POSTBLUES

Amongst all the hype over contest diets, how many carbs, protein, fats, what is the best thing to eat, how much should i eat, what portion sizes should I be having, how much cardio do I need to do daily, what are the best ways for me to train with weights (ie. high sets, low reps, high reps low sets etc etc) light, heavy.... I could go on and on, however I think what ALOT of trainers forget to do is pass on the most important piece of information to their "student" or athlete and that is how to deal with the aftermath of competitions! THIS IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT and I feel most important if you are wanting to compete in physique comps.

I am very blessed and lucky to have an amazing coach, Alastair White, who has taught me so much on how to deal with post comp and what to do when the dreaded uncontrollable eating and binging occurs. I can assure you, without his guidance I wouldn't have the control I do now.. nor would I be able to continue doing what I love doing as I really think I may have physcologically gone nuts by now if I didn't take the time to understand how the mind works in the whole equation.

I am very lucky in that I have had my post comp eating well under control - yes I did enjoy a couple of weeks of eating lots and of foods that I wouldn't normally eat so much of however, not to the extent of gaining too much extra weight to deal with and blowing out, which in turn would have gotten me down, feeling out of control and depressed. I admit at first I was worried about what "could" happen as you hear of so many girls losing the plot, for weeks or maybe months on end only to see all the many months of hard earned work blow out.. then to become depressed and feel totally out of control.

Without a plan of attack for post comp - and I think it mainly is an issue for females (generally speaking).. it is scary to think of the damage that can occur. Not only physically shoveling food into your mouth at an uncontrollable rate, however the physcology of not being as lean as you were on comp day.

Of course, it feels amazing to be in the shape of your life on comp day - but realistically this is not a healthy nor maintainable state to be in. It never will be.

I was taught by my coach and to this day still have so much to learn from him, that we really need to go within and understand our body and what is "normal".

You see - before I competed in April this year - back in December 2009 I was at my heaviest I have been which was just tipping above 65kgs. I think I was around 65.6kg for what I remeber. At this weight, I did not feel healthy, I always felt bloated, I was unhappy and basically, for me, at my height I was not healthy (for me) and did not feel healthy. For someone else this might be their healthiest weight range.. everyone is different so one must not judge one person to another.. it is like when one persons asks what they do to get so lean etc - well wouldn't this be great if we all had exactly the same body, the same metabolism, the same functions etc.. unfortunately we do not so what works for one person will certainly not always work for the next.. so if my body responds to a high protein low carb diet, it certainly wont be the best way for the next person to get lean if their body reacts better to a higher carb, moderate protein for example... so take the time to understand what works for your body - not just because it worked for your friend etc.

Anyway - during 2009 and before that my weight always staggered between 61kg and 66kg.. to get below 61kg would have been a dream for me.. my aim was to always get to 60kg.. and at that time I always told myself that I would be SO SO happy if I could only just be 60kgs..I clearly remember writing it down as a goal weekly that I wanted to get to 60kg by NYE 2009... not a very healthy attitude hey, relying my happiness on a number on the scales.. since then, I have competed and have dropped to my lowest weight of 53kg, and now I sit at a healthy 58kgs.. surprise surprise.. just because I am even below my original "goal weight" it has placed no more happiness in my life.. sure I feel better, move better and I believe look better, however at the end of the day, I have realised no matter how much weight you loose.. sometimes its not really where you will find happiness.. like you first thought.. yes it plays a part but true happiness is generally always something alot more than that.. also happiness to one person is not always happiness to the next.. so deep down.. you need to work out if getting to that "scale" weight you dream of ... will that really make you happy.. it will in the short term, but long term work out WHY it is you want to be at the weight.. for me.. it was so I could feel better, no longer feel bloated and get my eating under control and have a balance.. am I happy now.. You BETCHYA - because Its fair to say I have so much more control now and that's a tick in one of my goal boxes.

So here is my point - when I start to see any little bit of an increase above 58kg I go into panic mode, as I have weighed under 60kgs for the last 6 months.. it has become the "norm" for me.. so my thought pattern has changed from if I go above 58kg I am getting too big...

Now if I look back to December of 09 .. I remember as I said above, that if I only could just for once stay level at around 60kgs I would be happy.

So - now here I am - below my apparently "I will be so so so happy" weight and I stress if I go above and beyond that....

It just goes to show that no matter what the number says on the scales.. I can pretty much assure you.. its not going ot be the be all and end all for your happiness.. Once you reach a goal... you almost always definitely want better for yourself.. that's human nature.. so now that I sit at a very healthy 58kg most of the time.. that too me is my heaviest.. if I slip below 56kg I am getting too light or I know I have a comp coming up like I do now..

When it comes to comp prep.. if I now currently sit at 55kg... my thought pattern tells me.. ohhh gosh I am too heavy.. pfff when in actual fact in normality - this is underweight for somoone my height..

I am speaking alot of babble however I am sure so may of you can relate to what I am trying to say - and yes it can be hard to put into words.

To me now, happiness is making improvements with my lean muscle mass - its about having low body fat levels and making gains with building more muscle - I place such importance of getting regular DEXA or body fat testing as this is truly in my eyes the only way you can really measure where you are at. You see many slim looking females or males who don't weight much at all, however you would very VERY surprised at how high their body fat levels are. So yes if the scales do go up - it could be a good thing as I may have an extra kg of lean muscle..

This is why it is so important to focus on doing more weight training to build lean muscle in order to burn more fat, to eat well in order to keep the fat at bay and stay healthy.. stop relying so much on cardio to lose fat because it aint going to cut it, sure it will help, a tiny bit.. however unless you eat clean and lift weights you will never truly achieve the lean and healthy physique that everyone so much wants for themselves.

Don't put so much emphasis on the scales and what that number says it it really doesn't mean much when you are 60kg yet have a body fat percentage of 30%... start looking at other measures of happiness.. make a new goal not just to get to a certain number on the scales.. it could be to build more lean muscle, to get a lower BF %, to get broader shoulders, to get leaner thighs and legs by doing intense lower body training... all of which will mean more than the struggle to reach a number !!

So to all of those chicks or guys out there who can relate in someway to what I have said above.. if you could make sense of it all.. know that you are not alone.. we have all been through the struggles of post comp crap, not knowing what is right or wrong and finding inner happiness..

We are all human, and the more we keep our eyes and ears open and make it an open forum to be able to discuss these issue more it will be an easier journey for everyone I believe.

Have an amazing long weekend - take care on the road and just be happy ! :-)

x o x o