How I Trained For My Show

On the left I was 173 lbs. The right I am 143 lbs. The time between these two pictures is about 26 weeks.

I have been asked by a ton of people since my show how I did it. How did I workout and how did I eat. I figured I would resurrect this old blog to try to help out as many people as I can to reach their goals.
First off, I didn't do this alone. I had a great support system. If you are serious about losing weight or doing a show, get a coach. There are some great ones out there. I have 2 that I really recommend.

How long did the whole thing take?
I started training hard and dieting for the show at about 26 weeks out. That's about 6 months. I lost a total of 30 pounds and 12% body fat. If you notice that means I lost about 1 pound a week. That is the healthy amount to lose per week.

How did I workout? 
I worked out the same as I always do. I train 6 days a week for about 1-2 hours a day. I workout in the morning because that way I won't miss my workout if other things come up. My routine went as follows:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Quads
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Hamstrings

Did I do a ton of cardio?
No I didn't. In fact, I only started doing cardio hard during the last 4 weeks before the show. I did the stairmaster for 20 minutes a day 3 times a week during the first 22 weeks. The last 4 weeks I did about 45 min to 1 hour a day of cardio. I did interval training on the treadmill. At an 8% incline, switch between walking for 4 minutes at 3.2 then running for 1 min at 6.5. Easy stuff.

What was my diet like?
This is where it all happened. Here is what my diet looked like for the first 20 weeks:

This came out to be about 220g protein, 220g carbs, 50g fat per day.
Meal 1: 6 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal.
Meal 2 (post workout): Protein powder mixed in water.
Meal 3: Chicken, Steak, Rice.
Meal 4: Chicken & Rice
Meal 5: Some sort of lean meat (chicken, turkey, steak), veggies, rice.
Meal 6: Casein protein powder.


Last 6 weeks I changed my diet to look like this:

This came out to be about 300g protein, 150g carbs, 40g fat per day until the last 2 weeks.
Meal 1: 10 egg whites
Meal 2 (Post workout): Protein shake, 1 cup yams.
Meal 3: Ground beef, green veggies, and rice.
Meal 4: Ground beef, green veggies, and rice.
Meal 5: Ground turkey, green veggies, and rice.
Meal 6: Ground turkey, green veggies, and rice.

In the last 2 weeks I cut out the green veggies and rice from my diet. I lived off of 50g of carbs which was the 1 cup of yams after my workout.

A couple important notes:
(1) I DID NOT CHEAT ONCE. I'm not kidding, ask my wife. I did not cheat on the weekends, holidays, or any special events. If I had to go out I would stick with the basic principles of the diet. No desserts, drinks, or any extra calories other than what was planned. I tracked everything to the point of obsession. I had one real cheat day during this process that I specifically planned for Thanksgiving day. Other than that, it was tupperware and prepared meals. 
(2) THIS IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE DIET PLAN. This diet was for show prep purposes. It was not good for every day life. I had to miss out on a lot of social events because of this diet. I was willing to do that because I decided that nothing was going to get in my way. 

What supplements did I use?
Multi vitamins, protein powder, and pre-workout.  My protein powder has BCAA's and Glutamine in it, or I would use those also. That's all I used. No fat burners or anything like that.

How did I stay motivated?
I decided to do the show and to me that was it. Once I truly set my mind to it, nothing got in my way. I visualized the show every single day. I probably had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with my goal to do the show, but that's what got me up every day. Motivation was never a problem for me.

Was I hungry all the time?
No, not at all. I ate 6 times a day which means I was eating every 3 hours or so. I was rarely hungry. I did crave carbs at the end and that got really hard. What I did to curb my cravings when I almost couldn't take it anymore was made protein pancakes and ate them plain. That is 10 egg whites mixed with about 3 scoops of protein. It makes a batter consistency and you cook it on the stove like pancakes. It doesn't taste like pancakes or bread, but it fills you up like carbs do and it saved me quite a few times from being horribly miserable.

In the last 4 weeks I had a specific show prep coach that I would send pictures to every week and he would tell me how to adjust carbs. He was a good 3rd party to tell me an objective view on how I was doing.

If you have any questions you know I am available to chat! My email is seanfrazer7@gmail.com. Feel free to email any questions.