You need to establish your baseline amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats per pound of body weight. While I don’t think that you need to be 100% right on every time, you do need to stick to these recommendations or else you’ll be in big trouble.
Figure Competition Diet Tip
Determine what areas that you need to
improve and what areas have more fat on them then you’d like. I bring this up because while it’s heavily influenced by your training cycle it’s also influenced by your hormonal patterns. Have hip fat that just won’t tighten up so you can see your hip flexors? Then your figure competition diet better be high in insulin managing supplement like r-ala, calcium-d-glucarate and omega-3 fish oils. What about your glute-ham tie-in? Do you need to make that area get tighter? Well then you have to get rid of the extra estrogen that you have from hormonal imbalances. So you’d want to focus on using DIM, Omega-3′s and GLA.
Add some sodium into your diet from the beginning. What do you think happens when you cut out sodium on the last few days of the contest? You end up holding more water because now the body is looking for sodium but it can’t find it. Another benefit of sodium in your diet is that it can aid you in storing your carbohydrates better on the day that you choose to eat more carbs.
Supplement Suggestions
I did not list any supplements other than protein powder and EFA oils to keep it simple but there are some supplements I like and do suggest. Multi Vitamin / Minerals are an excellent start to add to your daily food regimen. I personally like Usana. Glutamine is a great repair product which aids in faster recovery and better optimal muscle growth. Joint aids are very useful for those with joint issues or old joint injury so do look at things like chondroitin, glucosamine, msm and combinations of these. Creatine is another great supplement to add to your arsenal, this will help you get beyond your limits literally! HMB is another of my favorites but is now a grey area supplement and not as popular as 7 years or so ago. There are so many other new products and always more coming out so I say that if you research and have the money then go ahead and try some out! Just try not to experiment during on season or pre contest.
Sample Diet Plans
Here is what a simple, typical diet may look like off and early in pre season:
7am Breakfast
1-2 slice of rye bread toasted with a tsp of almond butter on each slice
6 egg whites and 2 whole eggs
You can use some onion or other veggies that were listed in groceries including the avocado.
9am Snack
Banana and a serving of no fat yogurt
12pm Lunch
Protein 4-6 oz or 20-50gm, 1-2 cup greens, ½ to ¾ cup grain, bean or tuber
2-3pm Snack
Protein drink and some nuts
5-6pm Dinner
4-6 oz protein or 20-50 gm, 1-2 cup greens, ½ to ¾ cup grain, bean or tuber
9pm or so
Protein drink or a cup of dry cottage cheese, some almonds and ½ cup broccoli raw topped with Udos oil and cracked pepper.
Here is what a simple version of a diet may look like during the last few months pre contest:
7am Breakfast
A serving of oatmeal with 6 egg whites
9am Snack
Protein drink and a half of a yellow grapefruit
12pm Lunch
Protein (poultry or white fish) 4-6 oz or 20-50gm, 1-2 cup spinach or green beans, ¼ cup yam.
2-3pm Snack
Protein drink and 10 almonds
5-6pm Dinner
Protein (poultry or white fish) 4-6 oz or 20-50gm, 1-2 cup spinach or green beans, ¼ cup yam.
9pm or so
Protein drink or 4 oz protein of choice with ½ cup green beans or asparagus
