5 weeks out! Sabatoging myself?!

[StephanieH515]

So my coach just informed me 5 weeks or that I should enter a show. I've always wanted to but he thinks I may be ready. I currently weigh 112.

My abs are NOT showing, I'm thin with minor cut definition. However, I've been consuming a LOT of fruit to suffice my craivings. I mean a lot though. 4 bananas, 3-4 large apples.
I do cardio on the stairs 45 minutes and still weight lift after wards but not too high in weight since I'm low on carbs.

Is my over doing it on the fruit decreasing my chances of placing? This is my first show and I'm terrified I'm sabotaging myself.

Also I've been chewing packs by the day of sugar free gum. Is this bad?
Please help!

[megdaig]

I take it your calories are super low and you are restricted to chicken, tilapia, and asparagus?

Everything you are saying indicates that your diet is the issue and that it is unsustainable.

You need to focus on keeping the weights heavy to maintain muscle. Sounds like you may be doing a lot that isn't helping you retain what LBM you may have.

Do you have recent progress pictures?

[kimm4]

That's a low weight how tall are you? I'm only asking because you describe yourself as thin with minor cuts/definition. Based on that info alone and without any pics to look at I'm guessing you're undermuscled. Not sure what class you're looking to compete in but the judges will want to see more than just a thin girl hitting the stage.

Too much cardio, light weights, low carbs, etc...none of that sounds good.

[EPolis13]

Agree with and had the same thoughts as both ladies above. Would encourage you to not do this show.

[StephanieH515]

I'm new to the bodybuilding community so I wouldn't know how to add a picture. But anyhow, yes, right now I'm on chicken, tilapia, spinach, egg white, and broccoli. I wasn't eating this before, I was having carbs but now that it's closer to comp day, I have to lean out a little more.

I was in the process of loosing weight after a crazy 4 month binge. My trainer made me loose weight and get cut very quickly that then he said I could probably enter this upcoming show.

Also, I've been chewing a LOT of sugar free gum. Probably a pack a day or two. Is this bad?

[StephanieH515]

I'm about 5'4. I understand more or less what the judges will be looking for but my coach beloved that I need to lean out just a tiny bit more in order for my muscle to come out. I have plenty of muscle maturity before my binge. I don't want to walk up there skinny and flabby.

[StephanieH515]

Agree with and had the same thoughts as both ladies above. Would encourage you to not do this show.

How come?

[StephanieH515]

I take it your calories are super low and you are restricted to chicken, tilapia, and asparagus?

Everything you are saying indicates that your diet is the issue and that it is unsustainable.

You need to focus on keeping the weights heavy to maintain muscle. Sounds like you may be doing a lot that isn't helping you retain what LBM you may have.

Do you have recent progress pictures?

I'm new to the bodybuilding community so I wouldn't know how to add a picture. But anyhow, yes, right now I'm on chicken, tilapia, spinach, egg white, and broccoli. I wasn't eating this before, I was having carbs but now that it's closer to comp day, I have to lean out a little more.

I was in the process of loosing weight after a crazy 4 month binge. My trainer made me loose weight and get cut very quickly that then he said I could probably enter this upcoming show.

Also, I've been chewing a LOT of sugar free gum. Probably a pack a day or two. Is this bad?

[StephanieH515]

I take it your calories are super low and you are restricted to chicken, tilapia, and asparagus?

Everything you are saying indicates that your diet is the issue and that it is unsustainable.

You need to focus on keeping the weights heavy to maintain muscle. Sounds like you may be doing a lot that isn't helping you retain what LBM you may have.

Do you have recent progress pictures?

Also, LBM?

[likeafish]

LBM is "lean body mass", so everything that isn't fat. Muscles, organs, bones, connective tissue, etc...

Going on a 4 month binge is a sign that you shouldn't be on any restrictive diet, definitely not trying to get to competition levels of body fat. You're setting yourself up for a massive weight gain and a terrible mood as soon as you compete. I'd ditch the competition and diet and slowly start adding back all the things that you cut out to spare the pain of a 10, 15, 20 lb rebound and disordered approach towards eating.

