Figure/comp help

[lisamac]

Hey Im totally new here, first post and right off the bat, im asking for help advice.

AFTER competing, getting really really sick... what could this be? nausia, sore throat, water retention, swollen lymph nodes... im eating, drinking... normal stuff and i took no illegal drugs to get to my figure competition weight...

but since the comp very not long ago, ive gained almost 16 lbs... and am very bloated... i thought i was doing this right?

Id really love for all you pros to help me out, im going to the doctors soon, but i fear im just gonna get that look... you know the one... the "you did this to yourself" look....

thanks in advance.

-Lisa

[MauiZos]

Well... hun... you did do this to yourself.

Dieting for competition is serious business. So many girls out there think they can just "diet" and sweat it out on the treadmill, get insanely lean, and that everything will go back to the way it was before.

Not so!

You can do serious and PERMANENT damage to your metabolism by dieting and exercising improperly for a show. That bloating, weight gain, big butt, puffed out stomach, that "oh my god I have fat in places I never knew it could go" feeling, is all part of the dreaded "bounce". And I'm seeing it happen to girls all around me in my various gyms. One previously rail thing girl who always had trouble keeping weight on is now pushing 150lbs! She has returned to her old habits, but now her metabolism is so screwed up that that way of life is making her huge.

Post-comp nutrition is equally if not more important that your pre-comp diet. You should definitely be using an experienced professional to manage your diet both pre and post. By not properly re-orienting your body to a wider variety of foods and less cardio, you will (and have, by the sounds of it) balloon up.

Your training and diet should stay largely the same. Off season you'll bring down the amount of cardio and up your food intake, but you train just as much (maybe more) and eat just as clean. Competing has to become a way of life or it's too stressful on your body.

[MauiZos]

PS I meant to give you this link

http://www.musclewithattitude.com/re...cr=mwaTraining

[kevinlei]

More practice, then you will get more and more cormfortable