To Bikinimom: Need Advice About Contest Prep

[chabbah]

Bikinimom, I need your help...

I was reading your posts from August of last year, when you were prepping for a contest, and saw that you were starting at 16% bf and were aiming for 8 or 9%.

I want to get ready for a figure show at the end of May and am currently at 14.5% bf. I want to get to 11% by then. Please can you tell me (1) is my goal achievable? and (2) what advice would you give me for getting there?

I currently do 5-6 days of AM-on-empty-stomach-cardio at 45-60 minutes. Lift 4 days a week. Daily cal intake is roughly 1500: 105 g protein, 100-120 g carbs, and 1 tbsp flax seed oil. I am 5'4" at 120 lbs.

Thanks!

 

[Bikini Mod]

Please forgive me for being absent from the boards....I have a lot on my plate these days and I honestly do not know when and if things will ever settle down for me...but to reply to your question -

YES, YOUR GOAL IS COMPLETELY ATTAINABLE!

Start doing double cardio sessions - meaning 45 min AM on empty stomach as you have been and another session of the same duration later in the day (start w/2 a week and increase them as the time nears if necessary). I would also increase my calories a bit - bring them up to at least 1800 - 2000...1500 is VERY LOW. Yes you will burn fat, but you will also give up A LOT of precious lean mass and end up looking like an emaciated chicken....especially if you are doing this w/o the help of "supps"......and even WITH them - you WOULD STILL GIVE UP YOUR LEAN MASS WITH SUCH A LOW CALORIC INTAKE FOR SO MANY WEEKS!

Remember, this is Figure NOT BBING - they do not want ripped to shreds and vascular. Try to be a lean as possible W/O looking to ripped. What bf% is that? It is different for everybody - plus the fact that the JUDGES don't even really know what they are looking for yet, doesn't help things........just think of it as being balanced and symmetrical, and "shapely"....kind of like a swimsuit chick with some muscles.

I am so sorry to answer this so late - but it can still be done. NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE OUT THE CALIPERS AT THE CONTEST AND AWARD FIRST PLACE TO THE CONTESTANT WITH THE LOWEST BF% - SO CHILL! Just use the mirror and you will be fine.

Good luck!....and again, please accept my most humble apologies!!!

 

[chabbah]

Thanks! I think I've lost more bf since I first wrote this, and I have already thought that I should add calories to my daily intake. Do you think I should rotate my high and low carb days? What were your protein, carb, fat ratios when getting lean? Right now, I'm taking in about 120 grams protein, 100 grams carbs, and 1 tbsp flax oil a day. I'm 5'4" and approx. 118 lbs.

I've also gotten off of bc recently, which seems to be helping.

This was my first week at 2 45-minute sessions a day, and I feel okay so far. We'll see what the bf test says next week. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Bikini Mod]

Yes, the closer to competition I got, we did rotate carbs...depending on how I was looking we would do s high carb days (meaning first two meals w/a comp carb) followed by low carb days and judging from my appearance we would adjust diet accordingly.....I'll have to find my old training journal to tell you exactly.

At 5' 4", 118# you should not have too far to go....that is already really lean....what is your current bf%? You don't want to be too lean and look emaciated or ripped to shreds - this will turn the judges off...remember it is NOT the leanest girl that will win.

Good luck and let us know how you did!