BEAST MODE IS BACK!

I don't think there's any need to say this but.....I ate a lot after my show. Well deserved. Ate whatever and didn't think about a calorie at all. Made myself SICK from eating so much LOL. But I did that with the full intent of juicing up and getting ready to have some solid training sessions.
Training with CARBS in my body has been AMAZING. Still doing cardio in the morning on an empty (but not THAT empty) stomach, and lifting later in the day. I'm tapering my carbs and calories each day, because I DO have a show in 3 weeks! My workouts have been INSANE, and I feel strong and energized in the gym. It's a feeling I didn't realize had been missing for so long! I trained legs today, it was my first leg day since my show. Last Tuesday, I almost cried trying to deadlift 95 pounds. I was so fatigued, had to take looong rests between sets , and my legs were shaking during squats and lunges.
Today, I warmed up by skipping steps on the stair monster for 5 minutes (level 8) to really activate that glute/ham area. Then, I was in all my squat rack glory!! Did Deads with everything from 45 to 135 pounds! In total, I did over 10 sets of deadlifts. Supersetted them with step-ups holding 20lb dumbbells and hanging leg raises. I was ON FIRE!! Felt SO good to feel the burn in my glutes with the energy to keep going. Did ALL of my favorite leg exercises, and didn't want to end my workout! 

KABOCHA, egg whites, cinnamon, nutmeg

Post-workout food: eggwhites and KABOCHA squash with cinnamon and nutemeg. lots of it. I'd been DYING to try kabocha for MONTHS, and finally got one yesterday, and ate it post-workout yesterday AND today. For those who are curious, it's a "Japanese Pumpkin" and is more or less just like any other winter squash variety. Higher in carbohydrates per serving than summer squash like zucchini. I am going to also make sure i do some running this week, since I haven't run in what feels like AGES because I had NO energy or patience for it towards the end of prep, and won't be in the mood to do it once I start depleting again for my next show.
Another essential boost for my workouts: LO CARB MONSTER. I swear the stuff is magic. This time around, I am NOT cutting it out until the week of my show. I see no need to live without it for so long when my diet and training is SO intensive and strict. I have been training like a beast, and am definitely not gaining much weight because of my intense training. I go back to crazy depletion monster next week, to make sure that I look fucking insane for my show on November 3rd. I know what it takes now, and what my body responds to, so I'm going EVEN harder than I did before, because I KNOW how to do it RIGHT! 
People who are NOT desperately trying to lean out or competing: CARBS are POWERFUL when utilized properly for your training. Strength and performance are greatly impacted by your nutrition, so please do not rob yourself of the benefits of carbs. Try some kabocha squash post-workout too :) 
It feels so good to be back!!!

I COMPETED !!!!

FINALLY, I GET TO WRITE ABOUT MY SHOW!!!! First of all, let me say that I am THRILLED that I fit into my suit, looked my best, and got on stage at a National Qualifier NPC show. I had SO much fun, and cannot wait to get back on stage on November 3rd. I put so much hard work into the show, so it was so rewarding to finally get on stage. I could NOT stop smiling during my posing and entire time standing on stage. There were only 2 classes at my show-Bikini A and Bikini B. I JUST made the shorty cutoff for the 5'3 and under. There were like 17 girls in my class---and only 5 PLACES?! When I got backstage, I was absolutely shocked and impressed by how amazing every competitor looked. Lean, gorgeous suits, hair, and tans all around. Very professional, tough competition. My goal was NEVER to compete for the purpose of winning a trophy worth $3. That is the WRONG mindset to have.I felt absolutely proud and content with the physique I presented to the judges, and I know what I want to work on to look better. For my next show, I want to come in HARDER, just a tad bit leaner. TIGHT. I felt a little bit flat because I barely ate the day before, and didnt drink or eat ANYTHING before pre-judging. No shocker that I felt a bit depleted. Through trial and error, I'll figure out what works best for me on show day. A few rice cakes might have been good for me. 

night show taken by VAL!!

We lined up for pre-judging, and one of the show directors instructed us how to do our model poses and transitions so that the photographer could get good photos of every competitor. I was FREEZING and SHAKING all morning---must have been nerves, because I was FINE the rest of the day! After I walked out for pre-judging, I waited for my number to be called. I didn't get first call outs. I was definitely expecting to be in the second callouts, but nope. I was in the last group, but I owned it, smiled at the judges, and did everything in my power to WORK IT!!! I didn't live on the elliptical and eat asparagus for the last 2 weeks to be upset with my CALLOUTS. From the beginning, I told myself to have NO expectations---not about first or last place. I did my best. I can TRULY say i hit my mark. I didnt' work with ANYONE. I am NOT part of a team (the team that SPONSORED the show.....no comment.) I am LIZ BRODY, trained by LIZ BRODY, diet monitored by LIZ BRODY, hair and makeup done by...LIZ BRODY. 

