Are we there yet?
Friday 21 November 2014, I finally plucked up the courage to do what I had been thinking about for several years; I entered my first amateur Miami Pro World Championships competition taking place on Sunday 19 April 2015, in the following categories, Fit mums and Bikini over 35’s
Miami Pro Championships is a fitness modelling & bodybuilding federation that helps promote athletes & models to get recognized in the fitness industry. The shows are described as being exciting with a strong American feel to it, something that is considered different from typical bodybuilding events, and with 9 different categories including the very popular Fitness Model and Ms. Bikini category, there is a category that suits us all. Best of all there is no need to qualify to enter.
On Monday 22 December I began a training programme devised by Claire Burton DFAC pro figure athlete 2014. I have known Claire for many years and met at the 3ness fitness weekenders. Claire competed and won her very first competition and then went on to achieve pro status, all in less than a year, awesome!! Doing this for the first time I was so grateful to Claire for taking time out of her ridiculously busy schedule to write me a programme which consisted of what she described as a whole lot of lifting of heavy s**t!! Love you Burton haha.
About a week into the programme I felt a little alone – yes please get the violins out. I also felt as though I may not be doing the exercises correctly as I wasn’t feeling the burn that other lifters so regularly described. Technique is everything, and if I am going to do something I want to do it right! Feeling sorry for myself I went into stalker mode and researched the previous Miami Pro winners. Heidi Blue Ashton, the overall winner of the same two categories that I have entered, I discovered trained in North London at the world famous Dowe Dynamics Gym run by IBFF World Champion Ian Dowe, so I proceeded to send him an email to which he responded with a call.
When we met he didn’t hold back! If I lacked confidence before this I would have been left with next to nothing after our meeting. He gave me a pretty good telling off for entering the competition before seeking advice as to how long it would take to get me to my best physical shape for competition. He spun me around and told me that my first month we would need to see what was under all this, by ‘under all this’ I was assuming he meant ‘FAT’ – well what could I say – he is only a master trainer who has lead not only himself but everyone that has trained to victory!!! For the first time I just shut the hell up and listened. Although harsh everything he said made complete sense. The perfect scenario would have been to build muscle while following a not so strict diet but alas it would be necessary for me to follow a strict diet as well as a tightly monitored lifting regime and cardio plan.
For the first week Ian asked me to take pictures of absolutely everything I ate so that he could see firsthand what I was putting in my mouth. He concluded that although I follow a great clean diet with lots of complex quality carbohydrate I was eating like an endurance athlete (which I am) and that I would need to significantly cut my carbohydrate intake and increase my protein intake. This news was devastating as carbohydrates are my vice; carbohydrate is to me like chocolate to a chocoholic.
With the help of Ms Burton we worked out my macronutrient (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) allowance for the day in both calories and grams. Using the My Fitness Pal, a handy macronutrient calculator, I was able to create and plan my meals in advance and hit my required daily macronutrient intake.
So what does a typical day’s meal plan look like?
I feel it is my duty to first declare that my health is of the upmost importance and regardless of the (suggested) aesthetic benefits some of the most extreme and impractical practices were said to have, if I thought it would have a negative impact on my health I just said no! Remember I still had to do all the normal things a working mother does and I was not prepared to jeopardize that for a few extra pounds weight loss *climbing down off my soapbox*
Intake was 1630k/cals on training days and 1480k/cals on non training days split over five meals.
40% Protein
35% Carbohydrate
25% Fat
I generally woke at 5.30 and consumed my first meal around 6.15am and spaced my meals out in 3 hour intervals eating my last meal just after 6pm. I included ONE cheat MEAL some weeks but not every week.
In order to survive and stave off boredom I had to be creative with my food. Most dishes have the same basic ingredients eggs, oats, poultry and green stuff….it was up to me what I did with them. You can check out some of my culinary creations on my Instagram page @fuzzymonzstar.
Are you thinking about changing the way you eat or would you like to eat a little cleaner?
Below I have suggested some amazing books that I have found invaluable as a guide on the road to eating more *food. Give them a go and let me know what you think
Make Your Own Rules Diet, Tara Stiles
www.hayhouse.co.uk/make–your–own–rules-diet-hardcover
The Earth Diet: Your Complete Guide to Living Using the Earths Natural Ingredients, Liana Werner-Gray
www.hayhouse.co.uk/the-earth–diet-paperback
A typical weeks training
| Activity | Number of Days | Description |
| Fasting Fat burn | 5 days | Mon to Fri on waking I do a 30 minute moderate cycle on stationary bike |
| Weight training | 4 days | 2 x Upper body
2 x Lower body |
| Run | 1 day | 10K on a Sunday, generally (cos I love it!) |
| Absolute rest day | 1 day | Saturday generally |
So how have I done? Well you tell me. It has been about a month since my journey began and this is the result.
| Sunday 21 December 2015 | Sunday 25 January 2015 | |
| Weight (in pounds) | 134 | 131 |
| BMI | 25.3 | 23.8 |
| Body Fat (%) | 33.4 | 31.4 |
| Lean Tissue (in pounds) | 89.1 | 89.76 |
| Chest (in inches) | 34 | 34 |
| Waist (in inches) | 27 | 26 |
| Hips (in inches) | 36.5 | 37 |
| Upper arm (in inches) | 11 | 10.5 |
| Thighs (in inches) | 21.5 | 21 |
| Calves (in inches) | 14.5 | 14.5 |
So, I have lost weight on the scales, lost body fat and gained lean tissue, I have also lost an inch around my waist, all in just one month!!!
What next?
Ian is keeping a close eye on my reviewing progress. Month one, Phase one concluded on Wednesday 21 January 2015 and Phase Two began. We are now defining and toning so lifting days have a combination of dropsets and supersets to maximize each session.
I have also enrolled on a month long Audrey ‘The Champion Maker’ Kaipio competition posing course – First class Sunday 1 February so watch this space
I would like to say a special thanks to
Claire Burton |
Ian Dowe | www.dowedynamics.com
Baseline Lifestyles | www.baselinelifestyle.co.uk
The Gym
Bye for now
Monz | www.FuzzyMonzStar.com | @FuzzyMonzStar | www.facebook.com/FuzzyMonzStar | Insta: fuzzymonzstar
