Hello everyone and welcome back to Bikini's After Babies.
This is our 15th episode and I am, yeah, I'm your host Mandy Rashaun here with your
other beautiful blonde host.
Hey everybody, thank you for tuning in again.
Welcome back to Bikini's After Babies.
We have sort of a chill girl chat episode for you today.
We've had some amazing guests on and we have a nice lineup coming up, but we
thought it would be good today just to catch up and talk about what's been going
on for us and then share some tips with you guys about things that we've found
helpful.
Today we're gonna talk about birthdays and girls night out and traveling and sort of
how we navigate that on prep.
So Mandy, why don't you share with us how your prep journey is going?
I know your show is right around the corner now and you just celebrated your
birthday.
So a very happy birthday to you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I know I'm getting like the emotions coming because I'm in the month because
it's what it's March.
It's March 5th right now.
And so I leave on March 28th and I will go to Florida to compete on March 30th.
So it's nuts.
It's what I'm four weeks out now and it's crazy.
It goes by so fast.
Like I feel like just the other day I was like 24 weeks out or I was in my off
season and then I blinked and I'm like, oh my gosh, like everything's booked.
and done and ready and you just gotta fly out and like go right but yeah yeah
making your return?
You know what's crazy is I am so excited.
I feel like the excitement is taking over more than the nerves.
And I feel like that's because I practice so much.
I practice posing all the time to the point where I'm like, okay, well, if my
arm goes this way on accident, oh well.
It's like I'm getting those jitters out.
So it's like the whole practicing posing, which I was always really terrible at.
I would practice a little bit here and there, but I never nailed it all the time.
Like I treat it just like weightlifting.
So practicing constantly in my bathroom on carpet all the time walking around
background music walking back in front all that so that's helped quite a bit but
Yeah, just really staying consistent.
But no.
Yeah, my birthday was Friday.
It was super exciting I turned 35 and it's funny I made like a birthday post and I
don't know if you caught this Jillian But my first little hashtag was NPC masters
Yay, welcome to the Masters Club.
I thought that was so funny.
It was like the first thing I thought of.
But no, it was really chill.
It was really quiet.
I really just relaxed.
I, know, lifted in the morning, spent time with family.
It was just really kind of, you know, relaxing birthday, nothing too exciting.
But yeah, I've just been, you know, grinding and counting down the days and
just ready to go.
So.
that's awesome.
a busy, you had a very busy weekend.
How was your weekend?
You had to fly out to Dallas.
Yeah, we flew out really early on Friday for a big cheerleading competition.
So it was it's called NCA and it's it's one of the big like all star competitions.
And we've been to several big ones before.
This is like our third year doing all star cheer with my daughter.
She's 12 and but it was massive.
Like there was I think like close to 1400 teams.
It was a three day event.
And Dallas itself is really big.
And so
just like even the traffic was, I mean, 10 times more than I'm used to.
But it was really, really fun.
I'm 14 weeks, 13 weeks out now, I think.
And I've been in prep since the new year, just needing to take the time to come in
how I want to.
And then also, um.
You know, I had some gut issues last year, so I wanted to make sure that I was like
taking a long and slow approach to prep.
But it's it has like really flown by as well.
So there's no time to spare that doesn't mean that I can cut corners or like slack
off at all.
So, you know, the day before preparing all the food to take there and, you know, I
pack healthy stuff for the kids as well.
And, you know, being just away from home, like like having all the things that you
need.
So and when you get to.
convention centers like a lot of times you're kind of there for the day like the
hotel is
you know, miles away and then you're parked and so you're sort of just like,
what do you have access to?
So making sure you have enough water and if you have supplements that you have to
take during the day, if you have meals that you need to take.
So just kind of planning that so that I can, you know, not focus on myself.
I can focus on my daughter and be there for her and do the thing and be a part of
it and not be stressed.
So that like is a big thing we're going to talk about today is just, you know, how to
prepare.
But we had a great time and we came back yesterday morning.
So I have
you would call like a cheer hangover.
So like cheer moms.
Oh, it's just.
Yeah.
And like the emotions of it too, because they compete over two days and the week
leading into it, they had practice every night after school and sometimes staying
at the gym late and then, you know, getting all other uniforms put together.
Yeah, they do.
And, you know, they go out there and we, we scream and yell and, you know, we, we
wear all the, you know, the team gear and, you know, carry around these huge
backpacks all day.
I think over the course of three days, I got almost 50 ,000 steps.
So, um,
steps you get.
Yeah, it's a ton because the convention centers are really big and then you're
kind of spread out.
You're going from hall to hall.
And then we also cheer on other teams from our gym.
And then, you know, we have hours in between performance and, you know, awards.
So then we'll go.
walk and find something to eat and sightsee and whatnot.
So it's a very active, busy weekend.
So it's no surprise I had like a three pound drop while I was gone.
But I but I what I'll say is that it does it that took effort like because if you
don't take your meals and stuff, all you have access to is just what they have,
which is like pizza and dip and dots.
Um, and so I try to share when I can, um, what I take and it's so busy.
Like I would love to do a real day in the life.
I don't know how these like tick tock cheer moms do it.
It's so busy, like from getting there on time and parking and finding the meat spot
and, you know, and then it's exciting.
You know, you, you want to be present and involved and whatnot, but, um, just from
getting up and getting training in and working on posing and then getting ready
to go over to the competition.
So it's a lot, but I think I've got it down to a pretty good, you flow.
of packing everything, putting it in little baggies.
And we got a TSA pre -check.
My husband and I did it a couple years ago.
And they never go through my cooler bag when I fly with food.
I never have any troubles at all.
with flying with a cooler recently.
I can't remember.
It's been...
I can't remember the last time I flew.
It was relatively recent.
