Yesterday was Day 3 of IIFYM for me since my competition. I was invited out to a friend's dinner party and had no idea what I might wind up eating. So I saved a good 900-1000 calories for my time out, with plenty of fat and carbs left. I figured that while I may not be able to keep my macros exactly within 5g of my goals, I should at least be able to keep from going too overboard on the calorie side of things.
Enter beer.
Well, sufficed to say that when I finally entered what I had consumed last night into MyFitnessPal... it was well over what I had anticipated. And the funny thing is that if I had just stuck to the food and maybe 1-2 beers, I would have probably been pretty close to my target macros.
To be honest, I really needed a night out. Tracking is great to build an awareness of what you are consuming, but spending time with friends and enjoying life is important. I probably could have enjoyed life a little less and felt a bit better this morning, though. But am I overcome with guilt or remorse? Nope. I had fun.
I'm loving IIFYM so far. I know it's only day 2, but hear me out.
I packed healthy food with me when I went out flying early this morning and was back at the hangar by about 1:30pm. My office is right next to the coffee room, and guess what was sitting in the coffee room when I headed up to my office? Two boxes of Tim Horton's donuts. Of course. So I whipped out my handy MyFitnessPal app and took a look to see if I could fit one in. And guess what? It worked! I had to adjust my dinner and the meal I had been about to eat, but I was just glad I could fit it in.
Came home from work and had a steak and a beer. And then I made homemade ice cream (just greek yogurt, cherries, sugar-free vanilla and 1% milk).
What a delicious day.
I have several things planned for this weekend, so I'm not too sure how this is going to go. I was invited to a friend's place for dinner tomorrow night (which will involve drinks as well), followed by a BBQ (and drinks) on Saturday night, and a toddler's birthday party Sunday afternoon with my girls. Busy weekend ahead! Although I'm going to try not to fall back into my binging, I will likely just try to moderate myself a bit and let loose. Life isn't all about getting ripped ;)
Today was the first day since my competition that I actually stuck with my new diet plan.
Finally!
Really, this new plan is not all that hard to stick to. Especially after the contest diet I was previously on. This was my "diet" dinner tonight:
Not bad for a diet plan, hey?
I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the next year. While I know I will have days or even weeks that I'm not entirely sticking to my plan (and gaining at least a bit of weight), I'm really more concerned with developing a healthy relationship with food at this point. Here are my day end stats. Pretty happy to have fat, carbs and protein within 5g of my goal. And well over my 20g minimum of fibre.
I made these muffins this morning for Father's Day (my husband always says he wishes I baked more muffins and things), and they are quite delicious.
This is taken from the original recipe I found here: http://nourishedkitchen.com/coconut-flour-cake/
I just added pineapple and made muffins instead of a cake.
12 eggs
2 cups coconut milk (I used light)
4 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
2 cups coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups chopped pineapple
Coconut oil for greasing tins
Shredded coconut for muffin tins
Preheat oven to 350c. Grease muffin tins with coconut oil and sprinkle with coconut. Scoop the mixture evenly into 12 muffin tins. Bake at 350c for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Well, the results are in. I officially took last place in my class.
Funny thing is... I'm fine with that. I always thought the chance of taking last place would be about the most terrible thing that could happen in a competition. Especially after all that work.
But there were some ladies up there who obviously worked very hard and probably really deserved to place. And, to be honest, I didn't really put everything I had into this competition. I simply had too much else going on between work, kids and household stuff.
I'm happy with where I placed, and am really looking forward to seeing my photos from the photo I did last Sunday. Looking great in real life doesn't always equate to looking good on stage.
I'm still working on getting my eating back on track... it's been a real struggle this past week to keep from binging all the time. But it's slowly getting better. My next goal is to have a good, healthy relationship with food.
After my show yesterday, I decided to take one day to eat whatever I liked, but with one caveat; I had to record every last thing I ate. I had it in my mind that it wouldn't be too bad. I'd maybe be a couple hundred calories above my maintenance calories or so. Really, I could probably get away with eating whatever I wanted for awhile without gaining too much.
Well, it's 8:00pm and I'm already 1200 calories above my maintenance calories (which are substantially higher than what I've been eating the last few weeks). I had a feeling I'd wind up binging and eating everything in sight, but I have just never recorded an entire binge, honestly.
To put things into perspective, I'm about 130lbs right now. And 3500 excess calories is supposed to roughly equate to one pound. So, if I was to continue to allow myself to eat what I wanted, without any kind of tracking system, I'd gain approximately 2.4lbs this week, and 28.8lbs by the end of August. So back up to basically my post-pregnancy weight in less than 3 short months.
