fitnessprincess 
"New Objective: build and diet down for 2010 season"
|
|
Archive for the 'Competition Prep' Category
Monday, September 21st, 2009
On another discussion board I frequent, a poster interested in competing shared her concern about how she could even consider competing as her spouse is not likely to embrace her new lifestyle. Boy! Did I ever relate! LOL! That led me to penning today’s post. I am single and share my apartment with a siamese cat so on the face of it dieting for comp wouldn’t seem to be an issue but it is because on the weekends I commute to the suburbs and take care of my mom who does not embrace any aspect of the fitness lifestyle be it diet or exercise. Actually that’s why I was the way I was originally - morbidly obese because my family eats and doesn’t move much unless you consider using the remote control exercise. When I first joined WW and set about to lose weight (I eventually lost 110 lb) this was a HUGE (bad, bad pun PAM!) issue for me and while I wish I could say it is no longer an issue it remains a subtle issue that affects me even today.
The way I have attempted to navigate this is by recognizing and accepting the fact that my mom is not going to change her ways. Rather I need to find ways to minimize the gulf - and it is a gulf - that is between us. The key issues are food selection, food timing, and exercise timing. As much of the time as possible I try to identify foods that I can eat which mom enjoys. For example, I often build Friday dinner off of Bell & Evans chicken breasts, Trader Joe roasted chicken patties, or Applegate Farms skinless chicken sausage. These are protein sources that mom will eat. I make a salad and use Walden Farms dressing on top (not the dressing I would eat but these are at least fat free, sugar-free and calorie-free). I also usually select a veggie like chopped broccoli, canned green beans (soft), or pureed cauliflower - (she has trouble chewing so I try to select veggies that she can eat with minimal chewing). After dinner she will usually go for her stash of potato chips, ice cream - you get the idea. The good thing about this though is that as long as she gets to indulge it doesn’t bother her if I don’t indulge with her. From my vantage point, I am happy, too, because she has at least had some protein and healthy carbs - healthier fare than what she would normally eat if I weren’t there (think mortadella sandwich or Mrs. somebodyorother’s chicken pies (swanson apparently went out of business). I usually have a small healthy meal when she goes for her snack foods. It works best if I have something I really enjoy and that way I am not all tempted by whatever mom is having. The other piece of the puzzle that makes things work well is I make an effort to take her out for breakfast Saturday and Sunday and most of the time for lunch on Saturday. At breakfast I usually do an eggwhite veggie omelet (which is honestly my favorite food) and either oatmeal or dry rye toast (I prefer ezekiel but most diner’s don’t stock ezekiel bread). For lunch I usually do dry cooked (no oil, no bread crumbs) fish and steamed veggie - broccoli or asparagus if I can get these. Mom gets whatever she wants and we are both happy. Sometimes we will eat at an Indian restaurant or a Chinese restaurant (my favorite is Greek) and I will try to find something relatively healthy and just enjoy that meal. One meal “off-program” really won’t hurt your competition diet as long as you make good choices and you really CAN if you truly want to. Actually there are psychological advantages to doing it and the few extra calories I may consume only prime my metabolism - certainly not hurt my weight loss efforts. I usually commute back Sunday afternoon and then prep my meals for the week. I put them in disposable plastic containers in the freezer and pull them out each morning. The prep work really doesn’t take that much time and then I am good-to-go all week long.
In terms of exercise I learned a while ago to set my program up so that Saturday, when I am with mom, can be my rest day. I workout Friday morning at 5 am before I go to work and I usually workout Sunday at 6 pm (cardio) when I get back into Boston. So that way mom’s schedule and inactivity don’t affect my efforts in the gym. This has its cost I should point out: I have to get up at 5 AM on Fridays so I can get my workout in before the workday begins since I have to commute to mom’s at the end of the day.
