Bikini Prep Update 2015 + Why I Didn't Place

Hello! It is October 19th today and I just feel like I REALLY need to blog, and vent, and update the world on what I'm up to (to the .0093774 of people that care). Right now I am 3 weeks out from the Las Vegas Classic which will take place on November 7th. However, I have decided that I will not be doing this show, and as of now any more shows this year. Why? Many reasons. The first reason is we had WAY too much fun in San Francisco last week and spent way too much money. Having another show IN VEGAS right at the beginning of the month is not smart financially and it's just not worth it to be struggling. I want to be able to travel for the holidays, have fun, enjoy life, without worrying about saving enough money for a show and worrying about being on prep. Quality of life. I just feel like my money could be best used elsewhere than trying to bring home a trophy. I have nothing to prove to anyone, except for myself and I've already exceeded my expectations of myself and more. I still work hard everyday to improve more and more on my physique and I just shock myself every time I take pics, it's so rewarding! So a trophy does not validate anything, placing doesn't validate anything, although it would be nice to take home first.

With that said, my last show, San Francisco Championships with Muscle Sport Productions, was one week ago. It was great, I felt great, I had a BLAST, but I did not place. Yet again! That makes five shows now that I walk away with nothing. Am I mad? Yes. Disappointed? Yes? In myself? No way! I look and feel amazing and am just simply not what the judges are looking for. If you're an over planner like me, you STUDY everything and what the judges are looking for. After "studying" the winners of my class in the last show... I've come to realize they just want skinny girls. Plain and simple. I'm not "fat" by any means and I'm not "not skinny", I'm just not THAT skinny. I have A LOT of muscle, I'm 10% (skin fold said 8% so I rounded up) body fat right now. My glutes and thighs are still a problem, as they are too big and my quads show separation with every step I take. Judges don't like that for bikini. They will choose a soft skinny girl over a muscle girl any day, which is what I've learned while doing these shows. I'll be the one to tell you girls, bikini prep is really just leg day and cardio (like crazy) to be honest. They do not care about your muscle. Now once you get to Nationals, muscle up and you'd better bring it because at nationals they are leaning towards the muscular, LEAN girls. Contradicting, I know. Maybe I'm in the wrong state? I see such amazing muscular winners of my class all the time and I just wonder why the shows I do are not this way. For the SF Champs, ALL of the other classes had muscle girls as winners except class C, our class was a softer girl. And the overall winner of the show was exactly what a bikini girl should look like. So it's confusing to guess what the judges like when one class they go for something and the next class they choose something completely different. There were PLENTY of muscle girls in my class, believe me. Also, the judges said it was a really hard class... yet they still chose the other girls. Not to offend those beautiful women who won, it just makes no sense at all.

Winners of Class C, So you can get an idea of the physique they were going for. You guys know what I look like. Picture me next to these girls. 

 Class C Winner. Julia, you're beautiful and great so take no offense :) 

  Now these are the number one girls in each class. Class C is in green. 

Overall winner below! She looks amazing, awesome job girl!

I hope now there's an understanding of what happened at the show, why I didn't place, etc. I want you all to understand, of course the show went the way it did, but I don't want you to think I'm just writing it off as "well I'm perfect and should have won, there's nothing I need to work on, blah blah blah". Because obviously I need to lose size in order to fit what the judges want. I think I'm very close, but not enough to win. I'm just at a point where I ask myself, "is it worth it to lose the muscle I've built, to get smaller just to win a trophy". Of course my plan and goal is to become a pro so it would HAVE to happen. It's just not worth the money right now to keep doing shows when the judges don't like my physique. So that's reason number two.

So what does "time off" mean? Most girls take time off to build muscle and get bigger for nationals. Luckily, I have no problem in the muscle area :) My time off means cardio cardio cardio. Keeping up my cardio plan while reverse dieting back into a healthy calorie range. From this day I'm staying on prep diet and plan for this week, then starting my reverse dieting next week. I'll be adding 10% carbs and 5% fats (every other week) based on my progress. Right now I'm at 1350 range of calories with carbs at 120. My goal for my reverse diet is to get to 200+ carbs daily and 60+ fats daily. To somewhat maintain my physique while losing the last bit of fat in my legs and butt. According to the body fat test I have 10lbs of fat in my body out of 122lbs, which doesn't leave much to lose which means I'll most likely be burning some muscle... Sadly, but we'll see.

