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The Marta Mathews diaries |
| By
Marta Mathews |
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WEEK 12 - Mar 15/04 - Mar 21/04
Monday, March 15/04
I am less than thrilled with my lean out progress so far. Sometimes I just
can't figure out my body at all. When I was bulking up and barely doing any
cardio, my weight kept steady for weeks. Now I've cleaned up my diet and
increased my cardio but yet not only did I not drop 2 lbs I was supposed to
in the last two weeks - instead I have gained 2 more!!! I am very careful
dropping my calories, so I highly doubt my body put itself in the
"starvation" mode. The only thing that I can think of blaming this on is
that the extra gain has to do with my cycle which I'm expecting this week.
I spent this weekend away from home, so I haven't been able to keep track of
my food intakes. Besides my diet was less than perfect anyway and seeing
what I consumed in my journal would probably depress me even further. To
make things worse I had no opportunity to go to the gym on both Saturday AND
Sunday - usually my strongest days due to extra sleep I tend to get. Having
said all that, this is not my favourite
way to start out my week. Nevertheless, I had to take this trip as from now on I will not be taking
any more trips until I go to compete in Miami. I have already booked time
off work for Friday May 29 and June 4 in order to participate in these
events. I'm not going to let those couple of pounds ruin my day but from now
on I'm going to pay a lot of attention to every little diet and training
detail in order to get myself back on track.
Tuesday, March 16/04
Okay, this is gonna be a long post, so I better warm up with the following
song called FAME -
Fame
I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
High
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
Fame
I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
Fame
I'm gonna live forever
Baby remember my name
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
A friend of mine on another forum sent this to me to cheer me up and it
worked, so I thought it was fitting to copy it and paste it here.
Now lets get to business -
Contest Prep Update:
As most of us here on the forums, I am officially 11 weeks out from my
"weigh-in" for the contest. As there is no specific weight category in
Fitness Model Search I am
not restricted to a specific number on the scale,
but based on my previous contests and my body type + height, I have
concluded that I will look most favourable at a lean weight of 125 lbs. I am
a bit intimidated by my own goal, but at the same time I am extremely
excited and looking forward to the challenge.
First 12-week Phase analysis:
Technically speaking, I began my training for FAME in December of 2003. The
initial 12 week phase was intended to be a "LEAN MUSCLE GAIN / FAT LOSS"
phase. I wasn't expecting to loose much fat, in fact I was prepared to gain
some if that's what it took to get me looking buff. My main goal was to put
on a couple of pounds of solid muscle so that I start my lean out towards
FAME weighing about 10 lbs more than my maintenance weight of 135 lbs. The
reason I did this is that I did not want to start leaning out at my regular
off season weight of 135 to avoid going into contest looking
skinny. I deliberately put on the extra muscle so that I have plenty to
loose from during my lean out process and still end up looking ripped.
Having said that, my 10 lb gain was successful, the only problem was that I
managed to gain it by January 1st - two full months ahead of schedule!
I maintained my bulking blitz throughout January and February expecting to
gain an additional 3-5 lbs. Luckily for me, and thanks to the support I was
getting from athletes on a bigger American forum (I don't care what anybody
says, I LOVE Americans), I managed not to gain the extra poundage other than
the 10 lbs I initially planned. This small success can be attributed to a complete revamp of my diet including introduction of some carb-cycling, calorie cycling, and eliminating the crazy amounts of cardio I was doing before going on the bulk. Instead I focused heavily on my weight lifting and I ended my bulk weighing exactly 145 lbs! Even at 145 lbs I still look surprisingly tight and I can't wait to see my Mini-Me version at 125 lbs!
Weight progress:
11 weeks out - March 16/04 - 143 lbs
12 week out diet:
I was taking in anywhere from 2000 to 2300 calories per day while on my
bulk. My lean out diet calls for rather drastic changes, so in the middle of
February I began to slightly drop my calories and proportions to prevent my
body from going into shock come March 1st. Furthermore I had a million photo
shoots lined up (and yes, they do like buff models!!!!) and that was another
reason I did not want to go overboard with the calories. I haven't weighed
myself in March other than yesterday, Monday March 15 following my 3 days of
vacation spent out of town. Combined with 3 days of inconsistent eating, no
working out + PMS I weighed in at 147 lbs!!!! After consuming about 7 liters
of water yesterday and flushing out my two bags of salt contaminated movie
popcorn I weighed myself again this morning and I was down to 143 lbs!!!
Having said that I DID lose 2 lbs I planned to loose in the first two weeks
of March.
