This is something I recently wrote, (slightly rejigged after a few rethinks), based on things I read and have heard about, regarding female competing.

This also gives ideas about how to prepare, and things you might be wise to do. It isn't the definitive thing, (everyones body is different), but it gives you some idea of what you might expect.


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With Diet you could be talking about 8 meals a day, with possibly Carbs in every other meal. 2 hour spaces.

When dieting down, be advised to be using this limited Carb method, about 3 months out from a comp, and allowing the body to start producing more Ketones to strip Fat.

Keep Protein high, lifting solid, and probably about 1hr of Cardio a day. 6 days a week. If you can, split the two, so lifting in the morning perhaps, Cardio in the evening, not both together, so muscles get some time to start recovering, and you cut Catabolism risk, as any pre-workout nutrition, might not be enough to sustain weightas and 1 hr Cardio together. Cardio later will allow for hopefully reduced risk of Muscle Catabolism, when you're quite Calorie fueled.

Both sessions would be better, after one of the meals with some Carb in, so you have more cals and nutrition, to fuel workouts.

About 6 weeks out, try trimming Carbs back again.

About 1 month out, increase Cardio if possible to at least 90 minutes a day.

That means adding 45 mins onto the end of weights workouts, and 45 minutes in the evening.

Carbs would have to be limited to things like Oatmeal, Brown Rice, (Wild would be okay also), and anything else with as little Fat as possible, so I'd also limit to things like Carrots and Broccoli, and a few other select Veggies, but very low Fat could well even exclude any form of Legumes, and definitely Nuts, and any healthy Oils. Fruits also are a no-no, as some Fructose, (but not all), can convert to Fat in the Liver, and definitely no Dairy or Soy.

Water would be advisable at around 6-8 glasses a day, for about the first 10 weeks I feel, but cut back a bit to around 4 a day, (2 weeks out), incase you start to look a bit soft, and to allow the body to start removing some more water from the system.

About 48 hours out, basically reduce water, (I'd go for a small mouthful with meals only, and stop the workouts. Can't retain much water or you'll look too soft.

24 hours out, the last 4 meals pre-comp, would include a boost of Carbs to help you Carbo load, so you would add a bit of fullness into her body.

Protein powder would be useful for after workouts, but this would be cut out about 1 month out, because the extra water might slow down the cutting element.

I would advise a good Multivit throughout, incase Micronutrients get too low. I'd take that first thing.

This is an example Diet of what you could expect at the start.

Meal 1. Carbs (20g). Grilled Chicken, (could add a few Egg Whites in here), or Steamed non-oily Fish like Cod. You can't have Fish with Fats in it, incase any of the Fat stores on the body, and steaming would sweat off more moisture, (same with veggies). If that's not possible, Fry or Grill the Fish. (40g Protein from meal)

Meal 2. Chicken or Fish, (same Protein grams).

Meal 3. Chicken Fish and Carbs (same Protein and Carbs g's.)

Meal 4. Same as meal 2.

Meal 5. Same as meals 1+3.

Meal 6. Same as meals 2+4

Meal 7. Same as meals 1+3 and 5

Meal 8. Same as meals 2+4 and 6.

When you're 6 weeks out, cut Carbs to 10g per meal. This is really going to feel tough, but necessary, and limit to Oatmeal and Rice, (Brown and Wild), to keep things simple.

As for the Carbo load, in the last 4 meals pre comp, you're talking things like Whole-grain Bread, increased Broccoli portions, (Broccoli back in, and things like other Veggies.) I would go for around 30-40g Carbs.

48 hours out first coat of Tan.

24 hours out, second coat. Go for something like Pro-tan, it's reckoned to be the best. Paint it on, or might get away with a small roller, the 4" kind normally using for things like Window Sills, Skirting boards etc etc, and try to make sure someone else does it without leaving streaky bits.

This is a basic kind of synopsis, and not the defnitive article.

If you have trouble with sleep perhaps, use a Glutamine for nighttime, (5g), and see how that works, or possibly something called Melantonin, supposed to be quite good, or maybe 5-HTP, the supplement that works with Tryptophan, to increase Seratonin.

