Hello,
I'm retaining a lot of water in my midsection and was wondering if there are certain carbs that are not as water retaining. Thanks in advance for your help! :)
-SmallLady
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Hello,
I'm retaining a lot of water in my midsection and was wondering if there are certain carbs that are not as water retaining. Thanks in advance for your help! :)
-SmallLady
All carbs will store water bound to glycogen...fibrous carbs ie most veggies will store much less because the carb content is much less. Most women should not be eating starchy carbs.
P
Really?...I was eating sweet potato for my carbs. Is there something better?Quote:
Originally Posted by Praetorian
Sweet potato is a starch and will cause water retention....for every gram of glycogen you store it attracts about three grams of water...if you are dieting then fibrous veggies are much better...even off season most women do not need any starches and can do quite well with some fruits and fibrous carbs.
P
Oh dear...I was getting my carbs from a grapefruit, 200 g of sweet potato, and 1.5 cups of brocoli/asparagus/Brussels sprouts. I guess I'll have to make some major adjustments.Quote:
Originally Posted by Praetorian
This is going to be a grueling 3 weeks...
Thank you for your help, Praetorian. :)
I see nothing wrong with the choices you are eating. I eat the same as well as some female clients eat those exact same foods and never an issue retaining water or losing weight.
Sorry to say this but you are more than likely holding fat not water.
yuuuup !Quote:
Originally Posted by sean summers
Agreed...but there could be many reasons not just carb intake why you might be retaining water or even storing excess fat that is not warranted from your diet. We work with many women clients with hormone imbalances, insulin resistance, PCOS etc...it may not be that simple.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Summers
P
Thanks for all the input guys!
I do concur that I likely have some fat to lose. My competition weight at my last figure show in Novemeber was 117 lbs and I am sitting at 127 lbs now. When I did that show, I still had a pretty soft middle and was hoping to come in better conditioned within the next three weeks. Am I being unrealistic? I've increased my cardio to 2 hours a day and drink between 5-6 litres of water a day, on average. My arms, back, and legs are pretty good and the symmetry is at near perfection, but I was hoping for more defined abdominals.
Thank you, again, for all the advice; it is very much appreciated.
- SmallLady
Without analyzing your entire diet and many other things its impossible to give you an answer, but yes Id say it is unrealistic to achieve what you want in 3 weeks.
2hrs of cardio.....I would NOT want to be you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmallLady
Can you post a recent pic...cut the head off if you like. I would definitely drop the starches....there is no need for them at this point...with ten pounds to go I would suggest going keto and alternating non fat days...you could drop that 10lbs in about 4-6 weeks...maybe less...depends on a few things.
P
Yes, you are definitely going to have to drop some carbs. At your last show you were 117lbs soft mid-section and now you are 127lbs. Not likely you put on a lot of muscle as a figure competitor so you should aim for 115 ish. That's just going by numbers without looking at pics. Post up some pics and we'll be able to give you a better idea. Lots of other factors also....could have prepared during your final day(s) incorrectly. How did you look 4 days out? What did your stomach look like? Did you drop water at the last show - use diuretics?
Etc.... you get my point. Put up a pic.
Hello again,
I wasn't able to take the greatest pictures of myself as I didn't have anyone to take them. It took me a lot of guts to put these up, even anonymously. I did so solely for the benefit of other lost souls who are trying to develop an eye for how to gauge themselves during contest prep.
Attachment 29552
I did do dandelion root the last week of prep but I am not sure how effective it was. I drank 6-8 L of water with it until the day before, at which point I cut it completely. I was still retaining water even up to 7 days before the show. I would say my abdominals were mild-moderately outlined in the upper portion, but certainly not ripped. Here is a pic of me at my November show:
Attachment 29553
Once again, thank you for your feedback.
Well kudos for posting pics..i know its tough but if you want to be successful you have to put yourself out there. In the top pic you are quite a few weeks out from contest shape...nothing to do with water retention...thats just bodyfat. In the bottom pic yes there might be some water retention but its not drastic and you still need to lose more fat in order to be contest ready. Your prep was also very misguided...water isnt cut until Friday evening for a saturday show...and 6-8 l water daily is pulling alot of electrolytes from your system and unless you were taking in high amounts of sodium you would be dealing with aldosterone issues.
I would really suggest getting a prep coach...not only to help you prepare but to learn from for the next time.
Some things that need to change:
1. Off season you need to change training and diet to put on more muscle and keep your BF low making dieting easier
2. Precontest diet (and most likely training) needs to change drastically in order for you to come in top shape in the required time..being leaner off season will help
3. Last week prep which is crucial needs to change drastically or all your hard work is for nothing
The good news:
You have a good base and nice shape...a good starting point makes everything easier...you just need a bit of guidance.
P
Thank you very much for the thorough and objective feedback, Praetorian. It is actually consistent with what I was thinking myself. My sodium intake was high and I suspect that was why my prep coach suggested to increase the water intake during the last week. It was stopped about midday the day before the show (not 12 am on Friday). I am sure stopping it in the evening, or even simply halving it, is ideal if you were in perfect condition about 2 weeks before the show and were simply coasting to the contest date, but that was simply not the case for me at the time. Interesting about the muscle...I was told by a CBBF judge, previously, that I had too much. I thought this was closer to what they wanted. In any case, I wouldn't want to lose any more as I don't think it would suit my frame. The other bit of good news is that there actually has been a significant improvement in my conditioning since my debut 3 years ago and I expect that trend to continue as I learn more about the sport.