All of this said, I am not going to pretend it is “easy” living the fitness lifestyle in a workplace/home that is not fitness-friendly. You can do it though. IF you want to, you will find a way to make it work. And I think this is the key for anything worthwhile in life - you find a way to do what you really want to do. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it and then you just need to create a plan and put it in action - modifying it as problems arise and they will arise - LOL! just the nature of life, you know. That’s the fun of it, too - overcoming the hurdles.
Posted in Training, Competition Prep, eating out
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
 In goofing around this week for my WW friends - I am a receptionist part-time for WW (I highly endorse the program if you are serious about healthy weight loss), we got to talking about whether or not I ever ate anything "normal" anymore. Of course, whenever I am with them I am eating one of my healthy meals and they have I guess over time developed an odd idea of what my life looks like as an amateur figure athlete. So, Wednesday night I decided to shoot a photo of my weekly cheat meal in order to educate them a bit on my diet and how it really works. That’s the photo I took at upper left with the WW mascot "Hungry" featured with a Hood’s Red Sox mint choc ice cream cup (115 g; 330 calories), a bag of WW mini ginger snaps (120 calories and to die for! good!). Not shown are the A&W diet cream soda and the slice of cheese pizza. I have to say I was super amazed at the degree of scrutiny my cheat meal underwent and how many questions I was asked about cheat meals. Later in reflection I realized I haven’t ever blogged about my cheats - I have blogged about binges but that’s not the same thing - and so I thought it might be helpful to newbies and perhaps anyone if I shared a bit about cheat meals today.
There are different approaches to cheats and they serve two primary purposes:
1) psychological. If you eat the same foods even if you enjoy them all the time and don’t eat the processed foods most people do every day after a while even if you aren’t naturally attracted to them you start to feel well "deprived" and then you will start to crave something you probably shouldn’t have and next thing you know you are eating it and later feeling sorry for yourself for having indulged. Well, no harm in having a donut or an ice cream cone every once in a while. A donut is typically only 250 calories. A single scoop ice cream cone (cake) is also about 250 calories for a scoop of premium ice cream. Both contain significant amounts of fat and carbohydrates - fat and carbs aren’t evil by the way. Your body needs both. At any rate, my point is that 250 calories isn’t going to stall your weight loss at least not if you are in a true caloric deficit and following a solid diet so having the donut or ice cream cone will quiet Hungry’s voice in your head - helping you to feel more a part of the rest of the human race, not deprived, and therefore enabling you to keep to your diet plan.
2) physiological. This is really two-pronged. When you diet, you should be eating fewer calories than your body is burning each day. I hope it will make sense to you that if you are in a significant deficit over time your body is going to try to find ways to burn fewer calories in order to be able to fuel all the processes it is being asked to carry out so over time your metabolism will decrease. Integral in this is that fundamentally your body uses three types of fuel in order to carry out the various processes it does: protein (building block for muscles), fat, and carbohydrates. With all the recent hoopla about low carb diets what most folks don’t know is that carbohydrates are the fuel for your brain. You know when you diet and get "fuzzy" and can’t think straight, well that’s your body crying out for much needed carbs. Carbs are also the go-to fuel for your workouts but be aware that your body can and WILL use protein -agh!!!- if the carbs aren’t present. In other words, your body will break down your hard-won muscle if you don’t fuel it properly! Getting a bit off topic but this also relates to pre- and post-workout nutrition (promise I will tackle this in another upcoming post). Bottom-line: if you periodically, interrupt your diet to take in a bit of extra fuel then your metabolism will be spiked back up and your carb stores will be replenished.
