Monday, May 23, 2011

Yummy Recipe!

I just wanted to share this recipe that I found.  It uses ingredients that are all okay for you to have.  It does contain splenda so of coarse you still shouldn't have it all the time.  But for right now in my contest prep I am still able to have it.  The recipe I found is one of Jamie Eason's.  For those who don't know, Jamie is a fitness model.
This is a picture of me and Jamie at the Arnold Classic in March

She has a few recipes that she has opened up to the public, but this one is by far my favorite!  It is protein cinnamon swirl bread.



Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In small bowl combine:
1/3 cup Ideal (Truvia) or Splenda
2 tsp cinnamon
(set aside)
In a large bowl combine:
(whisk together)
1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Ideal (Truvia) or Splenda
In a medium bowl combine:
(whisk together & add to large bowl)
2 egg whites or 1 whole egg
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)
1/3 cup or 1 4oz jar of babyfood applesauce
Pour a shallow layer of batter into the loaf pan (about 1/4 of the batter). Sprinkle heavily with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter & cinnamon/sugar on top. Draw a knife through the batter to marble.
Bake for 45 to 50 min. Let cool for 10 min. Bread will be dense. 

Mine turned out to be 75 calories, 1.2 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, and 9.25 grams of carbs.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Supplements..

Supplementation is very important when cutting for a show.  The most important is a multi-Vitamin!  Your body needs to get the vitamins it needs to work properly.  It is very important to take a multi-vitamin while cutting because you might not be getting all of the vitamins your body needs from the food that you are taking in due to cutting certain foods out.  I recommend a protein powder..I like them because eating 5 or 6 meals a day is a lot of food and I have no desire to eat because I am not hungry.  I like using whey protein as my second and forth meal of the day.  I usually try to make sure I lift and get my cardio in before one of these shakes.  Another good protein to use is casein protein, this is a slow digesting protein that is very good in the evenings.  I use this as my sixth meal of the day depending on what time I got up that day.  Since some days I only get five meals in.  I also prefer to use a fat burner of some sort.  There are many different types of fat burners.  Use what works with your body.  If you have any questions about fat burners I would be happy to answer any questions.  I decided to create my own stack for my fat burner.  I am using ephedrine hcl (bronkaid), caffeine, and yohimbine.  I am starting off by taking two doses a day then increasing to three.  I want to work my way into it so my body gets used to it and I don't get sick.

Supplement Schedule as of right now
7:00am- 1 Multi-vitamin
              1 Fish oil
             
8:00am- 1 Ephedrine HCL
              1 Caffeine
              2 Yohimbine

1:00pm-  1 Multi-vitamin
                 1 Fish oil

2:00 pm- 1 Ephedrine HCL
              1 Caffeine
              2 Yohimbine
              
I am taking the multi-vitamin and fish oil before breakfast because my stomach can handle it but I need to wait til after my first meal to take the rest of the stack.  If you have any other questions about supplementation let me know!!:)
     

CONTEST DATE

I have had some questions about my competition date and location...the competition I am doing is in Grandville, Michigan and it is on August 13th! I will be competing in bikini then hopefully sometime in the fall move on to figure!...My fiancĂ© is also doing this same show in the Mens Physique category.  He did a show in April and qualified for nationals and I believe that is a few weeks after our Michigan show! 

CARDIO!!!

The key to effective fat loss in terms of being in the gym is a combination of weights and cardio. Since I have already discussed lifting, it's time for cardio! The amount of cardio that one should do to prepare for a bikini competition is kinda hard to explain. It all depends on the person and how your body reacts. I know that my body likes the fat that I have and isn't willing to give it up easily, therefore I spend a lot of time doing cardio. I am doing an hour of cardio a day right now. I will bump up the amount of cardio I am doing when I am not lossing as much weight. Pretty much it will increase as it gets closer to my show. Start by adding an extra half hour a few times a week then, as time goes add that extra half hour every day. You can repeat this process of adding another half hour of cardio a day if needed. Make sure that if you are doing more than an hour of cardio a day, do multiple cardio sessions. I will split mine up once I get to more than an hour. For example, if I am doing 2 hours of cardio in one day..I will do an hour of cardio in the morning and one hour in the evening after I lift. This is very important because you need to refuel your body in-between sessions. You do DO NOT want to be burning muscle!

In terms of high intensity vs. low intensity I prefer low intensity while cutting.  If you are doing a low carb diet, low intensity is very effective because you want to burn fat while trying to keep that MUSCLE!.. If you start to hit a plateau add a a high intensity cardio session every here and there and keep your body guessing!!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

WORKOUT PLAN!

It is important to design your workout plan to fit your life style. First, you need to figure out how many times a week you are going to lift. If it is only three days a week then most likely you are going to do full body workouts. If you decide to do 5 or 6 days a week, you are most likely going to split up the muscle groups. I am going to do 6 days a week with one rest day.

Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest
Wednesday: Back
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Shoulders
Saturday: Biceps and Triceps
Sunday: OFF!

As stated earlier, it is very important to set up your workouts realistically with your lifestyle such as work and family. If you do not set up a realistic workout schedule you will not follow it and ultimately not meet your goal. If you need any information about workout splits or full body workouts leave a comment, I will answer any questions...since this is not only about my experiences but to also help others!