Katie Butman, New IFBB Wellness Pro
by Andrew Berry on April 29, 2024I met Katie several years ago (2018 or 20190) when we were both living in Vermont and training at LiftVT. She was a traveling nurse and was an avid lifter. I remember seeing her squat 225 and bench 135 for 10 reps each and do something like 15 pull ups all in the same workout. She knew how to train hard.
Fast forward a year or so and she had moved on to California but reached out for some coaching to get in better shape. Like a lot of people, she had competing some day in the back of her mind. In 2019 we got her onstage in bikini. She did well and won a show even, but I could see that her body was more suited for wellness. We trained hard for a year to bring her glutes and overall musculature up more and she did her first wellness show in 2020… where placed dead last at 6th in her class. Now, many would pack it in go back to class that they had already had success in- I mean I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to go back to bikini. But Katie buckled down and worked even harder and hit the stage again in 2022. This time she won a wellness class and a few weeks later won her first wellness show. From there we went to nationals where she placed a respectable 9th in a competitive line up.
From there the plan was to come back to nationals in 2023 and make the first call out. Well, Katie did that and more, securing a split middle lineup in the first call out and taking home one of the IFBB pro cards. Here is what we did this year.
June 29, 2023, 23 weeks out Nationals
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: none
Cheat Meals: 1
Bodyweight: 156.5
Upper Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop Medipure DS, 1/3 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter.
Meal 2: Pre: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup green veggie.
Intra: 1 scoop Granite Recovery, 4 grams creatine powder
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs
Carbs: 220 added grams carbs
Totals: 153 grams protein, 254 grams carbohydrate, 49 grams of fat, 2078 calories. 30% protein, 49% carbohydrate, 21% fat.
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: none
Cheat Meals: 1
Bodyweight: 156.5
Lower Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop Medipure DS, 1/3 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter.
Meal 2: Pre: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup green veggie.
Intra: 1 scoop Granite Recovery, 4 grams creatine powder
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs
Carbs: 280 added grams carbs
Totals: 153 grams protein, 324 grams carbohydrate, 49 grams of fat, 2358 calories. 26% protein, 55% carbohydrate, 19% fat.
Non-Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop Medipure DS, 1/3 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter.
Meal 2: Pre: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup green veggie.
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs
Carbs: 185 added grams carbs
Totals: 153 grams protein, 185 grams carbohydrate, 49 grams of fat, 1778 calories. 34% protein, 41% carbohydrate, 25% fat.
August 4, 2023, 18 weeks out of Nationals
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: 5 x7 minutes HIIT
Cheat Meals: pulled.
Bodyweight: 150
Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop Medipure DS, 1/3 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter.
Meal 2: Pre: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup green veggie.
Intra: 1 scoop Granite Recovery, 4 grams creatine powder
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs
Carbs: 220 added grams carbs
Totals: 153 grams protein, 254 grams carbohydrate, 49 grams of fat, 2078 calories. 30% protein, 49% carbohydrate, 21% fat.
Non-Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop Medipure DS, 1/3 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter.
Meal 2: Pre: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1 cup green veggie.
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs
Carbs: 185 added grams carbs
Totals: 153 grams protein, 185 grams carbohydrate, 49 grams of fat, 1778 calories. 34% protein, 41% carbohydrate, 25% fat.
August 25, 2023, 14 weeks out of Nationals
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: 5 x 12 HIIT
Cheat Meals: none.
Bodyweight: 150
Training Days
Meal 1: 1 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter, 30 grams carbs
Meal 2: 7 egg whites, 40 grams carbs, 1 cup green veggie.
Intra: 1 scoop Granite Recovery, 4 grams creatine powder
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 50 grams carbs, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar, 40 grams carbs
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 1 whole eggs, 30 grams carbs
Totals: 149 grams protein, 220 grams carbohydrate, 26.5 grams of fat, 1714 calories. 35% protein, 51% carbohydrate, 14% fat.
Pulled medipure out of meal one in favor of a full scoop of whey.
Pulled 2 eggs from meal 2 and increased the egg whites to 7.
Pulled 1 whole egg from meal 5.
Added carb numbers to each meal.
Non-Training Day Plan
Meal 1: 1 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter, 30 grams carbs
Meal 2: 7 egg whites, 40 grams carbs, 1 cup green veggie.
