Diet and Workout Advice from a Fitness + Bikini Model

Many men and women ask me for the quick and easy tips on how to “get into shape”. So, here’s my experience with fitness and nutrition.

Keep tight on your diet.
I mean it. If you binge, it shows and consistency is the name of the game. Diets don’t work after 3 days! I take 12-16 weeks to prepare for my physique competitions because fat loss is a slow, steady grind of dragging myself to the gym day after day, week after week, feeding my body only what is considered clean food.

Cut the booze.
But I can't! How can I socialize without it?! ~Because it will make you fat, that's why. And you don't want to be the fat, drunk friend do you?

But in all seriousness, alcohol is a huge detriment to your diet because of the empty calories and the fact at that it's a liquid calorie, you often don't realize the impact. A Long Island Ice Tea is 700 calories. A typical burger is also 700 calories. (!)

Eat a good high protein/low fat diet with a moderate calorie intake.
Women: you want curves? Those are not fat pockets, honey. That’s muscle. Men: What do women want? Men with strong, healthy bodies. Your diet is 80% of the hard work and you need to fuel the body properly after all of those hours of working out. We have all seen those folks at the gym who are there regularly but why do they look the same year after year? Why do the experts of body transformations, bodybuilders, can change their physical composition in such a short time? Watch your portions, keep it high in clean proteins like chicken, fish, lean beef, etc, low carbs (potatoes, rice, breads), low fats (butter, oils, animal fats).

Eat lots of veggies.
Yes, veggies are healthy we all know that. But the real tangible benefits for me are when I’m trying to keep my calories controlled veggies are the least calorie dense food around, they fill me up with lots of fiber, keeps your system nice and clean, and don’t give me food coma like a typical snack can.

Let’s compare:
100g of raw veggies is typically around 10-30 calories
100g of fries is 294 calories

Drink at least 4L of water/day
Water keeps your skin clear, body working properly, and feeling full. When you are hungry, guzzle water and stick to your scheduled meal plan.

Start with 30 min. cardio at a high intensity and move up as you develop endurance
I like to do a HIIT stairstepper routine where I go all out for 1 minute (10 in effort), slow it down to a 7 in effort for the next minute, repeat for the next 30 minutes. When I need to step it up for competition prep, I’ll throw in a 30 minute steady state stationary bike session each morning. I’m also a fan of workout DVDs because of the convenience/machine boredom factor so mix it up, do whatever it takes to keep motivated.

Determine a weight training split that works for you, go heavy, and stick to it.
I used a 5 day body part split for most of my training: legs, back, arms, chest, shoulders and killed it on each of those days. Here’s an example of a weekly program:

Monday - Quads/Calves:
· Machine Leg Press 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Lunges 4 sets x 12 reps
· Machine Leg Extensions 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Standing Calf Raises 3 sets x 15 reps

Tuesday - Back:
· Machine Lat Pulldown 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Rows 4 sets x 12 reps
· Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns 4 sets x 12

Wednesday - Cardio Only or Rest

Thursday - Chest/Shoulders:
· Cable Crossovers 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Flies and DB Press superset 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Lateral Raises 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Front Raises 4 sets x 12 reps

Friday – Triceps/Biceps:
· Cable Pushdowns 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Kickbacks 4 sets x 12 reps
· Tricep Dips off a bench 4 sets x 12 reps
· DB Hammer Curls 4 sets x 12 reps
· Standing DB Curls 4 sets x 12 reps

Saturday – Cardio Only or Rest

Sunday – Hamstrings
· One Leg in Air Pelvic Pop 4 sets x 12 reps
· Cable Lying Leg Curls 4 sets x 12
· Barbell Stiff-leg Deadlifts 4 sets x 12

Abs Workout Every other day
· Bicycle crunches 4 sets x 20 reps
· Medicine ball leg lifts 4 sets x 20 reps
· Medicine ball shuffle around seated pike legs 4 sets x 20 reps
· Side bends or machine torso rotation 4 sets x 12-15 reps

I squeeze in a session of yoga when I can to maintain flexibility.
I totally thought that yoga was way too slow paced for my hyper active personality. Then one day I gave it a try and I was impressed with the challenge it actually was. I also felt much more relaxed physically which in turn gave me more energy and enthusiasm to do my bodybuilding routine.