Summer's Almost Here...Maintenance Plan Time

My apologies for slacking off and not keeping you up-to-date on what's been going on.

One of my goals this year was to maintain my leanness and not fall back into back habits (i.e., regain all the bodyfat I worked so hard to lose). Right after my show, I took one day off from working out, but kept my diet plan going. I signed up with Jodi for another 12 weeks with the goal of getting to 14-15% bodyfat and maintaining it until I was ready for the next show. (At this point, I'm not sure if it will be Oct. 2013 or April 2014). Regardless, I need someone to hold me accountable when it comes to eating.

Well, it's June 20, and I've successfully maintained 14% bodyfat and approx. 130 pounds. Each week, Jodi adds food and takes away cardio. Here is my current diet and workout routine:

Breakfast (pre-workout): 5 egg whites + 1/3 cup oatmeal + 1/4 cup berries
Morning Snack (post-workout): 1.5 scoops protein powder
Lunch: 3oz. protein + 1/2 cup brown rice (or other whole grain) + 4 oz. veggies
Afternoon Snack: 1 scoop protein + 1 tbsp peanut butter
Dinner: 3 oz. protein + 1/2 cup brown rice + 8 oz. veggies

Evening snack: 1 scoop protein powder

The beauty of this maintenance plan is the ability to substitute a variety of foods. I'm at around 1,600 calories. Each snack or meal is 200-300 calories. So I can have a protein bar, rice cake w/ peanut butter, or other combinations that keep me in that calorie range and similar type of food (protein, carb, fat).

In terms of working out, I'm now doing 35 minutes of steady-state cardio 5x per week. I work one muscle group each day, 6 days per week. She'll continue to decrease my cardio until I'm closer to 20 minutes per day.

When it comes to supplements, I'm pretty much still taking what I always have, minus the fat burners. I take everything with breakfast. (Yes, I know I should be taking them throughout the day. I try to be stricter when I'm training for a show.) Here is the list:

- Pre-workout (Jack'd)
- Glutamine + BCAAs (Beverly Int'l)
- BCAAs (Optimum Nutrition)
- Fish Oil
- CLA
- Vitamin C
- B-12
- Hair, Skin & Nails supplement
- Multivitamin

I'm trying a new protein powder called Core Nutritionals. According to Jodi, it's high quality and great for making muscle gains. I've already gained 1.5 pounds of muscle since my show, and the chocolate Core post-workout protein is soooo yummy!!

That's all for now. Here's to eating clean and training dirty!