UFE Halloween Mayhem Update: 9 weeks out

On August 29, 2016August 29, 2016 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn bikini competition secrets, Bikini competitor secrets, Bikini Contest Prep, bikini team, competition update, Competitor secrets, progress, stage makeup

photopic

When I look at my stage pics, I’m always feeling a little crummy about how my skin looks so muddy with that spray tan. I feel like it never looks like ME on stage. This year, I did not hire hair and makeup because I need to commit to creating my own look.

I went to You tube and watched the same videos everyone watched. I bought every product on those videos too.

One of our Sleek Bikini Team athletes hired a local artist for her show in June.
Racheal Gloyd
http://www.instagram.com/Rachael_makeup
www.EYESLIPSANDLASHES.COM

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Taylor’s makeup just looked fantastic on stage.
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I asked Rachael to teach me!!

She spent 4 hours with me to construct a look that will be perfect through all my costume changes. She taught me how to hold the brushes and how to contour, MY face so my photography looks great.

I feel like a lot of girls have skills in makeup and while I’m a total cosmetic junkie, I never progressed at all in doing it well. So it’s going to be a real challenge to commit to this aspect of competition.

My skin looks really pale here but we already have put a formula together to mix shades once I know how my spray tan comes out. This will allow me to get the right amount of color without being fully chocotaco tan on my face.

Rachael put a lot of emphasis on my eyes and we are using glitter and we will use fluffy lashes too.

So now, the ball is in my corner. I have 4 hours worth of instructional video ready to conquer this.

I wish you luck in your competition!!

Prepping Not Starving: Tacos!!

On August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn bikini competition secrets, Bikini competitor secrets, Bikini Contest Prep, Clean Recipes, Flexible Dieting, food prep, Health and fitness information, IIFYM, macro counting, macros, meal prep, Prepping not starving

Oh man.. who doesn’t love TACO’S!
I am 12 weeks out from my show and I am nailing my IIFYM prep. This one has been the most fun yet. Taco prep is going to be my new thing!

Look what I found! LaTiara Low Carb Taco Shells. I got these at my local Schnucks store in the Taco section.They are also available on Amazon and other Low carb sites. Check Google!
shell
taco
Each taco shell has just 4g carbs where as other shells or tortillas are around 18g carbs each.

La Tiara registers a B on MyNetDiary’s food score so that works for me.
It’s a small taco shell but it’s so good.

The macros for two tacos are
2. oz grilled tilapia
25 g light sour cream
20g fat free cheese
2 table spoon of salsa
2 shell

Total for two tacos
P: 26
C: 13
F: 9
fiber 1
Calories 236
That’s just 118 calories per taco!

Bro prep swaps: If by chance your coach has you on the “no fat ever” bro plan, you could drop down to fat free greek yogurt and only take 4g fat for the whole recipe.

I bought 72 taco shells on my last trip to the store!
Everything in my recipe has an A or B rating and would be considered “healthy”!!

hol
What about doing Shrimp tacos? Yesss! I mixed shrimp with light sour cream, avocado and
filled the shell! mmmmm..

Try grilling Corn on the Cob if you have the carbs!
corn

You could also use those taco shells for some nachos if you do it right!
Pro-tip: create your recipe and load it into your tracker early in the day. Just eat around the recipe so you hit all your macros/fiber/veggies/fruit requirements.

I wish you well on your competition training!

Summer prep: More grilling

On June 5, 2016 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini Contest Prep, flex, Flexible Dieting, food prep, Health and fitness information, IIFYM, macro counting, macros, meal prep, Prepping not starving, Uncategorized, weight loss

chix
I am 21 weeks out from UFE Halloween Mayhem. I’m doing a slow cut and I’m 100 percent IIFYM. We are using the grill for prep this year!!

Costco:
The mister hit Costco yesterday. He literally walked the food from the car to the grill.
The above pic is our charred chicken breasts. I like them so much better on the grill. They were juicy!

This is the seasoning he used.

