Ali Rosen’s KISS plan for the Bikini International

Ali Rosen battled it out in the NPC ranks before finding her groove and taking home top honors at the 2010 NPC USAs. She continued her success in the pro ranks and is now one of the top IFBB Bikini pros in the biz. Ali joins us for our HARDBODY Arnold Guest Blogs and she has some great tips to share in her first installment. Check it out.

Eating to Train, Not Training to EAT!
As I approach the 8 week countdown to the Arnold Classic I am still in shock, and feel blessed to be able to be a part of history by being one of 17 fortunate women to grace the Bikini International stage.

Many of you know that being prepared is the key to achieving success. Preparation is critical to overcoming the many challenges of training and dieting we all face to achieve our goals. Ones diet is responsible for 80-90% of the way we look, with the remainder belonging to the way we train. As they say, Abs are not made in the gym they are made in the kitchen .

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is one of the most valuable pieces of information I learned while competing. In particular, when it comes to ones diet. I have learned that cooking all my meals for the week in one day allows me to pick up and leave at any given moment.  What I normally do is set aside about 2-3 hours, usually Thursday or Friday, and I will food shop and grill all my meats and fishes in one day. If I have time I will then weigh and baggie all my meals and freeze them all in separate quart sized bags then place them into 7 gallon-sized bags which represent one day of the week. If I am pressed for time I will grill all my food one day and weigh and baggie the rest the following day.  Breaking up the cooking and packaging reduces feeling overwhelmed or exhausted.  If you don’t own a grill I suggest you broil your fish. It takes at most 10 minutes and you can throw it in the oven still frozen.

To flavor meat and fish, Mrs. Dash (salt free) brand seasonings are great, as is using lemon, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Just don’t use too many spices or seasonings; the less you use the less you will crave real yummy food.

For cooking veggies and potatoes, I prefer to bake my potatoes (in a toaster oven) and NOT freeze them. They don’t taste the same once frozen and thawed out. As for veggies getting the microwavable or even frozen (no sodium) versions are always the simplest way to cut time and worry.

Another key tip I have learned is to microwave my eggs. This allows for minimal clean up the rest of the week. After getting bored of eating eggs and oatmeal separately, I now mix them together with whatever fruit is on my diet, sprinkle it with splenda and cinnamon.

Since many people have to travel for work, staying on any diet may seem like a challenge. WRONG! If you have all your meals prepared in advance all you need to do is throw them in a large travel size or daily size cooler (see the picture of mine below) and off you roll. As for not having a microwave available at hotels, make hardboiled eggs, remove the yolk and bring instant oatmeal and just add hot water. Nowadays almost everything comes in travel size. If peanut butter is on your diet Justin’s brand makes perfect travel size packets. If you love your coffee, Startbucks VIA packets are easy to travel with and taste great. As for traveling with lettuce, upon arriving at your destination your best bet is to order a large salad sans dressing and you will have fresh lettuce for your stay.

I hope this helps fellow competitors and everyone else trying to stick to a plan- no lesson has helped me more. Until next week…

Train Hard & Stay Positive
Ali

Follow Ali on Twitter @ALISONPROSEN and check out her fan page on facebook.