A good experiment. Interesting to see just how easily weight gain can happen. And I already have quite recent experience with just how difficult it can be to lose a few pounds, so I'd rather not have to go through that unnecessarily.
So tomorrow I start following maintenance macros. I'll be shooting for 198g of carbs, 130g of protein, 65g of fat and 20+ grams of fibre. That puts me at 1900 calories. Within those boundaries, I can eat what I like. This actually offers me a lot of flexibility.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer, and this is a great time for me to kick back and enjoy life a bit. Flexible dieting affords me that opportunity.
I guess technically it's not my first competition, but it's my first time trying to walk in heels on stage (I did bodybuilding last time - here's a picture from June 2012):
This competition has got me thinking a lot about mental health and how hard competitions are on a person. My husband pointed out to me the other day that I'm pretty well in the best shape of my life and am constantly talking about how my butt is still too big and is never going to fit into my suit. And my (almost) 3 year old has started telling people "Mommy's so hungry". Not really a healthy mindset to pass on to a toddler.
So what happens if, after all this time and effort put in, I wind up in last place? I'm still in the best shape of my life, but that's got to be tough on a person's mental state. Maybe it's self-preservation and maybe it's just me being pessimistic, but I'm not truly expecting to do well in this competition. If I do, great! But I'm more in it to get a bunch of super-ripped pictures to look back at 30 years from now and say, "Wow, look at me 30 years ago!". I'm getting in shape and making memories.
This competition prep has been extremely hard on me for a multitude of reasons. I'm beginning to think that I was insane to think that I could do a contest prep with two kids under the age of 3 (not to mention a full-time career and all the other things I tend to try to do with my time). I also believe there is a healthier way to do this contest prep, but I simply don't have the knowledge or experience to do it on my own.
Post competition, I will be immediately switching right into maintenance macros and working at maintaining what I've worked so hard to build for the remainder of the summer. Come fall, I'm going to devote my time to some serious building.
I'm excited to see what the future holds. One more week...
I have been questioning whether or not I'm ready to enter another competition quite a bit. Because I am still about 10-15lbs above my previous "off season" weight, it is incredibly hard to tell whether I've gained muscle, lost muscle, or maintained muscle.
So I've started looking at my previous weight training records and comparing them to now. I use the app Gym Buddy to track my workouts, so I have a record of all my workouts in the last 3 years. Just today I've discovered a handy "One Rep Max" graph in the history section of the app... here are a few results from major exercises:
So I may not be able to tell how my muscles look underneath that last layer of winter padding, but my strength gains certainly tell a story. I'm looking forward to seeing some definition as I lean down!
I've been experimenting a bit with diet plans and am about to start a slow cut in preparation for the competition in June.
Basically, I'm planning on following the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) plan for at least the first part of my cut and see how it goes. It winds up being very close to the diet plan I was on in preparation for my last competition, but it a little easier to adjust myself as necessary. I will also still be training under my previous (and only) trainer, although I'm trying to work toward being a bit more self-sufficient when it comes to doing these shows. I do realize that I desperately need the advice, support and coaching of someone experienced with competitions, at least for now.
The website I used to find my starting macros is this one:
http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
I chose "suggested" fat loss as a goal and increased my protein intake to 1.25g per pound of body weight (as per this article on cutting:
I'm currently using MyFitnessPal to log all my meals and monitor my macros. I basically messed around with the custom settings on MyFitnessPal to get my goal macros as close as possible to my results with the calculator (there is a hack to change macros by grams as opposed to percentage, but it doesn't work on a mac).
And my results? I'm going to be shooting for:
95.5g of carbs
187.5g of protein
60g of fat
30g of fibre
For now, I am shooting for 4 weight training sessions per week and 3 cardio sessions. Thankfully, roller derby starts again tomorrow, so that will count as 2 of my 3 cardio sessions. For the third, I usually try to take my girls to the running track on Sundays (it's a real workout for me if I can persuade my toddler to get into the backpack-style Ergo carrier for at least a couple hard laps).
Originally my plan was to compete again in November 2014 at the Sandra Wickham Fall Classic, but I've recently started thinking about competing earlier. I have not lost much muscle since my last competition (June 2012), and may have even gained some (although it's hard to tell at the moment).
Building muscle is the most time-consuming part of any competition. It can take years to get a good muscle base in order to compete. For my first competition, I trained hard and build muscle for a good 9-10 months before leaning out for the show. To build muscle, you need to be in a calorie surplus, albeit a small one. So it likely didn't hinder my goals that I was eating too much, but also weight training hard for quite awhile this time around. I have some extra fat to shed, but I believe the muscle base is mostly there.
