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Reverse Diet & Cheat Meals


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Hi!

 

I’m new to this forum and this is my first post. I competed in my first figure competition in June. My prep went well and I was happy the package I brought to the stage for a first timer. However, I’m struggling with my reverse diet. I’ve had issues with food for many years – from full-blown binge eating disorder in the first half of my twenties (I’m now 33), to a very few binges whilst during comp prep. I am under a lot of stress at work and home at the moment, so the urges to binge have been strong. I am addressing this and have seen a counsellor whose helped me with these issues in the past. So, the emotional eating side of things I’m handling as much as possible. But I’m struggling a bit with how to progress with my reverse diet. I am still not back to maintenance calories on a day-to-day basis, but I am having ‘cheat meals’ once a week (I have binged a few times as well, but I consider those two things to be – to an extent –separate). Emotionally, I feel like at the moment, with everything else that’s going on and the stage I’m at in dealing with bingeing, that I still need the ‘crutch’ of having a cheat meal. However, the cheat meals mean that I’m somewhat stagnating in terms of upping my calories overall. I want to compete again next summer, so I do want to get my daily intake up as much as possible. I’m just a bit lost as to how I can move forward.

 

Does anyone have any experience that chimes in with this and could give me some tips? I know in an ideal world, the ‘cheats’ would have to go, but realistically I’m not sure I’m in a place where I can let them go right now. As stupid as that may sound.

 

Thanks for reading this, and looking forward to reading your responses.

 

Karoline

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  • 1 month later...

Here is an example I will give of a competitor I recently helped reverse diet after they finished their prep on their own (our athletes don’t ever do this much cardio, but it’s quite common when people come to us for reverse dieting help) :

 

Week 1 scale weight 174- added 20 carbs, cardio pulled from 30 mins 2x a day to 20 mins 2x a day.

 

Week 2 scale weight 174.8- added 20 carbs, cardio moved to 30 mins once a day.

 

Week 3 scale weight 175.8- added 15 carbs and 5 fats, cardio moved to 20 mins once a day.

 

Week 4 scale weight 174.3 – added 20 carbs, cardio moved to 20 mins 6 days a week.

 

Week 5 scale weight 176.2- added 15 carbs, 5 fats, cardio moved to 20 mins 5 days a week.

 

Week 6 scale weight 177.1- added 15 carbs, cardio moved to 20 mins 4 days a week (where it currently stays)

 

Week 7 scale weight 177.5- added 15 carbs, 5 fats

 

Week 8 scale weight 178.8- added 15 carbs.

 

 

 

We got his carbs up from 200 a day to 335 and he still has abs. His fats went from 45 a day up to 55. His protein remained the same, about 220 grams a day. So new macros are 220 protein, 335 carbs and 55 fats, up from 2085 cals to 2715 cals a day PLUS a refeed day where he’s hitting about 5000 cals. (Note: Not everyone can add this much food each week- common amounts for a male to add are 10 carbs and 5 fats, OR, 15 carbs, etc etc it depends on which macros need to go up. And, for women, I would simply add in 10 carbs or 5 grams of fat weekly and pull back cardio 5 mins and watch the mirror and scale as you go).

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