BuffedWildCat’s BodyBlog

So I did an analysis of my progress from May 8, 2006 to May 31, 2007.  I broke it up into two periods of time, the first is just my attempts at getting my pre-pregnancy physique back, the second period of time starts from the date I made big changes to my diet in preparation for a bodybuilding competition.  Here are the interesting results:

May 8, 2006 to Feb 13, 2007 - Just my life, my personal attempt at getting my pre-pregnancy physique back.

Average Calories:  2159

Average Macronutrient ratio:  139P/210C/91F

Diet was clean but not competition clean, I ate slow burning carbs like sweet potatoes and oatmeal, whole wheat bread and pasta, etc.  Basically I ate according to my General Nutritional Guidelines that I have posted up numerous times in the female forum.

Body Weight:  134-142 with 137 lbs being the average

Body Fat in April 2006:  19.83%

Body Fat 17 Feb 2007:  19.48%

So as you can see, there was virtually NO CHANGE in my body composition in that entire 9 months!  I mean you could attribute the difference to margin of error.  Training-wise I did only cardio until the end of Aug of 2006 cause I had severe DeQuervain’s tendinitis and couldn’t lift.  I hiked once or twice a week for hours at a time with my son in the backpack and inline skated at a local skating rink.

Feb 14, 2007 - May 31, 2007  I started on a Beverly International 16 week out diet and made other dietary changes from there (as you would as you get closer to your BB comp).

Average Calories:  2099  (so only 60 cals less than the previous 9 mo)

Average Macronutrient Ratio:  189P/136C/91F

So basically I raised my protein intake and dropped my carbohydrate intake.  I was also eating competition clean (still am).

Body Weight:  132 - 140 lbs  I am still fluctuating depending on how long I actually stick on my diet of under 100g of carbs.  But my average weight seems to be around 135 lbs unless I pig out on carbs.

Body Fat 17 Feb 07:  Again, was 19.48%  (7 point Jackson/Polluck Method)

Body Fat 17 May 07 (exactly 3 months later):  17.58%

Now granted 1.9% of change isn’t that much but if you look at my progress pics, and even better if you saw me in person, my physique ROCKS now, compared to what it was 3 months ago!!  I’ve got all kinds of muscle definition, even more so than I had in my pre-pregnancy pics and all because I cracked down on my diet by DROPPING MY CARBS AND EATING CLEANER.  I MEAN I ONLY AVERAGED A MEASLY 60 CALORIES LESS THAN THE PREVIOUS 9 MONTHS BUT YET THE RESULTS ARE ASTOUNDING!!!  I have succeeded in changing my body composition JUST BY DROPPING CARBS AND CLEANING UP MY DIET!!!  THE CALORIES ARE VIRTUALLY THE SAME!!  So this goes out to all those doubt my advice or who think you can achieve a better body composition by eating ice cream as long as you keep your calories below maintenance, I DON’T BELIEVE IT FOR A SECOND!!!  You don’t get more muscle and less fat by eating stuff like ice cream, I don’t care if your calories are below maintenance or not!

Oh, I should also mention, that during this last 3 months I have been doing more heavy weight training, at least 4 days a week but closer to 5 days a week whereas the previous 9 months I was not weight training at all in the beginning and then in late Aug I started again but was only weight training 2-3 times per week but was doing more cardio.  Now currently, my cardio consists only of going session skating twice a week and at the beginning of this 3 month time period my cardio consisted only of walking on a treadmill twice a week for 30 min!  The only reason I skate now instead is just because I love it and it happens to be my only form of a social life, so basically my skating is leisurely skating and of course I don’t skate constantly the entire skating session, I do a lot of talking too, heh.
SO THE BOTTOM LINE HERE IS THAT I GOT BETTER RESULTS BY TIGHTENING UP ON MY DIET, WEIGHT TRAINING MORE, AND DOING LESS CARDIO!!!

I decided not to do the bodybuilding competition… for several reasons.  My body fat loss was not occurring rapidly enough for me to be down to about 8% by June 9th.  I had my diet as strictly clean as it could be, was eating like I would be about 2 weeks out from a comp and the fat just wasn’t coming off fast enough.  The only other option I had was to drop more carbs/cals, which I had plenty of room to do so, however, even upon dropping my carbs to just under 100 grams a day, I started having low blood sugar issues.  I bought a glucometer which confirmed that my blood sugar was dropping dangerously too low so I really could not drop more carbs/cals without endangering my health, plus, I’m just not the type of person who wants to walk around feeling all weak, shaky, and like I’m going to pass out.  To me, any BB comp just isn’t worth that.  A male friend of mine who was helping me agreed and did not want me to drop my carbs/cals any lower for the sake of safety (and he would have refused to help me had I wanted to do it anyway).

This doesn’t mean I can never compete, it just means that I would need to start cutting further out, like 6 months instead of 4, in order to have enough time to drop enough fat since my body won’t/can’t handle too rapid of carb/cal drops without going hypoglycemic. I found that my body does adapt eventually to the point that my blood sugar is no longer an issue, or at least it has so far cause I am still doing the diet of just under 100 grams of carbs and now I’m just fine.  It seems I just have to give my body more time to get used to decreased carbs/cals and also decrease them nice and slowly to avoid low blood sugar issues.  Bottom line, I just didn’t have enough time to drop enough fat for the comp.  And there was no way I was going to go thru with it if I thought I wouldn’t be lean enough cause I don’t want to go into a competition feeling like I’m not at my best.

The other issue was that according to the caliper measurements, (altho oddly enough, I was not losing any strength and was even gaining strength in some lifts), I was losing too much muscle and at this point in my life, that isn’t something I want to do.  I have been busting my ass trying to get back the strength and muscle I lost whilst pregnant so in my eyes, a BB comp just wasn’t worth losing the strength and muscle that I have worked so hard to get back.   So anyway, that’s the story on that.

My current goal is to just continue cutting to get as lean as I can this summer,specifically, as lean as I’ve EVER been!  My diet is indeed working, (YAY), I’m definitely losing fat, just not very rapidly, with me there’s just a limit to how fast I can lose fat without getting hypoglycemic and losing too much muscle (I suppose there is with anybody really, but trying to do this comp has taught me that I need more time than probably most people do to get ripped enough for a comp).  I am diligently searching for an experienced physique photographer who will be in my area sometime this year, hopefully this summer or even fall, so that I can do a photo shoot, something I’ve been wanting badly for quite a few years now!  Then by mid-October I am planning to slowly raise my carbs/cals and then really focus on gaining muscle and strength.  By mid-February I plan on starting my cut again to be ripped for the summer.

Thanks to all of you who have been asking about me, supporting me, and sending me compliments!  I really appreciate it, it sure helps keep me going!