Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report - Week 3

Here's Greg Charron's report on his third week of dieting for the Ottawa Bodybuilding Contest which takes place on Sat Nov 6th.

Week 3 - Pre-Contest Diet

A bit of a different spin this week.  Since I only decided to compete 8 weeks out from the show, things have really had to move quickly.  This week has been no exception.  Because I was eating so little in the beginning, the first two weeks of high calories as Shane explained were to boost my metabolism.  I guess I knew lower calories would have to come, and this week it has.

Week 3

The low carb days definitely affect my energy, but I only do the low carb days for two or three days and even then the carbs climb, and the fats drop, keeping my calories low, but helping to stimulate leptin (the master fat burning hormone as Shane calls it!)

Week 3

Aside from what Shane is doing diet-wise, I'm finally getting the hang of taking the fluctuating numbers he gives me and organizing them into my 7 daily meals.  One thing that I've been surprised at is the variety of foods I'm allowed to eat.  I'd spoken to a few other people about contest diets and pretty much everything I heard was about chicken and broccoli, but with Shane's diet, I'm eating gourmet everything.  I'm allowed all veggies, all fruit, all meat, butter, natural peanut butter.. pretty much everything I used to eat.  The difference is how foods are combined, and when during the day I eat things.

Since I love to cook, it's great I'm eating like a King, and getting into the best shape of my life at the same time!  Still with 5 weeks to go, I'm sure some of this will change at some point.

We met again on Friday morning and took more photos of my mandatory poses.  We reviewed them, and Shane gave me his feedback. We were both impressed with the changes that have happened in just 3 weeks. My shoulders are starting to show striations my chest had grown, and my arms are showing an improved peak and detail. My right quadriceps had almost reached the left leg in size. I'll admit, I have decent genetics, but never thought my body could change like this.  Clearly, having the right coach is a huge deal when it comes to making this kind of progress!

At this point I'm starting to feel like I may actually be a true contender at the show.

- Greg