As for other aspects, you would have to find someone willing to do music and someone else willing to do a bikini, (take measurements, choose fabric, make it custom fit), or see if you can get any bikini's on the cheap that people are selling off.

Heels, should be minimum 3", could be as high as 5", but it depends. You should get used to walking on them, before making any decision.

Federations. you should find a good show, and check the federations to see who are near you, so people like NABBA, NPC, WNBF, ABF, (I think they're called that), etc etc.

Use You Tube and / or Google, to find videos of people doing posing practice, to identify the kind of moves you should be doing, but ideally, when you're about 2.5 to 2 months out, be sure to have someone who can help you get the poses sorted out properly, don't rely on a You Tube or Google video to help, and the person should be able to help with a routine, and possibly tips on music and bikini.

Practice makes perfect, so at least 10-20 minutes a day, where possible, within the last 2 months, get used to walking in the shoes, (as soon as you get them), and get used to hitting the poses. doesn't hurt for you to do a little bit on your own.

With regards to related supplements as you said, I only think you need 3 things.

1. Protein powder as outlined.

2. Multivit.

3. Something to aid sleep if you find sleep a bit of an issue.

You might be using other things like Co-Q10, Vit C, B complex etc etc, which is okay if you are, in my mind, and they're not what I call BB type supplements, so if you want those then do so. They shouldn't interfere with prep, but you may want to stop using them for a few days pre-contest, when your water is very limited as described earlier, otherwise you might find difficulty taking them, or having them and adding extra water to your regime.

Definitely stay away from all crappy Fat Burners, Thermos, Cutting Gels, Appetite suppressants, as they may interfere with your prep, and definitely no Creatine, as water retention is not good.

Finally positivity. You need to believe in yourself a lot, and not give up.

This prep phase is hard. You will experience things like possible mood swings, feelings of weekness sometimes, and urges to eat crap and / or off prep food, but as long as you're strong and focus on you and your end result, it can be a glorious thing to do, as many will tell you.



As I say this is not definitive or the only way. It is to give ideas or examples of how you might do this. With many people it's trial and error, and possibly the way they feel best at doing it, may not be recognise until their 3rd-4th show, so time is a great teacher also with these prep phases.

Wow! this is amazing- more info than i could have asked for! Unfortunately im runnin off to work. But i will thoroughly read through later today. Appears youve done this many times?? So far Im clueless- so this is truely a big help.

Thankyou,
Tara

No I've never competed, I just have read, heard, and observed peoples testimonies on the internet, about how it happens, how it can be done, how peoples bodies might respond or how they feel.

There is also something I didn't mention, as I don't think many people do it as much these days, but there is a way for people to additionally lean out, roughly 24-36 hours pre-comp, where the person drinks a glass of water every hour, and consumes about 12-16 glasses, and then doesn't drink any more Water before the comp.

This is supposed to get rid of the last bits of Fat, by providing a constant Metabolism method, but you need the no drinking of water approach, after this occurs, otherwise water retention can make someone look soft. THe person has to allow what they've consumed, to be well and truly out of their system, so the muscles dry out more, and the definition is not compromised by too much residual water.

I did see something once on a documentary, where one guy stupidly forgot his water after a contest, and ended up on a drip in a hospital, as within 3 hours post-contest, he'd had a funny turn, and thus ended up on a drip. Went partly dehydrated.

However once he'd had fluids in him for a while he was fine, if admittedly a bit sheepish.

Funnily enough his diet was similar to how I described above, but his only Carb source was Rice Cakes, every other meal with either the Chicken or Fish. He even said he drank a few glasses of wine a day, (roughly 1 month in), about 3-4 daily, supposedly to help speed up metabolism of Fats, even though he didn't like it, but I decided not to mention that, as that's probably not a normal thing to do, for most contest preppers.

I should also have noted that when you go in for these things, you need to be spot on with organising and knowing things like Hotel locations and reservations, flight times, (if you fly to comps), registration dates etc etc, and some organisations may possibly partly fund things like Hotel rooms, (not things like flights or food etc etc), but most probably won't, and this may only occur in the pro ranks, I don't know much about the finer points of each organisation, as they have different rules, guidelines, prizes etc etc.