uploading more than one photo per post- upload them to your hub (profile), and use the T-Nation given photo id number in the [/] brackets.
[photo]id number[/photo]
Very nice ink work there Kill Switch.
Those hand held devices are very easy to cheat. Eat something salty before, drink some water, and you will “appear” leaner to the machine. Fat is a shitty conductor of electricity, while water is awesome at it. The water you will hold will make you a great electrical conductor (making the machine think you have less fat which is resistant to letting electricity pass through you). I agree that caliper measurements, hydrostatic weighing, or a DEXA scan (the most accurate) is ideal.
You have a nice physique to work with there.
[quote]xKillSwitchx wrote:
…I want to gain more strength and endurance and be shredded!..
I think this sentence is why you aren’t getting a lot of response. These are three different goals. Training for strength is very different from training for endurance. Then getting shredded sounds like stripping fat or cutting. If you are in a strength gain phase, you usually aren’t trying to cut because you are eating to gain. So, you need to clarify your goals a bit. It sounds like you are happy with the foundation of muscle you have and want to strip fat. If that’s the case, just search for articles about fat loss. Chris Shugart writes most of that stuff here at TNation.
As for photo shoot prep, I’d over to Facebook and look up Jamie Eason’s site. There is a discussion board with people doing bikini and figure. Be warned, there are a lot of skinny women who have been lifting for 3 months and think that they are ready to “diet down”. I had to get the hell out of there, although I find Jamie inspiring because I’d love to have her build.
For water manipulation, search TNation for the article called Shredded in 6 Days. It will give you info on how to manipulate carbs/salt/and water to get ready for an event, like your photo shoot. It will also show you just how deceptive a lot of these “dieting” pictures are.
About your pics, you are a pretty girl with a nice body. You know these guys are just harassing you because they want to see some pictures of you in your panties. 
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:[quote]
[quote]xKillSwitchx wrote:[quote]
…I want to gain more strength and endurance and be shredded!..
I think this sentence is why you aren’t getting a lot of response. These are three different goals. Training for strength is very different from training for endurance. Then getting shredded sounds like stripping fat or cutting. If you are in a strength gain phase, you usually aren’t trying to cut because you are eating to gain. So, you need to clarify your goals a bit. It sounds like you are happy with the foundation of muscle you have and want to strip fat. If that’s the case, just search for articles about fat loss. Chris Shugart writes most of that stuff here at TNation.
As for photo shoot prep, I’d over to facebook and look up Jamie Eason’s site. There is a discussion board with people doing bikini and figure. Be warned, there are a lot of skinny women who have been lifting for 3 months and think that they are ready to “diet down”. I had to get the hell out of there, although I find Jamie inspiring because I’d love to have her build.
For water manipulation, search TNation for the article called Shredded in 6 Days. It will give you info in now to manipulate carbs/salt/and water to get ready for an event, like your photo shoot. It will also show you just how deceptive a lot of these “dieting” pictures are.
About your pics, you are a pretty girl with a nice body. You know these guys are just harassing you because they want to see some pictures of you in your panties. [/quote]
Thank you to everyone for your advice, it’s much appreciated!! And Powerpuff, well put…I actually met with the trainer and his wife who train people for figure events and photo shoots and stuff like that…I had to put on a bikini and boy was he brutally honest…which is what I wanted and I definitely appreciate it. He advised me to give it 6 months, and that I need to shrink my legs, which I agree, they get bulky so easily…oh and tons of cardio…sweet 
What are everyone else’s goals?
I don’t think you need to shrink your legs!
Welcome
[quote]debraD wrote:
I don’t think you need to shrink your legs!
Welcome :)[/quote]
Thank you and you look AMAZING in your picture!! wow
First of all, welcome!
As far as the advice from the coach, I have to say I disagree. I think you should emphsize the fact that you are a FF and you lift hard. FF’s are strong so “shrinking” doesn’t seem to fit.
It’s hard to tell from the pictures but in general, I would bring up hamstrings, glutes, upper back and shoulder width. This will give you the “X” frame that looks so good. Check out DebraD’s pics to see what I mean.
I don’t know how lean you want to be for the shoot. If you want abs showing then that will take some dedication. Otherwise, you are pretty lean now.
Hey Killswitch, welcome, and I’ll be the first to say that I love your username (providing it’s because of the band “Killswitch Engage”)
I’ll echo what others have said regarding your leg size. You don’t need to shrink them at all!
Pay attention to the girls around here (and us dudes too, we occasionally have a good idea or two) and you’ll benefit far great than from a coach that tells you to make your legs smaller!
Bigger is better, right?!
[quote]xKillSwitchx wrote:
I actually met with the trainer and his wife who train people for figure events and photo shoots and stuff like that…I had to put on a bikini and boy was he brutally honest…which is what I wanted and I definitely appreciate it. He advised me to give it 6 months, and that I need to shrink my legs[/quote]
I’m not surprised that this is the advice that you got. But I have to echo what everyone else here has said and say that I disagree as well. You are well proportioned and look strong, which is, I believe, the look that most of us here appreciate rather than the typical model look.
^Agreed! Why shrink those quads? They’re primed to be built. I think most women/men would love to have that base to start with.