Jennie-O turkey Sausage

This is crumbled Jennie O lean turkey sausage, onions, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. This was really good. The macros on this are 6g fat per 56g of sausage so I only had a little but it fit my macros!

Grilled Cali flower!! The mister cut it and laid it on the grill. Done.

Other things that we could have added to this were BBQ sauces! These are at Walmart.

I love having choices and not living on 6 meals of turkey, chicken and fish.
The grill makes things taste better and it’s fairly easy.
I wish you luck with your show!

Prep 101: Summer time grill

On May 30, 2016May 30, 2016 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn bikini competition secrets, bro swaps, fat loss, flex, Flexible Dieting, food prep, Health and fitness information, IIFYM, macro counting, macros, meal prep, Prepping not starving, weight loss

omg

So this week a competitor was on a board talking about how she was going back to her Bro plan because she tried that “iifym thing” and it didn’t work. I asked her what was it that didn’t work and really had no answer. She said she ” just needed to eat clean.”

Some people get overwhelmed by too many choices. I can understand that, especially when you are used to being a strict meal plan kind of girl. It’s all you know, right?

Refresher:
IIFYM is not a diet. You count macro nutrients :Protein, Carbs and Fats.
You must eat at least 20 g of fiber each day.
You must hit your numbers +5/-5 grams daily.
You can eat any way you want but in a fat loss plan, your ratios are 95 percent nutrient dense foods and 5 percent discretionary.
You could eat paleo, diabetic, vegan, bro, whatever you like. You just have to hit those numbers!

This girl was confused. She missed an opportunity to eat well and have choices which is exactly what IIFYM is about. Choices!!

Ideas!
My prep is starting up and we decided that this summer is going to be about the grill.
I want to show you some things we did for my prep.

sf5 — This is Cajun shrimp. He didn’t even flip them. Just closed the lid on the grill.

sf1 — Butter Ball Turkey breast , thawed and cut into steaks on the grill.

Protein: I get about 190 g protein per day. Rob grilled bison burgers, Shark Steaks, Cajun shrimp and turkey. So the turkey.. he took a Butterball breast and thawed it. He cut it into steaks and grilled it, 20 min per side. It was insane. There is no added fat in anything here.
I added avocado to my turkey for my fats and fiber and it was amazing.

sf3 — Grilled purple cabbage from the farmer’s market.

sf7 — The zucchini was the best. It’s so flavorful! Asparagus was great! So much better grilled.

sf2 — Yellow peppers and poblanos! There’s zuc in there too. This bowl was gone fast! YUM.

All our food came from the farmer’s market next door to my studio.
There is no additional fats on these at all. The squash is my favorite. The flavors burst. We used poblanos and yellow peppers. I hate regular green peppers but you could try. The yellow ones are so sweet when you grill them.

Roasted cabbage is very good. We have made that into a salad for lunch tomorrow. With this grilling, Rob really just chopped and grilled. He likes to use seasonings so you can too.
I’m sure you have your own flavors you dig.

You can do it
If you are a person who thinks you have to choose the restricted non scientific BRO plan because IIFYM means all you eat is crap.. I am so sorry that you have misunderstood.
I want you to learn so you can have peace in your plan. If you are happy with ‘clean’ food then by all means, enjoy the food you eat. Dousing things with mustard because you don’t believe you can sub out anything for egg whites is just foolish. It doesn’t make you a better athlete. It doesn’t make you more HAM or beast mode. Here’s what makes you a better athlete. Listening to your body. Eating well for your gains. Choosing things that YOU like for consistency and to not feel restricted.

Remember as athletes we need 300-500g of fruits and veggies per day. All my clients, in fact eat this. That’s about 300 calories and 40g carbs or so. We need 35 different foods per week and we need to focus on our micro nutrients too. Different foods provide micros! Don’t be stuck with the same 6 food items! Investigate!! Let me know if you have questions!!

I wish you luck with your competition!!