Meal 3: 4 oz. chicken breast, 40 grams carbs, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar, 35 grams carbs
Meal 5: 5 egg whites, 1 whole eggs, 35 grams carbs
Totals: 151 grams protein, 180 grams carbohydrate, 26.5 grams of fat, 1562 calories. 39% protein, 46% carbohydrate, 15% fat.
Pulled medipure out of meal one in favor of a full scoop of whey.
Pulled 2 eggs from meal 2 and increased the egg whites to 7.
Pulled 1 whole egg from meal 5.
Added carb numbers to each meal.
About a week after this we took the HIIT out and moved to 5 x 45 minutes of steady state and eventually I added a second session of 20 minutes after training as well.
October 31, 2023, 9 weeks out of Nationals
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: 45 am and pm
Cheat Meals: here and there along with refeeds.
Bodyweight: 142.6
Base Diet
Meal 1: 1 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 2: Pre: 6 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 25 grams carbs, 1 cup green veggie.
Intra: 10 grams EAAs, 4 grams creatine powder
Meal 3: Post: 4 oz. chicken breast, 25 grams carbs, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar, 25 grams carbs, 5 grams olive oil
Meal 5: 6 egg whites, 1 whole eggs, 25 grams carbs
Totals: 142 grams protein, 100 grams carbohydrate, 36.5 grams of fat, 1288 calories. 44% protein, 31% carbohydrate, 25% fat.
At this point in the diet, I typically go with a base day plan, and we take things 3 days at a time. I might say stay on the base plan, hit cardio 45 am and pm and check in on the 4th day. At that point I might continue the push or refeed. On this day, I pulled the second cardio session out and we replaced the last meal for a burger and fries as she was dropping appropriately, and I wanted to reset her a bit.
For a couple of stretches over the next 4 weeks I pulled her carbs down to 50 grams for several days and then would refeed for 2 days at around 220 grams of carbs and no cardio or we thew a burger in. Here is Katie at 5 weeks out at 141 pounds.
Over the next 3 weeks we continued to cycle her carbs and cardio. I can’t say that there is a pattern here, like 4 days low, 2 days high. As I do this longer and longer, I like to take things 2-4 days at a time with prep clients. We might do a few days of zero carbs and then a massive 1-2 days of refeeds and a free meal to finish the day off. This also gives me a good idea on how she will look when filled out. Here is Katie at 2 weeks out at 139 pounds.
Days Training: 5-6 days a week
Cardio: This is being pulled down now. 45 and 30 for a few days. Then 45 and 15. Eventually over the last week we got it down to 30 minutes.
Cheat Meals: here and there along with refeeds.
Bodyweight: 139
Here’s another shot of Katie at 1 week out at 137.4. This was her money look and my job all week was just to maintain it by titrating cardio down, keeping her low stress and watching the look and her weight daily.
And another one at 1 day out.
Day before show diet
Meal 1: 1 scoop whey isolate, 16 grams peanut butter, 40 grams carbs
Meal 2: 6 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 40 grams carbs, 1 cup green veggie.
Meal 3: 4 oz. chicken breast, 40 grams carbs, 16 grams peanut butter
Meal 4: 4 oz. 95% lean beef, large salad with veggies and balsamic vinegar, 40 grams carbs, 5 grams olive oil
Meal 5: 6 egg whites, 1 whole eggs, 20 grams carbs
Totals: 142 grams protein, 180 grams carbohydrate, 36.5 grams of fat, 1616 calories. 35% protein, 45% carbohydrate, 20% fat.
Water stayed the same as it’s been all prep.
Day of show plans before prejudging
Wake- .25-liter water, get all pills and supps down.
6:30- 2 oz of protein source, 35-40 grams carbs, 10 grams fat
7:30- .25-liter water
9:00- Assuming wellness is starting, take serving of pump product. 2 of the small rice Krispy treats you have with 5 turns of saltshaker and 10 grams of pb. Start pumping up once they line you up backstage.
We did one smaller meal and then a snack to help pump up backstage. Prejudging went well. I knew we were in shape, and she was peaked well. She had made a lot of improvements since last year’s Nationals, so I expected to be in the first call out. She did make the first call out and worked her way into split middle and left that way. I left the venue knowing that we had secured one of the pro cards. The rest of the day was just a few smaller meals, repeating meal 1. The night show started, and she nailed her routine and secured the second-place finish and an IFBB Pro card.
We were planning on jumping onstage at the 2024 Tampa pro but as soon as we started prep, we realized that her mind and body needed a little break. So… look for her onstage several times in 2025.