For those of you that follow me on Facebook at See Mom Lift  you are more than aware that I recently competed in two NPC competitions.  The first was the Great Lakes Iron Man in Flint MI on September 24th and the second was the Central States Championships on October 8th.  I am now officially in my off season and do not plan to compete again until the spring of 2017.

Now that it has been a couple weeks since my final show, and all of the stress of competing and starting a new job the Monday after my show has worn off, I thought it was a good time to blog a bit and catch everyone up.

Let’s first talk about the prep.  How long does it take to get “stage ready”?  I get asked this a lot and my total prep is approximately 12 weeks.  I lost a total of 10 lbs in this time and maintained my muscle mass.  If you have a large amount of weight to lose and you are not already weightlifting regularly then 12 weeks really would not be enough.  This was not a weight loss competition, it was a fitness competition. Skinny girls don’t place well.  (They don’t look that good either)

On that note, let’s talk about the workouts.  Many people assume I spend hours in the gym each day to achieve the lean physique when actually most of my time is spent in the kitchen prepping my meals.  The workouts consisted of weight training 5 days per week and cardio 5 days per week.  Total time in the gym ranged from 1- 1.5 hours with cardio included.  The weight training was not small 3 lb dumbbells that most of us have on our bedroom floor or cheap resistance bands.  I used barbells and squat racks.  I trained legs 2-3 times per week and squat more than my body weight.  Sorry ladies, if you want a tight ass you are going to have to squat.

The nutrition is the most difficult part and the most important.  This is where most people fail.  I cut out all processed foods, protein bars, etc and at whole, natural foods.  My main sources of protein were chicken, white fish, turkey and whey protein powder.  My complex carbs consisted of oatmeal, plain rice cakes, brown rice and sweet potatoes.  I took fish oil to get in my fat and at green veggies with 5 of my 6 meals each day.  Spinach was on my plate for almost every meal.  The last four weeks I cut out all fruit, tomatoes, corn and carrots.  This was to eliminate sugar from my diet and shred the last bit of fat from the back of my legs.

A typically day was 5- 6 meals and looked like this (insert coffee between each meal):

Meal 1: Plain Oatmeal with 4 egg whites sweetened with stevia and cinnamon

Meal 2: 4 oz grilled chicken, 1 cup broccoli and 125g sweet potato

Meal 3: 4 oz grilled chicken, 1 cup broccoli and 125g sweet potato

Meal 4: 4 oz ground turkey over 2 cups mixed greens

Meal 5: 4 oz ground turkey, 1 cup asparagus over mixed greens

Meal 6: 1 scoop casien protein powder, 1 tbsp powdered peanut butter, stevia, cinnamon, mixed with water until dough like consistency.

I seasoned my meat and veggies with onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and a lot of Mrs. Dash.  I used Sea Salt until the last week of prep.  I used balsamic vinegar as my dressing and avoided oils and fats.  No dairy, no bread, no variety. (yes, it sucks.  If it were easy we all would be fit and healthy and not overweight).

Overall I was very happy with the total package I brought to the stage.  I have competed 4 times now and my goal is to simple improve on the girl I was in the previous show.  My upper body tends to get shredded before my lower body and I the feedback I received from my very first show was to lean out my lower body to match my upper body.  I have slowly been working on balancing my overall physique.  I received great feedback from the judges this time around and will be working on building up some more muscle this off season and hopefully bring my best package ever in the spring.  I placed very well in both shows and have qualified for nationals if I choose to compete at that level.  My overall goal is to win a 1st overall.  I don’t think I will stop until that is achieved.

Here are some photos from the shows.  Most of the comparison and judging occurs during the day show called pre-judging.  The awards are given at night.  Thank you to stagetimephoto.com for the great photos!  If you want to follow any of the Michigan competitions go to http://michigannpcnews.com/.   If you need competition prep help or want to attend a posing workshop check out Elite Fit Center.   Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook as See Mom Lift.

This line-up is Open Class B (all ages and levels). I placed 3rd in this class and qualified for nationals. 

Open Class B back pose.  I placed 3rd in this class. 

This is the Master’s Division (35 and up) and I placed 1st

Master’s Division Back Pose at pre-judging.  I placed 1st. 

This is from the second show in October. 

This is the Master’s Division (35 and over) and it was a tough competition.  So many strong, beautiful and confident women on stage.  I made tons of new friends. 

Master’s Division pre-judging.  I placed 2nd in this division.  

Open class B.  I was absolutely thrilled to be in the top 5 with these young beautiful ladies.  I placed 5th in this class. 

Top 5 from Open (all ages and levels) class B

Master’s Top 5, I placed 2nd. 

Open Class B top 5, I placed 5th.