Peak week as told though pictures and funny memes

On October 23, 2015November 2, 2015 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini competitor secrets, Bikini Contest Prep, competition update, peak week

This year I did 16 weeks of prep. Peak week is the last week before you compete. Basically.. you should be ready to go. You are dialing it in. Peak week is known to be it’s own kind of fresh hell. You are tired, carb depleted and ready to be done. Tired isn’t even accurate. Training 7 days a week 2x per day and here we go!

Started peak week off pale. It’d been a full week since my last spray tan.
You have to prep your skin for your show tan. I used Castile soap, and baking soda.
Feeling tired from the macro drop. Gallons of water too. But hey, I had my hair done!

Cardio: 2x per day

Up at 4am. Cardio, posing

Then back in the afternoon to lift. Depletion circuits. I kicked my own ass.

I’m so pale. I can’t focus and I drool a lot. Drinking 2 gallons a day

Don’t act like you didn’t notice. That’s why I stayed home! That and because of the peeing.

And this

Nails: Get gel or Shellac on your fingers and toes so that the mother loving tan doesn’t foil your French.

Once I start crying at the gym.. I know I’m about to go HAM. I always cry at the gym
at least one time in peak week. Then I push hard.

Thursday morning. 131 pounds. I haven’t been this weight since I was 11 years old.

How many times do people tell you that you look icky or disgusting?
All the freaking time. Why do people tell you this? No one wants to hear this!
I’m LEAN! Not skinny. Come on!

Here’s a picture of my kitten Tatu Baby. She eats carbs and is fat.

Poverty macros: window pane zucchini

On September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini Contest Prep, bro swaps, Clean Recipes, Flexible Dieting, food prep, IIFYM, macro counting, meal prep, Prepping not starving2 Comments

I‘m a huge fan of zucchini! I have used it during my prep quite a bit.
This weird recipe is actually so good, I want to eat it 3x a day.

I call it “Window Pane Zucchini”

2 medium zucchini. (about 99g when it’s baked)
3/4 cup liquid egg whites
Salt/pepper or spices of your choice
Slice your green or yellow zuccchini really thin.
Spray a cookie sheet or baking pan with non stick butter spray
Sprinkle salt and pepper (or Mrs. Dash) over the squash.
Pour a cup of liquid egg whites over the squash.

Bake 375 degrees for about 30 min.

It comes out with the egg whites all crispy and brown.
I used a spatula to loosen it up.

Macros are for
117 calories
4 Carbs
21 Protein
0 Fat
1 fiber

If you aren’t brave, here is the non protein Zuc Chips I live on.

Slice them so thin and bake them the same as above, just skip the egg whites.
That’s 99g and it’s about 4 carbs.
I like mine burned into oblivion.

I love salt on mine!

Boss workouts: Cruella

On September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini Contest Prep, Booty workouts, Boss workouts

When you get your judges remarks back, they always seem to say
“More glute”.

I mean, really? Who doesn’t want a little more peachiness to their booty.

This move is called CRUELLA
The difference in the training technique is that using the box/bench allows for more range of motion
than your normal back leg lift.

How to:
Use a box, bench and stabilize yourself. I might do this at the gym holding on to the wall, or a piece of equipment.
Don’t over think it. You just need balance.

The standing leg goes in and out of a pistol squat. You are pressing into your heel as you bring the weighted leg to the floor and up high. You will feel both legs ignite!

Don’t mindlessly do 50 reps and head to Starbucks. Get in there. Use tempo changes, ROM (range of motion) changes, intensity, and push hard.

Slowly squatting lower and lower on the standing leg is like a crime against puppies. It burns so commit.

I know my video is long. I made so many nuance changes in that 1:20 you’ll see how to get that done for amazing results.

Smart girls guide to competition success: Bro-prep swaps

On August 19, 2015February 26, 2017 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini Contest Prep, bro swaps, Clean Recipes, Competitor secrets, flex, Flexible Dieting, food prep, Health and fitness information, IIFYM, macro counting, meal prep, Prepping not starving2 Comments

STOP GAGGING ON FOOD YOU DON’T LIKE.

ok…
Here’s how I coach: IIFYM
Jax top 10 in her first show, NPC.

