When to start contest prep???

[amyfit]

Ok guys, I'm in a dilemma. I have a contest on May 18th. I'm very excited about this, already started dreaming about it, literally!!
So what's the dilemma? I'm not sure when to start my contest prep. Last time, I started right at 12 weeks out, and I peaked right on time. But, last time when I started I started at 13%bf. Well, what can I say, the holidays got to me, and now I'm at 17%. So do I still start at 12 weeks out which would be Feb23rd, or do I perhaps start it this Sat. or the Sat. after??
Thanks for any helpful hints you can give me. This is a national qualifier, so I want to be at my best!! Thanks again!!

Amy

[Nicole]

Amy

I guess I would probably start 13 or 14 weeks out depending on the severity of your diet and cardio. If your body responds quickly at first, then 13 weeks should be fine. It will come off a lot faster then the first time, I'm guessing. You will just have to play with your diet and cardio a little. Are you going to do keto?? I think I am going to start it this weekend. Sat. I will be 9 weeks out. I just want to shock my body. Low-carb, low-cal is just not working for me right now. I am getting a lot of advice from fitnessman on keto. What did you do last time??

Nicole

[amyfit]

I mainly cycled my carbs until the last three weeks, then I kept them pretty low, about 60-75gr/day I think. I basically ate what Msfit told me to eat. Between her and Todd Blue, I couldn't have asked for anything more!! They're helping me again, but I also want to really listen and watch my body this time, so I can become more knowledgable. Last time was my first time, so I did everything without a second thought. I'll do what I'm told again, but this time will be different. Besides neither of them have said if I should start it earlier, just a suggestion from a friend and my gut is teklling me that it's right.
Are you getting excited?!?!? It won't be long now for you!! Let me know how the keto goes, ok??
Amy

[Nicole]

What exactly did you eat? How many grams of fat a day?

I am just trying to research as much as possible but this keto thing just keeps popping up so I decided to give it a try. My show isn't a national qualifier so I am using it as more "experience."

I would be interested in what you did last time as far as fat and how much cardio you did.

Thanks!
Nicole

[amyfit]

When I first started the diet and until the last month, my fat intake was about 25-35gr/day less on my higher carb days. That last month, my fat jumped to 30-40gr/day. It was always natural pb or from my meats. Unless I cheated. I had 3 birthday parties durning that time, including my own!! Can you believe that was the only birthday, that I didn't cheat on my diet on?? The other two parties were 2 of my childern's.
As for cardio, I did 35min every morning and 30-60min every night with my training inbetween. The last month, I was told to cut back on my cardio and replace it with practicing my posing and routine more. Boy that was tough, I never knew posing could be so draining!

Amy

[ntrlmuscle]

lemme guess.........NANBF Heartland Muscle Classic?........hey, i'm here in omaha, so if you have any questions, pm me and i might be able to help.

[amyfit]

Sorry ntrlmuscle, but since we're both talking about upcoming comps, I don't know which one of us you're asking. If it's me, nope, nope, nope, it's the Mike Francois Classic in Columbus, Ohio. Even if you're not talking to me, can I email you with questions too??


Amy

[str8flexed]

Amy it sounds good. Normally the first 3-4% bodyfat comes off very quickly since the body will be shocked from the calorie deficiet so starting a couple weeks ahead of schedule will probably be fine.
Peace

[amyfit]

I feel the time is now. It's not excitment that's pushing me (although I AM excited about this competition), but gut instinct. Something is telling me, I need to start earlier this time out. The mirror maybe?? My jeans?? BOTH!! I know how I should look and how I want to look in May. Now is the time! Thanks Str8flexed, as for cardio, I've been doing 30 min. 4 times/week. This will go up to 5 times then 6. After that I'll increase my time. 45min, 60min ect. I want to keep upping the intenisty each week, to continually shock my body. Think this'll work??

Amy

[str8flexed]

Yup it sounds good, you doing it in the morning before breakfast?
Peace

[amyfit]

Yep, and I'll keep doing at least 30min in the a.m. before I eat, after it gets bumped up to 60 min, I'll then switch it to 30min in the a.m. and 30 min in the p.m. a few hours before bed. With weight being in the afternoon.

Amy

[str8flexed]

sounds like a plan just keep the water intake very high and make sure most of your carbs are post training and post cardio.
Peace

[amyfit]

what if the the cardio is done like at say 7:00p.m.? Second session obviously, wouldn't it be too late to have much carbs at 7:30-8:00? Would fiberous carbs do me better after the evening sessions?? Just keep the simple and starchy carbs for a.m. cardio and after weights?

Amy

[str8flexed]

You can have carbs at that time. Besides by this point your body's metabolism is so jacked carbs at that time won't matter, especially after your cardio b/c your glycogen will be extremely low, so none of those carbs will be stored as fat, they will be used to replace the spent glycogen.
Peace

[amyfit]

I appricate the info you gave me. I'll keep that in mind!! I really want to go in looking bigger than I did in Oct. I've worked hard to gain some muscle and the last thing I want to do is lose it by allowing my body to canablize it because I didn't feed it properly after a workout!
Hey, any other words of wisdom you'd like to bestow, send them my way!!! I want to learn as much as I can!
Thanks again!!

Amy

[str8flexed]

Not really any secrets. Just don't miss meals! Even when you are dieting this is more important than when you are bulking. Make sure you go no more than 2 to 3 hours without a good serving of protein (20g) The way I did it was this. I got 8 hours of sleep every night, so that means I would be up for 16 hours during the day, so I ate 8 meals, 1 every two hours. Also this postworkout meal worked well for me... I would have 40g of dextrose (refigure these numbers for you as I weighed 195 at the time) with 40g of protein, 10g of glutamine, and 5g of creatine immediately after my workout. Then 1 hour later I would have a meal of about 30g protein and 50g of complex carbs. The complex carbs one hour later stabalize your insulin and help you from crashing and I believe they help with glycogen restorage. I also took HMB and I believe it worked well. It is expensive but if you can find it cheap I would recommend it.
Peace

[amyfit]

My post workout shake consists of 35gr carbs, 20gr protein, 10gr creatine and 10gr glutamine. My carbs come from corn syrup. Dorian gave me that tip. then I usually eat 2 hr. later. Depending on the time of day, I'll either have a starchy or fiborous carb. If it's later, I usually stick with broccoli. Earlier, yams (LOVE EM'!)
I've never tried HMB, I'll shop around for it.
Thanks again str8flexed!!

Amy

[hardasnails]

Amy ck out www.************** for some of the lowest prices on supplements around. but just shop around for the best buy. hmb does slow down protein synthisis but is very expensive ! personally i would stick with more glutemine. I use AST miconized glutemine some of the best on the market and netrititon has very reasonable prices for it, plus thye don;t burn you on shippining and handling. Yes I am one of the more expereince people around here, but working with females is a lot more of a challnege then working with males. Females have a lot more variables to deal with . I don;t mean that in a bad way : )

[amyfit]

You're right, we ARE different from men. And those varibles do have to be taken into account. I understood what ya' meant.

Amy