5 Weeks Out & Updates!

 

 

An example of a Savory Oat concoction that I love!  Oats, fat free cheese, and eggs!  So UMAMI!

 Something fibrous and bulky and with tons of volume, like egg whites and salad greens!

 Each week that goes by, I am increasingly more vascular.  I can't wait until I reach my final form!  5 more weeks to go!

I’m almost 5 weeks out of my target show on March 1^st, 2014 – The INBA Inland Empire Classic.  I’m at the point of conditioning where I can no longer utilize the scale to track my performance.  My only goal is to carve deeper striations in my glutes.  When I visually notice this, then I can rest assured that progress is made.  I will not allow myself to suffer on bland food, so condiments will stay in my diet and I’ll moderate it the final week leading up to the show.  Life has been incredibly busy from all angles:

-wedding planning

-house hunting

-traveling for leisure to San Francisco to visit family for Chinese New Year

-traveling for work to Oklahoma City for a few days (probably 2 weeks out from competition!)

As you can see, there’s a lot going on even from a big picture point of view in my life that can derail my diet.  Thanks to the lifestyle I chose to implement my diet—flexible dieting—I am able to continue to meet my fitness goals to prepare for my competition with all of these milestone events occurring in my life at the same time.  My food choices have been simplified for convenience.  I chose a few meals that I love to eat most and will eat them daily.  This makes it easy to plan and prepare without fail.  Lately I’ve been on this oatmeal kick, so based on a 2200 daily caloric intake, this is practically what I’ve been eating:

Meal 1:  Something Oaty like Savory Oats w/ Kimchi & Eggs

-2 serv oats

-200g kimchi

-3 large eggs, whole, cooked overeasy

Meal 2: Something Salady or Omelettey like Egg white / Broccoli / Salsa Scramble

-10 servings egg whites, microwaved in Tupperware to cook

-as much broccoli it takes so I’m stuffed (1-2 lbs), microwaved in bowl with water to steam

-glops of hot salsa

Meal 3:  Something Oaty again like Savory Oats w/ Kimchi & Eggs

Total meal prep time: a few minutes of microwaving and combining ingredients per meal.

This has been how I’ve been hitting my macros daily this week. 

I only eat when hungry and if my schedule permits me to eat multiple times a day.  Sometimes I eat 2 meals a day, or I split up my meals in half so I graze throughout the day.  Whatever the meal frequency is, it doesn’t matter.

Refeed days are more flexible.  Throughout the week, whenever I think of something I want to devour that’s delicious and out of the ordinary, I add it to my Saturday food diary (my refeed day) in MFP.  My macros are much higher with calories ranging from 3200-3500, so I can continue to enjoy delicious foods that are typically on the restricted list of contest prep diets.  Lately, it’s been burgers, burritos, and rice bowls of some sort; all very savory foods.  I find that I am prone to addiction and anything sweet can trigger my addictive personality.  Thus, I am staying away from sweet foods because it really heightens my hunger and cravings.  The only sweet foods I will keep in my diet are diet sodas and Splenda for my coffee.  I will refrain from the use of Walden Farms products unless it is to make my zero-calorie salad dressings.

The LA Fit Expo is happening this weekend!  I’m so excited!  There is so much I want to see and do, and people that I want to meet!  I will be there practically ALL DAY on Saturday, January 25^th.  Prior to attending the expo, I will be training legs in the morning at the 24 Hour Fitness in Downtown LA, as well.   

So the plan is to dial in my conditioning the in the final 5 weeks leading up to the show.  Each week, I will gradually cut daily calories by 100-200, and increase my cardio by 50 calories per session.  Currently I am performing 200 calorie burn sessions 5 times a week for a total of 1000 calories burned per week.  Next time I increase cardio, I will be doing 250 calorie burn sessions 5 times a week, or do a total of 1250 calories a week.  I have a rest day on Sundays in which I can perform the bulk of my cardio on that day without taxing my body from any other weight training.  The amount of volume in my weight training will be adjusted based on feel.  The incredible fatigue and exhaustion feeling I experienced for a few days last week ensued after continuous bouts of high intensity, high volume training.  I love training this way but it isn’t physically possible while on a caloric deficit.  I know this now and will be making decisions to back off and minimize the amount of reps and sets I perform each training day so I am not left so battered and beat up that I pay for it later.  The trick is finding balance where I am doing JUST ENOUGH for continued progress and without pain or discomfort so I am in for the long haul.  That old adage, “no pain, no gain,” is stupid.  Sure, train hard, but train smart.  I believe I’ve found this balance now and am trucking along nicely.  Mental health and physical health is in tip top shape.  I can’t wait to see if I can break any personal records on conditioning! 

Have a good day!  Will update again next week!