leading up as it reduces cortisol levels.

Thursday and Friday there was no training allowed (rest is needed) so I went into the gym at opening each day and practiced posing and my routine. It's amazing how tired all that flexing makes you!

Below is a video of my posing on Thursday. The body fat is in check, low yet not too low, I am not hard enough yet but the dehydration will take care of that, but I think I am on track.

 

Thursday I did a little baking. I made my traditional cheesecake that I eat Friday night and Saturday morning and I made some Paleo brownies. David tried them and said they were good, not super chocolaty and lighter, more cake like than usual. The flour is replaced with blanched almond flour and the sugar is replaced with fresh dates. 

I dropped some brownies and cheesecake off for Roy about 12:30 on Friday and went home to finish packing and rest a bit before I head out.

Roy is coming to pre-judging to see me, so is one guy from work. David will be coming to finals and several of the guys from the gym will be there too.

No matter what happens, what the outcome is, I saw a quote today that sums it all up:

You see, I am already a champion.

Three Weeks Out till Women's Physique Competition

Yes, I am still here! Busy, busy, busy! When I post this it will really be only two weeks from my competition, but I just got around to doing this. It's been a fast and furious few months in preparation of my first Women's Physique competition, I almost feel like it's my very first show, but it's not, I should be calm and collected, but the thought of this new REAL posing and a dance/posing routine to music is starting to make me a bit anxious. 

I spend as much time as possible practicing my posing, videoing it and critiquing myself. There is always room for improvement. Luckily I have some awesome people nudging me along and checking in now and again. It's exciting that my friend Sakura Barrientos and I will be sharing a room the night before. We have our tans scheduled together and we can talk and laugh all evening long. Usually I am all by myself, posting pictures on Facebook of my cheesecake that I am eating, which drives all the other competitors absolutely crazy! I get lean, super lean and that's my "secret" to filling out the night before. That  along with a huge baked potato and steak. Then I eat the same thing in the morning. The fun is just about to begin.....

I have maintained my weight higher than usual on purpose. In these pictures I am 124 pounds, but as I write this I am at 122 and have been for almost a week. I will drop only a little bit more and hopefully, will look perfect once I dehydrate. That will make the skin tight and hard looking, it already looks thin. In fact, Wednesday night as I sat attempting to breathe (after Roy had me doing squats with a whopping 162 1/2 pounds!!!!), he looked at me and said "Your skin on your arms and chest is paper thin" yes, it looks white, translucent, delicate and....thin now. The only part left is the abs and upper hip area a bit, but it will go shortly.

I have not curtailed my lifting, at least not intentionally. No weights have been lowered, but Thursday at 5:00 a.m. as I trained hamstrings and lower back on my own, I felt so fatigued, that at times I wanted to crumple to the ground and just cry.

Then I thought of my dad who has been struggling with real fatigue, brought on by his Acute Myeloid Leukemia (bone marrow cancer). His will not go away when he rests or eats a cheeseburger, mine will. It made me cry a bit thinking how selfish I was being and reminded myself that I hate whiners. I pushed on and finished my training, at the dictated reps and weights. I know I was making a lot of noise as I performed set after set of back extensions on the Glute Ham Raise, while holding a 50 pound dumbbell to my chest, people were looking, but I didn't care, I never do.

I have been training two, and sometimes (often) three times a day. I don't do a long bout of cardio, the 20 minutes on the stairmill or treadmill has turned to 30 minutes. Then the stairs at work, usually 3 times a week, but not for long, I don't have the energy to run up and down, and jump rope for more than 20 minutes.

So any free time I have is spent grocery shopping, preparing food, eating or sleeping. That's about it. 

And there is the lifting, the part I love, every single day, sometimes twice a day just to fit it all in. My shoulder training has changed a bit and I have added in cables to round everything out. So on Tuesdays I have to go back to the gym after work to finish up shoulders. Then on Fridays after I train shoulders with Roy, I eat and make sure I have fuel, then it's back into Gold's to finish on my own. It's not a good idea to train for a long extended period of time, just like fasted cardio - you are just making your muscle eat itself all up!

My suit bottoms should be back to me Saturday, so Sunday I have to take some video of myself posing in my suit. It does make a difference and I haven't had it this whole time, so I am only guessing how I will look. I sent it back to Celeste Harsa of Suits by Celeste who made my suit for me because....my glutes have changed. They have gotten bigger (this is a good thing) and more muscular, so when I lost bodyfat they pretty much stayed bigger than usual. My suit did not care for that, it wanted to be a permanent wedgie and those are forbidden in the rules! The funny thing is, most of the suits look like wedgies anyway!

So I have been wearing some "boyshort" undies when I pose. It doesn't seem to bother anyone and allows me to see my body better.

I am also very fortunate to belong to a gym where so many people support me. It's almost all men, there are very few gals at the gym (who lift) first thing in the morning. But they're all encouraging, tell me how great I look, offer advice and are generally fun guys to be around. 

Below is a video of my posing, if you are an email subscriber you will need to click on the blog link at the top to go directly to the blog to view this (that means you dad!)

Feed Me Fit

Food makes you feel good doesn't it?  Food is one of the greatest needs for all humans; according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, so that we can reach a higher state, if you do not have food you really cannot even think about doing anything else. Food just makes you feel good inside and out. If we are just talking basics needs, you don't need much, Prison Loaf will do (yes I made it).

But we all want more, we want healthy food that is easy and quick to prepare and that tastes great. It's not all that easy for some people though. Then for those of us who want to get lean and ripped, or even just lean, it's a whole different ballgame.

You need to eat the right foods, healthy choices, feed the magnificent machine called "your body" what it needs to function properly. That doesn’t mean bland and boring food and it doesn’t mean the same old thing over and over.

