Karma Corn

by Kris Pitcher

It was a random week night. Nothing special was going on. There was no celebration, no movie...just a week night. Quietly, I removed the cellophane wrapper and put the package in the microwave.

Knowing it would only be moments until I was "found out", I waited. Then the reaction came as the kernels began to pop. "I smell karma corn!" he said.

Caramel corn? I wish! We didn't have any caramel corn. What was he talking about? Then I walked into the living room with my bag of steamy hot corn. "It's karma corn because I ate that during your ENTIRE prep." he said laughing at me.

Yes, karma is, well you know. Now it's my husband who is dieting while I am not. The tide has turned. And I guess it's pay back time for those trips to McDonald's, for the grocery lists containing dark chocolate, for the raisins and dried cranberries...for the almond milk, and for the peanut butter slathered english muffins toasted to perfection.

But to tell you the truth, none of that phased me during my prep. I never felt deprived, or as if I was dealt an unfair hand. I had chosen my lot. My goals were mine.

This little bender of mine isn't going to last either. Don't get me wrong here, I haven't gone off the rails. The week after the USA's I packed my 4 meals and headed off to work each day. I simply added some extra goodies. Once I was home I finished my last 2 meals eating what I was supposed to eat.

I took a rest from cardio, but got my lifts in, ate my protein and enjoyed the mental break of restriction. Now I am back on plan. A new plan. My off season plan. It is structured, just as structured as a prep diet. The goals are just different.

There will still be a cheat meal each week where I can have something I've been looking forward to (or seen an ad for on TV). I'll still keep gluten and dairy out of my diet, it's working for me. But for my week of relaxed eating...I did enjoy my karma corn. Sorry honey, pay back is...well, you know!

What is an Off Season?

by Kris Pitcher

Recently I was asked, "What is an off season?" While it was a question from someone prepping for their first competition, I thought it was something worth thinking about. It's certainly a topic people think about in a lot of different ways.

For some, it simply means they are not dieting and training for a contest. They aren't specifically doing anything structured, and may even be off the rails elbow deep in chocolate martinis and tapas three nights a week.

For others, off season is a very opportunistic time to make changes in their physique. It's opportunistic because following your dieting and competitive phase, your body is primed to make gains. I've blogged about the chemistry of that.

People are comfortable with different levels of structure during their off season, and depending on the level at which you compete...that may be fine. I've never understood the person who starts working out at the 16 week point when they begin dieting for a contest. I don't get that? Why aren't you lifting all year?

Anyway, my off season is VERY structured. I want to take full advantage of the opportunity to make gains. And making gains takes time. That's why you can't compete month after month, provided you want to look any different. If you just want to look the same, go for it, although your metabolic systems may not be in great shape. That's another story.

I follow a structured diet seven days a week. My diet allows for a cheat meal. This season, we'll play with my macros a bit more than we've done in the past to see how my body reacts. It's a project. A fun project.

Our goal is to put some muscle on me. I've already said goodbye to my competition body. I've been too lean, for too long. I know that's gone. Bye-bye. No abs will be showing. Gone. Adios.

You need to be able to get your head straight during your off season. Adjusting your focus and your goals is critical. I'm fully aware I don't get to keep that contest ready body, and eat more. That would be crazy think.

It will take a solid year to make the changes we want to make in my physique. It. Takes. Time. Then I'll diet down and pick a contest. That's so far out, it's out of my head right now. My job is to rest, eat, and lift, and work, and clean, and cook...oh tangent...

But you get the idea. I need to focus on my off season. I need to put in the work to make my goals happen. Keeping my head straight as the competitors around me are getting all cut and lean, getting up on stage and bringing home the hardware will be my job. That's not where I am. I am in a different place. (A place where no skin will be showing, and where my cheeks will be full.)

You can think of time as a big circle. You may be prepping for a contest, you may be in off season, or you may be taking a short break from all of it where you aren't concerned about anything. But you can't be dieting all the time. You need to take time off, an off season, to make progress. It's when you give your systems a break.

You and your coach, if you have one, should be thinking about your off season BEFORE you hit the stage for your contest. If you don't have a plan for the days following your show, and the weeks after leading into your off season, I'd say you need a new coach - or you need to get a coach.

