13 Weeks Out | Commencement

It is here. It is getting really close to the dieting portion of contest prep - or as I'd prefer to call it, fat loss.

I think I've established that I hate the word diet just as much as I hate the word tone. For example, this has to be the most ear-scratching sentence in my book:

"I really like, need to go on a 1000-calorie diet because I'm like, soooo out of shape, but I only wanna do cardio and NOT lift weights cause I'm not trying to get bulky, I just wanna get toned."

...Need a tissue cause my ears just bled.

I digress. On to the important stuff.


Prepping For Real Prep

I need 12 weeks of fat-loss prep so my leaning down is gradual, and not a complete shock to the system. I am trying to avoid metabolic damage at all costs. I want to be healthy and lean, and look nice and full on the stage, not stringy and burned out and desperate for a cupcake.

I'm prepping for this 12 weeks of possible mental/emotional hell by eating ultra-low carb on days I do not work out. I am staggering my carb back-load nights and eating in congruence with my training intensity for that day (example: Leg day gets much more carbs post-workout).

Ultra-low carb? No problem! Eggs and chorizo it is!

I have also determined my correct macronutrient needs for my personal needs via If It Fits Your Macros, which pretty much promotes "Flexible Dieting." Go to the site for a detailed explanation of the approach. For example, you figure out your numbers via: your height, weight, age, activity/body fat level, and ultimate goals. Eat to make sure you are hitting those numbers daily (protein/fat/carbs), and the food choices are really up to you. Obviously, you'd eat mostly nutritionally dense and healthy food, and a few snacks here and there will not only not kill you, but will help you meet your macro needs for the day.

I'm telling you, IIFYM practitioners.. no matter what eating style they pick (Paleo, Low Carb, Keto, Clean) they get ripped. Your macros are specific to you and your goals. It just works. And the best thing about it is, it works for contest prep. I can do CBL or CN protocols within my own specific macronutrient guideline, to get the best results for me.

I also learned that my body loves cycling carbs on and off by the days. It may be because my body fat is now at around 18-19% (considered fit) instead of the old 30%, or January's 24%, but going ultra-low carb for a week straight just didn't work as well for me. It worked, it was just exponentially slower.

I will still have to do ultra-low carb on more days than back-load days closer to prep for quicker fat shedding. To get contest ready, I'd like to be at around 12-15% (stage-ready lean). I don't really care about the weight as long as I look really good, curvy, lean and tight.


90dayPUSH | My Results

Me beaming with happiness in a dress. Fitness definitely builds confidence!

Since carb back-loading and starting the 90dayPUSH (3 back-to-back 30dayPUSHes), I have managed to make a rather good dent in my formerly stubborn apple-shape stature. Now my waist comes in more, my legs sweep out and in more with strength and femininity, my back is no longer plagued with rolls (the remaining fat is a significant improvement and will be taken care of in the next 12 weeks). I am also just a much happier camper, in my opinion.. and whether I look good or not, I'm really liking just existing right now.

I went from 123.8 lbs to 118 lbs - but the body fat percentage went from 23.8% to 18-19% (it may even be less now). While I weigh only 5.8 lbs less. that's approximately a 7.0444-lb decrease of fat and a 1.424-lb increase in lean body mass.

And the best part is, my stomach no longer looks flabby like it once [always] did. Now, while there remains a lot of work to be done to that area, I can see obliques, and I can definitely feel the muscle rippling beneath. In natural sunlight, one can see the work trying to shine through, beneath my last few remaining layers.

Success? I think so!


Everyone's Graduating (Even My Body!)

It's 13 weeks out and everyone decided to graduate some kind of school, this week. Nevermind that it's the beginning of June.

Sunday, I cleaned.. all. day. And did laundry. And cleaned some more. Did I mention the dishes? They must have respawned in the sink about 3 times. I didn't get to go to bed until past 11.

Yesterday I had to wake up at 5:30 AM for work. One of my most loathed things is having to get up that early. I was not happy about it. Plus, my mother decided not to tell me about my brother's high school graduation ceremony (which was for last night) until yesterday morning! It was an all-day endeavor pretty much, so  I ran straight there after work. Cortisol levels were definitely elevated for me, lemme tell you that. There was also no room for a workout. I didn't get to bed until past 11, again.

Today, my little guy graduates preschool! We both had to get up at 5:30 AM again, each day never becomes easier than the last. They will have a little ceremony at his daycare. I am less stressed about this one. Also, highly doubting I'll be able to fit a workout in today. I cannot keep going to sleep at past 11pm. Less than 7 hours of sleep is not good for someone undergoing contest prep.

Thursday a friend of mine is throwing a graduation party since she just graduated from university. My oh my it doesn't end!!!

This week, I am trying to stay on top of my water intake. It is horribly inconvenient, but necessary. I have to pee every 10 minutes, it seems.

I am also monitoring my caloric intake purely for the sake of fat loss. I am still eating enough protein and fat to fuel my muscles and workouts, but I am eating at a 20% caloric deficit - a gradual, not sudden or damaging, deficit, for an average of 0.8-1 lb fat loss per week. Healthy, and definitely within the accepted 1-2 lb/week rule. The only macro that truly changes is the carbohydrate. My rule of thumb is, if I'm not inducing hypertrophy, I don't need carbs that day. Ultra-low carb. IIFYM & CBL guidelines. I've found combining these really gets me the results I want, while not having to burn myself out.

I plan my workouts every week, but this week I had to write in 3 rest days (due to the fact that I take one every Sunday, but all these graduations leave me no time in the day to sneak a workout in without having to sacrifice sleep). It may become 4 rest days, depending on how Thursday plays out, but that just means I'm going to have to go HARD on every day that I DO hit the weights. So lots of compound moves - squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, upper body work, plyometrics, bench press. Every day I do end up going will just have to be double duty and efficient. I will carb-load on those nights as well. I won't eat as many carbs as I did last few weeks ago, since I'm easing into a caloric deficit that I will be on for the next 12 weeks.

Doing it all this way, believe it or not, is keeping me sane. It's keeping everything in order, statistical, and is preventing me from hurting myself or stressing myself to the point where my efforts are sabotaged. Even though I've never done any of this before, I'd like to do it the smart way, not the hard way.

So far so good. Whatever my actual body composition is, I've never been this happy about my body. Ever. 90 days of PUSH have changed my body's shape, now let's see where another 90 (give or take) days of contest prep will take my physique.



I will make a weekly update based on the weeks out leading to the competition. So stay tuned for Week 12 and other posts I may sprinkle every now and again!