I have about 20 weeks until the Northern Classic in June, if I chose to compete earlier. I ordered my shoes and started taking my diet plan a little more seriously. I'm basically sticking with my original diet plan, but tracking my macros and trying to somewhat merge them together. Worst case scenario, I won't get lean enough by that time (I'm not willing to go to extreme measures to drop the fat), and I'll do the show in November.
I also have a suit lined up that I will most likely buy. A friend is selling it for a very reasonable price.
I'm feeling quite optimistic about this idea at the moment. I am ready to start taking my diet and training more seriously again and get back into shape. It doesn't hurt that a good friend is getting married in July and I'd like to fit into a cute bridesmaid dress!
It's really easy to skip a workout due to any multitude of reasons. I do it all the time. But which "reasons" are really just excuses?
Take kids, for example. My gym doesn't have childcare on weekends or holidays, so I definitely can't take my 2.5 year old with me, but what about the baby? I decided to give it a try on Boxing Day and ran it by the girl at the front desk. She was fine with babies in carseats or equivalent, just not kids running around getting into things.
I decided to do lower body, as upper body would've been more difficult to find safe exercises to do with the baby.
I got a killer leg workout, during which my baby fell asleep! So I decided to prolong my workout rather than waking her up. If she had been at home I would've rushed home to her and likely cut my workout short.
The next day, I went to the walking track with some family members and the girls. If I go alone, I'll usually alternate between the two girls in the carrier (with the oldest I can run without worrying about jogging her around too much), in the jogging stroller, and the oldest running alongside.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not be able to make it out for a workout. One of my resolutions is to look critically at whether my "reason" is really an excuse.
I've had two company Christmas parties in the last week. And I've noticed that there is a big difference in how I prepare for going out now that I have children.
Preparing for a night out - without kids:
Run a bath, pour a glass of wine, light candles, and put on some music.
Leisurely shave in the tub, soak, sing along to all your favourite songs, cleanse face, wash and deep condition hair.
Get out of the tub, towel dry, moisturize, pluck eyebrows and brush teeth.
Blowdry and style hair.
Try on every piece of clothing in your closet before deciding on the pieces you originally had in mind for the occasion.
Apply makeup.
Check the time. Still another 25 minutes before you have to leave. Pour another glass of wine.
Check Facebook, read a few articles online, and have a light snack.
Try on every pair of shoes you own just in case there is a pair that goes better with your dress than the pair originally chosen.
Decide on the pair you had originally chosen.
Head to the Christmas party 15 minutes early.
Preparing for a night out - with kids:
Prepare dinner for the kids.
Sit the kids at the table and in high chairs and put their dinner in front of them.
Grab your curling iron and plug it into an outlet in the kitchen.
Take your phone away from the toddler and clean the food off of it.
Put your phone somewhere the toddler can't reach it.
Begin curling your hair.
Pick up all the food from the baby's lap and floor under her chair and put it back on her tray.
Continue curling your hair.
Tell your toddler to get off the table and leave the poinsettia alone.
Put down the curling iron and remove your toddler from the table.
Continue curling hair.
Give your screaming toddler a hug and settle her back at the table.
Continue curling hair.
Clean up the baby's face, hands, clothing, hair, and everywhere else she got food. Put her down on the floor in front of some toys.
Continue curling hair.
Run to lock the baby gate at the top of the stairs the baby is heading towards.
Give up on curling hair and go to find some makeup.
Clean up the toddler's hands and face.
Glance at your watch and realize the sitter will be arriving in 5 minutes.
Turn on the TV.
Apply makeup and get dressed in 4 minutes flat. Glance down at your legs and realize you haven't shaved recently. Put on nylons.
Turn off the TV, give the sitter instructions and head for the door.
Realize you've forgotten your phone.
Search for your phone for 10 minutes before realizing you put it somewhere out of the toddler's reach.
Head to the Christmas party 15 minutes late.
As much as kids make it really difficult to get anything done, I love my kids, and if I had the choice to do it all over again, I sure would!
No, not doing the splits. Although kudos if you can do that!
I'm talking about not having such a rigid training program that you beat yourself up if you miss a day. I've talked about flexible diet plans here, but I believe flexible training plans are equally important. Because life happens.
For starters, when was the last time you switched up your training program? In order to build more muscle, you should periodically "surprise" your muscles. I have 3 upper body workouts and 3 lower body workouts, which I will typically do twice each before switching to another. And if someone is using the equipment I "need" or I just feel like doing something different, I do.
