The Nitty and The Gritty

So I'm sure you're wondering what exactly I am doing to myself: what is my diet and what are my workouts?
To begin with, I've been trying to write this entry for a few weeks now.  It has been a bit difficult to write simply because it's a bit difficult to do anything at all.  I started my intensive dieting about 3 1/2 weeks ago now and let me tell you, it's been a challenge.  I can't eat salt, fat, sugar and no alcohol.  No fat and no alcohol.  Kiss bacon and wine goodbye until after this whole shebang is over.  (I spent a good 20 minutes in traffic yesterday fantasizing about peanut butter, fyi.)

So what am I eating then?  I started out the diet eating only white fish, chicken, eggs and veggies. After several severe hypoglycemic episodes, I decided I needed to add some meat in there.  I also eat bison now regularly and I eat a steak every 4-5 days.  Recently I've incorporated a few almonds during the day as well.  As far as fruit goes, I pretty much only eat berries but those are about to get cut as well.  They are high in all sorts of nutrients and antioxidents but since I'm trying to lean down to 9-11%body fat for the show, the sugars in the fruit are just extras that I don't need at the moment.   I am trying to eat high value foods, like broccoli, spinach and other power packed nutritious stuff, nothing that is a filler or that has a quick burn off rate like a rice cake.  I also do a bit of supplements and vitamins.  I use Vega Sport as my protein powder.  It is a plant based protein and as opposed to a whey protein, it doesn't bloat me or mess up my tummy.  It's pretty tasty too and all green.  I use their before energizer and after recovery accelerator as well as the electrolyte powders.  I tried using creatine and glutamine powders before and they did a number on my system.  No thank you.  I'll stick to the all natural vitamins and minerals as best as I can.

It's really all about balance.  Not doing too much of anything so that I can cope with all aspects of my life.  Ha!  Sounds easy right?  The truth is, this whole process is a mediation.  I am sore, tired, hungry ALL THE TIME.  Yes, there's a balance in there so I don't have hypoglycemic pass outs, but the reality is that every moment I am teetering on a tight rope between fine and not fine.  I'm in my head all the time.  The only time I feel somewhat normal is when I'm at the gym.  It's the only thing that really makes sense and on a purely physical level, it releases all the acid in my muscles so I feel like I can move like a human being again.

So as far as my work outs go, as my diet gets tighter, my body gets leaner and firmer, my workouts must follow suit.  I can't over work anything, but instead, I focus on form and working a muscles deep rather than tiring it out.  I do about an hour or so of lifting a day and the 30-40 minutes cardio.  Right now, my cardio is walking uphill at the max the treadmill can go at a brisk walk or the stairs.  Not too much variety there.  Running only breaks down muscles at this stage so again, everything in balance.  I practice posing daily and I shamelessly pose in the mirror in front of everyone in the gym.  That's right, I've become "that guy" who flexes in the gym mirror for all to see.
So, on that note, I will leave you with this video.  This is the posing routine I will be doing in front of the judges.

P.S.  I'm going to Vegas over the weekend and I will be bringing along my posing suit so I can take some superawesomebadass photos in front of some quintessential Vegas landmarks.  Stay tuned!