Knowing what you'll do right after your show will mean the difference between a horrible rebound, and taking advantage of your opportunity to make gains. It's all up to you how you utilize your off season. And what you bring to the stage next season will show all of us just what you decided.   

NPC USA's, I Have Arrived

by Kris Pitcher

What a season! Whew! I owe a huge thank you to those of you who have supported my efforts this year. Thank you for helping me take my competitive spirit to a higher level. And higher it was!

The NPC USA's in Vegas were big. The kind of big where you are issued your competitor number and it's in the high 600's. There were close to 1000 competitors, the best of the best. Things are organized, efficient and timely.

I was one of 3 competitors my husband had in the show, and he did a great job keeping track of us all, keeping us all eating the right things at the right times, and getting us to the right place at the right time. All the while, he was doing his cardio twice a day, getting his lifting in, and all his meals too. He's in diet mode himself. But this is about ME!

There were 22 ladies in the Figure C class. We presented in line ups of 7-9 doing quarter turns, then came out for our individuals doing front/model/back/model...then to the diagonal for call outs.

It was kind of like waiting to be picked for a kick ball team at recess in the fourth grade. Excruciating. You smile and pose with your hip positioned so the judging panel can see your number. You smile, and you smile. And you wait. Not in first call out.

Still smiling. Posing, waiting, smiling. The head judge calls out numbers, not mine. Not in second call out. Smiling, turn my hip...see my number, smile. Third call out, pass my number. No disappointment on this face. Buck up. Smile. They're done judging.

Final call out. And like fourth grade, I'm finally picked. But I present myself as though it were the first call out. Quarter turns, they aren't really even looking. But this is my moment. I've worked hard, and I take it, and shine.

And we're off stage. I text Jacques, "Oh well. :)" I'm happy inside. In that moment I'm feeling proud of my accomplishments, of my progress. I'm thinking, I met my goals of maybe posing better, and I'm pretty sure my color was darker than at Jr's., I knew I hadn't gotten any bigger ;)

I put my dress on, took my shoes off, grabbed my bag and went out to the lobby to catch up with Jacques. A competitor could at that moment feel a lot of things, she could feel a number of ways. I felt primarily excited about my impending off season.

Knowing what I need to work on, I'm ready to get to it. A competitor could feel she wasn't judged fairly, she got lost in the crowd, or she wasn't connected to the right people. None of those things crossed my mind.

What crosses my mind is, I need to be bigger. I need bigger shoulders, a thicker back...bigger glutes. It's time to grow! When I look at myself against the first place winner, now an IFBB pro...it's pretty clear what I need to work on.

The other thing that crosses my mind is, I deserve to compete at this level. Meaning, I looked like I belonged there. It's just that of those 22 (best in the nations), I was in the bottom half. With 8 other deserving ladies. We'll work hard and be back to compete next year.

When you compete at this level, there are only 5 who will take home a trophy, only 1 will win, 2 will earn their pro card, 15 who will "place", and the rest of us go home with work to do. We choose how we see ourselves in that moment, in the moments following. We decide what we do with that energy.

I've seen people get really, really upset. You must have objectivity in this sport. You must be able to see yourself amongst your peers and recognize the differences in where you are and where you need to go. You have to be able to see the big picture, and yourself in it.

Finals came, and I glazed up just as if I'd be called out in that top 5. I took my 8 seconds of fame on stage and presented myself as they read my name. It's the national stage, and I have arrived. See you next year! 

The Figure Class C winner, and me...it's grow time!

What Happens In Vegas, Floyd Mayweather

by Kris Pitcher

In life, you have unique opportunities. You don't always want to take them...yesterday was one example of that. In Vegas, it's hot. Hot hot. Not just kinda hot. It's the kind of hot that melts the palms of your hands if you touch your steering wheel hot. It'll melt the chapstick right off your lips.

But yesterday afternoon we received a personal invitation from one of Jacques' clients to go to Floyd Mayweather's gym to see him workout. "Oh, there's no AC in the gym, boxers like it hot." she warned.

My tired, depleted, water rationed self was hesitant to go. My curious, spontanious, curly self wanted to see this. We all jumped in the HOT car and made our way to the Mayweather Boxing Gym.