OK so what are the rules for a cheat? I have one cheat meal each week. One meal is more than enough for me psychologically and physiologically. I substitute one of my meals each week for the cheat meal. The cheat meal is still a meal not a pig fest so it needs to contain protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. It is not a dessert fest. I like to savor it at the end of the day when I can sit down and truly enjoy it. For me it works best if I plan for it. I decide in advance what I am going to have and then I shop for whatever I am going to eat. This is important for me because of my personality. I am an A+++ personality and if I don’t feel things are under control then the cheat meal becomes a burden rather than a pleasure. When I shop for my cheats I always get single servings of whatever I am going to eat. Sigh. That is essential. For me, particularly when it comes to the dessert portion, it can become too easy for me to eat "the package" rather than a portion and remember this isn’t supposed to be a pig fest. In terms of foods well, that’s up to you. I think it is vital to select foods you really enjoy but which you normally don’t get to eat on your diet. Just remember I know I already said it but it bears repeating: this isn’t a pig fest. A cheat meal is not a pint of ice cream, a package of chocolate chip cookies, and a package of m&m’s peanuts.
My new coach has a document she sends to new clients called the 90% rule that I really like that pretty much sets quantitative limits on your cheat meal. The idea is that if you are less than 90% compliant with your diet plan then you are not likely to see results at the scale. Assuming that you follow your diet plan to the letter the rest of the week then you have 10% you can play with in terms of extra calories you can consume in your cheat meal. So if you eat 1500 calories each day 7 days a week on your diet plan that’s a total of 10,500 calories. 10% of this is 1050 calories which represents the upper caloric limit for your cheat meal. Of course, it should make sense to you that 95% compliance is better than 90% so a meal of 525 calories is better (less extra calories consumed; higher degree of dietary compliance) so this gives you a good range within which to design your cheat meal and still enjoy it. In this example anywhere between 525 and 1050 calories will allow you a bit of leeway and yet keep you compliant (90-95%) with your diet. Make sense? 
Posted in Training, Competition Prep, cheat meals
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Every two weeks I complete an evaluation of my progress called a "bi-weekly" for my new coach Noel Clark. I really like the idea of doing these. Really helps me to see where I am, how far I have come, and where I am going. It helps me to evaluate what has gone well and what might need to be tweaked. I thought I would share with you the four lessons I learned this bi-weekly:
1. You can burn mega-calories doing a weight training workout IF the workout is well structured.
2. You can burn mega-calories doing an abs/core workout in fact more calories than if you were doing ss cardio IF the workout is well structured.
3. I can do a cheat meal and not become Dr. Hyde. I think the secrets to this for me are a) following directions which means do it each week; b) plan it ahead of time (helps me in terms of accountability); c) buy single servings of cheat foods, e.g., single slice pizza, small single serving container of ice cream (not a pint), etc.; d) make it the last meal of the day; e) on a training day
4. Dieting doesn’t mean deprivation. After getting my new program and meal plan this last time and having reviewed them, I was worried. This time it sure looked like I was eating a lot more food and alot more of some foods I have been brainwashed into thinking I shouldn’t eat (fruit, cheese, bread/crackers). My new plan had more fruit, more cheese, bread and even my favorite crackers (Dr. Kracker). Agh! more calories? Oh no! Maybe she forgot I want to lose weight? So, I emailed Noel to ask if the calories were maybe higher. She emailed right back assuring me that the calories had been lowered.
Posted in Training, Competition Prep, cheat meals
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
Date: Saturday September 19, 2009
Time: 11:00-6:00
Location: Diane Cournoyer Dance Studio in Northborough, MA
COST: Anyone who competed in the 2009 Northeast Classic $100 paid by September 1
Early registration for people who did not compete in NE Classic $125 by September 1
Registrations received by 9-7-09 $150
Registrations after 9-7-09 $195
Presenters at the seminar include Joe Klemczewki, Nancy Andrews, Bill Murphy, Melissa Kelley, Sheila Resendes, Jordan Chabinsky, Wendell Webb and many more. Topics covered include, POSING - figure, bodybuilding and fit body including judging rules, the mental edge - how to win, supplements, contest specifics, training to win and many more.
This is a great seminar if you are thinking about competing in bikini, figure, fit body, or bodybuilding in the WNBF/INBF (natural). They really do cover all the topics you need and the folks who present are all top-notch at what they do. You will meet world-class bodybuilders, figure competitors as well as fellow amateurs. A great group of people and a fun day! Price is really economical for these kind of camps and especially given the caliber of presenters.