I think I was going to expedite a show and it was when I was just getting into my
prep and I was worried about that because I hadn't had a fly with a cooler.
I've been able to pack stuff and get stuff and I drive a lot of the places.
I like to drive, I like to road trip and I was so worried about that flying but
shockingly, I was able to bring a cooler bag and my, I had a fly.
had some type of ice pack and I was able to pack all my stuff.
And I also don't use Tupperware when I travel for length of time.
I'll pack a thing of Tupperware to use as something to heat in, like if I don't have
access to a plate or a napkin.
But I'll baggy all of my stuff.
I'll divide all my stuff.
I try to compact as much stuff as I can into a little thing.
I remember one time I was walking past one of the drug dogs and I had like mass
amounts.
chicken in my bag and I was like I mean they're trained but like this like I have
a like and I mean my chicken was right by their nose and I was like okay this is
gonna be interesting of course nothing happened but I was surprised how much
stuff you can take with you on a plane whenever you're like in prep.
on my in my carry on pretty much like I'll usually have like my backpack and if I'm
traveling for a show that like my suit and my shoes and my jewelry and my hair
extensions will all be in there and then my personal item or like purse or whatever
is like a small like soft sided cooler and then everything is I freeze everything
because I have had ice packs taken off of me and generally like if I'm going
anywhere it's typically a domestic flight so I'm not.
you know, in the airport for hours.
If I just freeze everything in like freezer baggies and then like you, I have
something to like like a dish or something that I'll heat everything up in so that
I'm not eating out of baggies and whatnot.
And then I'll take one meal inside of my like hot logic, which is like a little
portable like food warmer.
And it only takes like 30 minutes for it to warm up a meal, even if it's frozen.
So I'll just find a spot in the terminal, plug that in if I have to eat or eat it
cold if I have to.
Yeah.
I've used those before.
that don't have a microwave like anywhere in the hotel or if you stay at a
bodybuilding hotel and they have like a microwave suite, sometimes there's two
microwaves and like 30 athletes all in there at one time like trying to keep
their food.
So I just like to have that just in case I always take it.
But it also like serves as a cooler as well.
So like when I went to the convention center, I had a meal in there that I could
just.
and I had to unplug a cheerleader cell phone.
Every kid never has a charged cell phone, I swear to God.
So, but that and like, you know, if I'm like farther out, like in my off season,
then I still take food with me, but I'll take like protein bars or things like
that.
Right now I'm not eating things like that.
So I don't take things like that, but there's ways to do it.
I think I always take food no matter how far my show is just because I it's
important for me to feel good.
I don't want to like, you know, have all these
trips and things going on and then come home and just feel like a bag of shit for
a week.
Like I want to come back and feel great.
And my nutrition is pretty important as an athlete.
So it's, it can be done.
And so it just takes, make a list and.
started this prep, like, cause I started it so long ago, if you think about it, and
I've always started long preps.
Like, I just like it that way.
And when I first started, I didn't know any better.
I just was like, oh, it takes a long time.
And so I just did it that way.
And then of course you learn that you can grind a prep out if you like want to or
have to.
you panic if you ever have to do that?
Like even me, I have so much time.
I feel like even now, like I've been in prep for like 10, 12 weeks and I'm like,
oh my gosh, it's like too soon, right?
Cause you're so used to having more time.
Like, I don't know, I I prefer it that way too.
So I'm just like you.
but I'm the same way with food.
Like when it comes, I think our thing is like, you have to really know your, why
are you doing this?
And that has to be really loud in your head.
Like your personal goals.
Because like when I started this prep, it was back in like September.
It was after Labor Day, like officially per se.
Because I came back from a family trip in Florida and I was like, I'm ready.
Like I'm just ready.
And I had...
I had followed a lifting plan and not a nutrition plan.
I made my own plan and did my own stuff, but weight lifting wise and lifting
heavier and heavier, I did that.
I followed a plan for that.
But going into this prep, I back on my nutrition plan, everything.
And I just, I don't care how far away I am.
I don't care if I'm eight months away from the show that I'm going to do.
I will pack my food.
I will do exactly what my nutrition plan said.
I will not snack.
I will not accidentally eat.
eat this, I will, I just don't do it.
And a lot of it is just because I know I want to be able to go on stage and say
like, I did everything I possibly could.
And if I lose, I did everything I possibly could to win though.
Instead of like, ah shit, I shouldn't have ate that cake or birthday cake or lied to
my coach or hid this or snuck that.
Like, cause at the end of the day, like you're always going to know what you do,
even if you don't tell anybody.
Like there's no secret.
Like you're never going to have any secrets.
Your body's not going to hide it.
But...
I mean, we all slip up.
We've all had accidents, especially as new athletes, and that's fine.
Like, I think it's just having that mindset of like, okay, I, you know, I
slipped up and I ate these cookies.
I don't need to do that again.
I need to not do that again and hop right back on my nutrition plan.
And that needs to like be it.
But no, so when I started back in like September, I packed all my food.
I was communicable with my coach.
Every time I traveled, I let my coach know.
Because you never know,
if your travel is gonna affect your check -in.
So even if you do everything perfect and you pack all your stuff, I still will let
my coach know like, hey, I'm going here, I'm doing this, I'm running around, you
know, just like you would let your coach know like, hey, I got all these steps
because I went to this place.
But if there was ever some situation where I'm like traveling out of the country or
if I'm like going somewhere that's important, like I went to the Smoky
Mountains in the middle of a prep and it was a romantic vacation.
I wanted to eat out.
And so we planned for that.
I...
I packed my food, I still had my food, and then I had like a few snacks out and a few
meals out.
I was also months and months away from my show.
I still weight lifted, I still walked a ton, drank a ton of water.
I had all these things.
I don't drink alcohol, but I still would enjoy food and time with my husband, but
still try to do as much stuff as I possibly can that's incorporated in my
prep.
So I just don't.
Mm -hmm.
theme is that like it's a lifestyle.
I think we both are on the same page that like at any point in our fitness journey,
there's some consideration for what is our working out schedule going to look like,
like leading up to the trip and then while we're gone, what about our
supplementation?
What about rest and recovery?
And then what about food?
Like you're not just an athlete when you're in prep.
If this is something that you do, you're thinking about it year round.
I think that's okay.
And I think that if you don't think that's okay, then this probably isn't for you.
And that's okay too.
But, you know, for a while I kind of used to like downplay what my offseason looked
like because I wanted people to think I was normal and like I wasn't obsessed.
But I'm not obsessed, I'm focused.
This is something that's important to me.
And just because the countdown is 41 weeks or it's 10 weeks, there's some thought,
care and consideration to my nutrition and my training all the time.
It's self care, 100%.
doesn't matter how close you are to the stage.
Like you said, 10 weeks, 40 weeks, you still should take some consideration to
what you put in your body.
How is it gonna hurt your stomach?
How is it gonna help your stomach?
What are you showing?
How do you feel, your mindset?
That all is a form of self care.
We're just choosing to step on stage and be more competitive and, you know, I'm
blanking on the word I wanna use, but like,
challenge it differently.
But everybody should still have the thought of like, okay, I wanna cook my
food so I can eat healthy.
I wanna make sure I get enough water in.
I wanna move my body because it's good for me.
It should be some consideration.
I think so.
And I think that.
If you don't understand, I think that's that's OK, too.
Like and there are some people who do a great job of like maintaining a nice,
healthy balance and like they'll make great choices while they're traveling and
and they're fine and they're healthy people.
And, you know, they they look great in their clothes.
They don't have a weight issue.
I think that's great.
What we're talking about is just something different.
Like we are, you know, our bodies and our performance is really important as
athletes.
And so that's why we put that care and consider.
to me, it's not it's not a big deal.
Like it's not a huge hassle to like meal prep and put things in baggies and take it
with me because it's just become necessary for my sport.
It's what I enjoy.
And I was just telling you this morning, like I didn't have any cravings while I
was gone, you know, and it looks different all the time.
Like when we were traveling for cheer earlier in the season and I was further
out, I wasn't in prep yet.
You know, I still took like 90 percent of my food.
I was allowed to have a cheat meal when I was there.
I had a little bit more flexibility this time.
No, I wasn't allowed to do that because I'm a little bit closer and that's fine,
too.
I still went I'm not gonna not go I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it and I just
got my workouts in we got a Day pass to a really great gym and I trained with my son
on Friday the hotel gym.
Yeah, it was so great It was such a good gym was really fun.
And like that's again like I'm obviously a fitness nerd I like you know when I'm in a
town if there's a notable gym that I've heard of I want to go check it out and you
know play around and all the equipment and so we went to Metro flex
Plano, which was amazing.
So yeah, I think it's just it's just a lifestyle and you might not understand
that I had gotten a few conversations going with girls in my DMs while I was
gone just about like, what do you do when people ask you about what you're eating
and like, how do you manage and and if you're new, like, please ask us those
questions because we love to share our advice because it took some trial and
error and I've definitely picked up little tips and tricks from people along the way.
And the biggest one is I use
They're, well, they're food safe shampoo and conditioner bottles.
I got some heat about using shampoo containers for my ranch and my sugar free
barbecue and my creamer.
Like, yeah.
So I use I use like travel containers for my condiments so you can carry them on
because you can't have more than like four ounces.
So I have like a little shampoo squeezy bottle that I put like my sugar free
barbecue sauce in.
And then I have like another one that I put my almond milk in for my coffee.
And somebody was like, oh, those aren't foods.
like people just have an opinion about everything.
I swear like, oh, you can't use those are not food safe.
And I'm like, let me check.
And then sure enough, they said food safe.
So I'm like, I can't be the only one who's putting barbecue sauce in their shampoo
bottle.
Jerk.
many clever, like, there's so many clever, like, different ways of doing things.
and tips and tricks of like things to do that make things easier.
So anyways, but, but yeah, you know, I think that there's definitely questions,
you know, if somebody doesn't know, like that I compete and I have to say like, I'm
a bikini bodybuilder or I think we might have talked about this with Nicole too,
like, you know, but I think it's more common now, certainly like when bikini
first came around, you know, I went from a
competitor to a bikini competitor and I had to be like, so it's like bodybuilding,
but it's smaller and we wear bikinis and you know, it was, was harder in 2009, but
now, you know, everybody kind of knows somebody who's done it before.
Like I'm certainly not the first one that they've ever met.
And they'll say stories like, Oh, my friend, um, her husband competes and like
he drinks egg whites and you know, he drinks out of a milk jug and does all this
crazy stuff.
I know that's cool.
Like I don't do that, but you know, I think it's cool when people have an
interest in it.
I like.
about it, but you can definitely like you can read the room, be like that.
People don't think it's cool or like, you know, they think it's weird or they hate
it.
But most I will say I'm pretty fortunate in that the cheer moms are like very
supportive.
They think it's cool.
And, you know, I don't I don't have that peer pressure or like, why are you doing
that?
Or, you know, the opinions, you know.
I feel like this day and age has changed quite a bit because I have that too in all
of my circles, but it didn't start like that because so I feel like as we get
older, we obviously like everybody's getting older and we hang out with older
crowds.
And I feel like the ages of like 30, 40, 50, they're so much more welcoming to like
healthy choices and lifestyle change and moving your body.
And it's like, they want to know more.
So even if they're like overweight, they've never done it.
They have no idea how they're like alive.
more like people are more welcoming of it.
Cause I know when like, like I don't travel I would say as much as you do for
cheer.
Like when I travel for soccer, it's mainly like a day.
Of course we have tournaments, but it's not, I don't think it's as extensive as
like what you guys have to do.
I pack my food.
I do like really exactly what you do.
I just keep all my stuff in a little cooler, pack all my stuff.
My saving grace is always Stevia.
Like I swear, if you are ever around me, I will always have like Stevia, Stevia in my
purse, in my car.
Like it's always with me.
coffee girl though.
You really are.
Every time I see you, you have, yeah.
all last night.
So last night I had an event that I went to.
My husband hosted a big event here in Kansas City and I had to bring all my
food.
And I always like to keep it really simple.
That is probably another thing and why I like to cook my own food.
I...
I feel like there was this wave of things that happened where it's like, oh, here's
healthy cookbooks.
Great.
Here's 30 ingredients and here's the time consumption that it takes.
And I'm like...
I don't know why that started.
I just don't.
If you have the time and you want to cook something really integral, super cool.
I love cooking shows.
I love to watch the competition stuff.
But I also know it is some salt, pepper, garlic, onion, powder, maybe some ranch
seasoning packet on some chicken, and you call it a day.
Yeah.
Like.
elaborate and I'm like, that's not doable.
It's expensive.
It's so hard when you're a busy mom to be able to like cook a recipe like that for
your like if your food is high maintenance.
But I think that's really like more of like I don't really like healthy food.
Let me make it taste like a pizza.
And it's like you kind of have to be OK with eating plain food because and I
totally am.
It doesn't bother me.
yeah, when it's high maintenance and it's a million ingredients, then yeah, it's a
whole thing.
It's way too much work.
So I always like to keep it very basic and I live off seasonings and herbs.
So chicken, ground turkey, lean ground beef, steak, and salmon and white fish
here and there.
I'm not a big shrimp person, I like shrimp, I just really don't eat it that
often.
But like I have the seasoning kind of, you know, Italian, Cajun, ranch, taco, burger,
like salt, pepper, you have your seasoning kind of like spread out and then you can
make all of these simple
proteins taste like all of these different things.
If in like you do the same thing with vegetables, same thing with some, you
know, simple carbs and it's like super easy and it's only a few ingredients.
And that is really like how I do my everyday life.
And that's how I do Carson's as well.
Like whenever Carson, I like to incorporate him with like all of my stuff.
And that's something we've talked about before is normalizing eating healthy, you
know, instead of normalizing going through the drive -through, which
is just is not good.
You know, normalize cooking at home or seasoning your food or showing your kids
that you're cooking at home.
It doesn't take that long.
It's not.
And he sees it and he eats salmon, rice, asparagus.
He'll have, you know, a turkey bowl with me.
He'll do turkey wraps.
He'll just all sorts of stuff.
And we go through things that he may not like.
And we have we have a rule for kids for him.
And I've shared this with other moms.
If you're trying to get your kids to eat healthy.
Give them a sweet potato.
Okay, give them sweet potato fries.
Let's say, oh, they don't like sweet potato fries.
Okay.
Well, before you say you don't like something, try it a few different ways.
Try steamed sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole, you know, sweet potato fries.
If you don't like it, then I won't make you it anymore.
And that's like the rule in our house.
If Carson tries things like a few different ways, and at the end of the
time, he doesn't like them, then I won't make him eat it.
He tried, right?
So we've gone through that, but I always try to incorporate him.
And then,
Kind of like like, you know, I've been able to have refeed meals right now So now
it's been really fun because of those complicated high maintenance things I'm
like, okay One of my refeed meal rules is that I don't eat dessert out.
No refined sugar is out.
I Cook or bake whatever a protein dessert at home and Carson loves it So tonight I
have already like setting protein ice cream and I
have protein brownies I'm making and then like I'm making like a protein cookie for
myself.
But he's excited to...
So the two recipes I found, well for his protein brownies, they actually already
come like kind of pre -made a little bit, but it's one of those like the flowers and
things.
I'll have to like send it to you or like we'll make sure to post it on here.
that you buy at the grocery store?
brownies, they're like the PB2 brownie mix.
I'm trying that new one.
But for me, and that one already has like, it's really simple ingredients, it's
already put together, but like I have to do like all the liquids.
But for me, it's going to be like a scoop of protein.
What was it?
It was like protein, oats, I have specific chocolates I use.
And then it was like only four ingredients.
I know it wasn't bananas, because I get sick of it.
There was something else like almond flour and something but you cook it in the air
fryer is the video that I saw and so you use parchment paper and you make this like
kind of dough ball just like a big cookie and you put it in the air fryer and that's
what I was gonna do tonight so but I incorporate them to like normalize it so
that way it's like okay well instead of going and eating like not this great food
like my mom's gonna make this at home like last week I did a I did a protein carrot
cake which I
is on my vlog, which I will share today or tomorrow.
Tuesday, something like that.
Yes, and I made like a, I used Greek yogurt and I made like a Greek yogurt
protein icing, because you know it's like cream cheese on like the carrot cakes, but
I made like a Greek yogurt and I used like a little vanilla protein powder and made
an icing for it.
that's so you do get a little bit fancy sometimes when you get to spend the
calories.
Yeah, that's nice.
fun for me, because I like to cook, I like to bake, I like to challenge myself, but
it's so few and far between.
Like...
I haven't had, so my last flexible meal, refeed meal, whatever we want to call it,
was back at the beginning of December.
From then, I stayed 100 % consistent on my plan up until Valentine's Day was when I
had a refeed meal.
So what happened after Valentine's Day, I had all these rules that I followed,
right?
No dessert out, I don't drink alcohol, I eat vegetables before I eat anything else.
I really
do bread, I might have like a like literally a bite but like like when I say
bread I mean like the bread baskets but if it's like a what are they called like a
bruschetta or something like that like I'll eat that or like a little cracker.
High protein for my main meal scallops, fish, stuff like that.
Scallops have been my go -to and like maybe risotto and veggies and then when I
get home I'll you know walk around let my belly settle and I'll have like my dessert
but what happened is we did this and my
loved it.
My body responded so well.
I was down in weight.
My waist shrunk.
I was really tight.
My coach was like, well, let's just do this again because this was pretty
successful.
And then it happened again.
And then so now we're doing it again.
So it just keeps happening.
But I have the same consistent rules.
I have to drink a lot of water.
I have to work out the day before cardio.
I have to work out the day after.
No alcohol.
dessert out.
It's just been really fun.
So that's been like my very first prep where I'm not sitting on the couch resting
and just like counting it down because you know you're doing you know cardio and
you're it's just hard.
We all know it's hard.
Like the last like five weeks are hard.
You know you're getting so much.
And if you're listening to this and you're new and you just listen to Mandy say how
she gets to have these three feed meals and get leaner.
Well, so it's it.
It isn't it isn't like I think that first of all, it's high level.
And so don't attempt that thinking it will help you break through a plateau.
And if you're coaching yourself, I think that you really have to know your body to
be able to implement your own refeeds.
That's why we have coaches.
But I can tell for myself when I get to that point.
And refeeds are great.
They're a tool.
They can really help you.
They also can be not if they're not implemented.
properly, then you're then you're not going to they're not going to help your
body do anything, I think it's a certain point in your body composition and in your
prep, after you've been training long enough that a refeed does actually
accelerate fat loss, it does help with training, it does just move things along.
And it's a phenomenon that's like really difficult to
to decide for each individual when that could be.
Because I'll get sometimes people ask me, what's your philosophy on cheat meals?
And when do you implement refeeds?
And it's so different for every person.
And even for me as an athlete, it's been different every single prep I've done.
It's been different where it's been something that has helped.
It's been something that.
know, didn't make an impact at all.
It was maybe done for more like emotional or psychological purposes of like, hey,
you've been doing this a long time.
This will help you mentally push through if you're becoming really food focused.
But I think what you're really saying is that your experience in this prep and it's
probably because you've been at this a long time.
You did start in September.
We're now in March that now like with your body composition and where your metabolism
is like this is helping your body, you know, progress and make greater changes.
And so I
think if someone's hearing this and they're like, oh, Mandy gets to have a
repeat every single week and she's losing body fat, it's you know, you have to
consider the entire picture of what's what you've been doing.
to preface two really big things.
One, keep in mind what I said before, I only had a refeed meal the beginning of
December and not until February.
So, and that's through holidays.
That's no drinking.
That's the same, it's the same sleep schedule, same lifting, same consistent
food.
And when I say consistent food, I mean consistency.
Like if I find that these proteins, veggies, and carbs agree with me, that's
what I eat.
It's that black and white like it is a hundred percent that black and white.
I don't even try to as I get closer I don't even try to experiment with
different things that and also my offseason I just put on a lot more muscle
than I've ever had before and so that is also a new Adventure for me with this prep
because I've gone through many preps where I don't do a refeed meal like I just flat
-out don't do it like you said I've I've eaten something different than my prep
because maybe I'm on vacation and I'm stuck I forgot my food, you know
I was new at this too before like I would forget something or not pack something But
I have a lot more muscle and it so it's it's not only a different It's like it's
just a different body style and so my body is reacting completely different than it's
ever reacted and so between like the discipline and the lifting heavier and the
muscle composition It's just what's happening.
But yeah, it's not too I don't think it's too common to be this close but in
do that but if you're like you said everybody's different you never know you
always want to talk to your coach always always always communicate with your coach
they need to know what's going on
And I think also you're saying like you have some pretty set guidelines about that
refeed meal.
Like it isn't like you're just going to go and there's no structure to the day
leading into that meal.
There's no structure to the day following.
There's no structure guidelines with what you eat.
Like you have a way that you train leading into that day and then how you how you
supplement and the water that you drink that day and partition those calories
later in the day that you can spend them on that refeed meal.
And then the next what the next day looks like.
Like there is.
Um, you know, a lot of detail and thought that goes into it.
It's not just like, Oh, just go and have like, whatever.
Because I remember a hundred years ago when I first started bodybuilding, I
always do that.
Don't I always say a hundred years?
Like, you're like, Oh, she's, she's 144 years old.
Um, so we're really on time ago when I first got into bodybuilding, um, there was
this phenomenon and talked about in gyms and among coaches.
And it was like a cheat day.
And it was legit from the minute you woke up until the minute you went to bed, you
ate whatever you wanted.
And the
Yes, this was like probably the early 2000s.
And the, the idea was that that was, you know, going to be good for your
metabolism.
And all it did was just kept you right.
You're at, because you would, you know, be so structured and have all this, you know,
the discipline throughout the week for six days.
And then you had one day where you just ate like an asshole.
And then, you know, like you're spending the next three days burning all of that
off.
Like you put yourself in such a surplus that, you know, it doesn't really help.
It doesn't get you any fat loss progress
us.
And that's kind of where, like when our clients will talk to us about weekends and
how weekends are their like downfall.
If you fall off your diet on Friday night and then you continue to just eat whatever
on Saturday and Sunday, but then Monday morning, you get right back on.
And then you're frustrated after a certain amount of time that you haven't lost any
weight.
Like you've really only been at a deficit for a few days because if you go over for
three days, it takes about 72 hours.
I'm just guessing.
I mean, not guessing, but that's being very rough in general, but about that
time.
to burn through that food before you're now into a deficit and you're able to
actually burn body fat.
So if that's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, burning through the food from the weekend
and then Thursday, you're back in a deficit burning fat Thursday, but then
Friday night you're out doing whatever you only burn fat one day that week.
So when you're talking about your refeed, how much of a surplus are you going into?
Not that much.
Like, you know, you have dinner calories that you can use and then you're
two meals.
Yeah, I take two meals.
the calories of two meals.
So it's really not setting you into such a surplus that it's impossible for your body
to, you know, make progress.
I think what's happening is it's stimulating your metabolism.
And then the next day you have a great training session, your body tightens up.
It loves the food.
So and your coach is taking it week by week, check in by checking.
You know, if it wasn't working that way, she wouldn't, you know, be recommending
that.
So it's very individualized.
to be really mentally, you do have to be mentally disciplined, because I am not
gonna lie.
There's many times, I was talking to Carson about this, there's many times
where I'm like, okay, well, I do my check -in on Monday morning, and she tells me,
okay, you can have a refeed and I do a carb cycle too on a different day.
But if I know I can have a refeed meal, I am not gonna lie, my brain automatically
as I'm like making my kids food and like put on like, oh well if I eat, if I eat
this, is it really gonna matter?
And it just happens so fast and it's like you can't think like that.
Like you can't.
If you just go at it and just like, oh well I know I can have a surplus of
calories because I can have a refeed meal, I'm just gonna snack here and snack here
and snack here and it's just, you're gonna lose track of it and it's not gonna be.
It's not gonna be structured and it's gonna be messy and what so the scariest
part and this is maybe why I Started like having all of these guidelines with it is
because I created all of those myself my coach was just like this is what you do
and I was like but what happens if I Like lose my mind like lose my shit and like
just oh, I want this and this this and this this Okay
what's gonna happen to my gut?
What's gonna happen to how I feel the next day?
Am I gonna get sick?
Am I gonna get irritable?
Is something gonna not feel right?
I gotta do check -in.
What if I'm four or five pounds up, hot, mess, stomach, ache, don't feel good,
gotta go to the gym?
I still have my cardio I have to do.
I don't want that.
That's not sustainable for my goal.
That's not.
At the end of the day, you gotta prioritize your goal.
And so if you structure your goal,
yourself to be successful, then you have all of these things you can do.
And I feel like sometimes being structured and disciplined gets such a bad rep
because it's like, oh, don't you just wish you could do whatever you want?
Like, I did whatever I want when I was in my early 20s and it didn't work well for
me.
I mean, of course, that was fun.
Like,
enough chaos and craziness in my life with my big family.
Like I'm like, no, I'm good.
Like, no, I don't feel that way.
But.
like, and how, I'm sorry, but like, how many times do we talk to women and they're
like, they...
They're burning the candle at both ends and they don't even know how to sit down
and watch a movie because they're running around like crazy.
But if you actually structure everything and organize everything to the best of
your abilities, okay?
How great is sitting down and watching that movie for two hours like hanging out
with your family and just knowing that like there is nothing to do for that two
hours except like hang out with your family because you structured everything.
Whereas like you're trying to make yourself sit on the couch and you're like,
oh my gosh, you gotta do this and this and this.
and you're running around with your head chopped off, like are you ever actually
relaxing?
So it goes back to like, okay, is being structured really that bad?
Yeah, I think that it's just, you know, in your personality type, if you feel like,
you know, too...
being too structured is not how you like to live your life, then that's totally
fine.
You shouldn't tell somebody that they should be less structured if that makes
them happy.
I think for me, I love the structure because then I can truly focus on
everything else.
I don't have to think about what I'm eating.
I don't have to worry about what time I'm going to the gym.
I know when I go to the gym, I know when I'm eating, my groceries couldn't be
easier because I know exactly what I need.
And when I'm running out, I know exactly what to get.
So I feel like I've positioned myself to make it
something that isn't selfish because I'm not thinking about it.
Like I don't really have to worry.
My coach tells me to do I do what he says.
I don't I don't have to think about it.
Also, I think by staying structured, I don't have to worry about catching up at
the end because I didn't do what I was supposed to do.
Like and then eating into family time because I have to do extra cardio or I
have to train more or you know, I'm miserable because I'm starving because I
fucked around and didn't do what I was supposed to do.
Like the structure just honestly makes it easier for somebody that's got
a busy family to be able to be successful in this sport.
But I don't know, I think it's funny when people will just knock that and you know,
but that's probably just because they can't picture it for them or they don't
have the same goal and that's that that's okay.
Like this isn't for everybody and you know, if you don't understand, you know, I
think it's just kind of like, you know, you don't have to knock somebody for
wanting to do that, you know.
Yeah, I've had plenty of soccer moms.
who I get along great with and they will be drinking alcohol at the soccer field
right next to me while I'm eating my meal prep food and we'll crack jokes and have a
great time.
You can accept people for who they are and still have a good time with them and spend
time with them and be friends with them.
They don't have to have the same goals and mindset and structure like you have to.
And it's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that.
You just accept people for who they are and just be happy.
Be happy with yourself.
I think at the end of the day that's what it's all about.
If you're happy not being structured and doing whatever, that's great.
And then if the person next to you is super rigorous and structured and has
everything on their calendar, that's great for them.
It's all about just being happy.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
I think that it's just it's how you how you handle it, too.
I mean, if you're like sitting there and you're like, oh, I can't have this and
you're making like such a big thing of it, then you're just going to be a bummer for
everybody to be around.
But.
need to do a separate episode for that.
Don't be a dick.
So if you are listening and you are relatively new to the sport of
bodybuilding,
and you are just feeling the negativity because it is so easy to get negative.
It is 100 % so easy to be like, oh, I gotta do more cardio.
I gotta go lift weights.
I can't eat that burger.
I can just keep going.
You become such a dick to everybody around you and it's so annoying.
And then, no, and then you become a dick to yourself because you're like, is this
even worth it?
Do I even look good?
It's like this negative downward spiral.
It's just not good and there's no reason for it.
You get to do cardio, you get to do the sport, you get to eat healthy, you get to
make good choices, you get to do this.
It's something you get to do and you get to choose to do.
If you're gonna be a dick about it, why choose to do it?
What is the point?
Because you will quickly learn that people may start this for their physique, but
they don't continue it for their physique.
Yeah, it takes a lot more to continue in this for a longer period of time than just
like looking good.
That's not the motivator over.
I mean, initially, probably, you know, but I think, you know, once people really when
people really develop a passion for it to where they've got years and years invested
in the sport and they it's just something that they do.
It's just a huge piece of their life.
Like it's about so much more than that.
And I think that it's.
It's mindset so important, like you can really go down negative tangents.
And certainly when you get close to the show and you get, you know, nervous
because you can't control the scoring, you don't know who's going to show up and it's
it feels like a lot of pressure.
It's exciting and it's a lot of fun, but it's still it's been a lot of work to get
there.
So that might be weighing heavy on your mind.
Also, you've got to get everybody organized before you have your show day.
I mean, before I leave for a trip, I stalk the pantry, I write out schedules and make
sure everybody knows what they need to be.
be while I'm gone.
And so all of that, you know, because I mean, that's, I work from home, you know,
I run the schedules and I keep everybody really organized and I'm happy to do that
for my family.
But when I am leaving for something for myself, I want to make sure to be set up
to be successful before I leave.
And so, you know, all of that, it can be very stressful.
And then, you know, you don't sleep that great when your body fat's really low.
It's just, you don't get into that deep, good, really restful sleep.
You might a couple of times a week, but you know, typically you're
not sleeping that well when maybe your belly's growling at bedtime and I'm just
talking about the last little bit.
So yeah it's natural to get a little bit hangry and whatnot but at the end of the
day this is a choice and it's a hobby it's an expensive hobby it's totally worth it
but you have to be considerate of the people around you that they might be like
why are you doing this then like if you're so miserable then this and then children
too like
I don't want my kids to be like, why are you putting yourself through this?
Like, you know, mommy's grumpy.
You know, I just don't want them to to look at something that I'm working so hard
for.
But all along the way, I bitched and moaned about it.
And you can easily get yourself in that place, but you can just as quickly be
like, you know, complaining doesn't do anything anyway.
So why even waste your energy on it?
Don't even say it.
I catch myself so many times wanting to say that I'm tired or that I'm worn out.
And I just stop because I'm like, I don't.
I don't want to give into that energy and there's nothing to do about it anyways.
Like nothing's slowing down.
I might as well just keep on pushing.
So.
like that 100 % too.
Like if my cardio goes up or something happens, it's like, I am just like, oh,
okay.
Like, I'll just watch an extra little bit of my favorite show.
And I just, you know, simplicity is always my motto.
Simplicity and calmness.
Like, it's just, food is simple.
I...
feisty and short and like, you know, and you're just like, everything's great.
Everything's fine.
I...
I don't know.
Like, I honestly can't explain it, but I just am.
I try to stay like super mellow all the time.
I think it's because I just really do enjoy the process.
Like, I enjoy my food, I enjoy the cooking, I love watching my body
transform.
That's always been like the most fascinating part of it.
No matter at which prep I do or anything, it's always just really fascinating to see
like how much control we have over something.
And I think that's a, it is.
It's really interesting because, you know, we live in a world where we only have so
much control over so many things.
and nutrition and how we move our body and working out, we have 100 % control over
it.
And it's fascinating what we can really do with it.
Whether it's changing our physique or it's for health reasons, pre -diabetes is
curable with food.
It is.
There's so many metabolic issues that are very curable with food.
There are so many mental, I don't wanna say diseases or anything like that, but
there's a lot of
of things we can do with food that is just not emphasized or it's just not talked
about.
So I just always found that fascinating.
That's actually what took me to like the world of bodybuilding was first, it was
first in the nutrition part of it.
Bye.
I agree.
I think that's why I'm still here in my 40s because, you know, I think there was a
time when there was...
A lot of girls coming forward talking about how negative being in an extreme
caloric deficit was for their physiques and all of the things that the sport of
bodybuilding had done.
You know, and I'm talking about just sort of like this was probably like four or
five years ago when everybody was big on the breast implant illness, which is
definitely a problem that and a disease that people have.
But it was grabbing at straws, going like, what's going on with me?
like how come my body responded this way?
And really honestly, I just think there wasn't enough knowledge about knowing how
important it was to take breaks and how important it was to have a healthy off
season.
And you weren't seeing that.
What you were seeing was this run of like seven national shows on a quest for a pro
card, and then their metabolism and hormones were trashed.
And then a big rebound with not a good structured reverse diet or off season, and
then a big extreme prep again.
And that was going on so much.
So this was again, four or five years ago, a lot of
you were seeing that on social media about the negative sides of bodybuilding.
But I think now because we're more knowledgeable about hormones and more like
looking at things like, hey, you know, if your cycle is missing for a long time,
that's not okay.
And sort of preventing things from getting really out of control.
So I forget where I was going with that.
Well, to go off your, like I was one of those people, like I lost my cycle for
like several months and it took me, you know, it's her food, getting it back and
talking to different doctors and different things.
But I will say like this prep, I haven't lost my, like I'm completely regular.
Like everything's regular.
Everything is fine.
My whore.
you were smart enough to know, OK, I have lost my cycle now.
It's definitely my body is telling me something.
And if you can't listen to your body, then I think that's the bigger issue.