amazing mom after she did my final morning tan

But. I could NOT have gotten myself to the stage without SOME help. Support first and foremost comes from my mother. My mom is my biggest fan AND supporter. She puts up with my anal dieting and schedule, doesn't ask me to eat anything other than my veggies and protein, encourages me to do WHATEVER possible to be happy and accomplish my own goals. I couldn't do it without her.
TINA , my fit green goddess is like my fitness mom. She was a HUGE inspiration to me from the MOMENT i got hooked on working out, and is STILL a huge part of my fitness life. She has 2 children, works like a madwoman, and walks around in stage condition ALL YEAR--and doesn't compete! She truly walks the walk, and that is where I GOT IT FROM! You want to train people and tell them how to live healthily? You better do the same thing. She came over on a Friday night the night before the show, and tanned my naked body!! LMAO talk about love. AND she did a perfect job. On the morning of my show, she was texting me helpful tips to stay calm backstage, and dying for up to the minute info since she had to deal with CLIENTS and couldn't be there.
KELVIN: throughout my training, kelvin sent me all sorts of exercise tips to spice up my training and change my body. He sent me demo videos to show correct execution also. Not to mention, he is a good male cheerleader and motivator! Towards the end of my prep, I began training with him. He was responsible for getting my carb depleted body through my very LAST workout on thursday afternoon before show weekend. Major thanks to him for keeping the last and toughest weeks of prep intense and interesting.

TANNING TOUCH UPS!!! True friend there.

VAL: My girl val was my GO-TO for all things prep related. I texted her all the time since there are some things that NOBODY cares about, unless you've competed. Val did figure a while ago , and was totally with me in digital presence throughout my prep. We even trained with kelvin together! She also came ALL THE WAY to my show from manhattan. Like a 2hour commute on a Saturday--ONE WAY. She scheduled her entire weekend around being there to support me at my show. At night, she took my mom's backstage pass and helped to touch up my tan and hang out until I went on stage. She also took AWESOME pics when I was on stage. It felt great to hear her cheering my name when I was posing at finals. There is a bond that competitors share, regardless of how close friends you are, or how long you've known one another. There are just some things ONLY a competitor would understand or appreciate. So when Branch Warren came on to do guest posing at the evening show, Val and I were loving it! She also brought me the PERFECT post show snack AND gave me a shirt...like seriously?! Talk about amazing support and generosity. I WISH she'd compete again so that I could do the same for her.
All of my followers and online support: Your comments and tweets and likes keep me inspired and motivated to keep doing what I love. I know that regardless of if I place first or last,that you will all still follow me and encourage me to keep pushing towards my goals, and you guys give me the ability to remain 100% confident in the path I've chosen to follow. I know this lifestyle is for me. When I hear that my blog has helped anyone, or that my instagram photos motivate people to work out, I KNOW that my purpose is solidified.
After the show, I really wanted to stay to watch the men's bodybuilding routines, but being up since 5am...i was exhausted!!! And not to mention, ready to drink and eat.
Post-show food on the LONG ride home: fig bars that val brought me. They're like fig newtons but made from wheat bran.  SO GOOD. And I bought organic dark chocolate raisins. The bag was enough for 6 servings. Aka 1. Val took a very small handful. I came home to cupcakes made for me by my sister! And my dad spelled out my nickname "Goose" in M+Ms!!! I ate the gummy bears off the tops and had some m8ms too. All at like 11:30pm...not a good idea. Before I started dieting for my show, I never ever ate candy anyway, so my tummy didn't like all of the junk. Its noon on sunday, I'm laying on the couch NAUSEOUS and haven't eaten yet today. I didn't even think I ate that much, considering how starved I was.
Here are the photos I have so far. I will be updating more once muscular development and rx muscle update the gallery! Excited to do more competition recap and blogging!!! 

1 week left.

Next Saturday, October 13th. I'll be stepping on stage for the FIRST time as an NPC Bikini competitor. My show is a National Qualifier, so I'm expecting to share the stage with some amazing physiques. Like I've said before, I don't want to compete to win. I haven't put myself through all of these grueling workouts and bowls of green beans to get a $3 trophy. I am incredibly self-competitive, and am constantly setting goals for myself, only to conquer and progress. I made the absolute decision to compete back in May, initially committing to the NPC Eastern USA's on November 3rd. In June, I started thinking about it, and also decided to do this show on October 13th to get my feet wet. From that point on, my shows were on my mind. For the past month or so, my mind has been entirely consumed with my training and diet, and my dedication to presenting the best physique I can on stage.

This morning, I did my usual self-examination, and got a bit emotional, honestly. I might not look like Nathalia Melo, but in my opinion, I look DAMN good. I don't care that I carry too much muscle for the bikini division, or that my glutes still have a long way to go. It takes years to sculpt perfection, or anything close to that. The most important thing to me is the way I've been able to make HUGE CHANGES to my physique in the past 2-3 months. Not to mention, I did it WITHOUT starving, WITHOUT hours of cardio, WITHOUT fat burners. I've done this on my own, training how I WANT TO, doing enough cardio to get results without driving me crazy--until the past week..lol.

