I recently took a year off competing to try and find a balance between both dieting and training. I had been doing competitions twice of a year for close to 4 years and it had taken its toll on my body! In that time I managed to find that balance, so I decided that I wanted to try competing again but this time I wanted to be able to keep my balance through my prep as well.
So, who was the first person I thought of? Yes!! My good friend Michelle! I knew with her style of dieting, I would be able to keep the balance I had been striving for! Michelle was very excited when I approached her which in turn got me very excited also.
So, twelve weeks out, I started. First thing I remember when receiving her first diet was that she must have sent it to the wrong person! I knew she was into putting diets together that were healthy but holy cow, surely this could not be a competition diet! I quickly emailed her back to confirm the diet actually was for me and in the meantime prepared myself for not getting disappointed! Soon enough the reply came through and with hand over my eyes and peeping though, I opened the email! Woohoo!!!!!!!! This was for ME!!!!!!!
The food was unbelievable! I have never tasted such delicious healthy food before and the amount of food I was eating was incredible. In fact it took me a week to be able to eat all of the food in a day that I was supposed to be eating.
For those that do not know me, I am a mother of two boys, I worked part time managing a supplement store, have a husband that works away, take posing classes, help competitors through comp prep myself and also I am the president of the INBA (International Natural Bodybuilding Association) in WA . So in short, I live an extremely busy life!
So, just taking on prepping for this competition and having to run one myself was going to be very challenging. I needed to get up most mornings at 4am so I was able to get my training in. I train pretty hard and Michelle did mention to me that once I had been on the diet for awhile, I would notice a big difference! I wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about so really didn’t take much notice of what she was saying! (sorry Michelle J)
It was only after two weeks into the prep that I realised what Michelle had been talking about. This big difference that she constantly referred to, it finally hit me! Even though I was training at such a high intensity, getting up early and doing everything else I had to do in my day, I had the most insane amount of energy.
It seemed the longer I stayed on the diet, the harder I trained and the less tired I became! I felt so alive and so amazing! I have never ever felt anything like this through a prep (or at any other time really). Since I had so much energy it meant I could train every harder and push myself well beyond what I thought I was capable of. Not only was I full of energy, I was lifting heavier than I ever had, which I was still doing right up until the moment I stood on stage! I never once had to drop my weights lower!
One of our biggest fears when prepping is dropping muscle when we diet down! I never had to worry about that either. My bodyfat was dropping fast every week but my actual weight seemed to be going nowhere. Normally that would have freaked me out to stand on the scales and to not see a lot of movement but Michelle explain to me that this was terrific as it meant I was growing muscle as I was dropping the fat! She was very correct as when I finally got to stand on stage, I was the most muscular I have ever been!
I usually had to take naps in the afternoon through my other preps as I was always so tired! This time I did not feel anywhere like that. I could make it through the day with ease! I loved having so much energy! I also got so many compliments through my prep. It wasn’t the usual ones I was use to either. They were compliments on how good my skin looked, how shiny my hair was and how healthy I looked!
I would not have been able to promote my competition and compete myself if it wasn’t for Michelle’s diet, help and support! My life has now changed and it’s all for the better!