To register, send your contact info with payment to:
Nancy Andrews
2 Guinevere Circle
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
www.neclassic.com
www.inbfmonstermash.com
Flyers are available if you would like to hang one in your gym. Please email your mailing address to Nancy if you would like to help advertise this event Wnbfpro@aol.com.
I would appreciate it if you would mention Pam:) sent you if you decide to register. You can also PM me if you have any questions.
Posted in Competition Prep
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
This entry is about the mindset that often forms without your even realizing it when you are dieting. Every two weeks I complete a bi-weekly that summarizes my bodyweight, measurements, photos, and reflections on my diet and workouts over the preceding two weeks. Now I am just like you no matter what you may think and so when the scale was up by 0.5 lb this time well I freaked out. LOL! That’s an understatement. A dark cloud formed over my mind and the day. I was angry. After all, I have been faithfully following my program and well clearly it failed me, right? Well sad to say I took this out on my coach to whom I have since rightly apologized. She tried to tell me that the glass wasn’t empty and that I had made progress but no! I wouldn’t hear of it. After all, the scale said I was "fat" and I FELT fat! Well, you know your brain can do some amazing things, right? Feelings aren’t always based on facts.
So segue to the evening and my rant to my BFF! After venting my BFF said little. Later that evening she emailed me the following blog post by Coach Erik Ledin of Lean Bodies Consulting (http://www.leanbodiesconsulting.com/):
“BEWARE! Rant About The Scale!
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007
This is a post I made previously that I thought deserved to be immortalized in my blog.  It’s always worth a second look …
Why does bodyweight matter so much to ‘you’?
This is going to turn into more of a rant I think.
What does bodyweight tell you? It tells you what you WEIGH!! Who knows what you weigh? You. Who cares what you weigh? No one else.
What are your goals when it comes to training and nutrition? In most cases, at some point, it will be fat loss … or is it just weight loss? Do you care where your weight loss comes from? Or is the only thing that matters is seeing a lower number on the scale. What if you looked the same? Just a smaller version of your current self? Would that matter?
Ok, so I’ll assume and answer for you – you care about FAT loss, not weight loss.
I mean, if you didn’t care where it came from, then you’re perfectly fine with your weight loss coming from a combination of fat AND muscle right? It’s all good as long as that stupid scale comes down right?
Come on.
What does the scale tell you?
I’m waiting …
Yes, the answer is that easy.
It tells you what you WEIGH!!!
It doesn’t tell you anything about what the composition of that weight is. It says nothing about bodyfat, muscle mass, fat, or anything else. It tells you what you weigh.
Why is it such an important number to you?
Other people don’t know what you weigh; they see what you look like. What are people’s perception of what you look like based on? The composition of your bodyweight – muscle, fat, bodyfat, etc and NOT the number on the scale. People know if you’re in shape or out of shape, if you look good or don’t look good based on well, what you look like … obviously. Not based on the tshirt you have to wear every day that gives a daily update of your bodyweight.
Let’s say you dropped 5 lbs of fat. That’s good.
Let’s say, you happened to gain 5 lbs of muscle. That’s really good.
Uh oh, problem. It would appear to me that if the above were true, you’d register no change on the scale. You weigh the same.
You’re a failure.
Or are you?
That might not register as weight loss on the scale, but that represents a 10lb change in the look of your body. Is that not why you’re training? To LOOK better?
Your waist is smaller, your hips are smaller, your legs are smaller, your clothes fit better, friends and family are commenting on your ‘weight loss’ and asking you what you’re doing … and yet? Your weight hasn’t changed much.
Failure. You realize because of the stupid number your scale spits out … that you’ve made no progress.
Come on!
Is this resonating yet?
Of course you’ve made progress. Plenty of it.
If your measurements have come down, you’re smaller.
If you’re smaller, you’re losing fat.
Fat is weight.