[megdaig]

We say don't do this show because it is apparent that your coach is trying to force your body to be ready when it's not, instead of reading the feedback and making adjustments.

There is no fat in your diet so iI'm pretty sure you feel terrible because your hormones are out of whack.

[rockangel]

I really urge you to listen to the advice of these ladies. They are correct and know what they are talking about.

Your BMI is 19.2 currently. If you do not look like you could walk on stage now and are needing to "lean out more", then you are not ready to show yet. You absolutely do not need to go underweight to show, especially if you are in bikini, and especially if at such a low weight you "don't have abs".

If you continue to ignore your body and stay on this diet, do not be surprised if you end up in the hospital with complications in a few weeks. This is serious and you are on a bad road. Please listen to these ladies, start adding in the foods you took out, forget about competing for now, and above all stay healthy.

[kimm4]

I'm about 5'4. I understand more or less what the judges will be looking for but my coach beloved that I need to lean out just a tiny bit more in order for my muscle to come out. I have plenty of muscle maturity before my binge. I don't want to walk up there skinny and flabby.

If you need to continue leaning out at 5'4" 112 lbs that's a clear indicator there was never enough muscle to work with in the first place.

[TMStepanik]

So my coach just informed me 5 weeks or that I should enter a show. I've always wanted to but he thinks I may be ready. I currently weigh 112.

My abs are NOT showing, I'm thin with minor cut definition. However, I've been consuming a LOT of fruit to suffice my craivings. I mean a lot though. 4 bananas, 3-4 large apples.
I do cardio on the stairs 45 minutes and still weight lift after wards but not too high in weight since I'm low on carbs.

Is my over doing it on the fruit decreasing my chances of placing? This is my first show and I'm terrified I'm sabotaging myself.

Also I've been chewing packs by the day of sugar free gum. Is this bad?
Please help!

Yikes! Please listen to the previous ladies. Also keep in mind that a personal trainer isn't necessarily a bodybuilding coach. He/she may have little to no experience with competing.

[EPolis13]

How come?

Because of literally all the things posted in this thread:

- overly and unnecessarily restrictive diet
- fats too low, resulting in hormone dysfunction
- chewing loads of sugar free gum (this is usually a telltale sign of control issues/eating issues)
- prior binging issues
- 112lbs/not enough muscle
- coach trying to force the body instead of coaxing it


Do not do this show.

[rockangel]

Sadly, OP has made another post about this which tells me she is looking for different answers.

I'm going to go ahead and predict that OP doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation, will do the show and/or continue the bad diet anyways to "show us" that we are wrong and she is not a "quitter", will either end up in the hospital or with a huge rebound, and will come back asking how to diet out of it, still not listening.

#seenit

Man this narrative is sad, but we try and warn people. I feel like we have to try at least, but you cant make the horse drink after all.....

[megdaig]

Sadly, OP has made another post about this which tells me she is looking for different answers.

I'm going to go ahead and predict that OP doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation, will do the show and/or continue the bad diet anyways to "show us" that we are wrong and she is not a "quitter", will either end up in the hospital or with a huge rebound, and will come back asking how to diet out of it, still not listening.

#seenit

Man this narrative is sad, but we try and warn people. I feel like we have to try at least, but you cant make the horse drink after all.....

I just hated that the other girl in the similar situation, same exact advice that was not heeded....ended up in the fricking HOSPITAL!!

Why can't people realize that this HOBBY is not the healthiest, it's actually far from it when you think about the extremes it can take you to.

[kimm4]

Eating 4 bananas and 3-4 apples isn't low carb...which is the only good thing I've read in this thread.

[rockangel]

I just hated that the other girl in the similar situation, same exact advice that was not heeded....ended up in the fricking HOSPITAL!!

Why can't people realize that this HOBBY is not the healthiest, it's actually far from it when you think about the extremes it can take you to.

I hated that too, even warned her it could end that way. Such a sad situation.

I can think of so many threads over the years just like this that all end the same way. Like I said in the other thread, it really has gotten to the point where I can accurately predict how it will end. Not just a fluke, but every time I warn them that the diet is bad and to post pone, they do it anyways and regret it.