I will definitely keep you guys updated because I've never done a reverse diet and I'm excited to see the changes. I'm keeping my cardio at 5 fasted sessions a week and lifting will be 3 lifting circuits a week. One leg day circuit, one upper body, and one full body. I love circuits! They're fun and keep your heart rate up for the entire duration of you're workout. Plus they're short and sweet... well not too sweet, they're killer, but effective. Circuits are a way to implement your lifting routine while also burning more calories. With circuits you're not lifting for weight, so no heavy lifts, aiming for 12-20 reps per exercise while also incorporating cardio moves like jumping jacks and pop squats. I actually don't lift heavy on anything anymore except back (actually I do heavy deadlifts still and heavy hip thrusts and bridges). I don't target quads specifically, nor do I target inner thighs, I only go light on hamstrings now. So yeah my workouts are pretty limited, so circuits it is! I build muscle fast and as far as my physique goes, I'm done building muscle, I don't want any more. I know that sounds silly to some people. I can always appreciate more back muscles though, I love my back!

So here are some photos below of me on stage from my boyfriend in the the crowd. I wanted to save on money so didn't spend the $85 on professional stage shots. I find $85 to be ridiculous... it might have been worth it though lol.

There you have it guys! No more shows for me this year, more traveling, more money, and MORE FOOD by the end of the year. Sounds like a good plan. I plan on doing another show in February or so before our EUROTRIP, but we'll see. We're also moving at the end of January aaaand updating our apartment to hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances and a huuuuge bathroom. I think all of that is better than paying for a.... trophy, right? :)

Keep following for updates and IIFYM reverse dieting, pre prep, and lifestyle upgrades! Thanks for reading :)

Five Weeks Out and New Updates!

What's new? Lots! Let me start with my upcoming bikini competition. I'm competing in the Tahoe Show again this year on August 22nd in Lake Tahoe. Let me just say that this show is the most amazing NPC show I've ever been to! They put so much love into their production and it shows! They take care of their competitors and it's evident that it's about more than money for them. This is important to me so I don't mind traveling to the show to support them. My boyfriend and I decided we're driving there instead of flying to save the $700+ it would take to fly. It's a 7 hour drive so ROADTRIP!!! And meal prep lol. This is good though because I can now pack whatever I want without worrying about it fitting in a suitcase (like my own weights to pump up in my hotel room). See I told you I'm still cheap. :)

I'm five weeks out from the Tahoe Show which means strict strict strict! Up until now, I have done the IIFYM approach (in a clean way, not adding donuts and oreos). I eat a lot throughout the day and work out and burn A LOT of calories and there are a lot of different elements about this prep than last year's. For instance, last year's preps were 100% clean, no cheats, no "maybe this can fit", nothing that wasn't a whole food, grown, or natural. Which there's nothing wrong with that approach at all! It worked greatly, but I wanted to try something different. This prep I had a cheat day every Friday which included eating whatever I wanted with no guilt. Needless to say, this prep has been pretty easy for me. It IS my first show this year so I'm not burned out yet, thankfully! In my opinion, five weeks out is the time where you should be where you want to be despite water weight and final tweaks. At five weeks out, you essentially have three more weeks to be 100% stage ready (which pretty much means cardio). At two weeks out, you need to be stage ready. If you're still trying to make tweaks or build muscle, it's too late. Keep in mind the peak week strategies that can make or break your stage presence. Peak week can be approached in many ways, personally I will be cutting salts, sweeteners, extra fiber, and protein shakes because I know how my body reacts to these things. Water I'll slowly cut towards the end of the week, I'm not going to dehydrate myself all week. I'm very excited and feel that my progress and body looks way better than last years! We'll see how the show goes! 

Of course there will be way more posts about my prep for the next 5 weeks, but guess what, I started a YouTube Channel! Oh yes! So you'll get to see my Vlogs as well in case you don't feel like reading. :) Of course the two say different things but hey, people have their preferences. Please subscribe if you like my videos and want to see my progress and show coverage. There will also be workouts, full days of eating, and bikini prep tips! Here's my intro video I posted a couple of hours ago. 

I'm also a day out from launching my online training platform (BodiesbyMel.com). Right now I'm a personal trainer in Orange County and train my lovely clients in person one on one. However, if you don't live in sunny California, I can train you online. No matter what your goals are, I can help get you to your dream body. We'll have a consultation call or Skype at first so we can get to know each other and we can go from there. OR if you'd just like to buy the plan, by all means, buy away! 

