Eyes on April 2010 competiton...what do you think

[edeques1]

Hi Everyone -

1st post...here we go.
I am going to do a competition! I know it is hard and rigorous and I am excited and ready. I am planning on doing a figure competition in April which is about 23 weeks away. I have been wanting to do a competition for 3 years now, and am focused - life has settled down a lot for me in the past few months so I have time to be disciplined and prepared.
I have been changing my eating habits ever so slowly (as that is definitely the hardest part). I have slowly switched over to ezekiel bread, greek yogurt (low carbs), bought grounded flax seed, etc. This is my 3rd week of doing a low carb/high carb switch. Low carbs were really low before (under 50g) this week I have made the low carb days more like 70g. I am doing a sat low, sun high, mon/tues/wed low, thur and fri moderate (around 140g cho).

I am currently shooting for around 1600-1700 calories. (As I am seeing what it does take to lose weight since I haven't forever)
I have competed in sports my whole life right through college.
I am 5'4" 141. My weight hasn't changed more than 3 pounds in the past 8 years.
I think I currently have a lot of muscle and just need to worry about leaning out, although you can tell me otherwise.
I am just wondering if you could help me pick out my weak spots, and give me an idea of a goal weight to come in at. I was thinking 125 - but maybe smaller??
I have posted progress pics that I took yesterday.
I will be getting a nutritionist, but not until week 16. Any ideas of what I should do between now and week 16?

Thanks a ton!

[firmgrrrl]

Curious to see what others say. I'm thinking of doing one in May. I'm trying to find one that's not so intimidating! I've dreamed of doing one for years, and just found out that an aquaintance of mine is interested as well.

[genn]

Hi, I think you should post your picture first so people can see what you look like. It will be easier to help you if we have a clear picture of what you look like, if you have enough muscle, how much fat you've got to loose... As far as weight number goes I think you can't decide before you started to lean out cause I think we always underestimate the amount of fat we've got to lose.

[kimm4]

Originally Posted by edeques1

Hi Everyone -

1st post...here we go.
I am going to do a competition! I know it is hard and rigorous and I am excited and ready. I am planning on doing a figure competition in April which is about 23 weeks away. I have been wanting to do a competition for 3 years now, and am focused - life has settled down a lot for me in the past few months so I have time to be disciplined and prepared.
I have been changing my eating habits ever so slowly (as that is definitely the hardest part). I have slowly switched over to ezekiel bread, greek yogurt (low carbs), bought grounded flax seed, etc. This is my 3rd week of doing a low carb/high carb switch. Low carbs were really low before (under 50g) this week I have made the low carb days more like 70g. I am doing a sat low, sun high, mon/tues/wed low, thur and fri moderate (around 140g cho).

I am currently shooting for around 1600-1700 calories. (As I am seeing what it does take to lose weight since I haven't forever)
I have competed in sports my whole life right through college.
I am 5'4" 141. My weight hasn't changed more than 3 pounds in the past 8 years.
I think I currently have a lot of muscle and just need to worry about leaning out, although you can tell me otherwise.
I am just wondering if you could help me pick out my weak spots, and give me an idea of a goal weight to come in at. I was thinking 125 - but maybe smaller??
I have posted progress pics that I took yesterday.
I will be getting a nutritionist, but not until week 16. Any ideas of what I should do between now and week 16?

Thanks a ton!

You have a solid base to work with. At this point your focus would be leaning out so a long, slow diet will be the way to go. If you get lean enough, you'll be competing under 120 lbs. But to be honest weight doesn't matter, just focus on dropping the body fat and getting lean enough for the stage. Weak points: You have a thick waist so you'll need to focus on upper body. Building more in your lats and shoulders will bring out more of a v-taper to give the illusion of a smaller waist. Adding a little more size to the bis/tris would be an added bonus as well.

Also when you hit your posing, always work from the ground up. Plant those feet first, tighten up the legs, breath in and roll the body up flaring those lats and pointing the shoulders up towards the ceiling. Keep your arms a little closer to your body. Rounded shoulders make it look like competitors are leaning forward or somewhat slouched.

Good luck with your journey!

[edeques1]

Thanks a lot for the positive criticism! Really appreciate it.