If you’re losing fat you’re losing weight (that is associated with the lost fat)
If the scale says you’re not losing weight in light of the above, well something’s happening.
Something is being added to your body to counterbalance the loss of fat weight.
Guess what? This isn’t a bad thing.
Chances are you’re in the SWEET SPOT of simultaneous fat loss … and muscle gain, which is not easy to do, so if you’re there, be happy and enjoy it!
So the addition of muscle (weight) is counterbalancing the loss of fat (weight).
Is this not a great thing?
What improves how your body looks? Fat loss and muscle gains. NOT just weight loss for the sake of seeing a smaller number on the scale.
Now, get over the scale already, and start paying attention to the signs that your body is improving – measurements, skin fold readings (maybe), how your clothes fit, comments from others, etc.
Got it? Good.”
URL: http://leanbodiesconsulting.com/blog/category/beware-scale-rant/
The most amusing part is this morning well, the evil scale said my weight was down! LOL!
Another new friend posted this quote in her journal. I really like it and want to close with it today:
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
Posted in Training, Competition Prep, weight loss, Rant
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
I get asked a lot by friends and folks interested in doing figure what I do and therefore what do you need to do in order to compete? So, I thought it might be worthwhile blogging on this topic. Many people seem to think that all that’s involved is dieting down or dieting down and exercising. There’s quite a bit more required if you really want to do it right - enjoy the process and feel good about your very short time on the competition stage.
So here are the key elements:
1) Diet - key elements here? a diet filled with healthy, whole foods (meat, poultry, veggies, fruits, and breads/crackers) that delivers the right amount of calories and the right macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals) in the right amounts! And please note we are not talking starvation diet here ladies! unless you want saggy, baggy, unhealthy looking skin and no muscles when you stand on the stage in your little bitty competition suit! For a variety of reasons not the least of which is our modern world and what we have done to the animals and plants on it, you are going to need to use supplements and I am not talking about fat burners here (no such thing by the way ladies!). I mean vitamins, minerals, amino acids, creatine.
2) Exercise program - key elements here? solid, old-fashioned weight training with heavy weight DBs, Bbs and some cardio (mix of HIIT, plyometrics, and ss cardio). Your program should not be hours of cardio each day ladies. You should be working your whole body and your workouts should emphasize compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, lunges, etc.
3) Stress management - yoga (also great core training!) - I got introduced to yoga by Cathy Savage Fitness’ Ms. P (my eternal thanks lady!), adequate rest, and sleep!!! You have to manage your stress if you want to lose weight, maintain your sanity, and your health and get up on that stage!
4) Posing - It may look to you like those figure ladies are just standing up there, smiling, and all relaxed but that’s far from the truth! To get the most out of your physique you have to flex your muscles and it isn’t easy and you have to figure out how to do this in such a way that it emphasizes the best aspects of your hard won physique and hides your flaws (everyone has some by the way! everyone!). Walking in 4" high heels isn’t easy either and you have to make it look that way smiling the whole time. All of this takes practice - months of practice! in your high heels in front of a mirror! and near the end in your posing suit.
5) Appearance - posing suit, makeup, hair, tanning, fingernails. To compete in figure you need to get a figure suit (these aren’t cheap!) and these typically have to be ordered 10-12 weeks in advance of your competition date. Even if you tan outside or in a tanning bed (I hope you don’t do the latter - very bad for your skin’s health!) you will need to learn how to apply competition tanner so you look nice and dark on the day of your competition (your tan needs to look ridiculously dark but will look great under the harsh stage lights). You will need makeup (many women use false eyelashes) that compliments your figure suit, hair, etc. Lots to learn and lots to do here and you can’t do it at the last minute.
Many of us hire a coach to help us navigate the labyrinth of figure prep. Some folks hire someone to help them with diet. Others hire someone to help them with training. Still others hire a coach who will help them with diet, exercise, and some of the other elements of figure prep including suit selection, makeup, tanning, posing training, etc. You can get a coach who will design a program for you on-line. Of course, it is harder to get assistance with certain elements, e.g., proper exercise form, posing, etc. many of us use this approach (on-line coaching).
