Who Needs a Pat on the Back?

by Kris Pitcher

With eight weeks until the Night of Champions Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Bikini & Men's Physique competition...I thought I should A) Update you on my progress; and 2. Toot my own horn.

My covert dieting began May 1st. As the second born (who had to be scheduled - I like to sleep in), and an Aquarius - I need extra time. Having a healthy and productive off season under my belt, and my belly, I started at 138 pounds and 20.48% body fat. Now, I know you thought you'd never need to actually use math for something cool, but what that means is I had 28.26 pounds of adipose tissue - fat.

Each Saturday my husband and trainer to the stars, Jacques Pitcher, performs a Lange skinfold caliper test on me. And I do one on him just to reciprocate ;) Nothing like two exercise science geeks under one roof. But that's a whole other story. So, we track progress each week. Some weeks...bust. No budge in the overall number. This is why I know I need extra time and an objective coach.

Changes are happening, but they are not always measurable via the scale or calipers. This is why I'm grateful for the "objective eye". I'm fortunate to have a couple of pairs of objective eyes looking at me. Because my own certainly are not. Jacques as my trainer and coach is able to provide that for me. In addition to that, we are able to call in the eyes of his colleague and our friend, Todd Scott.

Todd Scott is a national level bodybuilder and a contest prep coach who has helped turn national competitors pro. Jacques is working with Todd this year to help him take his own training to the next level. Even trainers need a trainer/coach, you wouldn't represent yourself in court if you were a lawyer now would you?

Since May I've lost a total of 6.78% body fat, or 10.15 pounds of fat. So, 8 weeks out I'm sitting at 13.7% body fat and 132.25 pounds. I'm feeling good about my progress, and good about the next eight weeks. I'll be able to take my body fat lower than I've been able to in previous contest preps. This is the beauty of staying leaner off season, and in doing this more times.

Five days a week I'm doing 1.75 hours of cardio. I split that up in 40/45/20 increments. The sixth day I do an hour, and Sunday's I don't do any cardio. I walk and use the stepper. I think I'm the only one who knows what kind of car the paper delivery person drives. But I remind myself that my competition is also up at 5:00am training. We lift 6 days a week doing splits. As of two weeks ago I added up my cardio minutes and I'd done 4,895 minutes, which is 81.58 hours, or 3.41 straight days of cardio. That was with 10 weeks to go.

I still get a weekly cheat meal, which this week I began to look forward to on Wednesday. That's a little early. We have it as our last meal on Saturday night...and you guessed it - I make pizza. Stand back, don't touch my three pieces, and please don't ask me to get you anything while I'm eating it. I'm very focused (smile).

That's my update, and my pat on the back-horn tootin' report. I'm nervous and excited for this season. I hope as I work this fat off I uncover the hard work I put in off season to reveal a physique better than the one I presented last year. That's the goal. I appreciate every one's support and interest, comments and "go girl's" along the way - it helps me a lot!