Dieting down for a show is hard; there is no doubt about that. You spend 3 to 4 months walking around like a zombie. Your strength levels plummet, along with your desire to train. You trudge through your daily cardio sessions, with only the promise of looking smaller in the mirror, and a nice plate of broiled chicken breast and broccoli waiting you when you are finished. It’s an experience that many start, some finish, and a very few relish. Here are a few tips for enduring the hardships associated with the pre-contest diet.

Stay Focused

The calendar is your best friend when dieting. Each day, whenever you crave a nice McGriddles from McDonalds or a large bowl of ice cream from the freezer, you should just look at your calendar and remember you have a whole week planned for junk food binging. It’s just not here yet!

Remove Temptation

Remember that bowl of ice cream we just mentioned? It shouldn’t have been in your freezer to begin with! Without junk food in your house, it becomes very hard to binge eat late and night and justify it with some lame excuse about carbing up. If you have to physically get in a car and drive somewhere to get junk food, you might change you mind before you spoil your diet and squander a full week of dieting. If you live with someone who enjoys junk food, this can be much harder. You can always convince them to hide the goodies from you until the dieting phase has passed!

Train with a Partner

As your strength levels plummet, the desire to train is going to plummet as well. Also, you are going to be more vulnerable to injury thanks to your desire to use big weight while your muscles aren’t so big anymore. For this reason and for motivational purposes, a partner is essential!

Visualize

Are you good at Photoshop? If not, do you know someone who is? Find a picture of a top NPC state-level competitor whose physique resembles yours with a few years more development. Put the image of your face on his body, and look at this image frequently throughout the day. Maybe even make this fake image your computer’s desktop image! Over time, you will begin to see yourself as this greater version, and you will work hard to achieve it.

Key in on Carbs

Ketogenic, or low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage recently. High profile Dave Palumbo has worked with some of the top names in professional bodybuilding, including Toney Freeman, and his success has been widely publicized in recent years. If you’re going to run a keto diet, play it safe. Carb deprivation can be dangerous for many reasons.

Work with a Diet Guru

Your mind is definitely going to play tricks on you as the days get closer. Working with an experienced competitor to advise you on how you actually look, and how to ramp up your carb intake as the show date gets closer.

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