My Journey To My First Figure Competition: 7 Weeks Out!

Stats: 137.6, 11.47% Body Fat; Last week was: 140.0; Body Fat 12.2%….I love the science of this that it IS working!!

Calorie intake: 1968 daily at 40 g fat; 176 g carbs (including veggie carbs); 164 g protein (including veggie proteins)

I follow the Fighter Diet Contest Prep plan. My diet it filled with oatmeal, flax meal, fish oil, egg whites, broccoli, olive oil, Sun Warrior protein shakes, Fighter Diet Greens, rice cakes (and sometimes Mike & Ike’s) post workout, almonds, chicken, flax oil, salted meals and green beans…..every.single.day! Oh, and 2 gallons of water daily, too!

Twice weekly I’m now carb cycling by taking out some veggies and adding in some extra oatmeal and sweet potatoes, all while staying at the same calorie amount as the other days. This past week I even tried 2 whole wheat pancakes and some maple syrup and then waited 2 hours to see how my muscle pump responded. It was a great response, but I messed it up by drinking a bunch of water prior {out of habit} and my body was holding some water. SO, next Saturday I’ll try it again! The goal: find that PERFECT food that gives a great muscle pump to MY body so I can make sure to eat that the AM of the show! I’ve also heard a Snickers bar does the trick as well….we shall see!

Cardio: My body fat drop really surprised us, so we backed my cardio down to 4 45-minute steady-state sessions.

Lifting: All body parts this week with a midweek leg day. On that day I don’t do cardio so my legs can make sure to benefit from the lifting and not have the muscles be bothered by the cardio session. I also tend to up my post workout sugars that day as well since the leg muscles are the biggest muscle groups.

Rest Days: Saturday AND Sunday….ah, rest does a body good! I’m also in bed nightly by 9PM and rise between 6 and 6:30. Sleep does a body GOOD!

Slowly but surely, the muscles are on the reveal! Boy, I need a tan!

The waistline is finally slimming down! I’m still a box, but hoping I can be a curvy box by show time!

I have to admit…I have an Absession! I have always admired lean, cut, 6-pack abs and when my stomach was fried after the 4 kids, I knew I would not be happy until I got it fixed. You can see my incision well in the pics from the surgery I had on 11.2.12 where he removed about 6 inches (1 pound) of skin. No fat was taken off…that’s been my job. So I had to get some shots to show MY own abs starting to reveal. Hooray! A Mommy with a 6-pack….love it! Did you know? I don’t do ANY ab exercises right now. When I tried, my ab area would swell and it was more important for me to heal that area than build the muscle. I still get core work from many other lifting exercises and I’ve learned (and am proof) that abs are truly made in the kitchen. Want your ab area to lean up and trim down? Then clean it up with what you eat. Ditch the sugar, fast food, processed carbs, soda, and excessive alcohol and be consistently patient about it! Also, make sure you’re eating enough daily and keeping your stress low. Cortisol build up from undereating and over stressing will collect fat in your midsection and it becomes a vicious cycle you don’t want to be a part of!

I usually put this at the bottom of all my posts, but today, I brought it up closer to my NOW pics. Just a reminder of where I started in October 2009…….

Seven weeks equates to 49 days. That’s going to be here before I know it. I’m also planning two more shows in June and then planning to spend my July-December building mass before getting back on Contest Prep for 2014 again. My plan is to allow myself one cheat meal a week and one coffee or alcoholic drink a week as well, all while maintaining a clean, balanced, high-veggie plan from one of Fighter Diet’s options. I don’t want to have the “let it all out” mindset and go hog wild binging after my shows or eating poorly in the off season. To me, I’m always going to be ON! I don’t even crave bad foods right now. If anything, the only thing I want is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich….just one, and then I’ll get back on plan!

I’m also putting my goal out there….I want to get to Nationals and compete at that level. Sure, many have a dream to get their Pro Card, but for right now I’m setting my sights on Nationals, believing and visualizing I can do it, and staying the course! What goals do you have and do you SEE yourself getting it done? You should! You’ve got to be your biggest cheerleader to get where you want to go!

Comments

Kayla Drumwright says

February 25, 2013 at 8:07 am

Great job, Mindy! I agree with you on the abs…I rarely do any ab exercises. When you are lifting heavy, you are working your core out anyway! I also want to commend you on having set realistic long term goals and having a post-show plan. Too many competitors making earning their pro card their short term goal before they’ve even hit the stage for the first time! Qualifying for Nationals and competing there is a great next step for you. The post show plan is crucial too. I suffered tremendously by not having a well-defined post-show plan that after my first competition. 7 weeks will fly by, keep killing it!
fitmindy says

February 25, 2013 at 1:56 pm

Thanks Kayla! Go you…this is great doing this at the same time! Let’s meet up at Nationals!