Aldactone took several days to fully kick in.
Next time I'll use something faster acting like Dyazide.
Oddly enough Aldactone didn't kick my ass like Dandelion did. I felt tired as heck on it, but Dandelion also tied my stomach in knots whereas Aldactone did not.
The guys at the show who've used Aldactone before said you have to use it for at least 5 days leading up to the show for it to really work well. I only used it Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. If I had started on Monday perhaps I would have come in with less waterweight. Though I firmly believe dropping my sodium to next to nothing would have been even more effectvie. The two combined would have likely given me a much higher placing, possibly even enough to get 4th or 5th in the Open. I don't think I could ever have beaten the guy who took the Novice; he was just so damn shredded it was insane.
Anyway, I'd say start the Aldactone Monday morning before the first show, and continue on through the second.
Also, don't bother doing a s-hitload. It didn't hurt me, but I'll be honest, I don't really think it helped much at all. Plus the s-hitload relies on dropping water early in the evening. If you don't s-hitload, you can continue drinking up until when you go to sleep. Then you'll only be dehydrated for a few hours in the morning of the show. Much safer, and you won't get the same water rebound.
After prejudging in the first show, just sip water until the evening or your stomach will HATE you for it and you'll feel like you want to die. In the evening after the night show, start to drink a little more normally. The day after the show, bring water intake up to a gallon or more. After that try to increase it to 2-3 gallons until the morning of the second show. Keep sodium at an absolute minimum the entire time.
Also, because you're doing 2 shows, I would recommend carbing up clean on the day of the first show. Use rice cackes and honey. I suppose rice cakes, peanut butter, and jam would be ok too, but go easy on the peanut butter. The fat will help vascularlity, and so will the sodium, but you want that sodium out of your system by the next day.
The second contest, eat whatever you want on the morning of prejudging. Just remember, the morning of any prejudging, don't drink any water until after the prejudging.