"Oooh, you got good muscles!" greeted the little girl in the lobby as I came in. Smiling I thanked her

and asked to see her muscles. She. Was. DARLING. Just saying. We all trekked through the entry way, housing a Ms. Pacman machine, through the couch strewn "lobby" which had a few vending machines and a handful of cardio pieces through a door which read: No food or drink in the gym. By passing through these doors you agree to be filmed by HBO...

And we were in. Two huge rings, bags - beautiful bags - hanging from the ceiling, chairs for spectators. The gym was packed. All the while Natasha, Jacques' client, was telling us who was who. So and so does his wraps, this man trains his speed work...and so on.

Jacques and Jesse

If it takes a village to get a competitor to the stage, it takes a small nation to get a champion boxer in the ring. Watching Floyd was inspiring, overwhelming, amazing, and exhausting. The energy in the gym was contagious.

To see him hit the speed bag...unreal. "There's no way he can see that," Jacques leaned over to tell me. "it's all instinct." He worked different drills and components of his training. This. Man. Can. Jump. Rope.

He can jump rope like crazy. Cameras rolled the entire time. The crowd shouted, chanted, things. There were little kids practicing there skills in other parts of the gym. To them this was an every day occurrence.

There were fancy ladies with fancier handbags. There were onlookers of all sorts. Then there was Team Pitcher. Jesse, Jacques, and I all in our shirts, Brenda was with us and Natasha introducing us as her coaches.

When Floyd was finished with his workout, he went in to his green screen room for interviews, came out through the lobby and shook a few hands. It was at that point when Natasha took the opportunity to introduce him to Jacques and myself. I had been slumped on the couch where I had eaten a meal with my feet up on the cooler.

I jumped to my feet as I saw them coming and plunged my hand out for the introduction. "Damn!" he said. "Damn!" it came again. "Damn!" A one-two-three...he was looking at my arms shaking my hand.

Then Floyd was swept outside with his entourage for his departure. A visual social candy store of all things unfamiliar. Believe you are a champion, surround yourself with greatness, keep important people close to you, work harder than anyone else is willing to, get into the ring and live your life.

Take opportunities when they come, get off your couch and off your butt. Don't be inconvenienced or intimidated, be inspired. And always recognize great arms, damn!   

Entourage...

 

It Figures! NPC USA's

by Kris Pitcher

It is time to roll! The NPC USA's are this weekend and I am packed and ready to go. We think we've made some improvements over my showing at the Jr. Nationals. I know I can smile BIGGER, we've figured out my color...now it's - go time!

Hopefully I get looked at and the judges like what they see. I can honestly say, my physique is at its best ever. And I truly believe I'm only ever competing against what I brought to the stage last time.

With that said, I have personal goals. I carry with me the humility to recognize I am a little fish in a big pond. I have the wisdom to know I am a new competitor to the ranks of National status. I also have the strength of character to know I deserve to be there.

I have done the work, put in the time, focused my efforts, committed my body and soul to the process and believed in myself the entire journey. In these final days, as I completed my last workouts, and did my final cardio session...I rest knowing, the work is done.

Next we manipulate my macros, my water, my sodium, we wait, I rest...I eat, sleep, live and breathe for what I'll do on Saturday as I walk the stage showing my accomplishment. My rituals of preparation of hair, color, make-up...all icing on the cake as I prepare to take the stage.

Everything is timed out to the days, the hours, the minutes leading to prejudging where everything is put on the line. There is both a sense of calm and of excitement as I think about the days rounding out the end of the week.

Calm comes from knowing I've left nothing on the table. I did every workout, every cardio session, ate every meal, drank every ounce of water...did everything to prep completely according to my goals. Excitement comes from knowing the feel of the bright lights over head, and the sound of my feet as I climb the stairs to walk to the stage...and knowing the feeling in the pit of my stomach as I smile and look into the blur of lights out over the sea of onlookers - it's a mix of feelings rising in my stomach.

It's excited accomplishment. It's pride. It's the culmination of months, MONTHS, of preparation. It's a new beginning. It's love for what I've done. It's empowerment. It's love for those who support me, who believe in me. It's excitement for what I'll do next. It's being in the moment. It's recognizing the significance of where I'm standing. It's all right there in the pit of my stomach at that moment.

It's my hope you have things in your life which bring you the same powerful feelings, right in the pit of your stomach. For me, it figures!

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.