The Diet

Looking good huh? So this is after dieting for 4 weeks. Not bad really, now I realize I didn't start out chubby, but I had some fat to lose and I did, it hasn't been too hard, although I still have more to go.  This is "a day in the life of Kristy". I am going to give you a general time, food (macro-nutrients), some supplements and then discuss particular meals and strategies for making them tasty in separate postings.

My diet contains lean proteins, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, whey and supplements.

My diet doesn't contain alcohol, sugar, snacks, dessert, soda, packaged garbage.

You are what you eat. 

Garbage in- Garbage out!

If you think you can eat dessert several times a week and still look lean and ripped, I hate to be the one to break it you you, but you cannot. Sure you can look good, and maybe even great, but you cannot even consider stepping on stage if you don't do the time with the proper nutrition. It's easy to cover it all up with jeans, t-shirts or spandex, a little more difficult in Underamour boy shorts. 

So...if you wanna look good naked......read on.

I don't eat like this all year, this is a competition diet, but I know some of you want to LOOK like you compete, so this is what it takes. Keep in mind my age, gender, size and activity level as that all makes a difference. 

This is a day I train in the morning (and to me, cardio isn't really training, lifting is training to me). It varies when I train with Roy at night.

I am up at 4:00 a.m. and I have a meal replacement drink (20 grams protein and 19 grams carbs) not just plain whey protein. I also have a serving of cooked oatmeal (not shown), 1/3 cup dry measure. It's just plain old cooked oatmeal, nothing fancy. If you eat steel cut they have a different carb measure so be aware of that. Much more carbs in the same amount of steel cut oats. I take lots of supplements but the ones you should really be concerned with are these:

5 grams glutamine

BCAA's in gel tabs

500 mg L-Carnitine

Green tea extract

multi vitamin

800 mg fish oil

I then dump 20 mg BCAA's into my drink to be consumed while training. I go through a lot of BCAA's.

Post training, within 30 minutes, (about 7:00am), another shake but this is whey protein (as opposed to a meal replacement shake) so it's almost all protein, but a few grams carbs. I have 1 & 1/2 scoops of whey protein blended in a blender with 1 cup water, a two handed scoop of ice, 1 SMALL (6 inch) banana and 5 grams glutamine. I like chocolate or chocolate-peanut butter flavored whey.

500 grams L-Carnitine

BCAA's (gel tabs)

Green tea extract

This is the most important time for quick absorbing carbs (the banana) and then the whey which is more easily digested than whole food. It is also important to ingest it right away, as soon as possible after training. Your body needs the nutrients to build and repair, even if you don't think so.  This post training meal is probably the one single most important meal you will ingest in a day! Make it a good one.

10:00 a.m. is my largest meal and the one I most look forward too! It is my second and last serving of starch (the first was at 4:00 a.m.) I have 4 ounces chicken breast, 4 ounces brown rice, 1 cup broccoli.

5 grams glutamine

BCAA"s (gel tabs)

1 gram CLA

500 mg L-Carnitine

800 mg fish oil

water

1:00 p.m. is 4 to 5 ounces baked tilapia, 1 cup asparagus and 15 raw almonds.

water

4:00 p.m. is a big salad (3 cups) of greens- spinach or super greens, something with nutrition not iceberg or romaine; about 1/4 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup sliced endive and maybe a couple sugar snap peas; 4 ounces broiled shrimp, 1 teaspoon olive oil, rice vinegar and sriracha sauce (hot sauce).

5 grams glutamine

water

8:30 p.m. is a scramble made with 3/4 cup egg whites, 2 ounces lean meat (steak or chicken), 1/2 cup sautéed greens (chard, kale, spinach), and 1/2 cup sautéed vegetables (red onions, mushrooms, tomatoes).  Salsa.

5 grams glutamine

BCAA's

1 gram CLA

800 mg fish oil

500 mg L-Carnitine

water

Bed time is a cup of herb tea, ZMA, Inositol, Night Time Herbs. RIGHT after eating! Who says you shouldn't go to bed with a full stomach!? 

Over the next few days I will discuss what I change when I lift at night (because I still go to the gym at 5:00 a.m. those days), what variations I make on the food, how I cook it all and the reason for such silly things as 15 almonds or 1 teaspoon oil! 