Over the next 11 weeks I have to lose apx. 1.5 lbs of fat (well, preferably as much fat as possible) per week in order to arrive at 125 lean lbs
Major changes to 12 week out diet -
a) Reduce Carb-Up frequency - Two high carb days per week / 5 low carb days
per week
b) Reduce calories by reducing meal sizes while increasing meal frequency
from 6 meals per day to 7 meals per day. According to my extensive research
(yes, I have yet to afford a personal trainer) most competitive body
builders tend to go down in meal frequency, but I personally choose to add
an extra meal but keep my calories low. This will ensure that I'm ALWAYS
running on fuel even though not on a full tank. Furthermore, my body will be
able to get a bigger bang for the limited calories it is getting as it is.
c) Introduce calorie cycling in order to keep my body guessing at all times.
Here is the outline of how I plan to approach this:
Monday - 1500-1600 calories - 30% Fat; 20% Carbs; 50% Protein
Tuesday - 1500-1600 calories - 30% Fat; 20% Carbs; 50% Protein
Wednesday - 1500-1600 calories - 30% Fat; 20% Carbs; 50% Protein
Thursday - 2200-2300 calories - 20% Fat; 40% Carbs; 40% Protein
Friday - 1500-1600 calories - 30% Fat; 20% Carbs; 50% Protein
Saturday - 1500-1600 calories - 30% Fat; 20% Carbs; 50% Protein
Sunday - 2000-2100 calories - 20% Fat; 40% Carbs; 40% Protein
This on average gives me 1680-1780 calories per day. My body will be in
constant guess mode and that will ensure I am
functioning at 100% at all
times...
Supplements to be used daily:
Vitamin C
Vitamin B Complex
Multivitamin
BCAA's
L-Glutamine
Chromium
ZMA
Glocosamine
Caffeine
Protein Sources to be used: Fish, Chicken, Lean Beef, Egg Whites & Eggs;
Limited amounts of low fat cottage cheese
Fat Sources: UDO's oil, Flax Oil, Safflower Oil, Almonds on Hi carb Days,
Olive oil
Carb Sources: Anything Green, Oatmeal, sweet potatoes
Fruit Sources when I'm DYING for one: Strawberries, Blueberries, grapefruit,
tomatoes, bananas (only on high carb days)
Okay, that's enough for today...
Thursday, March 18/04
It's barely Thursday and I'm already feeling MUCH better following my rather
depressing Monday. It's amazing what a difference a clean diet makes! I ate
exactly as planned on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and since I slept
pretty good on all three days I'm assuming I did not cut my calories too
low. I do suffer from insomnia all year round, but I DEFINITELY suffer from
it when I'm not fed enough. Therefore, in my case, a positive sleeping
pattern indicates low cortisol (stress hormone) levels in my body, which can
be further interpreted as enough food in my system to not only support my
vital functions but also sufficiently supply my energy needs at the gym. Woo
hoo!
Today, I am still on schedule with my diet, the only difference is that I
get to take in an extra 500 calories worth of food - mainly complex
carbs. Having said that, let me just say that I'm having quite a field day with my
all time favourite carb source staple OATMEAL. Oatmeal/Protein pancake for
breakfast, oatmeal/protein & almonds for snack, oatmeal and chicken and..
oatmeal for lunch, oatmeal and egg whites for my pre-workout meal. I have
yet to get tired of oatmeal! If there were a way to get in peak shape with
oatmeal alone I would be the woman to do it because I could actually eat
this thing in every meal and every single day. In fact, even on my cheat
days I eat oatmeal!!! Okay, I am fully aware that I just spent way too much
time talking about ooops.. oatmeal, but I figured what better time to talk
about it then when you are talking on a
full tummy, so I thought I better
get it done and over with now instead of having to talk about it on a day
when I am only allowed a limited amount and would only end up drooling if I
started talking about it then. So now
I'm done!
Friday, March 19/04
I'm back to my lower calorie diet today.... I feel AMAZING following my carb
up yesterday and I have a feeling I am on to something solid this time
around. I am determined to make the process of training towards FAME as
pleasant and rewarding as possible... I have worked extremely hard for
months in order to get my self off to a good start with my lean out process
and now it's time to reap the rewards of all my hard work. It took me a
couple of years to figure things out as to what works and what doesn't work
for me and I seem to have finally found my personal magic formula. My search
for perfect balance might just end here
and I am excited about the
possibility of being able to carry that balance far past FAME.... I strongly
believe in all-year round physical and mental fulfillment and I always knew
that there HAS to be a way to get in the best shape of my life without
having to jeopardize my physical and mental well being. I see a lot of
individuals going through very unpleasant pains in their attempts to improve
the appearance of their physiques and having experienced all these symptoms
myself MANY times in the past I am grateful to have finally found what I was
looking for all this time - my personal balance! Something I can live with
for the rest of my life competing or not!
Anyway, don't want to get all philosophical here - it all sounds too hard
core for FRIDAY!!!!!
Yes, it's Friday!!!! It's sunny outside!!!! It's the last day of
winter!!!! And it's my day off from the gym!!!!
Looks like this will be a good day!!!!
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