Bikini Prep 16 Weeks Out {Week 1 Progress Diary}

Get the full 16 weeks of updates here!

I committed to competing again this year in the Muscle Contest, Nevada State Championships with a friend. Every year I say I’m not going to do another show, but the truth is, I’d actually like to do one show a year, just to keep a goal on the horizon.

And although I decided on this NPC bikini show a few weeks ago, I keep postponing JUST STARTING with my official prep!

And by official prep, I mean, no eating off plan. Period. That’s it. I’ve been VERY casual with my meals. And I’ve had several days in the last 6 months that I regret the amount of food I’ve eaten. But for the most part, I’ve been able to keep my weight within 10lbs of stage weight. I’m 113 right now, and it’s been fairly easy to maintain, despite being loose with my tracking.

But now, I think I’ve officially reached the “point of no return”. No more being casual with my meals. No more “starting tomorrow”. It will absolutely take me the full 16 weeks to lose 10lbs, which is my goal to get back on the bikini stage on June 3, 2023. One, because I’m almost 50 and it just takes longer. But two, because It’s my intention to take it slow! I want to lose as little amount of muscle as possible.

My Diet Crutches

There’s a few things that have gotten me through dieting phases in the past. This prep, I really wanted to get rid of those. I have a goal to pay off my mortgage this year, and every single dollar counts. Most of my “diet crutches” are just expensive and I am tired of wasting money when I should just be able to get through a diet without relying on these things.

Well, that’s been an utter failure. I tried to start prep a week ago, and without these things, I would never feel satisfied. I found myself eating peanut butter and bread (not together), just to squash a craving.

And you know what. It was no fun. So, while It might be a waste of money, I’m keeping in these foods. These are things I eat that make me so happy that I don’t have any desire to go off my plan.

1. Diet soda. While I’m not drinking diet coke (officially quit diet coke almost 1 full year ago, I still drink other zero sugar soda’s. The diet coke was getting out of control . But with Diet rootbeer or diet 7up, I can drink a reasonable human amount and not feel like a crazy person. (Read my post on how I quit diet coke here)
2. Gummy vitamins– I feel like these are a waste of money, but it just makes me feel like I’m having a treat! LOL. But, I’ll only try to have one gummy vitamin at a time. I’ll usually go back and forth between a multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, and gummy calcium.
3. Built Bars- I REALLY wasn’t going to buy these this year so I can save money. They are 1000% overpriced, in my opinion. But for some reason, they do help to keep me on track.
4. Nutritional Yeast– I know it’s odd that I consider this a crutch, but I love to DROWN my veggies in nutritional yeast! I think it tastes SOOO good. The reason it’s a crutch is I think I should just be able to eat veggies plain like a regular person.
5. Nacho Cheddar Popcorn seasoning- same reason as the nutritional yeast for being a crutch, It just makes everything (veggies and protein) taste SO GOOD! Without it, there is no joy in my veggies.
6. Greek yogurt– to be fair, the only reason I wanted to cut this out is that it’s SO expensive right now! I mean, everything is. But I was going to just replace all my Greek yogurt with protein powder shakes. And I MISSED IT so much. I really need my Greek yogurt.
7. Sugar free pudding mix. With no Greek yogurt, I wanted to save a lot of money on not buying pistachio pudding mix. But, putting it back in, meant I ALSO had to bring back my sugar free pudding mix.
8. And finally, mint lifesavers. The blue bag. It has to be the blue bag. I like to eat one after every meal. It’s kind of a “meal ender” to me and I can put away the food and wait till my next meal.

How I’m saving money

So, I mentioned how I’m going to pay off my mortgage this year. There are so many things I’m not buying, and so many places I want to save money. So, specifically for the bikini show, here’s how I’ll save:

• I’m only going to enter one category, and I just paid the money! Officially making it the ‘point of no return’. My category is masters over 45years.
• I’m not using a coach. – I didn’t for the last show either, so not too worried about this.
• I’m not taking supplements. While I’m still taking vitamins, I’m cutting out all the extra’s. The DIM, Ashwaganda, appetite suppressants, CLA, or anything I hear about on a podcast and think to myself, I NEED THAT SUPPLEMENT!
• I’ll do my own tan- I did this at the Sacramento show last year, using pro-tan, and it was SO EASY!

My Calories and Macros

I would love to do this whole prep on 1500 calories. I know I’ve said in the past that I can’t lose weight on 1500, but with my macros dialed in, and my exercise intensity high, I’m going to give it a go!

My macros will be 150 grams of protein, 125 grams carbs, and 40 grams of fat.

My starting weight/measurements

I’m currently 5′ 1/2″, 113lbs, and my waist measurement is 29, hips/glutes at 34 inches. I probably need to lose 10lbs, and at least 4 inches from my waist.

My workout

Nothing new here… my workout is

• Monday legs
• Tuesday shoulders
• Wednesday Back
• Thursday Legs
• Friday shoulders

and running 50 miles a week, at about 9:45 pace.

And that’s it!

MY DIARY:

I’m highly motivated today, despite having daily fails this past week of not sticking to my plan. I kept justifying every slip up with the thought: 17 weeks is so far away, I can definitely cheat today and be ready in time.

But I don’t want to give space to this thought. In fact, there ISN’T time. I want to lose weight slowly enough to keep the muscle, so the time to start must be now.