Well thank you, again, for the carbohydrate information and the body feedback. I really appreciate your time in addressing my queries.
SmallLady,
Had to chime in here, you have great shape and your conditioning in November was crazy. I agree you appeared to be too lean then. A lot of looking too muscular or too lean is in your posing. Learn to pose to show off your shape, no need to flex or show muscle when you actually have muscle and good shape. I see no water in your lower abs in the November pic, figure has nothing to do with abs - figure girls should never, ever, flex abs on stage so if you were a little watery it would not have changed your placing.
The biggest thing about doing well in figure is to learn to present yourself. It may sound stupid but presentation is everything, hair, makeup, smile, suit, walking, and learning to stand. In the stage pic you have your legs apart (knees, ankles should be together )and look too bodybuilderish in shoulders/arms - this can be corrected with posing practice. I competed last month fatter than ever before on stage and won the overall at a provincial level - all due to perfecting some poses, walking, and smiling in a way that made my face look right (not the fake too big weird smile that sometimes comes from nerves - I actually practised smiling, lol). Confidence comes from knowing you look good walking and in your poses.
If you are only 10 pounds over your stage weight in November (assuming this is a dehydrated wieght), I think you are not far off. Two hours of cardio in the last few weeks will change you drastically. I am a no/very low carb dieter (and do agree with P that women don't need many carbs) but really 150 calories of sweet potatoe carbs will not make you fat or watery if you are training everyday and doing crazy cardio. If the carbs help you with energy in your cardio or gym I say keep them in. Just keep doing what your doing, again you have great shape, prefect your posing and presentation and you will do very well!
Remember - Leaner is not always better in figure. Sometimes hard for us muscley girls to realize but look at the pro's - Nicole Wilkins holds bodyfat really well and does not get crazy lean and wins the O. Ava Cowan purposely gained fat and now places very well. Just a couple of examples.
Good luck and congrats on your achievements so far!
BTW - Great delts, legs, and calves on you!
Thanks Ange! It is great to have a figure athlete chime in. Yeah, I know the hard look isn't quite the way of the future for figure, I just felt like it would suit my frame better. My back is fairly large and I have difficulty toning it down to match my lower half and I was told about popping the shoulder too much. You are absolutely right about the posing and I have always hired posing coaches before the show. I work on my presentation almost everyday and it gets better every time. With respect to the legs, unfortunately, I am genu varum (the opposite of knocked knee) and so that is as close as I can get them. I was thinking to fill out my soleus in the future for a fuller look next time. I also need to build my lateral thighs/glutes to match my back (or tone the back down).
Wow, so muh great info on here! Thanks guys!
How goes the prep? Show this weekend?
Hi!
It is going good. I am down to 122 lbs with some diet and training tweaks. I basically lowered my starchy carbs to 20 grams from sweet potato and the rest is pretty much coming from asparagus and/or brocolli. I experimented with exchanging the sweet potato with oatmeal, rice, or rice cake, but found that I was more bloated with those options (probably the sodium levels), so I have cut those from my prep. I drink about 5 L of water a day and will likely keep that for this week until closer to comp day when I will taper it down. I do about 1 hour of cardio a day -- I just couldn't tolerate 2 hours and I was scared to lose muscle and thus symmetry, so I really tried to let my diet do more of the work. I stuck to 5 days of weight training but increased the intensity and weight so that I can keep as much muscle as possible while trying to cut down body fat. I will keep it that way until Wednesday when I plan to do a circuit-type workout to burn off whatever glycogen stores are in my muscle and start a modest carb load to fill out...I suspect that will be the case, but it really depends on how I look in the morning and I gauge my food and water from there.
I am working on my posing like crazy. Upon further inspection of the picture I put up I do see where my heels are apart, Ange...yuck! I think that happened because I was told to turn my toes out a bit and the adjustment likely splayed my heels. I'm working on making the mandatory poses feel as natural as possible.
Oddly enough, I feel my conditioning is actually a bit better than what it was at this time for my last show. I am pretty comfortable with my package and hope to do well next week.
Thank you for your interest in my progress. I hope it helps someone out there to hear about my journey.
And thank you all for your input. This is the first time I do not have a coach to tell me what to do and it has been great to just learn for myself how my body responds to different prep methods. Your words have been really helpful and I appreciate it very much :)
Hello,
I just wanted to bring proper closure to this thread. I competed two weeks ago. I came in at about 120 lbs. My water weight didn't drop much at all. I suspect sodium was high again and I started my diuretic much later, not giving it time to really work. I was a bit thrown in my posing as I got the impression that I was too lean (the judge said they did not want to see definition within th quad and my quads are clearly outlined). I was basically torn between flexing my muscles and just standing on the stage. My final placing was 6th in my category. The feedback from the judges was that my back and shoulders, despite not even flexing them, were too striking and that my body would be better suited to physique than figure.
I am disappointed in the final placing, but I now have a better understanding of what this organization is looking for in figure. It is quite different from other organizations I have competed in, so a prep and posing coach knowledgeable of that would have been prudent (normally I do have one, but I had to keep this prep on the cheap). In the interim, this prep depleted me and I lost some leg muscle trying to get lean (apparently that was not necessary). I will focus on putting on some muscle and consider either physique with this organization or figure in another organization that favours muscle.
here is a link to the picture. My picture is page 5, top row, 3rd from the left. (I am less shy now, I guess :)
http://muscle-insider.com/photos/ont...012?page=0%2C4
Cheers!
SmallLady
http://muscle-insider.com/sites/defa...l/_STN7802.jpg
Very nice shape!
Eric