So much better now...

 After switching back to low carb I am where I want to be in this next round of competition prep.  I will be honest, if I feel I am not ready to compete in five weeks then I won't.  The Emerald Cup is the biggest competition in the northwest and I want to represent on stage.  If I don't look better then last time then I won't do it.

Here's my current typical day of eating:

8:00am
1 cup of cantaloupe
1 scoop of whey protein

11:00am
1 can of tuna mixed with 2 tablespoons of light mayo
1 red bell pepper

1:30pm
Oh Yeah protein drink (I love these!)

5:30pm
6 ounces of pork or chicken
1 cup stir fried veggies (mostly cabbage)

8:30pm
6 ounces steak
Mixed salad greens with oil and vinegar dressing

1,540/207/30
This is a lower calorie day for me.  I range between 1,500-1,800 on a regular basis.  The protein is high, I know.  I just work better that way.  You may work better with more carbs.  I have been occasionally eating a little brown rice and I stir fry my veggies in oil.  When I crave a little something extra I eat an Adkins bar.  They are calculated by net carbs (total carbs - fiber - sugar alcohols, all which don't impact blood sugar) although it worries me because I never count impact carbs, I count ALL the carbs.

Still lifting heavy.  Some programs want you to change to lighter weights and higher reps for the last four weeks but I don't think I'll do that.  I need the shoulder mass, which isn't very much now and counts for a lot when competing.

Back To Low Carb

So the higher carb diet was not working.  I switched back to low carb and lost 3 lbs.  It's not really about weight loss, it's about fat loss, but weight loss is a good indicator that you are going in the right direction.  The higher carb diet was definitely not a high carb diet.  It was around 70-100 grams of carbs a day but my body just does not work well with even that amount.  I need to diet on 50 grams or less.  Competition prep is tough, especially the first time out.  I made a lot of mistakes my first round of competition prep 20 years ago.  You have to be willing to experiment to see what works.

The traditional weight lifting program is working really well.  Strength has increased every other week so I am staying strong (not losing any muscle mass).  That was one of my mistakes last time toward the end of competition prep.  I didn't eat enough and I doubled my cardio which was not smart.  As I mentioned a few posts back I was afraid that I was not going to be able to lose the weight like I did 20 years ago....because I am now 20 years older and statistically it is harder to lose weight the older you are.  I was wrong.  As long as you stay properly hydrated, get enough rest between workouts and eat enough protein you won't sacrifice hard earned muscle in order to lose weight.  Again, it's about fat loss, not weight loss.  I needed to really track how much weight I was lifting every workout and do the traditional three or four exercises per body part during one workout.  When I shed a couple more pounds then I can make an assessment but I think my shoulders already look better then they did last competition.



Here's a look at the diet I was doing a couple of weeks ago:

1/3 cup oatmeal
1 scoop whey protein

3 ounces chicken breast
1 cup cantaloupe

3 ounces chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice

3 ounces steak
2 cups lettuce with 2 tablespoon oil and vinegar dressing
1/2 red bell pepper

3 ounces steak
1/2 cup sweet potatoes

3 ounces chicken breast
2 cups sauteed kale

3 ounces steak
2 cups lettuce with 2 tablespoons oil and vinegar dressing
1/2 red bell pepper

Basically eating every two hours, which is very hard to do.


What I am eating now:

1/3 cup oatmeal
1 scoop whey protein

6 ounces steak

5-6 ounces chicken
2 cups lettuce with 2 tablespoons oil and vinegar dressing
1/2 red bell pepper

1 small can albacore tuna
2 tablespoons light mayo
1/2 red bell pepper

6 ounces steak
2 cups chard


I shoot for 175-200 grams of protein a day, 50 or less of carbs and I don't count fat grams.  Again, you have to find out what works for you.  You may be just fine with a higher carb diet but over the years I have found that the majority of women have a hard time losing weight unless they cut the amount of carbs that they eat.

De-carb/Re-carb

Momentary lapse came on Tuesday.  For about four hours I was wondering what the hell I had been thinking.  That there was absolutely no way I was going to be ready for this show.  Why did I think I could be ready in only eight weeks when it normally take twelve?!  It did pass by Wednesday morning.  I never seriously considered giving up (and I didn't veer from my training and diet) but I definitely was questioning the whole thing.  So everyone has those moments.  I know people that are trying to lose can feel defeated.  It happens to everyone.  It is normal to question yourself but the worst thing you can do is give up.  No one ever won anything by giving up.

I've been de-carbing for the last two days.  Today I did two workouts.  The one this morning was pretty intense.  My friend Jodi and I went to the soccer field and ran sprints in various distances.  I needed her to be there because I don't think I could have done it on my own since I am so depleted.  That took about 45 minutes and then I went to the gym and focused on high reps in order to deplete glycogen even more (prepping the muscles to fill when they get those carbs back).  I performed 4 sets of 20 incline flyes with only 10 lb weights, making sure to get a burn.  Then I went to the Hammerstrength incline press machine and put a 10 lb plate on each side for 3 sets of 15.  Then I did a similar sequence for back with wide and close rows.  My second workout of the day I rode the bike for 30 minutes followed by a shoulder press tabata with 10lb weights, which was way harder then it should have been but the point was to deplete so there you go.