But what about if you can't make it to the gym? There are many different options for things you can do with kids or right in your home. Some of my favourites are taking my girls with me to the walking track and doing some kind of home workout video in my living room. And sharing a post-workout smoothie with my toddler, of course.
Life can be busy and things don't usually go as planned. Injuries also happen, an you may have to take a break from exercise entirely. As long as you keep eating properly you shouldn't be gaining fat or losing much muscle in a short amount of time. And you can always resume working toward your goals when you are able again.
There are an enormous number of people out there professing to be "experts" on training and nutrition. It's hard to know who to listen to. Here are a few tips I've discovered when looking for a trainer:
1. Look for someone with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn new techniques and try different ideas. If they are constantly reading up on new techniques and research, they are a lot less likely to just be using the same program for every person who comes to them, and a lot more likely to be willing and able to work within a person's strengths and preferences.
2. Run far away if you see a very restrictive low-calorie diet plan. Personal Trainers are NOT nutritionists. They have some basic knowledge, but should not be doing any more than making general recommendations. I highly recommend searching out a Registered Dietician in your area for sound nutritional advice. You can search for Registered Dieticians in Canada at http://www.dietitians.ca/Find-A-Dietitian.aspx.
3. A good trainer will correct sloppy form and have recommendations to avoid injury whilst exercising.
4. Find someone who has time for you. If a trainer is fantastic, but they don't have time to answer a few quick questions when you're struggling, it's pointless to have one.
5. Anytime someone is constantly trying to sell you on a particular product or gimmick and is unwilling to make a general recommendation and let you choose your own product is probably a sales rep for that company. This does not necessarily mean it's a bad product, but it doesn't mean it's a good or valuable product, either. I find this to be a breech of trust between client and trainer.
Really, you want a trainer who has passion for what they are doing. You can definitely tell if it is "just a job", or if a trainer is truly passionate about helping others. And, to be honest, a bad trainer can be a lot worse than no trainer.
Running shoes have been around for a long time, with the claim that they will help prevent injury. And supposedly you have to replace them every 3 months to ensure the health of your body. But what if your $150 running shoes are actually causing injury?
Hear me out. When you run, what kind of method do you use? Do you run landing hard on your heels and then rolling to the balls of your feet, or do you land lightly on the balls of your feet and push off slightly forward? What about when you run barefoot along the beach?
Running shoes are rigid by design to "support" the foot. But because they are rigid, it tends to make people land hard on the heels of their feet rather than lightly on the balls of their feet. This rigidity found in almost all footwear these days can also lead to foot problems in some individuals.
Or at least, that is the claim made by barefoot shoe manufacturers. It seems that not enough research has been done yet on the topic to either prove or disprove barefoot running as the healthier or less injury-prone method, but I'm willing to give it a whirl.
I have a pair of Vibram Fivefingers barefoot runners, and I like them so far. But I have not used them for much more than short jogs or sprints. I look forward to seeing some more research done on the topic.
It's been a long journey for me to make this post. The truth is, I struggled on and off with Postpartum Depression for months after the birth of my second baby. Other than my husband, this is the first time I have actually admitted it to anyone. My baby is now 7 months old, and I am finally feeling like I'm able to get out of the house and do some of the things I love once again.
There is a stigma attached to any kind of mental illness. Here are some of the most common myths I've found about PPD (some of which I believed prior to struggling myself):
1. Only "weak" people get mental illness.
Obviously not. But the "strong" ones are the ones who aren't to proud to ask for help.
2. PPD only really affects moms who have nothing going for them.
I had a great career, a loving husband, a nice house and healthy kids. So there goes that idea!
3. Since depression is all in a person's head, they can just decide to get over it.
It's really not that easy. And because it is "all in a person's head", there really needs to be an outside source to help them through it.
4. You can tell when someone has PPD
The only way you can know for sure that someone has PPD is if they tell you. Some people are very good at hiding their feelings.
5. PPD only affects the occasional mom
Approximately one in four moms are thought to suffer from PPD at some point. And many moms (myself included) never report it or seek professional help. That's hardly occasional.
So what can we do about it?
If you are struggling with any kind of mental illness, talk to someone you trust about it at the very least. You are a stronger person than I am if you have the guts to seek professional help, and I applaud you.
If you know a new mom well, come over to visit, hold the baby, and just be there for her. Ask her how things are going (not with the baby, with HER) and really care about her answer. I always craved someone to spill my guts to, but my pride always got in the way.
