The Plan

When I first started this journey, I had no idea all that would be involved.  I understood going to the gym, but that’s barely scratching the surface.  Honestly, what happens outside the gym is just as (if not more) important as what happens inside the gym.  The 4 major components to my plan are:  strength training, cardio, diet and sleep.

 Strength Training

I spend no more than an hour a day strength training.  It’s my goal to get in and get out.  I work a different body part each day for six days and I rest on the seventh day.  I lift heavy and rep ranges are anywhere between 10-15.  My current split is as follows:

Monday – Hamstrings/calves/glutes

Tuesday – Shoulders
Wednesday – Biceps and Triceps
Thursday – Quads
Friday – Chest
Saturday – Back
Sunday – Rest

Cardio

Currently, I’m doing cardio every day for at least 40 minutes a day.  After the competition I will probably drop that to three times a week.  I usually  walk at an incline on the treadmill and on Saturdays I meet up with BGR for some running on the trail.

Diet

My diet consists of high protein and low fat.  I eat carbs but I try to limit them to early in the day.  I eat six meals a day, one every three hours.  There is not a lot of variety in my current diet but I’m sure that will change after the competition – still clean, but I won’t be eating chicken breast everyday 4 times/day.  A typical day looks like this:

Meal 1 – oatmeal with blueberries

Meal 2 – egg whites, protein shake, apple
Meal 3 – chicken breast and sweet potato
Meal 4 – chicken breast and sweet potato
Meal 5 – chicken
Meal 6 – chicken with spinach/arugula

This menu will vary because sometimes I honestly just can’t take it anymore.  I may substitute tilapia for chicken.  Or tuna.  Over the weekend I made a “pizza” using flat out wraps, bbq sauce, reduced fat mozzarella and chicken. 

 

I put the word pizza in quotes, because really, I’m not fooling anyone into believing that it was actually pizza.  I also had garlic bread over the weekend  because I really, really wanted it.  Nobody's perfect and I'm not trying to live a life of deprivation.  I do my best and when I fall off, I just get right back on again.  I used to really beat myself up if I had a bag of potato chips, now ... not so much.  I'm human and usually if I give into a craving I'm good for a long period of time and I probably won't give in again anytime soon.

I try to consume at least a gallon of water a day. 

Sleep

I’m up every morning before 5:00 am so I try to get to bed by at least 9:00-9:30.  Giving my body enough rest is necessary so I have the energy to go back at it again the next day.