Coach: Tammy Strome
Only six weeks till E’s on the stage!
This week E made a valuable confession. She told me that she was cheating here and there on her diet, but it was in such small amounts that she almost didn’t realize she was doing it!
Now, I know what you’re thinking:
“Big deal. What’s a few almonds?”
Here’s the thing: If she sneaks an extra ½ oz of almonds every day that is an extra 72 – 84 calories in her day. If she does that for 10 days then that is an extra 720 – 840 calories above where she needs to be, considering her current training and cardio. That could slow her progress. And, let’s say she may even be eating a little extra of other things here and there, because she’s not being as strict as she could be. Before you know, there are an extra 200 calories in her day above where she needs to be.
The amount of training/cardio + diet/nutrition + time = results.
It is a very strict equation with little to no room for “extras” if you are competing on the stage against other athletes.
It takes a lot of courage to admit you’re not perfect. Not only did E find the courage to admit it, but she also took control of her behaviour and her attitude. As a result, she dropped another 2 lbs from 134 lbs to 132 lbs!
A weight was literally lifted by taking charge! Surprise!
I’ve seen this happen many times. Remove the resistance from within and the body follows. When that happens…you can finally say “I am in the zone” and it suddenly becomes much easier.
I think that one valuable lesson E will learn from this whole journey is that you have to have the attitude of “I will do it” and “I can do anything” in order to achieve your goals. Letting negativity creep in will only hurt the end result. You have to get in the zone and stay there.
So here we are at another big evaluation.
E’s Progress:
Weight: 132 lb: – 10 lbs from her start point
Body Fat: 13.6%: – 9.6% from her start point
Waist: 27.5 inches: – 3.5 inches from start
Hips: 36 inches: – 2.2 inches from start
Thighs: right and left: 21 inches: – 1 inch from start
Biceps: right and left: 12 inches: – 1 inch from start
Calves: right and left: 14.5 inches: – ½ inch from start
Chest with lats: 36 inches: – ½ inch from start
Summary:
E has lost 10 lbs and approximately 9.6% body fat. She has also lost about 8.7 inches of fat from her body. She has lost about 1 lb a week since the start of this process. It didn’t always show up week to week but, over the long term, evened out. This is a nice gradual loss of fat to spare as much muscle as possible.
E is showing much more shape and definition all over. In the past couple of weeks her glutes have started to lift and her legs are coming in now. The visual changes at the end of the next six weeks are going to be huge.
As the body sucks out as much fat stores as it can off those last favourite holding areas, E will reveal a tight, competitive shape that is ready to hit the stage.
I will be tweaking E’s training program to now incorporate some full-on boot camp training. It’ll keep her workout intensity up and her body burning calories.
Her carbs are staying nice and low with a balance of lean proteins, some healthy fats and lots of vegetables rounding out her diet. If she keeps hitting her targets then she will get to add a weekly shot of carbs to replenish and boost her strength.
On a side note…we will also be meeting weekly now to work on her posing and stage presentation.
Be sure to check in for Thursday’s post. I will be discussing the importance of supplements in a contest preparation plan and how they can help you reach your desired fat-loss goals.
Yours in health,
Tammy
Client: Eftihia
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
After last week, I opened my eyes wide and took a good look in the mirror at the person staring back at me…and decided to be honest with myself.
Exercise and sickness aside, I thought, am I really doing everything I can to be true to this show…to this contest? It’s a first for me, and it was hard to admit it, but I knew I was cheating on my diet here and there.
No, I wasn’t out eating ice cream and cookies but, some days, when I felt exhausted and knew I had to workout again, I would eat a few extra almonds that were not prescribed in my diet. I know this will sound silly to someone looking in from the outside–what could a few little almonds do?
But it wasn’t just the almonds that were the problem. It was the mindset. It was the fact that I wasn’t giving my all to the process.
So, I thought really hard about it. What was I doing when I told myself “It’s only four almonds…only five macadamia nuts?” My conclusion was that maybe I was trying to sabotage myself. Also, I think I was looking to reward myself for all my hard work, and I tend to use food in that way. Not that it’s wrong to reward myself, but it makes more sense to reward myself with something that doesn’t get in the way of my set training plan, like buying myself a 1-hour massage somewhere.
The key here is that it isn’t really about the food. It’s about the level of mental commitment to a goal. My body was not responding as well as it could to all my hard work because mentally I still wasn’t fully committed. Also, when it comes to this sport, it’s all about the perfect equation: cardio/weights + the right food + time.
If the cardio is off, then you won’t see the changes you’re expecting to see. If you aren’t training at 100%, then the magic won’t happen. If I’m not eating what I’m supposed to be eating, even if I’m only replacing my dreams of cookies with a few raw almonds, I’m changing the equation and, so, the body won’t change!
Guess what happened when I admitted to myself that I wasn’t perfect? I lost weight, I lost water, I lost inches, my mood improved and I’m no longer a “pill” to be around.
I actually feel like my old self (pre-carb deprivation). Now I can finally see what everyone else has been telling me—I am an amazing person. Plus, with all my extreme efforts, I can now also see an amazing body starting to happen!
I see now that I created my own obstacles so I could challenge myself to see exactly what I was hiding from—FEAR.
Tammy always says that I can be a perfectionist to a fault, so this show has been slightly intimidating for me (okay, VERY intimidating). It was FEAR that caused me to sabotage my own success, so I could blame something else for my possible failure.
I say it all the time, but obviously I don’t always believe it: there is NO failure.
I know and BELIEVE that now! This has been a huge revelation for me this week and has quite amazingly helped with headspace and training and energy levels.
There’s 6 weeks left till the show, and I can’t tell you how excited I am now. I’m within reach of my goal, and it isn’t scary anymore! In fact, I’m looking forward to it.
Bring it on!
