Originally Posted by
steve_d
yes - you are on track. It also depends how fast or slow you like to lose weight. Some people look great 10 weeks out, but hardly change. How far have you come since you started the diet? I'd say there is still a decent amount of body fat to lose to get that mind blowing conditioning. However, for a first show - you don't necessarily need perfection. It takes years to learn your body inside out, and it constantly changes as well. Striving for perfection the first time out will likely do more harm then good in the long run. Think long term if you want to truly succeed. It's still a hobby though, and if this is just a one time thing, then by all means, get crazy shredded for the fun of it. Many people don't stop at 1 show though.
I'm ok with dieting non-keto or keto. Whatever works for you and is easier mentally. You seem to be doing great so far. As for final week - as nate said, first show - KISS. It is your first show, and it is a relatively good time to experiment so to speak, but I think the best way is to start with something simple and not over the top and work from there. Keep diet the same. 95% of the competitors will double water intake all week, cut sodium on thursday, drop water too early, and look flat on saturday. As long as you're in shape, then nothing you do monday tuesday wedensday and even thursday should be any different than what you did before. Those tricks are generally with the hope that somehow you'll be able to trick your body into super compensating the muscle with glycogen. This concept is what marathon runners used to hold more energy in the muscle for race day. It's more of a fad than anything.
What you really need to be striving for is not holding water in the skin on stage. If you are ripped enough, you wont be holding water in the morning on any day no matter what you ate the previous day. That is when you are ready. At that point all you need to do is make sure you don't flatten out. Those tricks people do with sodium and diuretics are more likely to hurt then help a physique. It's rare someone is truly holding water and NEED drastic measures to fix the problem. But it is a reality for some. But for every 1 person it helps, 9 others will be hurt by it. In the end, just keep everything the same assuming you are already drinking 5-6 litres a day, keeping sodium relatively high already, and diet similar to anyone who is shredded. By friday you should look great. You'd be surprised at what even just cutting your water mid afternoon will do to you're phsyique as opposed to non-stop drinking that you are currently used to. Friday just don't add salt. By doing this, you are likely cutting salt quite a bit anyway. As for carbs, either up them a little bit all week, or just have them all throughout Friday. Either way will likely work for you. There is also the issue of weigh in if you're really close. Although first show, just go whereever the scale makes you fall. Don't worry about placing because the heavier class is sometimes the easier class. You never know who shows up.
I know it doesn't really sound like a 'plan' - but honestly you shouldn't need one. The more you search on this, the more opinions and methods you'll find. There isn't 1 that is guaranteed to work, and 1 that is guaranteed not to fail. It's all about experimenting. One thing for sure, if you feel ready a week out, then you're better off just stepping on stage with that look then ruining it. Conservative is best. Cutting water on friday afternoon and doing everything else exactly the same pretty much would be fool proof.
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