I've been pondering this question for awhile now. In my previous contest preparation ("off-season"), I ate perfectly within my diet plan 6 days of the week and then was allowed one "cheat day" per week. The problem with this is that there were quite simply too many things I was trying my best to stay away from except for on Saturdays... when I would binge and eat whatever I wanted.
And when I wasn't giving myself "cheat days", I would invariably wind up breaking down one day and going on a lengthy binge. Either way, not healthy. And if you are actually one of the people who can ALWAYS stick to perfectly "clean" foods (whatever that means), I'd call that an eating disorder.
So what is the solution? I've started trying out a new "diet" called the Macro Diet, or IIFYM (if it fits your macros). I recommend watching this video by Layne Norton, a coach, bodybuilder, powerlifter, and scientist:
Basically, I'm now shooting for 240g of carbs, 150g of protein, 55g of fat, and at least 30g of fibre. Within those macros, I can eat what I want. I'm finding the "My Fitness Pal" app is a great one for tracking my macros on a daily basis (I just ignore the calories).
Nothing against clean foods, but moderation is the key. Instead of eating clean 90% of the time and then sitting down and eating an entire pizza or tub of ice cream, I'm attempting to eat mostly clean, but if I want a small bowl of ice cream or a slice or two of pizza, I can just factor it into my daily macros... guilt free!
Another thing to keep in mind is that when you hire a personal trainer, they are not certified to give you a diet plan! Only a certified dietician can do that. There is a reason nutritional science is a lengthy program; it is very easy to mess up a person's entire metabolic system with poor nutritional advice.
Before competing again, I need to get my eating habits into a healthy and sustainable method. Right now, that is my #1 priority for my health.
Things are looking up. I'm down about 3lbs this week and I'm feeling a lot better.
I've found some accountability. My trainer is going to take a look at my food journal every week and do measurements once in awhile as well.
I have a sitter lined up to take the girls to on weekends so that I can go to the gym (I'm potty training my 2 year old this weekend, so unfortunately I can't leave the house for that reason). My permanent nanny will be here next Sunday, so I will have some more help with the house and kids at that point.
I'm finally done my flight test ("Pilot Proficiency Check" is a yearly flight test for commercial pilots), so I can stop stressing about that.
There are always things to stress about, but I'm slowly learning to prioritize and not worry so much about the things I can't change.
But you know the biggest reason I'm better managing all the stress in my life?
Because I'm making clean eating and working out a priority.
This single act has turned my life right around. I am finding that any goal is easier to obtain if you just put your health first.
I sometimes wonder how I made time to make it to the gym every day after having my first baby. Did I just make it more of a priority, or am I truly that much busier now?
I believe it's mostly the latter. I've taken on a management position at work, which keeps me quite busy. It was also part of the reason I was back to work after just taking two weeks of vacation time rather than any kind of formal maternity leave. Two young kids also keeps me a lot busier outside of work than just one baby does.
But if I'm being honest, it was more of a priority as well. If I worked a long day and couldn't make it to the gym, I would go in the evening. I simply don't have the energy or drive to do that anymore.
My solution is to go each day on the weekend. If I can make it both Saturday and Sunday at some point, I only have to try and fit in two gym sessions during the week. So I now have a sitter lined up for an hour or two each Saturday and Sunday.
I'll be the first to admit it; I need some accountability.
I'm busy. I'm a manager at a successful helicopter company. I have two children, ages two years old and under. I manage two properties, including 5 tenants. I have two cats. My husband works 12 hour days. I'm in the process of getting a live-in nanny from Peru. I'd like to start a business and get my personal training certification. Any kind of socialization requires I shower every day or two.
These are all excuses. In this day and age, everyone is busy! But regardless of what is going on in my personal life, I need to make clean eating and exercise a priority. It has been almost 4 months since I had my last beautiful daughter, and I'm only down to 165lbs.
Accountability. That's what this post is about. I am perfectly capable of getting to the gym, eating clean, and generally living a healthy lifestyle. This IS NOT dependant on how busy I am. Those are all excuses and I know better.
The solution I have found is to find accountability anywhere I can (except my husband... I've discovered that I tend to take offence to him telling me what to do). I've asked anyone and everyone I know to help hold me accountable and just text me whenever they think of it to see how I've been eating and whether I've been exercising. If anyone else reading this post wants to help out with this, you're welcome to!
I'm hoping this will be the change I need to get a good thing started. I've admittedly been struggling since the birth of my second darling girl, but I'm working my way up once again.
Goals for this week:
Get to the gym 4 times.
Follow my diet plan at least until Friday night.
Read at least one chapter in my CFES Fitness Knowledge manual.
Recruit one person to keep me accountable on a daily basis.
