Wow, it has been so long since I’ve done a dial-in, I had forgotten how much of a head game it is. It’s not even so much about controlling my diet, (though I never did give up my lattes, which I will have to do for the “real” one), but more about the back-and-fourth that goes on in the head…How one day I would wake up and feel like I was really progressing, really seeing some amazing results, and then the next day I would feel like there had been no change at all and the protocol wasn’t working. Back-and-forth…so much that it became a running joke with my trainer…! The whole process reminded me that physique competition is a mental game. You need to make a clear decision at the outset which show and which class you will compete in, and then you come up with a program that will work, and you stick to it, no matter what. If you continue to keep changing your mind once you start the ball rolling, you run a big risk of dropping out of the game. Because it will get tough, progress won’t necessarily be linear, and you may start to lose your objectivity as you go along. This can lead to all kinds of unsupportive behavior, like skipping meals in order to “speed up” the process, or sabotaging your program because you aren’t able to see your progress anymore. Just stick with your program. It takes several weeks of intelligent, progressive conditioning protocols to bring a competitive physique to the stage. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a top male fitness model, and he was telling me that his dial-in takes the course of 12 weeks. Even though he sustains body fat in the single-digits year round, he takes his time leading up to a show so that he doesn’t have to do anything drastic the week before. I know from these last 4 weeks, that I will be a lot more comfortable dialing in over an 8 week period before my IDFA show in July. I would want to be at this point 2 weeks out of a competition. I have a bit of work to do still on my back and hamstrings, and I really think another week or two would take care of it. That means I would want another 2 weeks of conditioning following this same program, nothing crazy. It’s been a great learning experience, I’ve had a lot of fun with the diet and the work-out, and I also know that I’m in great hands with my trainer. Now all I have left to do work just as hard on my stage presentation as I have been on my physique. I have just under 3 months left, and a lot of work to do on this front!
Breakfast. Technically, I had a cappucino for breakfast, as I slept poorly last night, and woke up without much of an appetite. I ended up having this after my 9:30 am Bikram Yoga class, and it was divine. I haven’t had fruit since my last metabolic workout, and the mangoes here in Mumbai are out of this world!!! I cut out the nuts that I usually have with my meuslix so I could load up on the fruit.
This was sooooooooo good, and I had been looking forward to it since last Friday. A whole wheat/corn flour crepe stuffed with melted smoked gouda, whipped white lentils and roasted red peppers…
Third meal of the day was the my sole again, seared in a tiny bit of butter, served on top of cabbage. I sprinkled a few capers on top for some added acidity. Simple and delicious.
After work, I inhaled this dish…some organic linguini tossed with a little sun-dried tomato pesto, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, and the ratatouille I had made earlier that day.
The last meal before heading to bed, (I had this at about midnight), was the last of my linguini with pesto, a few shavings of gouda, capers, roasted red peppers and seared sole…Again, another home run! The flavors were perfect, even without the salt, and the fish was light and easy to absorb late at night. I am having about 1 cup of pasta in my meals, and the crepe is also about 1 cup of starch, (I accidentally lost one against the counter and so measured it to see how big it was).
