body builder in cairo | Tamara Makar

Had a fabulous weekend in England last weekend. It was all rush and not enough time for anything, but it was nice to stand on stage again and meet some of my friends, even only briefly.

Left Cairo Thursday afternoon, my flight was scheduled at 5.30 pm. On the way to the airport there was a traffic jam on the road – what a surprise! I was getting a bit anxious therefore I tried to check in on my phone so that I don’t miss that. When I logged on the application to check in, it told me that I couldn’t because the check-in was not available anymore as the flight was at 4.45 pm. It turned out that because the clocks went back a few weeks ago (in the UK, not in Egypt) therefore they changed the time for the flight – although they don’t tell this to you to warn you. So I was running really late and I was even checking my other options when I could travel if I’d missed this flight. But fortunately I got there in the very last minute and checked in. Going through security I’ve met some lovely people, one of them is Ramy who is training in MMA.

Finally I got to London Heathrow at around 10 pm and made my way to Colchester on the train. I got to the hotel around 1 am, very exhausted. The next day I got up and went for a walk in the town centre. It is a lovely place, I really liked the atmosphere of the town. There was a market on the high street, and all the shops you can ask for. I realized how much I missed all these commodities and the green countryside. Cairo is very hot most of the year, even wintertime it’s only mild, not cold. You see the sun 24/7 almost, and the downside of it is that there’s not much rain, therefore there’s a lot of dust everywhere. It’s lovely to see the sun most of the time, and it truly makes up for most things: your mood is instantly better.

Anyway, so I tried to rest a bit on Friday , put a coat of tan on, had my wine in the evening and was waiting for Saturday to come.

Saturday was one of the longest days in my life. The registration was at 8 am at the venue, then we had a physique check where the judges checked all the ladies’ classes if everyone was in the right class, then we had an orientation meeting. This finished aorund 10.30am and the show started at 12pm. A break was planned to be at 4-5 pm, but when 4 pm came the show had not been even halfway through the classes that they planned on judging before the interval. That was a bit disappointing as my class was the second to the last after the interval. I was told the event was supposed to finish around 8 pm, and if there’s a delay then maybe around 9 pm. Well, eventually I got on stage at 10 pm, very tired and thirsty. Thankfully one of my friends was there with me and tried to distract me from all this.

There were 2 physique classes, open and masters and I entered the masters class, but because the event was running so late they merged the 2 classes and we ended up competing in the open class. In the open class I came 4th, but a few days later they posted the results for all the classes, so in the masters class I came 2nd. All the ladies looked great, really nice line up!

After the competition I went to fill up a bit on some food and water. Enjoyed some sweets and a pizza (only one slice, I don’t know why I keep buying pizzas after a competition when I don’t even eat it 🙂

The next morning we went to Harvester to have an all you can eat breakfast – something that I miss here in Egypt 🙂 the food was fabulous, I really enjoyed the pancakes and toast, although the bacon and sausage was a bit too salty for me after a competition diet.

After breakfast we made our way down towards Heathrow and we stopped in Cheshunt to pay a visit in my favourite gym, Monster Gym. I felt I had to use all those extra calories so I had a wicked back workout there. I was also happy to see that my photos are still on the wall 🙂

After training we headed to Langley to meet some friends and have my long awaited steak at the Harvester – yes, I know, it was my favourite place and I really miss it!

The next day I was flying back to Cairo. I had a lovely weekend there and I’m planning on going back in July or August as I couldn’t get to my stuff I left in London, because of the lenght of time and also because my friend who keeps them safe for me was away for work on that weekend.

Back to training now, preparing for the next competition. Watch this space!

Thank you Space Fitness and Panatta for making this trip possible!

Constant question from athletes that how much calories they need, especially when they start cutting for a competition.

Usually my first question is: how much are you eating now? Simple question, but not everyone can answer. My experience – especially here in Egypt – that people don’t know how much they’re eating. Food is not measured, it’s all just guessing.

First of all you need to know how much you’re eating. You should know your macros: how much protein, carbs and fats you’re taking on a daily basis. If you’re offseason, at least a ballpark number. If you’re in contest prep, then it should be more accurate.

During contest prep the main aim is to get rid of the fat while maintaining the muscle. That means your protein intake has to be high enough to keep the muscle and your carb intake low enough to lose the fat.

The caloric intake is different for everyone. It depends on several factors: how much lean mass you have, how much you weight, how often you work out, what lifestyle you live (sedentary or active), even what job you do! Therefore a generic nutrition plan will not work for everyone.

General rule is that if you want to maintain muscle you need to eat 1 gr of protein for every 1 lb of lean mass you have. Meaning: if your competition weight is 70 kg (154 lbs) then you need to eat at least 154 gr of protein a day.

In regards to carbs it depends on the factors I’ve mentioned above, plus your body type, your insulin sensitivity and therefore your metabolism. If you have high metabolism, chances are you have low insulin sensitivity therefore you need more carbs. If your metabolism is slower, you need less carbs.

How you can increase your metabolism while dieting: eating small portions of food on a regular basis is one way to increase metabolism. The other way is to increase your physical activity by doing cardio. When doing cardio make sure you always have enough protein in your body to prevent fat loss. Supplementation of amino acids and BCAAs is essential when cutting.

The fat intake depends on your carb intake. Generally speaking if you are low on carbs, you need higher fats, if you’re relatively high on carbs, you need to be on low fat. Fats should be healthy fats, definitely not trans fats. Healthy fats include: fish, salmon, nuts and seeds to name a few. Transfats come from mostly fried foods and a lot of other ‘snacks’ from the shelves of a supermarket (crisps, or any junk food really).

So be careful with what and how much you eat when your main aim is to lean out.

Personalized nutrition and training plans and online coaching are available: hello@tamaramakar.me

Soon: private coaching is coming in Cairo. Contact me for details!

Tamara Makar

IFBB Pro Athlete

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How much calories do I need?