And Brittany.. IIFYM.. BTW.. She won 1st place in two NPC shows.
brobrit

ok.. here’s another one for you. Karina is IIFYM. She took 2 NPC first place in 2016.

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This is one week into prep for Ashley. IIFYM. She had waffles, fries, ice cream and some pretty bad ass tacos this week! 16996018_1275000182567322_761176547744141291_n
Then there is this.. Wah wah

Ok.. I’ll skip the sarcasm. Let’s look at your situation. You are on a bro prep and you hate your breakfast. I have been there. So get comfortable and let’s figure out how you are going to be successful on your prep and not piss off your coach.

Many smart girls get into coaching agreements with coaches who have only 1 way to look at things. Many women do not ask the right questions before they commit and one of them should be about your meal plan. If your meal plan looks identical to the ones I’ve had since 1986, you’re in for a long 12 weeks. The truth of the matter is, in prep, you do have to keep your food tight but the beauty of macro counting is NOT to eat a bunch of crap, it’s to give you options. So stay with your bro coach who you LOVE LOVE LOVE and eat some food that keeps you happy, and not running to facebook asking for advice because you “are gagging on egg whites”. Smart girls.. never do that!

If you want to get right to the swaps, scroll on down, otherwise start here.

All Food has macros. Even clean food like Magic Tilapia, Magic sweet potatoes Magic egg whites, Magic oatmeal, Magic chicken! Magic Almonds! (dry of course).

Macro nutrients are
Carbs 4 calories per gram
Proteins: 4 calories per gram
Fats: 9 calories per gram
Alcohol: 7 calories per gram. Don’t even try.. you’re on prep.

Let’s get to work

This is a very basic (actual) bro plan that we are going to work with today.
M1: Be sure to eat that at eggsactly 8am!!! (eyeroll)

1 whole egg (omega)
5 egg whites
1/2 cup oatmeal
The macros on this are:

The vodoo of this breakfast escapes me, but I’ll be honest. I’m pretty used to using these ingredients in my prep I just remember my first coach telling me that I had to have egg/whites cooked and oat meal separate.
I covered them with mustard. I hated them. HATED THEM!

This is my IIFYM treatment of these macros.
.5 cups egg whites
20g oat bran (or 1/2 cup dry oats: 40g)
.5 scoop whey
12g chia seeds.
Blend it then make a pancake in your non stick pan

Top with
90g light and fit greek yogurt
1/2 cup (60ml) of Ihop Sugar Free Syrup

The results

Mine is 2 carbs over but has 3g more fiber. If you are so inclined, remove the SF syrup but mine still tastes better.
The idea is to keep your food tight but using macro counting gives you options.
I actually like the macros better on mine because I space my fats out during the day.
If you really can’t fathom going against your Bro-sciencecoach, then throw your ingredients into a Ninja and make a pancake with the ingredients. I do that too. Gagging egg whites is not what smart girls do. They find solutions.

This is one of my other options.
The peach version Peach birthday cake crepe. Guess what’s in it…

OMG.. someone ate a banana in prep! OMG OMGOMGOMG..

pancake

What? Birthday Cake? This one is for my last few weeks when the carbs are sad sad sad…
crepe

Smart girls do this!
You can head over to RippedRecipes.com
I added the exact macros of Bro-coach’s breakfast and got 273 of just BREAKFAST recipes that
fit those macros. If you want savory, then eat savory. If you don’t want sugar or Questies, you can
find recipes that include the EXACT foods YOU want to eat and still give you the same macros.

How do I figure out my food so I know what my macros are?
Option 1: FatSecret.com will give you the macros on any foods.

