Like most competitive athletes the drive to succeed and win runs strong. I can attest to this as I have had my eye on a pro win for a number of years. After numerous losses I finally won pro status with the WNBF earlier this year. As I sit here writing this I am exactly 1 week out from my first pro show, and I’m feeling a whole shitstorm of emotion.
Here is the day to day account of the week leading up to my first pro show, the WNBF Pro US Cup (puke)…
Self reflection time…How did a light weight burger crusher ballerina like me get into bodybuilding?
I have been working in the fitness industry since the ripe age of 13. I started off as a mirror cleaner / towel folder / phone answer-er — but not old enough to handle the cash register girl, legitimate front desk girl, group fitness instructor, personal trainer, manager, and now business owner. Throughout this timeframe I have developed a passion for fitness unlike no other. To quote the great rapper Drake “I started from the bottom now I’m here”. I have seen many fitnes fads come and go. I have done exercise challenges, WODs, aerobics including ZUMBA and Jazzercise, marathons, cardio until you like your self, powerlifting and the list goes on.
BUT the one thing that has always fascinated about training and nutrition programs, is how the body responds and adapts. I think that is how I fell into bodybuilding.
I began bodybuilding or bro-dbuilding (lifting weights really poorly, and following various diets) in 2009. Bodybuilding seemed like the perfect sport for a girl like me. I could follow a meal plan, exercise, pose and at the end of the journey strut around the stage in a sparkly costume. Bodybuilding is my lifestyle. Whether I am preparing for a show or not I appreciate the values I have learned from the sport. I am dedicated, disciplined, hard willed and intrinsically motivated.
Like most competitive athletes the drive to succeed and win runs strong. I can attest to this as I have had my eye on a pro win for a number of years. After numerous losses I finally won pro status with the WNBF earlier this year. As I sit here writing this I am exactly 1 week out from my first pro show, and I’m feeling a whole shitstorm of emotion.
Here is the day to day account of the week leading up to my first pro show, the WNBF Pro US Cup (puke)…
Day 7 – Saturday October 4th, 2014 – P140.C350.F32. Body weight 119.0
Today was a normal day in the Tkatchuk household…
Food Stuff – Monkey and I both have a high carb day today. I the tricky part of eating 350g carbs is regulating your fiber. Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites, apple, yams and kabocha squash. Meal 2 – Protein ice cream with poppers. Meal 3 – Chicken, green beans, yams. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, rice cakes and leftover terrible tasting potatoes.
Training – Super boring walk on the treadmill al la NKOTB.
Life – I have been feeling exceptionally anxious lately. The additional calories seemed to regulate that a bit. Normal stuff today – Special O, group training, client emails etc.
Sleep – Wake up 4:45am Sleep 9:15pm.
Day 6 – Sunday October 5th, 2014 – P140.C300.F32. Bodyweight 120.2
have been having a terrible time sleeping lately. Like the worst ever. I slept in until 5:30am WINNING!!!!
Food Stuff – Same as yesterday with different amounts and no terrible leftovers. Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites, apple, yams and kabocha squash. Meal 2 – Protein ice cream with poppers. Meal 3 – Chicken, green beans, yams. Meal 4 – Protein pudding and rice cakes.
Training – None.
Life – Ah Sunday funday… Sunday at our house is devoted to rest, food prep, and football. We picked up the last minute items for the trip and spent the day hanging out with our parents. Good day all ’round.
Sleep – Wake up 5:30am Sleep 9:45pm.
Day 5 – Monday October 6th, 2014 – P140.225.F32. Bodyweight 122.1lbs
Last night in the Trenches tonight.
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter and egg whites. Meal 2 – Protein ice cream with poppers. Meal 3 – Chicken, green beans and kabocha squash. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, corn thins and blueberries.
Training – Squat and bench volume work, heavy(ish) deadlifts and a few accessories. 30 minute jog around my hood.
Life – Every time I leave the gym I feel so grateful. Our fit fam is simply amazing. I had a busy day today filled with team trench awesomeness. New PR’s in the gym, new lows on the scale and a crap tonne of clothing donations – WINNING! The highlight of my day was a little bit of girl talk with a long time client. I am very hopeful after our meeting that I will be able to help her find happiness and long term health.
Sleep – Wake up 4:50am Sleep 9:15pm.
Day 4 – Tuesday October 7th, 2014 – P140.C225.F32. Bodyweight 122.6lbs
Final day to get everything done.
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites left over kabocha squash. Meal 2 – Protein ice cream with poppers. Meal 3 – Chicken, green beans and butternut squash. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, flax chips and blueberries.
Training – Squat speed work, OHP and some fitness model work, including my least favorite exercise… calves.
Life – Today we had more of the same team Trench responsibilities plus a monkey grooming and BDM (business development meeting). We met with Brad and worked on our business plan and future facility development – which was very exciting. When we got home at 6:30pm we had to prep 6 trays of yams, pack food and everything else for the trip. Nothing like the last minute *sigh.
Sleep – Wake up 4:50am Sleep 10:35pm.
Day 3 – Wednesday October 8th, 2014 – P140.C225.F32. Bodyweight 121.2lbs.