I hope OP is different, I hope maybe that she sees this and can recognize that so many people saying the same thing is not us being haters or jealous, that we really don't believe in sacrificing health for a trophy.

[StephanieH515]

I hated that too, even warned her it could end that way. Such a sad situation.

I can think of so many threads over the years just like this that all end the same way. Like I said in the other thread, it really has gotten to the point where I can accurately predict how it will end. Not just a fluke, but every time I warn them that the diet is bad and to post pone, they do it anyways and regret it.

I hope OP is different, I hope maybe that she sees this and can recognize that so many people saying the same thing is not us being haters or jealous, that we really don't believe in sacrificing health for a trophy.

Alright here's the deal. This is not my first time during in season prep. I know from rights and wrongs. Carb intake, protein, fats, sugars etc. I studied it like the bible. This is my second time around with a different trainer. Apart from that, I KNOW that prep food is not ideal diet, it's a diet, not a healthy lifestyle as it has no constant balance, only in the span of 12-16 weeks.

I have lost weight, but I'm noticing that I'm loosing weight but not getting the results I got prior. My first priority is my progress. The compitition is ONLY a if I'm ready (no force from my coach). I will ONLY compete if I'm physically able and STABLE to.

It is my dream to sometime compete as I was over weight my entire life and I'm very proud of my remarkable healthy lifestyle change. Off season, I know healthy eating and intuitively eating as well (no signs of binge since February).

I'm not stupid, and I'm the one who keeps saying that I don't want to walk up there just as "the skinny" girl. I know more or less what judges look for and I'm missing that extra muscle maturity and definition that they're looking for.

My only question was if my indulgence in fruit was slowing down my progress to loosing weight and gaining productive muscle. I've read bogus articles about fruit sugars, which is stupid to me, but I wasn't sure how it was meant to be maintained in or off prep season.

I appreciate you're advice ladies and hopefully this spreads!

[StephanieH515]

Eating 4 bananas and 3-4 apples isn't low carb...which is the only good thing I've read in this thread.

I hated that too, even warned her it could end that way. Such a sad situation.

I can think of so many threads over the years just like this that all end the same way. Like I said in the other thread, it really has gotten to the point where I can accurately predict how it will end. Not just a fluke, but every time I warn them that the diet is bad and to post pone, they do it anyways and regret it.

I hope OP is different, I hope maybe that she sees this and can recognize that so many people saying the same thing is not us being haters or jealous, that we really don't believe in sacrificing health for a trophy.

Alright here's the deal. This is not my first time during in season prep. I know from rights and wrongs. Carb intake, protein, fats, sugars etc. I studied it like the bible. This is my second time around with a different trainer. Apart from that, I KNOW that prep food is not ideal diet, it's a diet, not a healthy lifestyle as it has no constant balance, only in the span of 12-16 weeks.

I have lost weight, but I'm noticing that I'm loosing weight but not getting the results I got prior. My first priority is my progress. The compitition is ONLY a if I'm ready (no force from my coach). I will ONLY compete if I'm physically able and STABLE to.

It is my dream to sometime compete as I was over weight my entire life and I'm very proud of my remarkable healthy lifestyle change. Off season, I know healthy eating and intuitively eating as well (no signs of binge since February).

I'm not stupid, and I'm the one who keeps saying that I don't want to walk up there just as "the skinny" girl. I know more or less what judges look for and I'm missing that extra muscle maturity and definition that they're looking for.

My only question was if my indulgence in fruit was slowing down my progress to loosing weight and gaining productive muscle. I've read bogus articles about fruit sugars, which is stupid to me, but I wasn't sure how it was meant to be maintained in or off prep season.

I appreciate you're advice ladies and hopefully this spreads!

[StephanieH515]

I hated that too, even warned her it could end that way. Such a sad situation.

I can think of so many threads over the years just like this that all end the same way. Like I said in the other thread, it really has gotten to the point where I can accurately predict how it will end. Not just a fluke, but every time I warn them that the diet is bad and to post pone, they do it anyways and regret it.