Maggie Shih of Feed Me Fit spent two hours in my kitchen on Sunday and made three very simple, healthy and incredibly tasty dishes. Dishes that I can make, you can make, and everyone would eat and not know how healthy they were, seriously. I wrote about her previously, you should read that post first if you have not yet read it.

No salt was used, very little oil (olive oil spray) and no refined starches.

We met in the same way I meet so many people, I emailed a complete stranger! That’s how I have made connections with so many wonderful people in my life, and how I even found my favorite vacation destination in Mexico- 16 years ago, Hacienda Eden (I still go back every year).

I was searching for a gift for Roy, his birthday is coming up and cooking lessons might be in order! Maggie is a Certified Fitness Chef. She spends most of her time at her customer’s homes preparing food, typically in advance so they can pop it in the refrigerator or the freezer, or both. She will even shop for the food too if that’s requested. In addition, she offers cooking classes for individuals or small groups for those who want to learn to do it on their own.

Maggie knew I am prepping for a competition so my food had to be light and low calorie, but she wanted to show me some other dishes too, so we had a range of things on Sunday.

She pulled up in her car and toted all her things effortlessly into my kitchen and made herself right at home, she was comfortable in the kitchen, I could tell. I have a big kitchen, actually my favorite room in the house and there is lots of room to move around.

She started with an egg dish "egg in a ring" and it was so simple yet wonderful; I cannot believe I never thought of it! 

Yellow bell pepper, egg and seasonings (no salt) and a few slices of avocado. 

We asked David to be a taster and he ate half (I ate the other).

Next Maggie moved on to a staple on my diet, tilapia. I eat tilapia almost every day; it is a mild, firm white fish, inexpensive and plentiful. It takes on the flavors of anything you season or cook it with, so it is versatile. Most tilapia is farmed; you will not find "wild" tilapia around here. I caution you to check the origin of your tilapia and try to only buy that farmed in the USA, with South America being a second choice. Tilapia raised in Taiwan and China will be raised in water where there is no lead control, the groundwater is polluted and the fish are too. (Did you know that’s why we started selling unleaded gasoline? The lead in the gas was causing birth defects in our children! They don’t worry about the lead in China unfortunately); in addition, the feed used and the cleanliness of the pens are questionable in these countries, your health is not worth the few cents savings the cheap and muddy tasting fish you will be eating. If you buy it at a market where it is laid out on a tray and not in a package, just ask where it is from, by law they must have tags showing the origin of all fish.

The dilled tilapia was moist and flavorful, I get so used to baking a big tray of it that I forget that my healthy food can also be wonderfully flavorful and moist, if I just put a few more minutes into it. Maggie served kale on the side, seasoned with garlic powder, yum! Here again I caution you about the origin of your kale, it is #11 on the top 15 fruits and vegetables that have extreme pesticide usage- meaning that it is one of the foods you MUST buy organic!

David bravely took a bit of the tilapia, he isn’t a fan at all, but he actually liked it. 

After Maggie left we talked and he said "No offense, but her food just doesn’t taste like your bland diet food, I mean it has flavor."….right, well it did and he was right, but when I am cranking out my food, in between working a full time job, training 7 days a week, and most of them twice a day, it does take a bit of the "joy" out of cooking and trying to make it all more palatable. I eat for fuel right now. I am a machine!

The last dish was stupendous, but not something I would eat on a competition diet. Off the diet- sure I would, so now I just had a few bites and left the rest to David. I took half of it to Roy too; he had it for dinner on Monday night!

A smoky bacon loaded sweet potato! A paleo dish (for those who follow that diet), that can be enjoyed by anyone. 

The "chili" was made with bacon, ground turkey, and vegetables. I am not a real bacon fan, I have a hard time moving past the copious amounts of fat in it, but this was good, really good! Maggie said you can easily cut most of the fat out too!

David tried the loaded potato, and he tried it again. He loved it. It was time for me to eat, and I had several bites of the dishes Maggie cooked, but I am lean and ready early, so I can stand some extra calories right now, in fact I dropped too low and panicked a bit, so I was ready for a full meal.

As she packed up and I walked her to the car, she said "eat the tilapia!" I ate the whole thing and the kale (I love kale and eat it several times a week).

I came in to find that David had devoured the potato and topping…almost, he didn’t eat all the sweet potato and since I needed some starch, I ate it!

I packaged up the rest of the "chili" that was in the pot and set half aside for David and the other half to take to Roy.

I left the house right after Maggie did, so I could head back to Gold’s Gym, I was off for round two of cardio and posing. When I came home, I would start cooking my food, more tilapia, sweet potatoes, chicken and vegetables.

I know first hand, that when people start a new fitness regime, the area that causes them the most stress, and will usually make them fall short of reaching their goal, is the food prep. They usually have no idea what to prepare, how to prepare it, how to make it taste good and they usually don't have the hours and hours it takes every week to do it. I spend several hours a couple times a week just making my food since I eat 6 times a day! 

You cannot out-train a bad diet. 

When I returned home for the gym, there was a house full of guests, all sitting in the backyard having wine and pizza (a Sunday ritual around here now), Virginia came into the kitchen and said David was raving about "some egg McMuffin with no muffin". He told her how good it was and didn’t taste anything like "Kristy’s diet food"…..hmmm I think he was talking about the "egg in a ring"

Contact Maggie at Feed Me Fit if you are interested in food prep or cooking classes, she says some people get a group of friends together at their home, and they all split the cost of the cooking class. Then, if you like, she can prepare meals for a week or so just until you get an idea of proportion and dishes and then she sets you free to experiment on your own.

She also has a Facebook Page where you can stay connected, learn about special events and check out her dishes. 

All opinions expressed are mine alone. I have not received remuneration for this post or content.