Week 1 of 8 - Competition Bound
I decided this past Monday to compete in a July show (OCB Natural - Rocky Mount, NC). I’m doing this cut a bit differently though from those in the past in which I lost A LOT of weight (and a lot of muscle, unfortunately) by doing too much cardio and not replacing my calories/protein appropriately. For the first month of this cut (until June 18) I’m cutting carbs, but not drastically. Drastic cutting for those won’t occur until June 18 and will only last one month (the show is July 18). I’m also not doing two hours of cardio a day like I did before. For now, it’s only an hour at most. If it looks like I need to do more as time passes, I’ll adjust.
Here’s my diet for the first month:
AM Workout - sometimes weights and cardio, and sometimes just weights
Post-workout: whey protein shake with wheat germ, BCAAs
Meal 2: 1/2 cup bulgar, 3/4 cup bluberries, 1 hardboiled egg
Meal 3: large spinach salad with 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 whole wheat wrap with black beans and red pepper slices.
Meal 4: 1 green apple, natural peanut butter
Meal 5: salmon, 1/2 small sweet potato, edamame
Meal 6: protein (egg whites or shake) - starting this today because to try to keep up the muscle.
Water: approx. 1/2 gallon per day, sometimes more.
On days that I don’t have to work (I wake up later):
Pre-workout: protein shake
Post-workout: protein shake with 3/4 cup bluberries, wheat germ
Meal 3 and on (see above - they’re the same)
So far, since I started the diet on Monday (5/18), I’ve lost 4.5 lbs (122.5 to 118). I have a lot of energy and am not feeling hungry. I take ZMA (two pills) at night before bed to help me sleep a full 7-8 hours, otherwise I usually only sleep about 3-4.
I’m open to suggestions since even though I’ve competed before, i’m trying a new approach this time. For me, getting cut is not hard, the problem is losing too much muscle in the process. That’s what I’m afraid of.