I hope OP is different, I hope maybe that she sees this and can recognize that so many people saying the same thing is not us being haters or jealous, that we really don't believe in sacrificing health for a trophy.

Alright here's the deal. This is not my first time during in season prep. I know from rights and wrongs. Carb intake, protein, fats, sugars etc. I studied it like the bible. This is my second time around with a different trainer. Apart from that, I KNOW that prep food is not ideal diet, it's a diet, not a healthy lifestyle as it has no constant balance, only in the span of 12-16 weeks.

I have lost weight, but I'm noticing that I'm loosing weight but not getting the results I got prior. My first priority is my progress. The compitition is ONLY a if I'm ready (no force from my coach). I will ONLY compete if I'm physically able and STABLE to.

It is my dream to sometime compete as I was over weight my entire life and I'm very proud of my remarkable healthy lifestyle change. Off season, I know healthy eating and intuitively eating as well (no signs of binge since February).

I'm not stupid, and I'm the one who keeps saying that I don't want to walk up there just as "the skinny" girl. I know more or less what judges look for and I'm missing that extra muscle maturity and definition that they're looking for.

My only question was if my indulgence in fruit was slowing down my progress to loosing weight and gaining productive muscle. I've read bogus articles about fruit sugars, which is stupid to me, but I wasn't sure how it was meant to be maintained in or off prep season.

I appreciate your advice ladies and hopefully this spreads!

[kimm4]

Weight loss and muscle building comes down to total calories being consumed. You need to be taking in the proper amount of calories based on the goal. Fruit has nothing to do with it.

[rockangel]

Alright here's the deal. This is not my first time during in season prep. I know from rights and wrongs. Carb intake, protein, fats, sugars etc. I studied it like the bible. This is my second time around with a different trainer. Apart from that, I KNOW that prep food is not ideal diet, it's a diet, not a healthy lifestyle as it has no constant balance, only in the span of 12-16 weeks.

I have lost weight, but I'm noticing that I'm loosing weight but not getting the results I got prior. My first priority is my progress. The compitition is ONLY a if I'm ready (no force from my coach). I will ONLY compete if I'm physically able and STABLE to.

It is my dream to sometime compete as I was over weight my entire life and I'm very proud of my remarkable healthy lifestyle change. Off season, I know healthy eating and intuitively eating as well (no signs of binge since February).

I'm not stupid, and I'm the one who keeps saying that I don't want to walk up there just as "the skinny" girl. I know more or less what judges look for and I'm missing that extra muscle maturity and definition that they're looking for.

My only question was if my indulgence in fruit was slowing down my progress to loosing weight and gaining productive muscle. I've read bogus articles about fruit sugars, which is stupid to me, but I wasn't sure how it was meant to be maintained in or off prep season.

I appreciate your advice ladies and hopefully this spreads!

On top of what Kimm said, I wanted to clarify a few things in your post.

It doesn't matter how many times you have done a "prep", if you have never done the off season work and never had a good prep, and its clear both of these things are going on, then you still have things to learn.

Being in prep is NOT about weight loss. Its is about first, preserving the muscle you have built in the off season, and 2nd about FAT loss, not weight loss.

There is no muscle building while in a prep, see above point. Fruit is not going to "build muscle" or make you lose weight or not all by its self. It comes down to calories and then macros.

Really what is needed is to come off prep, go into another muscle building phase, and work on getting the cals as high as possible in the off season without adding a ton of fat. Its a tough thing to do and requires that you begin listening to your body and paying attention to how you look vs what is on the scale. You know you don't have the muscle or definition yet as you stated, so you should know that continuing weight loss at this point is not going to give you the look you are after. It has nothin to do with the amount of fruit.

The point of a good prep is not to starve and do tons of cardio. The point is to preserve muscle while lowering body fat and keeping calories AND macros as high as possible while doing the LEAST amount of work to get those results.

Hunger may be a part of prep, but binging, starving, self sabotaging, being crazy restrictive, doing tons of cardio, having to go underweight, messing up hormones with bad diet management... these are not signs of a good prep.