DO NOT shrink quads!
I would love to meet this “coach.” That is some straight bullshit he fed you. You’re a damn firefighter. You need your legs strong.
Agreed about the bodyfat, as well. You are not 12%. That’s not a bad thing. You’ve got an awesome frame, and some decent muscle built up already. I hope you grace us with your progress pics. And yes, that is purely from a man’s point of view.
I still have to knock you for your name, however, no matter what Inky says. Killswitch…no. Too whiney. Too annoying. I would hope you are neither. Welcome to the Nation. These ladies and most of the fellas will not steer you wrong or feed you bullshit.
[quote]xKillSwitchx wrote:
[quote]debraD wrote:
I don’t think you need to shrink your legs!
Welcome :)[/quote]
Thank you and you look AMAZING in your picture!! wow :)[/quote]
Thanks!
And I’m glad I got some support about your legs.
I don’t know if this is good advice but it’s just what I would do… (and pretty much what I do when I think I look soft or small or just dissatisified or I’ve seem some inspiring image)
So…I think if I were planning on a photo shoot I would ramp up my training and clean up my diet. Cleaning up my diet would not be reducing calories by much, if any, but making sure I was getting the protein I need and getting rid of the foods I know I don’t respond well to like breads and cakes. I would drop calories a bit once I’ve felt I’ve cleaned things up sufficiently and cut back on some fats eventually too. The diet can be challenging if you’re already eating really clean. I’m usually eating a diet that has lots of room for improvement so that makes cutting it back a lot easier.
A week before I would do the shredded in 6 days thing. I’ve never done that but I tried a light version of it (4-5 days) and it worked really well. I wasn’t doing it for anything other than to see how things would look and I was trying on bathing suits the day I carbed up and kind of shocked myself in the changeroom mirror. It’s supposed to be for already low body fat but I don’t think I was all that low. But I did puff up muscles in the right places and still had some softness so it was a nice effect. I wouldn’t do it again though, too much trouble, unless if I was going to have some kind photo shoot or something.
Be careful dieting too much because you might end up shrinking your legs after all! You might decide it’s not worth the loss for a photoshoot. That’s up to you and probably depends on how hard it was to gain.
Post pics as you go!
KS,
If you are getting advice from a trainer who helps women with figure and fitness events, his advice is coming from the point of view of being judged by judges. If you are looking to do a photo shoot for your own personal benefit, then your own opinion trumps all. If he suggests that you should shrink your quads, he is coming from the idea of you winning a figure/fitness competition. You might want to consider this when you decide on what to do.
We here at TN love quads, hammies, ass, rump, shoulders, calves, everything from head to toe. We specialize in the art of nom.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
KS,
If you are getting advice from a trainer who helps women with figure and fitness events, his advice is coming from the point of view of being judged by judges. If you are looking to do a photo shoot for your own personal benefit, then your own opinion trumps all. If he suggests that you should shrink your quads, he is coming from the idea of you winning a figure/fitness competition. You might want to consider this when you decide on what to do.
We here at TN love quads, hammies, ass, rump, shoulders, calves, everything from head to toe. We specialize in the art of nom.[/quote]
MMMMMM NOMMMMMMM!!!
Hi KillSwitch, and welcome to PW.
I gave myself a photoshoot as a 45th birthday present in February 2010. One of the pictures from the shoot is on the first page of my current log (Tiny Freak). Lots more are scattered about in my various older logs.
The point of my photoshoot was to celebrate the body that I’d managed to attain at that point in time. I did not diet down or cut water or do anything unusual for the shoot. I did get a spray tan, which was really necessary for the pictures to come out well. I focused more on cute lingerie and nice accessories and shoes and getting hair and makeup that I was comfortable in.
It would NEVER have occurred to me to try to change my body or my style just for the pictures. My goal for my shoot was to have the pictures be reflective of how proud I was of how I looked at that moment in time. The pictures weren’t a goal in themselves, if that makes any sense. As a matter of fact, my body comp/shape is exactly the same right this second – over a year later – than it was on the day of the shoot.
So, my advice to you is to figure out what these pictures mean to you. If they are a substitute for a figure comp, then by all means hire a trainer and get the body you want for that moment when the camera flashes. If its just for fun, then make it actually fun for you - whatever that means. My shoot was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had, and worth every penny I spent on it. I’d hope the same for you.
[quote]Beast27195 wrote:
I still have to knock you for your name, however, no matter what Inky says. Killswitch…no. Too whiney. Too annoying.
[/quote]
Damnit Beast, you’re lucky you got your Military ID card, or them’s had been fightin words!
Kimba, you are super lean already, though!
Killswitch - rather than pay $600 for a photo shoot, why not look for a young (but talented) photographer who is building his/her portfolio and get some fantastic photos that will benefit you both and be a lot cheaper?
Killswitch, I’ll be looking for you on the LHC fire trucks. I have a vacation home there and visit every couple months.
I’m going to vote for not shrinking your legs.
For figure competitions, apparently sometimes people do that. Otherwise, if you’re just looking to be fit, look nice, and have fun, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to deliberately lose muscle. Quads are pretty and they help you squat more!