My NPC Bikini Debut!

by Kris Pitcher

I had a really fun weekend competing in the NPC Washington State Open. Coming off a week of travel to DC, the "other" Washington...I was glad to be in my home state.

My personal goals were to: meet up with my husband coming from different directions having everything we needed; not fall off my shoes; remember my turns; have a good time; get qualified.

How'd I do? I met each of the above goals. It was really fun to manipulate the body (or not), for a completely different look. Put a different cut of suit on me, fill me up with water, feed me...shoot, I even got my period Saturday morning. Sorry.

My master's class was full of great ladies and I took 2nd place. The open class was even more FULL, of great, YOUNG, ladies and I earned myself 3rd place.

With all the dirty laundry washed and contest supplies re-packed, I am ready to head out to Las Vegas for the NPC USA's. It's the big one. Peak week has begun, and so has the manipulation of my macros, my water, sodium...etc. All the magic. By the end of the week, I will look COMPLETELY different from these photos here. I'll compete in figure and we'll see how things go!

43 doesn't look too shabby standing next to a bunch of twenty-somethings ;) So went my bikini debut!

bikini master's top 5

bikini open top 5

 

 



Will Power and Dieting

by Kris Pitcher

Having spent the week in Washington DC, the national headquarters of my organization, with many of my colleagues from across the country...I heard one comment several times. Following two back to back conversations about it yesterday at dinner - one to my left, and one to my right - I feel compelled to remind us of something.

Now, today I'll fly to the other Washington where I will compete this weekend in a contest. Regardless of competing THIS weekend, I always travel with my food. You know that. I show up for all my sessions with my little cooler and every two hours I'm having my meals.

"You have a lot of will power!" I hear. Well I'm going to let you in on a secret. There is no such thing as will power. I don't have any "thing" different from any one else. It doesn't exist.

I'm simply driven by my goals, connected to them by my personal values, and accountable to myself to show up on stage without a fat ass. Period. I'm the one who controls that whether there are pastries at the break in sessions or not.

So, at dinner last night when I asked the waiter for an organic kale salad with nothing on it, I got a blank stare. Dressing? No. Dried cranberries? No thank you. Pear slices? No. Nothing. And they brought me what I asked for. It's not will power to take out the goodies that would have come on the salad. It's simply meeting my needs. Pine nuts? Not on my plan, Goat cheese? I wish. Just the greens.

But the reality is anyone could do it. You just have to want to. There is no will power. Don't be fooled by the myth.

Pre Contest Travel

by Kris Pitcher

Without fail, I end up with work related travel right before a competition. This one is no exception. I'm off to DC for an amazing work opportunity, which takes me from the comforts of home (sans stove), the week before a show.

Thursday of this week I'll fly into Seattle where I'll do a local show over the weekend. We decided to stick a bikini on me and see what happens going in fully hydrated, fully fed, just for fun. Planning for travel can be easy if you know before you go.

Those of you who know me know I take what I need. I pre-cook, weigh, and freeze individual protein portions. Each day of travel is separated out into a gallon freezer bag, and everything goes in the deep freeze.

My meals for travel day are packed in "take along" plastic containers, unfrozen. All that frozen food keeps itself stable for a full day of travel. If I'm lucky enough to have a mini refrigerator at the hotel, great. If not, I can pack with ice for up to three days safely. Never had a problem.

It's always a bit like urban camping. I don't always get to select the hotel, or it's amenities. But you can do a lot with a coffee maker. If you can make hot water, you can prepare a lot of things, and you can even (sort of) defrost frozen chicken.

If you know me, you also know I don't really care if my food is slightly frozen. Better to have chicken-sicles than room-temperature warm food. It's just fuel. Prepare and take what you need. Everything I need for 3-4 days fits in a shoulder style cooler which fits easily under the seat in front of me on the plane.

My husband says I take more food than clothes on trips, and he's right. It's all about having what I need to have. If I'm lucky, I'll find some veggies along the way. A salad here or there, or a store to buy something. Ultimately, it doesn't matter as long as I've got my protein.

