I competed in Miss Illinois in June 2016. I want to share with you my routine and how I got my body “Miss Illinois Ready”. Preparing for the swimsuit portion of Miss Illinois was pretty difficult because there were one hundred other things I had to focus on for Miss Illinois like paperwork, keeping up with appearances, knowing what was happening in the news, interview questions, stage presence, and my talent routine. On top of all that, I had just moved to a new city for an internship, so my plate was pretty full!

My Plate

Speaking of my plate, what did I eat preparing for Miss Illinois? Lean meats, greens, and whole grains. I’m a huge advocate for eggs to start your day! Eggs are super easy to cook, plus you can change them up. One morning you can do over easy eggs with a piece of toast, the next you can do an omelet with spinach, the next you can do scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado, and the next do scrambled again, except with a little buffalo sauce. The possibilities are endless! For snacks, my go to were protein bars, rice cakes with almond butter, and a protein shake. I had each of these almost everyday. I constantly ate! I did 3 nutritious meals and 3 high protein snacks a day. How did I burn off all that food?

Fat Burning

I would burn fat the moment I woke up because the first thing I would do was 10- 20 minutes of fasted HITT cardio. I would do Fitness Blender HIIT Workout YouTube Videos. They don’t require any equipment and they are free! This cardio helped me get my metabolism going for the day. I did HIIT 5 times a week.

My Other Plates

The other important plates are the ones I would put on the bar to squat and deadlift. Big compound movements like squats and deadlifts are so important to have in your exercise routine because they stimulate your core and burn the most fat. Make sure you have proper form, so that you don’t hurt yourself. Start off using little to no weight and then add the plates! Start low and go slow. My lifting routine was pretty simple.

I did 6-8 different exercises targeting whatever muscle group I was doing for the day. 3 sets for each exercise of  8-15 reps. I usually started with lower weight then went up and lowered my reps.
Monday- Legs

Tuesday- Bis and tris

Wednesday- Back

Thursday- Shoulders and Chest

Friday- Glutes, Abs, and Plyometrics

Saturday- This day was usually making up for whatever day I missed above, but if I didn’t miss any, I would do another leg day.

Supplements

The only supplements I was taking was the GNC Women’s Ripped Vitapak, along with drinking BCAA’s during my workout. I also tried to remember to take a probiotic and fish oil daily.

I actually remember being scared to get my swimsuit pictures back, thinking I wasn’t in my best shape. Once I received my pictures, I was like dang, I really was in my best shape! I wanted to look lean with muscle definition and that’s exactly the package I brought to the stage. This shows that even when we are exactly where we want to be, we can still be too hard on ourselves. Don’t let your insecurities keep you from feeling confident. Be proud of yourself, no matter where you are in your fitness journey! If you have any fitness questions for me, please comment below or send an email to sbelshaw5@gmail.com.