Did you notice all my plates had green stuff on them?

I will try to delve into the supplements too, but this can be a very personal issue. Some people are for 'em and some are against 'em!

Final Prep for Competition

There is much to do, but I have it down to a science. When I started it was all trial and error. I used the checklist that Huong gave me, things I found online, advise from others. I could never have gotten here without all of the help and research.

I own my prep now, I am as successful as I have made myself. Although every competition brings jitters, I am comfortable with what I do. I don't have a coach, or a Figure coach to look at me and tell me what to eat, what to train, what to pack and do. I do it alone. I always think of the saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Many gals feel the need for one, and power to them if that works. I don't want one, I get a sense of satisfaction knowing that I am the body I made myself, for myself, and not for others. I don't train so I can be successful at Figure, I train because I like to and the competition is a way to connect with a lot of other hard training women and keep me on my toes. A challenge. 

I have my diet slightly altered the last week, Kim Porterfield taught me how. I stop shakes and egg whites and I play with proteins and carbs ever so slightly. Every body is different, so what works for me may not work for someone else. It takes trial and error. You need to learn by ingesting foods and then looking at the slight changes in your body about 40 minutes later, all the way to the following couple days.

Kim first had me do this by setting my alarm at 3:10 am, take pictures, eat, go back to sleep, get up at 4:00 am, take pictures, train shoulders, take pictures...and study them. whew!

So this means I don't have a shake when I get up at o.darkness, I have a mixture of cream of rice and chopped chicken, like baby food.  I have the same thing (but twice as much cream of rice) for breakfast.

Protein is adjusted down near the end to shuttle the carbs directly to the muscles, then at the very end, Friday night I will eat a dinner designed to fill me out. A steak, plain baked potato (pepper and lemon) and a slice of homemade cheesecake. I will have the same thing for breakfast the next day.

Of course, that's if everything looks the way it should leading up to Friday. It is a fine balancing act.  Anything can change in a matter of days, seriously. It can go well and it can go sour, very, very sour.

I don't take diuretics, those are the most dangerous thing you can take, worse than any anabolic steroid or drug, screw up with diuretics and you die. No silly trophy, sword or pro-card is worth it in my opinion.

I take Thursday and Friday off from work, Thursday I will prepare all the food I need to bring to my hotel. It is simple: chicken breast, flank steak, brown rice, sweet potato, plain vegetables, asparagus if I can find it- the stores haven't had any lately.  I package it all up in serving portions and pack a lot of water too. I will bring some magazines or books in case I am alone in my hotel room bored. I will make cheesecake with a shortbread crust.

I load up my suitcase with sheets for the hotel (the tan can make a mess), my clothes, makeup and snacks for backstage. That is rice cakes, peanut butter, honey, granola, raw nuts. Baby wipes for the hands, that honey and peanut butter gets everywhere and the tanning solution is disgusting. I will also pack some dark chocolates caramels, bananas, Doritos and any other treat that sounds tempting at the moment. 

In the afternoon I will have a manicure and pedicure, french nails. I dislike the fake ones and used to use the glue on for the competitions, no longer. It's me and I have short nails, but they will be nicely groomed.

First thing Friday morning I have a hair cut. I will have my hair blown out so all I need to do is clip it back in my rhinestone clip. It will be long and flowing, but the bangs still add some dimension to my face. I don't care for the stiff "up do" look, too fussy. 

The athlete briefing and registration takes place in the host hotel on Friday evening at 6:30 for the Figure and Bikini. This is great as it used to be in the morning when they weighed in all the men, everything would get delayed and behind and just cause the event to go over.  At some point in the afternoon or evening I get my spray tan, also at the host hotel. 

I will leave a checklist for David- things to make sure are at home when I get there! This may change but currently the list is this:

Champagne 

Pinot Noir

a skirt steak

sliced sourdough bread (I will have a hot skirt steak sandwich with wine when I get home about midnight or so)

fixings for David's Famous Ramos Fizz in the morning 

The knowledge that he needs to go to Fleur de Cocoa to get some pastries Sunday morning as soon as they open. I am thinking some plain croissant to go with the fig jam I made.