I'm off! A week of great work stuff in a great city, followed by a contest this weekend. Then we turn around and get ready to head off for the big one, the NPC USA's. Don't let travel throw you, just think of it as an opportunity to get creative. It's also great practice for when you'll travel to your next show!
 

Half A Mind

by Kris Pitcher

I have half a mind right now to tell the electrician installing an outlet...not to let me eat anything. He doesn't know about my diet, what's on my plan, or what I'm supposed to be eating.

Yet, at this very moment...he may be the only thing standing between me and my imaginary eating frenzy. It is imaginary. What, you ask is an electrician doing in my kitchen? Well, why wouldn't you rip out your stove three, maybe four weeks out from a competition?

Or just when you are about to begin your diet, as in my husband's case. Yet, there the old stove sits in the living room leaving a gaping hole in the kitchen. "Don't worry, honey, I'll bbq everything." he said as we began the project. We're closing in on two weeks now.

In all fairness, my oven quit working. So what do you do when it won't come up to temperature and it's lived a good 5 years past it's expected life span? You tear it out and begin a kitchen project. Diet or no diet.

And this is how I learned to bbq egg whites. In full disclosure, the bbq has a side burner...so the only real challenge is ensuring I have neighborhood appropriate attire on when I'm ready to go out there. It can be a challenge.

The truth is though, I don't have to tell the electrician to keep his eye on me and make sure I don't eat anything. I can do that myself. It's just my ravenous imagination that can get the best of me in these hard times, difficult times, times when I have half a mind.

This is when I remind myself, hard things are hard. This is not easy. It's been going on for a long time now. I'm not talking about the stove installation, I'm talking about my competition diet. So, hard things are hard, stove or no stove. I can cook what I need, and eat what I need. Without a watchful eye. This I know, even with just half a mind.

Hyper Focused

by Kris Pitcher

At under three weeks out to the NPC USA's...I'm hyper focused. My problem is, my brain was ready to be done June 15th after Jr's. Bridging these two contests has been a mental engineering feat fit for a thesis project.

I've stayed on plan. My eating, lifting and cardio have been on point. My objectivity however has gone out the window. If it were up to me, I'd tell you I'm softer, fatter and smaller. None of that can be true? Well, all of that can't be true? Self doubt.

This is where I am grateful to have a solid coach who has eyes I trust. It's where I'm grateful to enact the strength not to plunge up to my elbows in the peanut butter jar. It's when I thank my lucky stars to have accountability to myself, and to everyone out there watching. Both of you.

Tired. Uncertain. Hungry. Unable to concentrate. Did I mention tired? I told my husband I had been thinking about the number of weeks I'd been dieting, but was afraid to count them up. I'm ready to work on the things I know I need to improve. I'm ready for my off season.

I've never wanted to cheat so bad in my life. Yes, I'm "normal". I haven't. But, I've wanted to. More meat. A handful of nuts. Anything. I just want more. I crave meat and fats. I see the end in my sights and I know I just need to get through.

I'm at the point where I can't tell if I've made any additional progress. I can't determine if I'm holding on to what I have, if I'm slipping, or just...existing. The competitor's haze. It's hazy in my head. My eyes can't see. And I almost have to stop looking.

Do I look washed out? Am I holding water? And really, none of that matters today. None of it matters until Saturday the 27th when I'll take the stage with hundreds of other competitors. That will be the day it matters. Not today.

Today, all I have to do is get through each meal, drink my water, get through work, do my workout, complete my cardio...rest. All I have to do is focus on this moment. And if I'm hyper focused on this very moment, let it be.

It's the sum of all the moments which get you to the stage. The months, the weeks, the days, the moments. The sum. And in these small moments, I am reminded...I choose to compete at this level. Those reminders may come more rapidly in the next two weeks. I choose. I choose. And focused I will be. For that very reason my brain and my body are not done, we've got one more big one around the corner.

