I want to compete, but don't know where to start.

My name is Jaide and I am going to be 23 in a few months. I am 5'7.5'' and weigh approx 150 pounds. My highest weight was 198 lbs, and eventually i reached as low as 138 lbs. I have been dieting and lifting for two years now and recently I got sick of cutting my calories (I was eating roughly 1550-1680 calories a day, 40p/25c/35f macro split) and I have been basically eating whatever I want in the past 4 weeks.. hence why I am 150 lbs and not 138 lbs lol. Realizing this was a huge mistake because I gain weight very easily, I need help getting back on the band wagon, however, not for weight loss but rather prepping for a competition maybe in a year or so.. if possible.
One reason why I feel I can do this is for the simple fact that when I put my mind to something and can see my goals, I know I can reach them. I realized that by eating whatever I want, I am able to lift a lot more weight than when I am dieting.. I have hit more personal records in the last two weeks than I have during my whole weight loss journey.
I was at a plateau in my weight loss which is why I basically said "screw it" as I am what they call "skinny fat".
I do not want to be skinny fat, I want to be a lean mean machine..
I know there is no hope of me being lean for summer, I have already come to terms with that, and instead of making myself miserable about my body image (which I am great at :D) I want to turn this into something I will be proud of in year.. even if I am not competition ready (which is ultimately my goal), but rather have a decent shape to my body.

Do you think I have sensible future goals, or is it really possible that I would be able to do this?
I understand that diet is extremely important and I will be fully committed if I am guaranteed results I just have NO idea where to start to get to where I want to be.
I have looked at programs on bb.com such as Jamie Easons but I feel like her plan is not going to give me the results I want/need.... however the Jim stoppani's looks intriguing.

can anyone recommend a plan that includes workouts and nutrition that will be beneficial to me? Along with any tips or advice?


*Side info: I serve at a restaurant 3-5 days a week and I am in the gym 6 days a week, sometimes 7.
My training days go: Legs, Shoulders, Chest/tri, Back/bi then a rest day OR start back at legs and follow through again.
I usually go to the gym for at least an hour a day... longer if i don't work, and I do MANY different exercises for each body part, and do plenty of drop sets and pyramid sets usually yielding 8-12 reps (Sometimes less when I have weight that is too heavy for me).
I stopped doing cardio as serving takes a lot out of me because my place of work is extremely busy but I usually get anywhere from 11,000-20,000 steps in per shift depending on the night (S Health on my phone tracks my steps).
I also take creatine daily, along with calcium, vitamin D3, B12, Fish oil and a hair and skin supplement.


I hope I am not forgetting anything and I hope I can receive as many responses as possible with beneficial information
Thank you all!

[QUOTE=Jheavenxo;1444961723]
One reason why I feel I can do this is for the simple fact that when I put my mind to something and can see my goals, I know I can reach them.![/QUOTE]
This may be true, but possibly not in the time frame you're looking at. Unfortunately determination doesn't build muscle, otherwise we'd all be where we wanted by now, lol. It takes a long time for women to build significant muscle. Whether or not you can do so in a year depends on current muscle base, and what you plan to compete in (bikini/figure/bodybuilding etc). I'd recommend not setting a strict competition time frame until you've leaned out enough to see where your muscle base is, get that where it needs to be first (which may take some time building, and cutting).

You're not "skinny fat" as that's usually a term reserve for people who are underweight, or close, and have a bodyfat that's 25-30% or more. You're just healthy, but not too keen about your body composition.

BB doesn't recommend the best programs imo, I'd pick one from the thread here instead. Though that's from what I know of their beginner programs, not their intermediate ones. Still, worth looking through this thread: [url=http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=168176343]Link.[/url]

As for nutrition, aim for 1g of protein per lb of body weight, and .4g of fat, then fill in the rest of your calorie range with whatever you prefer. Carbs, or more fat and protein. Your calories range will depend on what you want to do first, build muscle or lose fat. More info in the posted thread.