Post Show Reverse Diet and Eating Disorders
Now that it is about two weeks post show I have gathered myself together enough to talk about my experience. Sooo lets start at the beginning. And when I come to the end, stop. (Alice in Wonderland Reference)
Start Rant:
I come from a long childhood of poor body image and eating disorders. This was taken to even more extreme levels during high school. That is until about Senior year. Then due to a bad relationship (young and stupid) I was forced to stop fight training for a couple years and tried to maintain a normal diet. But without continuing my rigorous martial arts, I gained weight. I continued to yo-yo workout and diet until I started a new (awesome) romantic relationship that helped me get back into fighting. I gained my confidence and looked better. Not where I wanted to be exactly, but I was an awesome fighter and was in great shape. Then I lost my license and deepened into a very very very bad depression. This lead to weight gain and other horrible habits. Eventually by the end of 2013 I was on a better health track. So I decided to start bodybuilding as a new challenge to eventually help me get into fighting shape and start winning some fights. So I started prepping for a bikini competition.
Well with some help, and not-so-helpful “help”, I lost weight, muscle, and then my sanity. I cut too hard, and yes I got leaner, but after my first show leading into the next ( march-April time frame) I gained 10lbs in a week by just adding 200 calories back in my daily diet. Meaning during my second show prep I was eating 1400 calories and gaining weight. So my calories were dropped back down to 1200 calories to prep for my second show. Then Post (second) show I had some time before July hit ( my third and final show) so I went back to eating what most people consider normal, 1700 calories a day. I blew up like a whale and hated myself even more. After two weeks of eating that way, I went down to 1500 calories and each week leading to my July show cut back 50 calories. By the final weeks I was no longer able to lose any more weight and barely ate 1000 calories. This was the start of my realization that I never recovered from my eating disorders.
So here I stand two weeks post show, up five pounds, completely emotionally wrecked, slipping into another depression, and gaining weight. This time I wanted to have a plan. My plan was to reverse diet out of the show. Well I am doing that now, but the first week I 100% admit to binging a few times. But right now I am starting my reverse Diet at 1410 calories. 39g fat, 123 g carbs, and 141 protein. It is still hard on me mentally to continue to be so regimented with my food, but I need to fix my metabolism. If I am still gaining weight from eating a mere 1400 calories, obviously something is wrong. This right now is my best option to gain my sanity (aka still look leanish and be in better health) and put some muscle on, and be able to increase my metabolic capacity.
Basically how it works is that you slowly. And by slowly I mean like 10grams of carbs a week maybe being added. You want to keep track of your weight to see if it drops or gains. If it drops too much then add more macros. (macro-nutrients) This style of eating is often refereed to as If It Fits Your Macros, or Flexible dieting. Which I am all of fan of , but I also am a fan of getting your micro-nutrients. Plus I am still in a deficit of calories so I can only really eat clean foods for the most part anyways.
There is so much information out there on this process. ( sometimes too much) And I suggest that everyone really reads and researches as much as they can. Health is important and I need to get mine back. Here are a few awesome resources that will explain this in even more detail: