Want a healthy Prep?

Well I’m afraid that is kinda impossible… I don’t believe getting down to stage lean levels of condition is ever “healthy” However there are somethings we can do to keep it as healthy as possible.

Eat your fruits and veggies! yes the amount of food your body will be eating is less than what would be considered healthy but by prioritising micro nutrients and eating fruits and veg for carb sources you will stay a little more healthy, fruits and veg as you know are packed with vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants which not only will keep you feeling and looking fresh will also give you more energy too. yet they do contain some calories but its normally a very small amount for a pay off of much better health, recovery and energy.

Don’t cut out any macro nutrient surviving on just egg whites and white fish not only sounds grim but equally isn’t supporting your body either your body needs more than just protein to function correctly. lean sources of protein can be fantastic but equally we need fats (good fats) to ensure our hormonal system is functioning correctly. Our body also needs carbs to help both keep our muscles full but also to help assist in hormonal health and recovery.

Now long term loss of carbs, fats and micronutrients will also have a huge impact into the health of our bodies with some potentially horrific side effects so make sure even if you are going low carb/ fat for a short period of time you implement re-feeds and you push these nutrients back into the body from healthy sources post show.

Prioritising gut health I see this missed alot but poor gut health can lead to bloating and massive water retention but also fatigue, brain fog, bowel issues, depression, skin flare ups, raised blood pressure and lower immunity nothing there you want in prep or life in general so it is so important we stay on top of it. This may look like limiting sweetener consumption or cutting out some/all sweeteners entirely, playing close attention to the quality of whey sources or other supplements, cutting out foods you have an intolerance to. It could also mean adding supplements to aid in digestion as well or drinking more water, or products like apple cider vinegar and ginger. The biggest set off for poor gut health I see is “diet hack” foods as they’re so full of chemicals to produce something with little to no calories in and still have flavour.

Selecting healthy sources of carbs and Fats, now like I said we don’t want to be cutting them out at all but equally the foods we do want to be eating need to come from good sources cake contains both carbs and fats but that does not mean its good for us, try to chose a mix of both carb and fat sources, think nuts, seeds, avocado, some oils i.e olive, and fish. Potatoes, pumpkin, rice, bananas, carrot, apples are all healthy carb sources too. use a variety and try to pair carbs with fats to slow down the release.

Protein cant just be from whey sources, whey is a great source of protein and I use it in most my clients diet plans but try to have an array of different protein sources as well, this will enable you to recover better as you are having multiple amino acids from the different proteins. this will also keep your gut happier too. good protein sources are, chicken, eggs, beef, bacon medallions, fish, tofu, quern, beans and pulses.

Give yourself time to pull down don’t think you can get stage lean in 6 weeks you just cant you will end up being ill or not in condition with extremely low food and high cardio, spend time in the off season pushing food up and making sure your health markers are in place and the pull down slowly giving time for everything to click into place.

Do the inner work I think this is the most overlooked part of bodybuilding but bodybuilding can take you to some pretty dark places if you let it, the long days, the non stop work, being on it 24/7 constantly striving for better can get pretty exhausting, so take time to step back appreciate how far you have come and do the inner work on yourself whatever that looks like for you. For some people inner work in journaling, long walks in nature, cold sea dips, praying, crystal work, therapy, meditation, try out different things and see what works for you and commit to that because we don’t just want to protect our physical health but our mental health too.