And maybe now there's more awareness of that, like things you should be looking
for and knowing when you need to take a break versus like, you know, ignoring all
of that and pushing through, because I want to be continuing to do this and
seeing all the benefits and the health side of it.
You know, and I think that was what I was going to say about just being in my 40s.
Yeah.
benefits of it.
Well, and I know we speak a lot to like masters, obviously, because like bikinis
after babies, but I also want to, I really want to preface, like if you're listening
and you're, even if you're younger, like in your early, late twenties, and you may
not have kids yet, but like you're listening because like you're getting
ready for a show or getting ready to step on stage, understand like you're going to
be in circles.
Like you may not be as like, as kind of like we were talking about having like a
cheer circle that's supportive.
I have soccer moms and friends that are supportive.
My journey did not start like that.
Like it,
did not.
I had family support, which was fine.
They were good.
They were like, you do you.
When I started my first prep I was 26, but I did not have the friends support.
I had quite a bit of questions.
I was very much grilled.
I was very much, what do people say, blacklisted almost?
So I decided to go on this health journey for myself and my friends.
The people I surrounded myself with congratulated me.
They were like, oh,
Oh, good job, like you go to the gym.
It's like, oh, when can you come to the bar?
Like it was really that fast.
It's like, are you done at the gym?
So you can come to the bar, come to the bar, come to the bar.
And when I decided to go into a prep, I obviously couldn't come to the bar.
So I wouldn't do that.
And...
It was just like after a while, I just never got invited to anything and nobody
wanted to do anything else.
As much as I would be like, well let's go do this or this or this.
It's like nobody wanted to do that.
Nobody would communicate with me.
And then it would be summer and I just won't forget this because it was shocking
to me because I compare it to now.
But I was competing in August and it was summer.
And of course, so by this time I had abs.
My abdominal section always, my abs come in pretty fast.
I hold more fat around my thighs and glutes.
But anyways.
My friends, they didn't want to come to the pool with me.
They did not want to hang out with me.
I wasn't getting drunk at the pool on Sundays with them.
I wasn't having Sunday fun day.
That was just, I would get just grilled.
I would have a lot of questions.
It's not that I lost, it hurt.
It hurt my feelings.
It really did.
It was very upsetting.
I was young and I was like, I love doing this.
I'm having fun.
I swear, I feel good, but I'm not.
Like, it's not being shown, I guess.
And my friends that have been around me for so long aren't accepting of it.
And I'm not getting invited to things, and I'm seeing pictures of them out, and I'm
not included.
I think...
God, like I just thank everything.
I thank God, I thank everybody.
Cause now I slowly grew out of that.
I accepted the fact that I wasn't gonna get invited to the things and let my
feelings be hurt.
I got older.
I met more people cause I got older.
And I have just been so blessed to make that decision to let those negative people
go and accept the people that have now came in my life who,
are just so amazing.
They're just absolutely amazing.
And...
hard though when you're in it to be able to see that that is really where your life
is taking you and just kind of feeling like alienated from all of your friends.
I think it's definitely hard when your friend circle is, you know, maybe not so
health and fitness minded and then all of a sudden you're left out because you're
the fitness girlie and nobody wants to invite you to brunch because you're not
going to be drinking.
And I think that is that's really hard.
I've seen that in a lot of my clients where, you know, they're just their friend
group.
as they start to prioritize their health.
And I think that's okay.
I think if people love you, then they'll support you and understand.
And if they don't support you and they don't understand, I think you probably
have the wrong friends.
And that's hard, especially if they've been around a long time.
And I'm not saying that people can't change and like learn to really
understand.
I've definitely had people come back around and go like, man, when you were in
the beginning of the fitness journey, I know I wasn't supportive, but now it's
something that I'm really interested in.
I'm sorry, you know?
And that's just, that's where they were at at the time.
But it's just like,
you know, if you want to level up, you just, you can't.
You can't feel bad about, you know, leveling up and then people not wanting to
come with you and they have a chance to grow to anybody can grow and and make
better choices.
And also, I feel like this is this is what I was going to say earlier was that I'm
not sitting around judging other people's food ever.
I don't care what you have in your grocery cart.
If you're in line behind me, I don't care what you order at lunch.
I'm not thinking about your food or what you're doing.
People will always say that like, oh, it's my cheat meal.
I'm like, I don't care.
I didn't even notice you were eating cookies.
Now I'm noticing because you said something about it.
I'm really not.
I don't think about it.
People will be like, oh, this is my Gmail.
Or, oh, I'm just gonna eat this.
And I'll be like, that looks delicious.
I like to say something positive to them because it's okay.
I don't think about it.
It's okay.
Uh -uh.
Like I'm not I don't care what anyone else does, but you know, you you see people
kind of just they look at you and then they're kind of like, oh, like this is not
all for me.
I'm like, I don't care.
I didn't even notice, you know, and I hate that part of it because I don't want for
people to think that, you know, because I'm prioritizing my fitness goals at all
of a sudden, I'm like, you know, harshly judging what other people are doing.
I really don't notice at all.
I don't.
I don't really, I had enough going on in between these ears with this blonde hair.
I probably like thinking about something totally random that isn't related to
anything going on because that's how my brain works.
But I, you know, that's one thing where, you know, I just feel like just cause I'm
making a choice to drink a diet Coke or just water.
It doesn't mean that I give a shit that you had seven beers.
I have had it.
Have a good time.
I've done that.
I've been there.
I've done that plenty.
Trust me.
So.
Well, Jillian, we're touching almost an hour.
It's crazy when we do this.
minutes that we talked before we even went live on this episode,
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We definitely appreciate all of you guys listening and all the comments and
messages you send us.
If there is anything you ever want us to touch on, please, please feel free to
comment.