As a figure coach I receive millions of e-mails requesting the best figure prep plan.  I've come across some disturbing figure competition programs, everything from 800 calories a day to 2 hours of cardio each day.  This leads me to ask you if you want the raw truth about how to diet for a figure show. 

To begin you need to figure out your body fat ratio to so you know how many weeks you need to diet down.  A figure prep diet can vary from 12-16 or more weeks based upon your beginning stats. Take the dieting process slowly to be sure you lose body fat and not excess lean mass.  As you diet down you will bring down your calories in small increments.  If you drop calories too much too early you will lose a lot of muscle and hang on to body fat.  

If you get to a fat loss plateau try low-carbing for a while to get your body fat burning again.  Be sure to add in a re-feed day every 4th day or so to replenish your glycogen stores so you have fuel to weight train and energy for mental power. 

It is crucial that you consume protein with every meal.  If your meal doesn't contain protein, it's not a meal.  You should consume around 1 gram of protein per pound of muscle mass to keep your muscle and burn body fat.  If you see you are falling short on your protein consumption you can supplement with a whey protein supplement or a meal substitute powder.

You should resistance train in your figure prep plan to keep and advance muscle.  Figure competitions are physique contests and you should have the muscles and definition the figure judges are looking for so you can look great and place high, and even win.  Your figure workout needs to include basic compound movements and isolation movements to zone in on your muscles fully.  Keep your reps in the 8-12 range for 3-5 sets.

To help boost fat loss, do cardio to burn additional calories.  Aerobics doesn't have to be each day for an hour.  Cardio needs are based on your stats.  Start cardio on the low end, about 3-4 times per week for 20-30 minutes and slowly increase it each week as needed.  Don't over do cardio.  It's easy to get trapped in doing too much cardio and eating up lean muscle mass.  You must keep a balance so you burn body fat and keep as much lean mass as possible. 

One week from your figure competition, the work is complete.  The final week is what's known as peak week.  During that week you don't need much weight training or cardio at all, if any.  During peak week take time out and rest, drink a lot of water the beginning part of the week, and manipulate your carbs in such as way that you redistribute the water from under your skin into your muscle cells.  When you perform the final week the correct way you will look absolutely jaw-dropping on the figure stage!