Travel day
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites & lots of coffee Meal 2 – Chicken, butternut squash & green beans. Meal 3 – Tilapia & baby potatoes. Meal 4 – Protein pudding / powder as the hotel bowl was WAY too small for my chocolaty goodness, 6 crushed rice cakes (banged up from travelling) and blueberries.
Training – No formal training today, however I did do lots of walking around the airport in uber hipster shoes carrying a purse, backpack and cooler – definitely felt like a workout.
Life – I was up reeeaaally early this morning (3:45am) to finish packing and get ready to leave the house by 5:30am. I did some journaling and foam rolling and started the day feeling tres fab. For some reason I sleep really well on airplanes. I basically slept all day. We arrived in New Haven, checked into the hotel, went to the grocery store and spent the evening catching up on emails and eating.
Sleep – Wake up 3:40am Sleep 11:15pm. Nap for 6 (ish) hours throughout the day.
Day 2 – Thursday October 9th, 2014 – P140.C325.F32. Bodyweight 120.0bs.
Rest and relaxation.
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites & a little bit of Styrofoam from the hotel ‘flatware’. Meal 2 – Chicken, butternut squash, baby potatoes & green beans. Meal 3 – Tilapia & yams. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, almond butter, corn thins, apple, blueberries & rice cakes.
Training – Aww baby’s first time on the Smith Machine. Monkey and I went to the show promoter Robert Fultons’ gym ‘Fulton Fitness’. The gym had basic equipment which sufficed my basic workout. Good volume workout and cardio session. Sweaty, pump ridden and fun. Monkey did his usual photo / video craziness and for the first time ever after looking at a photo I felt proud of myself. My legs have always been my weakest point. I am so proud of my hamstrings — and I don’t care who know it.
Life – Even though we still responded to client check ins it was really nice to have some relaxation time. Monkey and I spent the afternoon in our hotel room bed emailing and enjoying each others company. Today made me realize that it is ok and in fact beneficial to slow down from time to time. I have been rushing through life at such a fast pace these days I forgot how good it feels to give a bear hug or skip morning cardio in lieu of 5 more snuggle minutes.
Sleep – Wake up 7:30am Sleep 10:00pm.
Day 1 – Friday October 10th, 2014 – P140.C325.F32. Bodyweight 119.9lbs.
Realization and reflection.
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter & egg whites. Meal 2 – Chicken, yams & marshmallows. Meal 3 – Tilapia & rice. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, almond butter & rice cakes, Meal 5 – Chicken, yams & marshmallows.
Training – Training was super cool today. Monkey and I love travelling to new cities and training in new gyms. We trained at Powerhouse Gym this morning. The gym is owned by 3 brothers / NPC chairmen who clearly love bodybuilding / powerlifting. The gym was your typical old school ‘bro’ gym a.k.a. 100% bad ass. Gyms like this with great selfie lighting, vintage equipment, weird smells and bros make me smile. Secretly I am such a bro at heart.
Life – I had a very emotional morning today filled with a lot of self reflection. Typically I HATE progress photos. Progress photos give me anxiety and cause me to revert back to old body shaming habits. I have a difficult time seeing the positive aspects of the photos because I am too focused on picking apart all of the things I don’t like and wish to change. Well except for today… We did our progress photos and for once in my life I felt accomplished. I looked at my photos and thought ‘Wow, good job E – you can do this show, #effselfdoubt.’ The rest of the day was really busy, last minute errands, client check ins, base tans and the athletes meeting. Holy shit the athletes meeting!! What a whirlwind… I felt like Buddy the Elf from the Christmas movie ‘Elf’. I was a full head taller then everyone in my class. the calibre of athletes was incredible. I have to keep reminding myself #effselfdoubt.
Sleep – Wake up 7:30am Sleep 10:00pm.
Day 0 – Saturday October 11th, 2014 – P130.C450.F40. Bodyweight 119.0bs.
Show day…
Food Stuff – Meal 1 – Brown rice cereal with almond butter, egg whites & blueberries. Meal 2 – Chicken, yam, marshmallows. Meal 3 – (Pre stage) Dots, rice cakes, almond butter & Platinum Pre. Meal 4 – Protein pudding, almond butter, banana & rice cakes. Meal 5 – Rice & tilapia. Meal 6 – Protein pudding, almond butter, marshmallows & rice cakes. Meal 6 – Pre stage – Dots. All day lots of water.
Training – Posing posing and more posing. The judges had us up on stage for close to 20 minutes. I have never sweat so much on stage in my life.
Life – This was such a surreal experience. I still cannot believe we made it this far. I am very young (and very tall) in the sport of figure. I entered this show with zero expectations. Competing at this level gives us a chance to see how I compare to the best of the best in natural bodybuilding. Although we did not make top 5 Monkey and I had an amazing time. There are 3 more shows on my 2014 radar. There are a few things we can plan for more effectively entering these next shows but all in all I am very happy with the package I brought to the table.
Sleep – Wake up 4:00am Sleep 11:00pm.
Thank you Monkey husband, Trenchers, Team ON and everyone else who has supported me throughout this journey. I love you all very much and only hope I can make you feel as amazing as you have me.
With love from the Trench kitchen,
xoxoErika♥