Posted in Training, Supplements, Nutrition, Competition Prep, makeup, posing, resources for figure competitors, figure competition suits, figure competition shoes, on-line coaching
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Yesterday was the NPC Masters Nationals. Two of my on-line friends were competing for the first time: Fern Assard and Kim Mitchell. Fern blogs on Bbing.com (URL: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/MsFitness/) and Kim blogs independently (URL: http://figurecompetition.blogspot.com/ ). They are both amazing women whom I really admire. What was really cool is that SiouxCountry.com posted blow-by-blow photos and commentary all day yesterday during the prejudging and the evening finals. If you aren’t familiar with SiouxCountry.com it’s a terrific discussion board and resource for women figure and bodybuilding competitors. Thanks so much ladies for all your hard work yesterday. I, for one, really appreciated/enjoyed it! I think while I am at here I will put in a plug for MuscleDevelopment.com which posts competition photos and results for major NPC (National Physique Committee) events such as the Masters Nationals. If you are new to figure, it is a great idea to review photos from last year’s competition. In most of the larger federations, photos from competitions, individual and comparison, are posted online. You can really learn a lot from reviewing these. You can get a sense of how large the competition is, how many folks competed in your category/class last year, how many classes there were, what the competitors wore (how much bling, suit styles, shoes - platform or not, jewelry, etc.), tanning, makeup, hairstyles, posing (be careful though not everyone poses correctly or does it well), what type of physiques were rewarded by the judges (hard, soft, striated, not striated, etc.). Assuming the venue is the same, you’ll get a good sense of what the stage will look like, the lighting, etc.
To finish my story, I am really excited for both my friends. They both looked amazing and I think did really well at Masters Nationals considering it was their first time. Fern came in 12th in Class B and Michele came in 14th in the same class. I am so proud of both of them. They both look so beautiful! If you want to see photos form Masters Nationals go to URL: http://www.musculardevelopment.com/browse/index.php?mode=contest&eventcode=1334
Posted in Training, Competition Prep
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
I think choosing a good coach is difficult. I have made my share of mistakes (Klemczewski was a huge mistake. If you hire him, you have been warned.) and I hope that I have been candid about this in my blog. Be careful in selecting a coach. There are many out there and coaching isn’t cheap. A couple worth investigating are Cathy Savage, Terry Stokes, and Erik Ledin (Lean Bodies Consulting)
If you are planning on hiring one, try to find out exactly what their approach is to:
program - what exactly will your coach provide and in what time frame? can you email them daily? call them? will they answer daily? will your coach provide you with a diet and a workout? with updates to these and with what frequency?
diet - There are a couple general approaches either providing macros (gm protein, gm carbs, gm fat) or providing a complete meal-by-meal diet. With either approach how much food do you get to eat? (Is it a starvation diet?) What foods do you get to eat? (are there forbidden foods - e.g., fruits, cheese, bread, etc.) Are you going to get variety? Are you going to get to eat the foods you like or are you going to be on the orange roughy/tilapia/chicken and broccoli diet?
supplements - are they pill pushers? if so, what pills do they want/expect you to take? so-called fat burners? other drugs? How much do these pills cost? (by the way imo if they are pushing pills you are looking at the wrong coach, you should be able to diet down without taking crap - and I am a chemist so when I say crap that’s what it is: crap!)
workouts - are they old-school free-weight based or foo-foo-bosu-puff weight workouts? How many workouts per week (3/wk)? For how long? (1 hr at most per session if you want to keep your muscle while dieting) You should receive new programs every 4-6 weeks.
cardio - how many hours of cardio are you expected to do - be careful here the more cardio you do yes the more fat you lose but also you lose precious muscle and figure is ALL ABOUT muscle. Are you expected to do 1-h/day? I have even heard of women doing 2-h/day - ridiculous in my opinion
Do they provide assistance in suit selection, tanning, shoes, makeup, posing? Are they going to charge you extra for these services? HOW MUCH!
