Competition Dieting From a Mom’s Perspective – You single men w/out kids have NO IDEA

Prior to becoming a professional figure competitor in 2003, I competed in bodybuilding from 1997 through 1999. So the competition diet is nothing new for me. I often wonder how many chickens have sacrificed their lives for the sake of building and maintaining my physique over the years. Or how I have managed to not grow gills on the side of my head from the amount of tilapia I consume. I can’t even float on water. Sink like an anchor every time, right to the bottom.

Anyhow, while the diet is nothing new, I have had to learn how to diet through new and different situations over the years. Back in the beginning, I lived with a boyfriend – we’ll call him Fuckface Jeff – he trained me and did my diet for me. It was brainless. Like a subservient little Asian, I just did what I was told. He ate clean year round, so there was rarely ever junk food in the house. Looking back on those days of dieting, I can’t believe I ever complained about how hard it was!

Since then, I’ve had to diet through becoming a mother and all the different phases of caring for a newborn, infant, toddler and kindergartener, along with living with my now ex-husband who keeps a ton of junk and snack food in the house.

The newborn and infant phase was relatively easy, as most of her meals came from a bottle or a jar. I will admit that some of those Stage 2 baby foods are pretty darn good, though! Once she developed teeth and started eating solids, part of being a parent is teaching by example how to eat. ”Here comes the airplane…..open wide….ohhhmmm-nom-nom!”

After that came the ’sharing’ phase. My daughter insisted on sharing all of her food with me. I think all toddlers and their respective moms have gone through this phase. French fries, crackers, cheetos, cheerios – and it wasn’t good enough for me to eat it on my own, where I could do a slight of hand and pretend to eat it. Part of the game was for her to feed me until the food had disappeared into my mouth. “Bye-bye, french fry – all gone!” , followed by peals of laughter.

My daughter was, and still is, the pickiest eater I have ever known. A lot of times, it took a lot of bribery to get her to eat. “Look, Mommy will eat one if you eat one…” To this day, we still go through this. Or sometimes, she just doesn’t feel like eating, and I would find myself having to have to throw away a perfectly good plate of food. Not just real food, but the good stuff too, like cookies, Goldfish, pizza, cereal. Handling all the yummy stuff, just to throw it away in the garbage, while I’ve eaten nothing but tilapia and asparagus for three weeks, is like some sadistic form of mental diet torture. Breeding grounds for an eating disorder. Who in their right mind puts themselves through this???

Once kindergarten began, it seemed like there was a different birthday party to attend every weekend. Most often, the food served at kid’s parties is pizza and cake. As a competitor, I find myself asking, “Why am I even here - trapped in a roomful of screaming children, pizza, chips, and cake for two hours? I have to get to the gym and do cardio before my next meal!”  As a Mom, how could I NOT be here? My gym’s open 24 hours. Cardio will have to wait.

Then there’s my ex-hubby, whom I don’t cook for anymore. He prefers take-out and fast food. It wouldn’t be too much of an issue if he would just bring it home and eat it. However, he likes to eat just a little bit at a time and save the rest for later. On any given day, there is a container or bag of some sort, that just SITS on my kitchen counter for a good amount of time – McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, wings, pizza, etc… in fact, right at this moment, I can hear him in the other room crunching on something. Sounds like either chips or pretzels. Even my cat’s food looks good sometimes. Crunchy, at least….lol.

This is what I cooked for my daughter tonight. It’s usually what she eats every night, picky eater that she is….

                         

….Kraft Mac N’ Cheese. The Cheesiest! And yes, like a good mother, of course I had to taste it first to make sure it wasn’t too hot. (So if I put the food in my mouth, then spit it out in the garbage  – is that considered cheating? Again, I ask myself – who DOES things like this???)

This is what my ex had for dinner…

                      

He was relatively good today, though he had McDonald’s earlier. The McDonald’s leftover bag is still in the fridge. I have no idea what’s in it.

 

                                    ….and for dessert…..Happy Fouth Of July!

                                 

 

All this looking at food is making me hungry. I guess it’s close enough to my time to eat. …..

                                           …………………..

                                                     …………………….

 

                                  :)

 

                           ……………………………………………………………………………..

                           ……………………………………………………………………………..

                                                          ~ Miss Chris

 

 

                                                  

                                           ( last week, at four weeks out.)

  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

*update 7/18/2008*  BREAKING NEWS!!!! We’ve added something new! Check out my DAILY PHOTO JOURNAL! I’ll be shooting and uploading new pictures everyday – random stuff, self-taken timer pics, candids, things of interest… (you know how us Asians are about taking pictures!). Along with this being good photography practice for myself, you can now catch a glimpse into my day-to-day life…A Day In The Life Of…as seen through the lens of my camera…click here to get there…   http://afitnessconnection.wordpress.com/  – category title, Lil’ Miss Chris *PHOTO JOURNAL* 

~ by lilmisschris on July 7, 2008.