Any competitor will tell you that the final week before competition can be hell due to carb cutting and water and diet restrictions. Pair this with lack of sleep from traveling, a change of environment and competition nerves and you've got a recipe for physical break down.
A competitors competition day can start as early as four am with hair and make up appointments and will last well into the evening past midnight. Training and eating clean is part of a balanced healthy lifestyle but the actual competition weekend isn't healthy by any means. We do what it takes to look our best on stage even if that means drinking next to no water for several days and eating very little.
My first competition was a complete physical shock to the system which left me severely fatigued and run down. I didn't even have time to recover from the first competition and I was already preparing for the second.
I'm a healthy person with a strong immune system who rarely ever gets colds or flus. Despite my great health, the day after my second competition I came down with the worst flu I've ever had in my entire life. My body ached, I had a fever, chills, sore throat and extreme fatigue. This flu was relentless and persisted for three weeks; it was so severe no meds helped and I literally lived on the couch. During this time I was unable to train and ate next to nothing... the end result was me losing 13 pounds of muscle which was detrimental to my competition physique.
I finally started to recover and gain strength one week out from the Canadian Nationals. I remember looking in the mirror and feeling completely devastated and mortified. All of those weeks of hard training completely lost; I now looked anorexic! The defining moment was fast approaching. I knew one week out from competition that the moment I had trained for had been completely robbed from me by a distractible flu that I didn't even see coming. Competitors think simply; eat, train, sleep, eat, train, sleep... we train our bodies to be strong and we feel indestructible; no where in our minds do we ever factor in possibly getting sick. I was blindsided and naive and totally deserved this eyeopener for taking my health for granted and pushing my body beyond its limits. Looking back now I realize all of the tell tale signs warning me of the possible end result of exhaustion and illness which I chose to ignore. Balance; the key is always balance, which is what I now strive for constantly.
One week out from Nationals I still had limited energy and hardly any appetite. In a desperate attempt to pack the muscle back on and selvage the remainder of the season I was advised to increase my protein intake and recommended to find a suitable protein powder to aid in this matter. I started my search already feeling hopeless due to all of my food allergies. I'm unable to have egg, whey, casein and soy protein. In the past I have tried rice and pea protein and found them to be quite nasty! 
I went to a local supplement store and was alarmed to hear about a new type of protein powder on the market; beef protein powder! I bought a container of Carnivor chocolate flavoured beef protein powder by MuscleMeds. Every time I experiment with a new protein powder I put it through the ultimate test and mix a serving with water. Boy did I have my mind blown when I tried this with my new beef protein powder! It was so delicious that I instantly became a Carnivor junky :) For four weeks I had two to three servings a day combined with my regular diet and to my astonishment I recovered my physique. I honestly don't know what I would have done had I not discovered this product, it's truly been life changing for me :D I'm such a huge believer in this product that I highly recommend it to everyone and have converted several friends over to Carnivor. Food allergies and diet restricting diseases/conditions are becoming more common every year. A lot of supplement companies don't realize the huge market (including people such as myself) that need supplementation that just isn't there. MuscleMeds was truly on to something when they created this product; its a perfect source of high protein with zero fat, zero cholesterol and zero sugar and it tastes amazing even when mixed with only water!
Physically I wouldn't be the woman I am today without Carnivor.....
I'm forever grateful for this product =)
