13 Days Out & Traveling During Contest Prep

I'm sitting on the plane en route from LAX to OKC for a business trip for my day job. One thing that loomed over my head is that I am just 2 weeks away from the Inland Empire Classic--what am I going to do? Will this trip be detrimental to my prep?

The real question is how am I going to prepare myself so I can stay on track whilst taking care of business. This is a very important trip for me to add value to my work experience and I need to stay razor sharp while sticking to my prep plan. Obviously, it's a game of prioritization.

Work comes first, and when time allows for it, find time to train. I've shifted my training schedule around so I trained Push this morning prior to departing to the airport in lieu of taking a rest day. I assigned my full day working in Oklahoma as my rest day. The company I will be working with has a gym facility in their offices. I plan to squeeze in cardio through the day when I can as a final push to advance my conditioning before I enter the final week leading up to the competition in which I plan to take it easy with the cardio and begin to slowly reverse diet into the show. The great thing about cardio is that you don't need a machine or a gym. Just go for a walk!



Today is Sunday and I will be working around the clock and essentially on-call until Tuesday AM. I fly home Tuesday afternoon. If I can find time to train Pull on Tuesday AM I will. The hotel I have been provided has a small gym as well, so there is another opportunity there. Otherwise there are other local gyms in the area.

As for my diet goes, as long as I hit my macros, I'll be fine. I've packed easy to prepare and convenient to eat foods in my carry on. A tupperware of each--egg whites, hash browns, and veggie stirfry. I've also packed a bunch of little fast food condiment packets which I nabbed from the restaurants in the airport terminal to flavor my foods. Tip: hot sauce and mustard goes a long way!

Monday will be a challenging day. I am not sure whether I will be able to get a good night's rest as I will be on-call all day for the project. Thus, I rescheduled my usual Saturday refeed to Monday so I have more flexibility and freedom to eat more and eat diversely to hit my macros. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do and make it work because that's life!

I also have a back up plan in case I either run out of food or through running around I get separated from my food, I know there are fast food and grocery store options in the area I will be staying/working at. No problem there. Also, because I have rescheduled my refeed to allow myself to consume far greater calories on Monday, I can actually accept an invitation to have business lunches/dinners. It is important to be social when you need to especially if it can advance your career or any other important aspect of your life. I heard my hosts love steakhouses so there's a possibility I may have steak, sweet potato, and a salad on this trip! I pre-added this meal into MyFitnessPal in advance as a placeholder just in case this meal actually happens.

And that's really it! It may seem OCD but this is contest prep. If you desire to win, you must do what you can to stay on track with your diet, your training, and be flexible to continue advancing in the other aspects of your life. Just 13 more days... I can't wait!

16 DAYS OUT!!!

  

Snapshots of current conditioning -- will continue to dial in!

 

 It's official!  I am now an athlete and member of the INBA!

 

It’s funny—a lot has changed, yet, a lot has stayed the same since my last post.  I apologize for not updating regularly.  Fast forward from my last post, which marked 5 weeks out, it is now 16 days out.  During this span of time, my clientele list has exploded and the good news for me is that I am loving my new responsibilities as an online coach.  I feel blessed that many of your have asked me questions about anything fitness related and actually cared about my opinion.  Some of you have inquired for my services and that is incredibly humbling.  And some of you are working with me now, bestowing your faith into me to assist you and guide you towards reaching your fitness goals whatever it may be—lose a few pounds for a cruise, build lean body mass, preparing for a photo shoot or an aesthetic-based competition!  I am incredibly thankful that I have the opportunity to do this and I am extremely dedicated to my clients and passionate about helping them reach their goals.  This is probably the main reason as to why I have not been updating my blog regularly, but for frequent updates, I invite you to follow my Instagram -- @way_protein !

So what hasn’t changed?  The main thing is my diet and training protocol – it has stayed relatively the same.  The only difference is that I am doing more cardio and consuming a bit less calories.  The good news is that I do not anticipate dropping my caloric intake further than what it is now and I am living life just fine without the feeling of incredible fatigue and hunger, which I have had experience with while bro dieting two years ago for my first competition. 

Current weekly cardio burn: 1400 calories

Current daily caloric intake: ~1800 calories on regular days, ~3200 calories on refeed days

Macros on regular days are approx..: 150P 200C 45F

Macros on refeed days are approx..: 150P 550C 45F

Training is 6 days a week on a Push / Pull / Legs / Repeat program

Rest day is optional, but lately it’s been a cardio/tinker day

My bodyweight has been hovering between 150.4 to 156.0 lbs. for the past few weeks, and finally today, it has dropped to 149.8 lbs.  But only for a moment until the monitor finally landed on 150.0 lbs.  I probably should have done a few jumping jacks and see if I can pee more to bring it back to the 149s – LOL jk.  Honestly, I just use the number on the scale as one of many determinants for progress.  The main determinant is the mirror.  I believe I will end up somewhere between 148.0 to 151.0 lbs on contest day.  Hopefully it will be on the higher end as I am considering incremental glycogen storage weight.

How I will approach my peak week is well…. nothing.  I feel like I can continue doing what I do and on Saturdays wake up with a physique I am proud of and just do a bit of carb loading to dial myself in.  This time, though, I will be more aggressive with the carb loading because during my last show in December, I believe I looked a bit depleted and flat.  This time, I am more confident in the amount of carbs my body can comfortably handle without spilling over.  Perhaps 200g carbs and 50g fat would be a good idea prior to stepping on stage each time, based on my experiences with refeeding the past few weeks and observing my body’s reactions post feed. 

I may not be able to post again until right before the competition or even right after.  Either way, please check back and see how the story unfolds J  My goal is to have fun and earn a strong placing in my first natural bodybuilding show.  Please follow my Instagram @WAY_PROTEIN to be up to date with my life in fitness.  Thanks for your readership and support!