MOVED

This blog has now moved to head ♥ heart ♥ health

Recent posts from head ♥ heart ♥ health

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Bump Out


In the theatre and events industry, a show has a bump-in (setting up and rehearsing) and a bump-out (taking everything out of the theatre). It is common practice to spend almost all of your time planning and working on the bump-in and show and not worrying too much about the 'out' which can be messy and unglamorous.

As a result, this is the time when things always go horribly wrong - delays happen, things get broken and people get injured. Everyone is so tired after working long hours on making the event happen, that the next phase is poorly planned and executed.

Last year when I competed, I never planned my bump-out. I planned and worked on getting stage ready and then competing, but I only vaguely considered what would happen afterward. And as long time readers will know - things got broken and people got hurt.

This time it is going to be different. This time I am looking at the entire project and not just the preparation and competition. In my mind, the mission this year is to get competition lean while retaining as much muscle as I can and then return to a lean athletic physique that I will work to establish as my new 'set point'. The competition is only phase 1, the return to a sustainable weight is phase 2 and convincing my body that this is its new 'happy weight' is phase 3. I think that all of that will take up most of the year when I can do it all again if I choose to compete in 2010.

I believe that whatever training and nutrition strategy I employ to get me to comp day, I have to be willing to continue for the same amount of time afterwards. If, for example, I drop calories and carbs for the final month and do cardio twice a day, then I must be willing to continue the same strategy post show with only slight adjustments (incremental calorie or carb increases OR incremental reduction in training) for at least the next month. I need to replace the fat ideally as slowly as I lost it. If I suddenly go back to complete relaxation around my eating and drop all my cardio the week after competition, I am asking for a rebound and tears before bed.

This highlights a few interesting points
(1) I shouldn't undertake severe restriction or extreme training to lose that last bit of fat without committing to doing it for the same amount of time after competition (that puts me off a bit)
(2) My pre-comp program needs to be sustainable for much longer that 12-16 weeks because it is the template for how I will eat and train post comp.
(3) Getting to the stage is only 1/3 of the way through the project and more than likely the easiest part.

Even if you are not preparing for a competition and are just dieting down to your goal weight or doing a 12 week challenge, the same principals apply. Once you reach your goal, the easy part is over and the hard part starts. Whatever methods you used to get there will need to be continued for probably as long as the weight loss period to retrain your body that this is where you fat levels need to stay*. If you are low-carbing, you will need to stay low(ish) carb. If you are counting points, you need to keep on counting. If you are running 5 km every day, you need to keep on running.

I plan to be logging my food, weighing daily, lifting weights, doing cardio, analysing the data and hitting targets long after I have eaten my post comp treat meal. I have it all planned out in my trusty spreadsheet. This time the bump-out will be given the attention it deserves. This way, no-one gets hurt.

*it is possible to change your so called set-point - even though I spent all my adult life somewhere around 80kgs, my body now prefers to be in the low 60's (after being near this point for about 4 years). Any weight I gain over that is easy to lose, and if I am under this point, my body fights to get back there. Even though my nightmares tell me otherwise, I will never again wake up one morning at 85kg unless I work really really really hard at it for a long long time. I basically spent from May to November bingeing at least once a week and still didn't gain much more than a couple of extra kilos over my re-programmed set point.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post Katie :)

    You know, even before I got down to the bottom 3 paragraphs I was thinking to myself "now this is something I really need to employ with my weight loss strategy"...as I don't just want to lose 25kg and then go...what now?

    But you were already thinking the same thing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So are you saying Katie that I should be able to reprogram my body to be in the 60's? My body seems to love the 75 kg mark at the moment and I keep coming back to it, which is very frustrating...

    How long did it take you to get down from the 80's to the 60's and stay there for 4 years?

    I am always interested in how people overcome all the obstacles.

    Your competition plan sounds great

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for your help yesterday too Katie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hard question Kristy. The easy answer is lifting weights. I had tried to lose weight before but once I picked up a dumbell the weight seemed to come off and stay off.

    I guess it took about 6 months to get down to high 50s and then I just kept at it. If a gained a few kilos I dieted them off again - over and over again. I never stayed in the 50's long but because I was always trying to get there I never let the fluctuation get out of control.

    The longer I spent in the 60's the easier it was to stay there and I never gave up training hard even when my eating got crappy!

    So the short answer is just persistence I guess ... sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Katie, it seems weights might be the answer, I know last time I did weights I felt great and body toned really well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous8:05 pm

    LIFT LIFT LIFT - GOTTA LOVE LIFTING THOSE HEAVY MUMMA's!!!

    As we said this morning katie - comps are on every year - it's not about the journey from a to b - it's the journey from NOW to FOREVER xx

    My arms are still pumped!!! WOOHOOOOO

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're a deadset gem!

    ReplyDelete