Food today (not much):

6 egg whites, 3 cups power greens, 1 roma tomato

6 ounces lean pork loin

Oh Yeah protein shake

1 chicken breast

1 scoop whey protein powder



I had cut out oatmeal for a couple of days but that totally screwed up my digestion, if you know what I mean, so I added it back a couple of days ago and that fixed the problem.  Today is the serious de-carb (see food diary above) so oatmeal is out again but I am making sure to load on the power greens to get more fiber.

Tomorrow is the carb up run through.  I am going to do a short workout in the morning because I am trying to peak at around 5:00pm Sunday evening which means I will focus on the carbs starting around that time on Saturday.  I bought some sweet potatoes yesterday so I am going to see how those work.

I'll let you know how it all goes! 
  .

Nutrition For February 25th, 2011

A lot of women ask me how to control bloat. Our weight can fluctuate 5 lbs either way, on a daily basis. It is discouraging to weigh yourself and see that you are up 3 lbs when you have been working out like crazy and eating a healthy diet.

The way to control bloat is to watch your refined carbs. One gram of starchy carbs holds four grams of water, which is one of the reasons I adhere to a lower carb diet. I mainly stay between 50-100 grams of carbs a day and I stay far away from anything starchy (rice, bread of any kind, potatoes, etc. Oh yeah and SUGAR!). I do eat Fiber One every morning but the amount of fiber in that cereal lowers the the amount of carbs that you count toward your daily total. I'm sure you have heard the phrase 'impact carbs'. The amount of impact carbs in any given food is grams of total carbs - grams of fiber. For example a serving on Fiber One is 1/2 cup. It contains 25 grams of carbs and 14 grams of fiber. 25 - 14 = 11 grams of impact carbs.

Here is my nutrition intake for 2/25/11:

On this particular day I took my kids out for lunch so it shows what you can do if you do the same thing.


Breakfast
Muscle Milk Protein Bar
Snack
100 calorie pack of almonds
2 ounces of cheddar cheese

Lunch
Triple stack hamburger
3 pieces of American cheese
1/2 a hamburger bun

Snack
2 chicken thighs (just the meat from a teriyaki place that I had left over from the day before)

Dinner
2 fried chicken wings
1/4 cup rice
1 Bourbon and soda

Total calories: 2,277
Total carbs : 57 grms
Total Protein: 176

I am not suggesting that you eat the way that I do. A couple people commented on the fact that I eat no fruit and almost no vegetables. That's true. I do try to get more leafy greens in my diet on a daily basis. I manage to do that about three times a week in the form of spinach, broccoli and lettuce. Yes, you should eat vegetables but I do suggest that you are careful with how much fruit you eat. Research shows that the body still recognizes fruit as sugar.

Salmon Fillets With Sauteed Cucumber

I'm not a big fish eater but I do like firm fish so salmon is right up my alley. I never knew how to cook it except the boring salt-pepper-and-broil method. This recipe has a great twist - sauteed cucumbers! Cucumbers become very sweet when sauteed with a little butter and they compliment salmon very nicely.



4 salmon fillets (6-8 ounces each)
2 medium cucumbers
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and pepper to taste


Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Place them on a broiler pan. Preheat the broiler.

Peel the cucumbers. Quarter them lengthwise. With the tip of a spoon, scrape out the seeds. Cut crosswise into 3/4 inch dice.

Place salmon under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat. Broil until just opaque in the center, 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the cucumbers and dill and cook, stirring, until the cucumbers are heated through, 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the cucumbers with the salmon.

Sweet and Sour Beef with Cabbage

Okay. So I have posted a few chicken breast recipes and will continue to do so but I am also going to post beef recipes. I am a big beef advocate. As long as you choose lean cuts the nutritional pay off is huge. And of course it's high in protein and low in carbs...even when the recipes involve other things besides beef.

Whenever I have complete nutritional information about a particular dish I will include it in the post. Up to this point the chicken breast recipes that I have posted have been from my older files and have been hand written. I do have some recipes that have been copied from who-knows-where and some do have calorie, fat, protein and carbohydrate information.

On that note, here's the recipe:

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound lean beef cut-up for stir-fry
3 cups cut-up cabbage
1/2 cup sweet-and-sour sauce

Heat wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil; rotate wok to coat sides.

Add beef; stir-fry 2 minutes or until brown. Remove beef from wok.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to wok; rotate wok to coat side. Add cabbage; stir-fry about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add beef and sweet-and-sour sauce; cook and stir about 2 minutes or until hot.

Prep and cook time is appox. 15 minutes, so super fast. Makes 4 servings.

1 Serving:
Calories 225
Fat 10g
Carb 13g
Protein 22g
Sodium 150mg