Almost There

I had a burger last night. I was feeling too thin and looking stringy. I can get away with that, lots of people cannot so don't think it's "the approved diet" of Figure competitors. I can eat starchy carbs, I am insulin sensitive, I don't bloat up and have problems digesting them. My blood sugar doesn't spike wildly and then plummet.  Now, I rarely (RARELY) eat any white carbs anyway. Hardly ever eat bread of any kind, pasta is an occasional treat, don't eat many potatoes, so the whole deal may be that I don't eat an excess of that stuff on a normal day anyway.


But, I did last night (I had a bun). I only have a little fat left to lose, and I am getting close to losing it too fast (I always do this), so now I can "eat up" once in a while to make sure I don't get too thin. My burger was lean grass fed beef, the good stuff that you can eat raw if you like!


I went to the gym in the morning looking and feeling great! My muscles were happy and full, skin tight across them. 


I was standing at the box, getting my things together and Wendy came up, a big smile on her face. "You must have a show coming up, you look fabulous! I mean, don't get me wrong, you always do, but I can really see it now, super lean and muscular".


We talked about my diet for a while, she wanted to know what I was eating, I explained mainly lean protein, lots of vegetables and small amount of brown rice, lentils or sweet potatoes.


Monique, a trainer who is also a competitor stopped by. "Doing the SF Show?" she asked. "You look lean". I explained I had a burger the night before, I was getting too lean too fast now. "Be careful, don't be ready too early" she advised.


What is interesting, although none of us are experts at "peaking" at just the right moment, many of us can control it very closely to ensure we gain, lose or remain somewhat stable. It is a very fine balancing act. Something as small as a few additional fish tabs can slow the fat loss! I have used this technique before. 


It is also just as easy to backfire on us too. It does become a bit stressful trying to balance it all.


I was done lifting, and in the back free weight room I was joking with Mike, Anthony and Bobbie, we were talking about the different gyms in Los Gatos, they are thinking of changing. 


I gave my opinion on all. "I have just been to every single club in this area, I know all about every one of them!" I told them.


Bobbie replies "Of course 'Miss trains three times a day' does!"


I replied "I am only on three a days for 28 more days, then it's back to two a days! At my age you gotta slow down a little." (chuckle chuckle)


Bobbie laughed and said "I'm not so sure about that. You look pretty freaking sculpted these days. Lately you walk in the room and it looks like you got two sets of shoulders on you!"


I thanked him laughed and started to leave. I told him my shoulders only look so good because I have a trainer who knows what he's doing!


I was on a cloud the rest of the day!

Sorbitol

When I first started competing I met several women who said they couldn't chew gum. Because of their diet!

I was really blown away, I mean, come on, it is sugarless.

Also, I have no trouble dropping body fat and I think that is for two reasons:

I am a stubborn coot and if I decide to do something, I will do it!

 I don’t cheat on my diet.

I have been reading BodyOpus and the diet is a total ketogenic diet for 5 days, then a carb fest for 2. Sounds super easy to me but when he started discussing the fact that you couldn’t even chew gum due to the carbs, it piqued my interest.

Now it all depends on how crazy, nuts, anal you want or need to be on your diet. Me? I have no problems weighing out my food; I do that year round anyway.

I have been known to eat a cookie (1) every few months. I eat chocolates rather frequently, but never when on a diet.

What’s the deal with gum?

 Sorbitol

Yes, most sugarless gum’s first ingredient is sorbitol. What is sorbitol? It is a carbohydrate! Sorbitol is a sugar substitute. It may be listed under the inactive ingredients listed for some foods and products. Sorbitol is referred to as a nutritive sweetener because it provides dietary energy: 2.6 kilocalories per gram versus the average 4 kilocalories for carbohydrates. It is often used in diet foods (including diet drinks and ice cream), mints, cough syrups, and sugar-free chewing gum.

It also occurs naturally in many stone fruits and berries from trees of the genus Sorbus.

This is a pretty high calorie “substitute”!!!

Sorbitol is also a laxative, it is not absorbed by the body well, and it can cause gastro-intestinal issues and if you eat a lot, like if you chew gum all day long, can cause weight gain!

I chew this gum every day, two on the way to the gym and two on the way home. I better pick up a new habit! At least before I go on the BodyOpus diet!