Today I’m 8 days out from the show I’ve been planning for for about 9 months. It’s all coming together.
Today is the last low day, had my usual eggs, veggies and bacon breakfast, then will be subbing mid day meals for Mag-10 and some mixed nuts (almonds, cashews and brazil nuts), and will have my usual low day dinner and pre bed meal before bed. Dinner is chicken, veggies and almond butter, pre bed is the usual cottage cheese, Metabolic Drive and almond butter, put in the freezer for a couple hours. Did the usual 45 min of cardio this morning, after school will be another 45 min, then after dinner the usual 45 min walk with my wife, which has been a really nice way to unwind at the end of the day.
Now that we’ve stopped leg training and HIIT, legs are getting tighter every day. I’ve been doing 2.5 hours of cardio a day this week split up into 3 sessions, tomorrow is the last day for cardio. My legs/hips are really feeling it, so I’m looking forward to some good recovery next week leading up the show. Today is my last day of school (EVER!), which really is excellent leading up to the show. The next week is all about the show prep, I’m putting my music on hold and concentrating only on getting ready for next weekend. Now that school is done, I’ll get a LOT more sleep this week, will be taking naps after training, therapy pool, foam rolling, staying relaxed and letting my body heal up for the show.
Tomorrow is a re-feed day (woo!), I also have a gig with the swing band I plan in at night which will be a good time. Sunday is off-day and we also start depletion that day using the keto style diet I was on before. Then Thursday-Friday is carb up. Towards the end of the prep it’s become very apparent that I get bloated easily, either from too much fiber, or a large meal in general. My stomach has also been extra sensitive lately. So, I’ll be carb loading on foods that work for me that I know won’t give me any issues, mostly pancakes, bananas, white rice and Finibars. Some people like to go crazy with carb choices for the carb load, I think the worst thing someone can do is throw something new into the mix. I’m gonna play it safe as I don’t want my stomach to get distended, and want to stay nice and tight. Last show I think I could have handled a bigger carb load, so Thursday we’ll start, Friday we’ll see how I look and plan the day, and Saturday will be all about staying topped off, just enough food to stay tight. Better safe than sorry.
My show day meals will be:
Breakfast and 2nd meal- protein pancakes, 1TBSP peanut butter (smooth, not chunky) on top, a little extra salt. The pancake batter is oat based, so I’m thinking the slower digesting carbs, protein will and PB will keep me full in the beginning of the day, and it won’t be too much food. Small meals will be key for me. Just a couple of pancakes, about 300 cals in the meal total.
As the pre-judging gets closer, I’m going to transition to rice cakes. Probably will do 1 rice cake, TBSP of peanut butter, a little salt and some honey or jam. Not too much food, but a good amount of carbs and a little fat.
Rather than doing the snickers bar before pre-judging and night show, I’m going to do a reese’s cup as I think it’ll be easier on my stomach.
After pre-judging, I’m going to repeat the same pattern until the night show. Pancakes with PB, then rice cakes, PB and honey.
Post show, it’s pizza time.
This week I’ve pushed harder than ever to really get off any last bit of fat I can. This morning after cardio, looking in the mirror standing relaxed, my shoulders were very defined and abs were popping. Last night looking in the mirror, for the first time, I saw a road map of veins in my abs, everywhere, not just lower abs. For someone who used to be 205 pounds at 5’4", it was a pretty crazy sight!
At the beginning of my prep, Stu told me, “you have to get on stage KNOWING that no one worked harder than you.” I can honestly say, I have been relentless every freaking day of this prep since we started in October. Every rep, every meal, every aspect, I could not have worked any harder. Getting on stage knowing that will be a very empowering feeling. I am just going to go in there knowing I’ve done my best, and we’ll see where the chips fall.