So, what changed at the very end? At 14 days out, I started getting in 45-50 minutes of cardio every morning at 7am, switched out green beans in favor of asparagus, and cut my broccoli by 1/2. I went to the gym every afternoon for either a weight training/circuit workout OR more cardio. I cut all artificial sweeteners from my diet--no more flavored seltzer water or protein powders or diet sodas or LO-CARB MONSTER.. 
I started taking 1teaspoon each of fish oil, flax oil, and evening primrose oil to help my dry skin and eczema--it was a GOOD choice. Keep those healthy omega fats in your diet and DO NOT cut them. cut something else, if you're prepping for a show or just trying to lose weight. After my show I'll increase to 2 teaspoons of each. Maybe a TABLESPOON..who knows.
Now, it's my final week. I am NOT doing any crazy depletion/salt reduction/water depletion. My diet is going to remain the same, except I'll be eating only asparagus as a veggie source. And less of it. A few days before the show, I'll eat pure pumpkin instead of oat bran, and lower my veggie intake. I'm still thinking about what I'm going to eat the day before the show to make sure I don't bloat, but don't look entirely flat. I will NOT be carb-loading. I'm not lean enough for that to really make a difference, and could potentially work AGAINST me. I figure that if I look pretty good now, If I keep up my cardio and fairly low carb intake, I'll be right where I need to be in a week. Personally, I'd rather look skinny than fluffy on stage.

No pictures until stage day. 
Can anyone guess what color my suit is?! 
I can't wait to update after my show!!! Follow me on twitter @lizbrody or on instagram: Lizbrody , to get up to date info and commentary :-) 

It's peak week and I'm ready to KILL IT! 

Prioritizing. Do You?

Do you ever feel like your mind is scattered in 124015 places, there are lots of things you want to accomplish, but just don't know where to start? It happens to everyone at some point--DEFINITELY to me. When trying to change something about your lifestyle, or when you HAVE to change something about your routine, you MIGHT have to do some soul searching and be uncomfortable for a while. The key is to not be LOST forever. When you allow yourself to become overwhelmed by lofty goals, a packed schedule, deadlines, etc--it is nearly impossible to excel in any part of your life without losing sleep and going moderately insane.

Hear me out: I see "prioritizing" as a self to-do list. THINK about what is most important to you, as well as what is most crucial for stability. For example: you want to train for a figure competition, but you have just been assigned more shifts at work, and are taking some type of classes/school. While your heart might want to drop the classes and extra shifts to fit in more training and time for yourself, that might not be the most realistic option. In this instance, don't forget about any "friends" and family you might have that are KINDA a priority as well. Personally, that's what I choose to put at the bottom of my list--not the family really, but the whole social thing. Going out late, being exhausted at work and during your workouts, getting backed up on academics. Family will always understand, and if you live with family...I'm sure they see enough of you anyhow. Good friends should understand your crazy schedule too, but based on personal experience--most people aren't worth it. There are always, ALWAYS exceptions. Anyway, back to the priorities: WRITE down a daily routine, from the hour you wake up to the hour you are ready to go to bed. Chances are, out of the 7 days of the week, there is time for everything--even those friends some people insist on keeping around.

Allow yourself to BREATHE, and be somewhat flexible with your schedule. Your time and sanity is MOST important. Be selfish, but not close minded. Write down tasks that are non-negotiable (work, school, sleeping enough) THEN write down what YOU believe is non-negotiable (for me, workouts and down time to cook and such would go here). After doing this, consider where time-relative deadlines fall in, and schedule your personal non-negotiables around these. If you have a test on a Friday, then have to work for 6 hours--it might be wise to schedule a rest day, instead of stressing about  squeezing in a workout. Sometimes its actually better to have a lot on your plate when desperately trying to change your physique, because you don't have time to mess up or obsess!

Now, this is MY blog. So I'll admit how I view my priorities, and what gets the most effort from me:
1. Training for my show (and my health, otherwise) 
*time sensitive: NASM personal trainer exam in a week that I have to study for. This comes before school work, for this week*
2. Working
3. School (this gets as LITTLE effort as I can manage)
4. Family (I live with them, see them all the time, am very close with them...doesn't really require any effort)

The only person I need to prove anything to or impress is myself. If kids in my classes think I'm stupid, or professors think I don't care about my education, I don't give a FUCK! Yeah, I know it's not typical for a "fitness blogger" to say fuck. Hence why I am your resident blogger dashboard badass. School is way tougher this semester, even though I only take 2 classes and one is advanced poetry, but that doesn't mean I'm stressing over it.

I live for myself. I'm fortunate enough to have parents that ALLOW me to do just that. They won't let me drop out of school, but they support everything else I do, and my choice to not attend college full time to let me do some LIVING and be SANE. 

Dont get it twisted. If you have bills to pay or pressure from parents, you can't quit your job. you can't drop out of school to pursue fitness modeling. as I mentioned earlier...these things are concretely non-negotiable. Just things that stand in the way of us REALLY living life to the fullest. If you have some BEST friends that you are obsessed with (I hope you're like incredibly young if you feel this way,) you might have to put off workouts to have movie night or club night with your friends.

Anyhow. These were my thoughts during my 7am cardio session this morning that have now become a blog. Training hams and glutes later. Here's a snapshot of me training at BODYSPACE fitness in NYC with Kelvin Gary 

Aaaand here's a pic I took yesterday. SHOW IS SO CLOSE