Find your focus. Remind yourself why you've chosen to do what you are doing. Trust your advisers. Get yourself to your goal by being hyper focused...even if it means you're in a haze.

Hedging Holidays

by Kris Pitcher

Another big on is here! The holiday we love to celebrate all week long with parties and bbq's, camping trips and coolers full of refreshments. How can you stay on track when all this celebration is going on around you?

It's easy. Do what you're supposed to do. Eat what you are supposed to eat. Eat what is on your plan. That means being prepared and taking your food with you. Whether it's for the game, or the entire weekend away, pack what you need to stay on track.

Being on course doesn't happen by accident. It happens because you plan it, and you do it. It won't happen for you, and it won't happen if your head is in the sand. Get your game plan together and you can navigate the happiest of summer celebrations.

You need a drinking game. Game plan that is. Once you start drinking, you're in trouble. So, if you intend to stay on plan...make a plan not to indulge in adult beverages. Take things you can drink. The reality is, no one cares if you're drinking or not. If you don't make a big deal about it, they won't either.

Enjoy the company. Stay away from the buffet of food and enjoy the people at the party. If you hover at the chip station, you're going to be dipping. Be smart. Remember why you've all gathered, to be together.

Family can be stressful. Know what triggers your stress level. When you are stressed out, you eat/drink etc. Being aware of what is going to stress you out is part of the plan. If going to the party at aunt so-and-so's is going to push you over the edge, go for a short time with an exit plan.

Don't over commit. You don't have to go to seven parties in one weekend. Control your social calendar so you can fit your workouts, your sleep, your food prep etc. into your schedule. Keep your priorities in order.

Holidays can be an excuse for a drunken food-fest, or an invitation to enjoy family, friends, and the spirit of celebration. Get your holiday plan together ahead of time. Make it count for you not against you. Happy Independence Day!

Peanut Butter and Travel

by Kris Pitcher

In preparation for air travel, I had given him a 1 quart zipper bag for his liquid items. "My deodorant goes in here right?" he asks me. "No, your deodorant is a solid, it's not a liquid." I reply.

"But it's the same as peanut butter." he says. "And, they don't let you have peanut butter." Hmm? I wasn't quite sure where this was going. My brain wasn't making the leap between solid deodorant and peanut butter...which is more of a creamy (delicious) paste.

In his defense, I've done some tricky things through TSA security. Although, putting peanut butter on my under arms isn't one of them. There was the time I stuffed the fruit cakes at the bottom of his backpack. Hey? They're heavy. Boy, did that set off some crazy alarms. We found ourselves explaining the history of fruit cake. Really? You don't even know what it is?

There were the undeclared scuba weights. That was his idea. I'm pretty sure the scuba company would have weights for us once we arrived at our destination. But he carried lead weights through security and caused a near cavity search. His cavities.

Another trip uncovered the Lange skinfold calipers in his backpack. The agents held them up and we were afraid (to the tune of $400) they would drop them as they dangled them around discussing what they possibly might be. I joked and asked if they wanted their body fat measured. Never joke with TSA.

On our most recent trip he was pulled aside for additional screening. Profiled due to his beard. It's the price you pay for expressing your facial hair freedom. His deodorant made it through just fine.

What he wasn't aware of on the way home on that same trip was, I walked right through security with...peanut butter. Yes, that is right! I had packed a number of meals in the cooler for our travel day and in his two meals I packed chicken, rice and threw a giant dollop of peanut butter on the top.

I added this topping of nutty yumminess prior to throwing out the peanut butter jar in our hotel room. Packed the cooler, and quietly, discreetly, walked right through security. HA! There had to be 2 tablespoons, at least, on each one. Well over one ounce!

Now, I've traveled with food through security many, many, many times. It's different each time. It depends on the day, the time of day, the agent, the ambient air temperature and a number of other factors. This particular trip, I had no problem with my small frozen ice pack, or anything for that matter.

As you prep for travel with food, go by the rules...as I usually do. You'll ensure your deodorant, and your liquids make it through just fine. One ounce at a time. Skip the peanut butter.