Option 2: Add your coach’s menu items to a tracker like MyNetDiary, or any macro tracker.
You will have totals for each macro nutrient you need either for each meal or for the day.
If he says.. meal timing is critical eat the exact macros of each meal when he says.

Me.. I eat what I want when I want. I always preload my workouts and post workout food for recovery but
I’m super flexible with my day. You do what you need to.

If you want to convert your whole day over check out this blog post:

Prepping not starving: Peachy Birthday Cake Crepe

On August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Clean Recipes, Competitor secrets, fiber, flex, Flexible Dieting, food prep, IIFYM, macro counting, Prepping not starving

I love summer peaches! On my last Bro-preps I got zero fruit so I am excited to use peaches
in my IIFYM/Flex/Macro counting prep. This reminds me of my favorite breakfast at Uncle Bills, Crepes Peachee.
If you are in STL.. you know!

This is my breakkie for today: M1 if you are counting.
Recipe is:
.5 cup pourable egg whites
.5 scoop Muscle Pharm Birthday Cake Whey (sold at GNC only)
100g fresh peaches
25g light and fit non fat vanilla greek yogurt
.25 cup of IHOP Sugar Free Pancake syrup

Mix egg whites and whey in your ninja.
Pour into a non stick pan and spread it really thin like a crepe.

Add your peaches and greek. (plus a few sprinkles!)

Macros are:
Calories: 205
Fat: 1g
Carbs: 21g
Pro 29g
Fiber 2g

Secrets to perfect check ins with your coach

On June 18, 2015August 30, 2018 By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Bikini competitor secrets, Bikini Contest Prep, Competitor secrets, Health and fitness information

If you have a coach, online or otherwise, you will do check ins.

Every two weeks I check in with my clients. They upload pictures into our Trainerize app and send me a form answering questions about the last two weeks. I want to know of any slip ups, concerns, positives.

I want to tell you things not to do. I want to show you what a good check in looks like and how to help your coach do a great job.

Not every coach has the process streamlined as I do, but I have many clients who successfully check in with me. I can help them because my clients KNOW fully how to check in properly and I can turn around their changes in a snap.
They give me as much information as they can so I can do the best job I can for them!

Secret number 1:
Take your pictures properly:
1. Same day every week or two weeks as your coach requests.
2. Early morning after you use the bathroom. This is your DRY weight.
3. Wear the same outfit each time. Bikini or not, be consistent in your wardrobe.
4. You don’t need your face in the pic. Competitors full body in heels.
5. Shoot your full body! Not half your body or cutting off your legs. That’s no good!

Extra: I covered this in another blog, but you should never send naked pics, bent forward pics or any pics that make you feel uncomfortable to a coach. Coaches don’t need that. If your coach asks you to do creepy things, fire them.

GIANT SECRET READ THIS

How I Feel After my cheat meal | ariel #gymhumor

Don’t binge eat or drink before you send your pictures. You are bloated and puffy.
When I have sent pics to my coaches, I wanted them to see the truest representation of my weeks results.Even if I was on high carb day I will work around it so I’m not puffy. My pictures each week were what kept the train moving forward. If you don’t think about the little things or you half ass your pics, you may not get the right changes!

Don’t be like this
“I binge drank and ate all day yesterday. You need to change my macros. My stomach is not getting any smaller”.
Common sense should tell you that you will NOT look your best after a binge. It takes me 4-5 days to lose the bloat from a binge. There should be no binges but for sure.. you need to let your coach know, be accountable and try to find a way to NOT do that again. I don’t change macros on clients who are actively binge eating. We need to focus on being consistent.
I don’t judge my clients for derails, but let’s just say, if you binge and don’t tell your coach, she knows you did anyway. I can see it when they walk in the door. Be honest so progress can continue.

Plan ahead

I have had clients “forget ” to take their pictures so they shoot them at night after they have had a whole day of food, and life. We use the early am pictures for consistency. You should care and plan for your check ins. My checks ins keep me on the right path. If I have to stand in front of my coach or the camera, I am very sure of what I am eating. I never do my check in’s on a Monday. My high carb day is on the weekend. I keep it tight as it can be 3 days before my Friday check in. You may not care as much as I do. But at least you know why we need it consistent. I’m picky with my clients. I never have issues with competitors because they get it.

