Hello friends! Well, I’m in the middle of “peak week”!!! (The final week preceding a bodybuilding contest.) And from what I’ve heard about it, a lot of crazy things can happen… carb depletion, sodium depletion, water depletion… in efforts to strip that final bit of fat and eliminate any water under the skin. But it sounds like a nightmare to me!
Thank goodness my coach doesn’t believe in any of that nonsense. She’s dialled in my physique in a slow & steady way so I don’t have to mess around during peak week… my body is ready. So other than drinking 6 litres of water a day from now til the day before the show, I have no big changes this week. Phew!
Breakfast was “pumpkin pie oatmeal” made with quick oats, mashed cooked pumpkin, cinnamon & nutmeg, one egg white, vanilla stevia, & powdered peanut butter. I topped it with sunbutter & mango. It was a huge bowl & really satisfied me after my 60-minute fasted walk.
I did my posing practice & upper body workout after breakfast, then had this snack: apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes with peanut butter sauce & mango. These are so easy to make & so filling that I’ve been eating them every day. The recipe is simple: 1/2 cup quick oats, 3 egg whites, 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 chopped apple, 1/2 t.cinnamon, 1/2 t. baking powder, & 1/8 t. salt… cooked on a pancake griddle in 1/2 tsp coconut oil. I make a double batch & eat them cold the 2nd day.
After Bible study, I pulled out my lunch that I’d packed up earlier in the week. I usually make 3 at a time so I don’t have to think about it- it’s ready to go at mealtime and I just heat it up and eat. This was grilled chicken breast, rice with nutritional yeast, steamed green beans, & cinnamon roasted pumpkin. I drizzled tahini & balsamic glaze over the whole thing.
Then I took a loooong nap! I’d gotten up super early to do that fasted walk before waking up the kids for school, and anyone who knows what time we go to school can appreciate how early that must have been! ha ha It felt so good to sleep.
I slept practically until snack time, which saved me from any potential hunger. I love beating the system like that! My snack was pretty simple: egg whites, roasted pumpkin (again!), rice cakes & a pumpkin oat cookie, sliced apple, & a big spoonful of peanut butter which I put on everything but the eggs.
My afternoon was spent collecting the items I’ll need on show day (any guesses as to why I’ll need a shower cap? So much random stuff!!) Then we had dinner: turkey burgers (I skipped the bun) with Dijon & balsamic glaze, mashed sweet potato which I pressed into a patty & dry-fried in a skillet, & grilled zucchini with zataar spice & nutritional yeast. Even though I can’t eat as intuitively as I’d like right now, I am still able to make my meals interesting and creative within the confines of “meeting the macros.” And that makes me happy.
Have a beautiful Wednesday, friends!