By Tara Ballard
As a figure competitor and Jillfit coach, two of the most frequently asked questions I receive are “what do you eat every day?” and “what supplements do you take?”. My diet varies depending on what stage of contest prep I am in, but there are constants at every stage. I’m currently 3 weeks out from my next show, and the amount of carbs I eat varies throughout the week depending on my conditioning and in order to keep my muscles from getting too flat. My off-season diet contains many of the same foods, with a few more complex carbs, like high fiber bread, white potatoes and 1-2 cheat meals per week in order to build more lean muscle – but for the most part I keep it clean and tight, all year long!
Here is a typical Wednesday for me:
5:30am: Wake up, 8 oz black coffee, ½ teaspoon L-carnitine
6:00am: 20-30 min treadmill incline sprints/20 min core
7:00am: 1/4 cup dry oat bran made with water, cinnamon, and 1 scoop BSN Lean Dessert Banana Nut whey protein powder, 2 grams fish oil, 5 grams L-glutamine
8:30am: 5 grams BCAA’s, 30 min weight train with Jill
10:00am: 5 grams BCAA’s, post-workout whey protein shake:
8 oz water or unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tbs honey
1 ½ scoops BSN Lean Dessert Banana Nut whey
5 grams L-Glutamine
5 grams creatine monohydrate
Cinnamon to taste, ice to desired consistency
Blend together in the Magic Bullet or Vitamix
If I don’t weight train, then I have a 6 egg-white omelet made with 2 cups spinach and mushrooms, ½ grapefruit or ½ cup mixed berries
1pm: Large baby greens salad with 6 oz chicken breast, 1 tbs balsamic vinegar, ½ sweet potato with cinnamon
4pm: 1/3 lb ground turkey (made into a burger or sautéed with the broccoli) or medium chicken breast, 2 cups steamed broccoli, ½ cup cooked brown rice
7pm: 1/3 lb ground turkey or medium chicken breast, 15 asparagus spears, 2 grams fish oil
After dinner: Magnesium, Metabolic Effect GABA Calm, bed by 9:30pm
This may seem like a lot of food to some of you; but eating meals every 3 hours that consist of good, lean protein, veggies and complex carbs helps to keep my fat-burning engines rev’d up, as well as aids in muscle-building and recovery :)
As far as supplements go, take a look at this short video where I give a rundown of the supplements I take and why:
