Dieting Days

Hi HERS girls,

This week my whole body hurts from training!!!!! Goodness me, I think I need a massage but I’ve been working/training so hard I’ve not been able to schedule one in yet.

I’ve been receiving many messages from HERS girls and a few have been asking about my diet. So I thought it might be helpful to tell you a little bit about what I’m doing right now! I’ve been dieting a few weeks now. I suppose about 3-4 in total. I guess I tend to keep things quite simple. I always stick to a high protein, moderate carb, low fat diet. This tends to work well for me because I cannot go without carbs!

In terms of my diet right now, it’s essentially made up of lean meat, fish, and eggs –- mostly whites! Whey protein, green veggies, rice, rice cakes, sweet potato, and salad. Although at the moment I have an obsession with beetroot... although I’ll take that out of my diet shortly. I’m keeping skimmed milk in at the moment, though I’ll make a switch to black coffee as the weeks draw in.

All my meals are much the same, which I suppose could be quite boring however it works for me and helps me keep a good track of my diet. I also tend to weigh out all my food when dieting for a competition, normally the cooked weight unless it’s fish or something. Although at my local market they will weigh the fish up for me there which is great because it saves me the hassle.

Keeping a careful track of your food by weighing it and noting the amounts means you can’t really go wrong with your diet ... well, unless you make a miscalculation. Also, this way I can blame myself if there is an error!

I also don’t opt to have too many cheat meals. I do see their benefits and encourage them to many of my own clients, but instead I will just opt for something slightly different from my usual diet which is still healthy and won’t make me feel as if I’m going too far away from my normal competition diet. I also don’t opt for anything too crazy because my stomach is quite sensitive, and steering too far away from my usual foods can cause me stomach ache! Ugh. So, the sort of meal I will opt for is sushi or a fillet steak, and perhaps a little ice cream.

The hardest part of the process for me is rarely the diet; it’s actually the cardio. I find it totally mundane and boring. Instead I prefer to diet strictly and use cardio merely as a supplement to help burn a few more calories. I train hard with my weight training when I’m competing and it’s normally enough to help me burn fat without resulting in too much extra cardio. Currently I am doing 30 minutes of power walking before breakfast, and just another 10 minutes after my weight training. Although this is more of a cool down.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ve babbled enough for now!

Next time I’ll talk a little about competing in the IFBB internationally, and my route to turning pro. Hopefully that will give you a little insight into the process outside of the states.

Lou x