LiftingLadiesFitness.com is now live and more to come from there. I went fabric shopping last weekend for fabric for.... LEGGINGS! That's right! I'm starting  legging line because I'm so tired of buying leggings that show my ass when I bend over. Also, having leggings for girls with big butts, bigger thighs, and little waists who don't want to resort in wearing high waist all the time (I'll have high waist designs too). This will branch off into jeans I'm sure. Isn't it so hard to find jeans having a 36 inch butt and 26 waist? Solutions are coming! Lifting Ladies is the platform for online training and merchandise (t shirts, sports bras, leggings, crop tops, launching soon!). Custom bikinis are also in order. So head over to my sites, check them out, subscribe, like, and thanks for following my fitness journey! 

Mel

Powering Through the Sickness

'Tis the season to be sick, get colds, and slack off! Well, the first two things, no slacking off this winter. With the weather getting colder (or fluctuating from hot to cold in Cali), the risk of getting sick is higher and higher. While there are many things you can do to prevent the bug getting you, sometimes it just comes out of nowhere despite your careful planning. So how do you stay motivated when you're sick? Are you just going to throw out your plans and goals for a week in your bed? Are you going to power through and go to the gym sick? I'd say neither is a good plan, though there has to be balance. You can't just show up to the gym putting everyone in danger of catching what you have. Think about it, you cough into your hand, you touch a dumbbell, do your set, put it back. Someone new picks up the same dumbbell, gets an itch on his face or eye, or randomly decides to put his hand in his mouth, bam! He's got it too! The gym is a bacteria frenzy! Okay I know I've scared you now and yes there's a lot of risk in the gym, but you can take matters into your own hands by taking extra precautions during your workout.

1. Take a towel (or two) everywhere. For you to breath or cough into, and to wipe down the machines after use. 
2. Before use, use a wet wipe or spray and towel to wipe off everything you'll be touching. You never know what the person before you did on there or their condition. 
3. Don't go to the gym if you feel too sick. Which brings me back to what motivates you.

When you're coughing, sneezing, wiping your runny nose, I'm sure it's hard to build up the motivation to even get out of bed. If you have a goal in site like a prep or a fitness challenge you've joined, you'll need to get back into the gym asap. If you don't have a goal in site, by all means, take that time off to recover and get well. This is more for those of us who need to fast forward getting well so we can get back in the gym and attack those goals. You don't want to reschedule a show because you got sick. Could you imagine? Some great things you can do to keep your prep moving forward is move around! Go walking on the treadmill. I know it's hard taking a step from our hardcore workouts and jumping on a treadmill just to walk, but do you feel like running? That's what I thought. So walk for 30 minutes to an hour, keep your body conditioned throughout your sickness. A stationary bike is also a great choice! Sitting down might be all you want to do so it's probably the best choice. I mean, if there were a lying down cardio machine, I'm sure we'd all be in line for it. Don't want to leave the house? Below is an at home workout I've put together that's sure to get your heart beating, while letting you workout in the comfort of your own home.

Low Impact Burpees: Go through the motions of a regular burpee, only walk your legs one at a time back, push up, then back up. Stand up with hands in air, don't jump. (Unless of course you're up to do the high impact jumping)(As many as you can for one minute)

Jumping Jacks (One minute)

Body weight squats (One minute)

Stationary lunges (One minute)

Lying toe touches (One minute)

Repeat this cycle 3 times or as many time desired. That makes 15 minutes of moving around, getting active, and staying accountable. Don't let that cold knock you off your feet, you're better than that! In the same right, don't push yourself so far that you get even sicker and end up being out of the gym even longer. Listen to your body, if you feel you can do it, do it. If not, take a break. Now onto diet, because it's not all about the gym.

When sick, what is the LAST thing you want to do? Eat! And what is right behind that? Meal prep,

eat right, eat all healthy food. Who wants to be in the kitchen all day prepping meals? YOU do if you want to stay on track with your goals. This whole week when I was sick, I prepped every single meal and every single meal was clean. I thought, well if I'm going to be out of the gym, I'm at least going to be on point with my eating. You have push yourself to eat well, you must. The main problem when sick is that you don't want to eat. It's such a chore especially eating like clockwork like we do. My advice is to just do it the second it crosses your mind before you have a chance to think about it. Get up, cook, and soon you'll be able to lie down again. If you're lucky, maybe you'll have someone to cook six meals for you. That would be nice, but who has time for that? You have to want it, live it breathe it! No sickness will get you down. How wonderful it would have been to just order food all day and eat just that. Nope, we can't do that because we have goals to conquer! So dig deep and do what needs to be done in order to stay on track. You can do it! I did :)

Thanks for reading! I hope this inspires you when you're sick to get up and keep fighting for your goals. Bookmark this for when you are sick to try the workout and let me know how it goes!


Mel