Female Fitness Competition Diet Plan – Diet, training, and the little things I did to prepare for a bikini competition without a coach. “Die not with dreams, but with memories.”
Over the past 25 years, my weight loss has come in stages. Starting at the highest who can know how much at 19, at least 150 pounds. Over the next 20 years, I managed to lose at least 20 pounds. But then I hit a plateau around 125-130 lbs.
Female Fitness Competition Diet Plan
It was still a bit heavy for my frame, as evidenced by this photo of me from 2017.
Bodybuilding Meal Plan: Clean Eating For Beginners
In 2017, I decided to lose another ten pounds of this weight. And I did it by paying more attention to WHAT I was eating and WHY I was eating (you can read my weight loss step-by-step here)
At the end of 2019, I was disappointed again because I still didn’t feel like I had a body that represented my healthy lifestyle. I ate healthy and exercised! I did everything!
“If I commit 100% to counting calories for the next 6 months and still can’t get to the weight I want, I’d rather pay for liposuction!
” And I was serious. I wanted to do my best for 6 months, almost to prove that my metabolism must be “broken” and that the only solution was liposuction.
Journey To The Stage: 4 Weeks Out
At one point I was going through a midlife, empty nester crisis and wanted to set some goals that would really stretch me and make life interesting. That’s when I decided to enter my first bikini show! (read about the last 10 pounds and my first bikini show here). Needless to say, when I finally buckled down, counted calories and gave it an honest try, it worked!
The #1 bikini show had to be a bucket list goal and I vowed never to do it again.
And then I did. After bikini show #2, I vowed never to do it again. (I hate standing on that stage!)
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In January of this year, my weight fluctuated between 110-115 kilograms. It was still amazing! I think this is the ideal weight for my frame.
Bikini Competition Prep
But at the same time, I had the idea that I should do another bikini show. To be honest, I thought I could deliver better physics than I did in my last demo. On my last show day, I had too much food and water in my stomach to keep my back tight, and I wanted another chance.
I was planning to do a show in Utah in March and I thought 8 weeks would be about enough to prepare.
So I started weighing and measuring my food more accurately. I believed I was eating 1500 calories, but there were a lot of untracked foods (vegetables, spices, etc.).
Once I started tracking 1,500 calories honestly, anything and everything, the scale started to fall off on its own.
Tips For Your First Competition
About 4 weeks before the show in March, I tried to get the coach I hired to support me in going to the show in Utah. Surprisingly, he said he didn’t want me to compete there! WHAT?? I had already spent 4 weeks in my little prep and he told me I wouldn’t be able to show in March!
That’s when I decided to compete in an out-of-town race of my choice and do it without a coach!
So, from March to June, I had no one to check, no one to ask questions. Show my photos and there is no one to help with photography and logistics on the day of the show. But considering I’m a 48-year-old amateur, not an elite IFBB competitor, I figured it didn’t matter.
And I’m glad I went solo! Saving money and not being pressured to perform well on stage for the coach was a surprisingly big weight on my shoulders.
The Frightening Effects Of A Competition Diet
My gym buddy told me he was doing a show in Sacramento, California and I should do it with him. I immediately put up the money for the NorCal Championship, got a hotel and was 100% committed from there. Turns out spending money motivates me to give it my all!
To be honest, my diet hasn’t changed much in the last 2 years. I would eat the same foods over and over during or after prep. I gave myself more flexibility over the summer until the end of the year, but I’m a creature of habit and I LOVE the meals on my plans.
For my height and weight, I stayed between 1400-1500 calories, 125g carbs, 150g protein and 30g fat. My meals consistently looked like this:
I can get VERY creative with these meals! Here is a 30 day meal plan with these foods in different forms. Here are just ideas for those meals (without exact recipes). Also, here’s a recent full day of eating a few weeks before the show at 1400 calories.
Bikini Comp Crash Course (what To Know Before Competing)
Here are some of the meals I’ve photographed over the past few months. They are not consecutive days. I just labeled them as such. I usually eat the same thing for several days in a row before changing one of the meals.
Honestly, the most important thing when I’m trying to “pick it up” is to be careful with my tracking and make sure not to eat between meals! Some days the grazing is more out of control than others, and it’s hard for me to bite, lick, or taste.
Quitting Diet Coke: 3 months ago I knew I had to kick my Diet Coke habit if my waistline was smaller than before. Last show, I couldn’t hold my abs tight. I couldn’t even mentally connect with them! So I quit cold turkey! *READ MY DIET COCAK STORY BEFORE AND AFTER.
Sodium changes my weight by several pounds! I didn’t realize how much water I was retaining, but I knew I was going overboard with the salt. The more vegetables I ate, the more salt I ate. But on the days I avoided the salt shake, I was always a few pounds lighter the next day and you could see the definition in my muscles again. So I kept this in my toolbox for the week of the show.
Bikini Competition: Diet And Exercise
So with 1400-1500 calories I was almost on stage. So at 112-115, when I thought I was eating 1500 calories, I was eating more.
In the last few weeks leading up to the show, I ate the same meals but cut 1200 calories with about 80-100 grams of carbs (excluding long work days). And I continued to look thinner.
In the last 2 1/2 years I’ve put on 10 pounds of muscle, which I’m excited about! (Measured by Dexa)
My training hasn’t changed in the last year and a half. I consistently do about 45 minutes of strength training and 45-60 minutes of jogging. (If my run is over 60 minutes, like in this marathon, I have a carb day!)
Bucket List Bodybuilding Bikini Show #2
I usually do 5 different exercises every day. I always work out at the gym and have a mix of machines, dumbbells and barbells. (except during quarantine and home training is here)
I try to load the weight as heavy as possible, but only 30 seconds of rest between sets is enough. I plan to change it so it’s heavy enough that I need a full minute or two between sets.
To be honest, I didn’t change much during the week of the show. I was already lean enough and my diet was already clean. However, to try to “fill on the muscle” I cut my carbs by the end of the week.
I also went light on the salt shaker, heavy on the water! 1 1/2 gallons of water a day, until the day of the show, when I only drank water! I didn’t want to swell again.
Journey To The Stage: 8 Weeks Out
I’ve decided that I don’t want to spend my money on a thong or a formal makeup artist unless I’m in the running for the top spot. They are usually $125 or more each!
So I bought Pro Tan, a DIY kit, and this year’s color was 100 times better than what I’ve gotten from the tanner in the last two years. (1 year looked green, 2 years very dark!)
I would love to have my makeup done professionally, especially since my face was so white because of my tan! My sister calls it my ghost face pictures. Yeah yeah!
But for my hair, I’m wearing a hairdo from Tin Hair Thick! I like it because you can fold it once and it stays curled. I also won a haircut in a giveaway earlier this year and that means I don’t have to pay to have my hair done at the show.
Bikini Competition Workouts (12 Week Program)
I think I looked my best in this third one
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