What support, if any, do they provide you post-comp? ESSENTIAL - rebound is an all too common phenomenon and not at all fun. Will the coach provide you a diet to help you back out of your competition or are you going to be on your own?
cost - how much$$? Are the fees outlined upfront or hidden?
contract - are you required to sign a contract? what rights does the contract give you in terms of termination of the contract? what rights does it give your coach?
All of this said, I will be the first to say it is easy to make a bad choice and it can be a very bad one - financially and healthwise. I got ripped off financially by the "good" "Dr. Joe" - he soaked me upfront for a year of "coaching." Then I paid for 12-weeks of figure posing coaching - got 5 weeks and on top of that he assessed me extra for video posing sessions! And if all of this weren’t bad enough, I paid for 6-mos of workouts and got one written program, which I followed the whole damn time! Healthwise, I lost my period, developed low blood iron, and post-comp had a hell-of-a-rebound from which I am only now recovering. Luckily for me taking in more cals restored my period and my heme iron. Financially, well there’s no protection currently in the law against this type of malpractice. I am working however to see that laws are put in place for the "on-line" coaching industry so this will never happen to anyone else. In the meantime, go slow. Ask around. And if you aren’t happy with things get out - your health is too precious.
Posted in Training, Competition Prep, on-line coaching
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
The back of our church bulletin today had a great story entitled “Changing the Recipe” by Delmer Chilton which I thought was quite relevant to competition prep and working with a coach. It read as follows:
“A few years ago I was sitting in the doctor’s office and read a piece in an old Reader’s Digest that has stuck with me. It went something like this. A woman wrote about her sister-in-law, Ginny, who liked to substitute things in recipes when cooking. One night the woman was having dinner with her brother and sister-in-law. Ginny had borrowed a recipe because her husband liked the dish , but she had substituted beef for chicken and raw peanuts for walnuts. In fact, she had changed every major ingredient.
When they sat down to dinner, her husband put the first bite in his mouth, blanched, and spit it out. “This is terrible!” he complained. Ginny looked across the table andsaid, “Well, don’t blame me. It’s your sister’s recipe!”
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it (Psalms 24.1). Sometimes when we complain about the way things are in the world, we blame God that things are less than perfect. And all too often, we forget that it was we who changed the recipe. ”
Are you frustrated right now? Perhaps not seeing the weight loss or the change in body measurements or %BF that you expect to see? Are you honestly following the program your coach set out for you or are you “changing the recipe”? Are you eating your diet as outlined or are you adding licks and bites? Are you weighing your portions or eye-balling it? Are you eating the foods and the meals outlined at the set times or are you substituting other foods? Are you combining meals or omitting some to boost your caloric deficit? Are you doing the cardio and the weight training as outlined in your written program? Are you working out with intensity? or are you simply going through the motions?
I think recognizing that you are “changing the recipe” is the hardest element of the puzzle sometimes. My new coach Noel Clark has an online tool for tracking that I really like. You check off meal-by-meal whether you ate the meal as outlined, had a cheat meal, omitted the meal, or deviated from the meal as outlined (there’s a place to spell out exactly how you modified your meal, too.) The tool shows you some stats for your dietary compliance for last week, last two weeks, and last month. Really helps to put things in perspective!
Once you recognize that you aren’t following your program, you will need to make an honest effort to determine why you aren’t keeping your program and then you will need to make some hard decisions. Bottom-line is that if you don’t follow the program your coach outlined you can’t complain if you don’t see results, right?
Posted in Training, Competition Prep
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Diet: 100%
Mood: good
Energy: good
Mental Focus: good
Muscle Soreness: none
Workout: step-mill intervals 26-min 5.21-mi/120-floors 273-cal HRM
Other: good day all around
Posted in Training, Competition Prep
|
Leave Comment