Secret 2
Don’t send your coach crappy pictures and expect them to know what is going on. If the bathroom is all foggy or the pics are blurry.. that’s just a mess. Hold the camera straight on not pointed down. That makes you look wonky!
If your guy is 6 foot 4 and you are 5″ have him hold the camera lower . Men usually don’t care. We can teach them to be good photographers.

If you need help taking your own pics, use the method our entire team does. click here

EXTRA BONUS SECRET
If you hire a coach to hold you accountable, be accountable. No one MADE you drink craft beers 4x a week. If you are here to lose weight, get lean, cut, or whatever.. do it. Your coach isn’t here to say.. Oh.. I totally get that.. craft beer is so hard to resist! This is what you signed up for. Don’t get mad when your coach has to do her job.

SUPER DUPER BONUS SECRET

Facebook tells all. If you are one to post your wild nights on Facebook be aware that your coach sees this. I cannot unsee half the stuff I see clients eating on facebook. I don’t think it occurs to them when they ask for new macros because the olds ones aren’t working.
That giant margarita above doesn’t fit anyone macros and we all know it!!

MISSING CHECK INS
If you purposely blow off your check ins, many coaches will fire you. We have a limited amount of time for clients and actually invest a lot of tme into programs. If you disappear, that’s on you. Your best strategy is to work with your coach on trouble spots. Ask for help, guidance. No one is perfect. I want my clients to be successful but if they are missing check ins, I ‘m pretty sure they are off their plan. Check ins are accountability. Be accountable and don’t waste people’s time if you aren’t really committed. I’m mean.. right!

Forgetting to check in? Are you kidding me? Not acceptable. Coaches have a schedule and you are on it. You can put it on your schedule too. If you are forgetting them, you are not preparing for them. If you expect your coach to prioritize your check in after you forgot, you will most likely lose your place in line. Rude.

CO-COACHING: one of the worst things you can do is ask 12 other coaches if your coach is giving you the right macros, workouts. Post it on Facebook and watch the blowback. If you don’t have confidence in your coach, leave them.

If you are taking advice from the guys at the supplement store, your brother, a trainer at Gold’s and adding spinning to your program because you “need more cardio” do yourself a favor and leave your coach. No one can possibly know what your coaches long term plans are. There are many variables. I have had clients think they need cardio and I took it away from them. They got ripped abs because they ate more food and lifted instead of doing what they want. There is a long game . Remember what your mama said, too many cooks spoil the soup.

Update: Competitors. If you hire a coach who is bro then suddenly you dislike chicken turkey or fish.. that’s on you. Don’t go whining to Facebook because you hate your meal plan. Likewise, if you join a bikini team and plan on running your own game, please just don’t. You hire a coach to coach you. Let them do their job or leave the team. If you have questions or concerns, by all means be vocal but don’t disrespect someone you agreed to work with.

Extra workouts:
If you are adding workouts, changing your plan on your own, your coach has no way of knowing if their plan is working. This is so important. I ask my clients every week if they are doing more than I gave them. I’m not feeding them for 6 extra spin classes. I don’t co -coach. That is not best practice. You need to be honest with your coach so you will be successful.

phew!! Ok,,

Let’s look at some positives!!

GOOD!
These are great pictures. My clients no longer have to do them side by side because we use Trainerize. But if you have to.. they should be the same size.
In fact.. always shoot them exactly the same so you don’t look wonky!

These look great. Her whole body is in the picture.

Competitor check ins:
In competition prep/bridal prep, every week is crucial. I need to see exactly what is going on and your coach does too.
Being as accurate as you can with all the information you have will help your coach create the best plan of action for your progress.

Good luck!

IIFYM BIKINI BOSS TRACY

Tag: bikini competitor prep