Hey guys! I am putting together a massive CHAIN RESTAURANT and FAST FOOD IIFYM Master List! It will basically be a list of the most "macro-friendly" items at all of the major chain restaurants and fast food places! I'm hoping to have that up on the blog here in the next week or so! I thought it would help make IIFYM-ers' lives easier. It can be rough going through those daunting restaurant nutrition fact lists with the tiny fonts, constantly losing place of which column is carb/protein/fat. So that's fun!

And for this week's stats, I decided to keep increasing macros after keeping macros the same last week. If you remember from the last post, my lovely time of the month came back for the first time in three months which made my weight fluctuate significantly. It stopped a few days ago and my weight has come down and fluctuated less but the average is still up from 2 weeks ago. It will be interesting to see if it goes down any more this week! It's all a part of this crazy experiment. And just a little FYI for ya -- one thing I am doing very differently than last time is that I am not doing really any formal cardio at all. Saving allllllll that for when I cut.

In other news, I start my first "big girl" job as a speech-language pathologist on Monday! Time-saving techniques and meal-prepping shall commence. Wish me luck.

- C

REVERSE DIET 2 STATS:
(Click to view reverse diet 1 stats)

Date                 Weight (lb)        Protein (g)          Carbs         Fat          Total Cal
7.29.15            119.2                  120                      160            40             1480 (+58)*
7.15.15            118.6                  120                      150            38             1422 (+58)
7.8.15              118.5                  120                      140             36            1364 (+58)
7.1.15              118.6                  120                      130             34            1306 (+58)
6.24.15            118.2                  120                      120             32            1248 (+58)
START                                          120                      110             30            1190

DISCLAIMER: If you are a dude and don't want to hear about girl bodily functions then please do not read further into this post. Earmuffs.

So guys! Fun times this week. FUN TIMES. I got my period for the first time in three months. This happened last year when I reverse dieted and got my period again for the first time in a year --  you can read about it in this post. 

(By the way, Nutella is my best friend during this time of the month, haha! :P)

Ever since I started cutting a while ago around April, I stopped getting my period. I have always had an irregular period by the way, but I don't usually go three whole months without it. I am glad to have it back, as annoying as it is… but my scale weight was ALL over the place this week. Literally up 3 pounds one day, down 3 the next. No macro changes, just hormonal craziness. All that to say, I decided to keep my macros the same this week to rule out weight changes caused by my period. 

I think loss of period is pretty common among us girls in the fitness community and definitely can be a cause for concern. My dear friend Brittany posted a very helpful v-log a while back about this subject so I wanted to post it here because I thought it was so good! If you struggle with not getting a period, I definitely agree with Brittany that reverse dieting will help revive it as well as a little necessary weight gain. Just suck it up and DO what you know you need to do. :)

Much <3,
- C

Just a quick little update, checking in with some stats for the week! <3

REVERSE DIET 2 STATS:
(Click to view reverse diet 1 stats)

Date                 Weight (lb)        Protein (g)          Carbs         Fat          Total Cal
7.15.15            118.6                  120                      150            38             1422 (+58)
7.8.15              118.5                  120                      140             36            1364 (+58)
7.1.15              118.6                  120                      130             34            1306 (+58)
6.24.15            118.2                  120                      120             32            1248 (+58)
START                                          120                      110             30            1190

 Alright guys, I spent a while baselining and trying to figure out exactly where I was after not counting macros for about a month. I took an educated guess and started at 140C and noticed some weight gain so I decided it would be better to low-ball my starting calories rather than start too high. Keep in mind my calories were pretty low as I had lost weight up until this point.

Also, I am doing things a little differently with this reverse. I bought a new scale that is more accurate. My old one only measured to the nearest .5 and this one is to the nearest .1. Another difference is this time I am weighing myself every day and averaging out my weight for the week in order to make calorie increase decisions. Last time, I would only weigh once or twice a week.. and my weight can fluctuate hardcore so that's probably not the most accurate way to do it. This time I am not taking weekly bodyfat % measures because that had a very negative affect on me mentally last time. Right now, I just want to focus on increasing my metabolic rate with as little weight gain as possible. So without further ado...

REVERSE DIET 2 STATS:
(Click to view reverse diet 1 stats)

Date                 Weight (lb)        Protein (g)          Carbs         Fat          Total Cal
7.8.15              118.5                  120                      140             36            1364 (+58)
7.1.15              118.6                  120                      130             34            1306 (+58)
6.24.15            118.2                  120                      120             32            1248 (+58)
START                                          120                      110             30            1190

I've also started tracking specific volume for squat/deadlift/bench and strategically trying to increase that by about 500-1000 lbs every week. If you're interested, let me know and I'll post those stats as well! I think it's super important to be intentional and have specific long and short-term goals in the gym. I'm going to play those volume increases by ear based on how my body responds (fatigue, etc.).

I hope you guys have an amazing week! I've been perfecting my protein bar recipe.. the macros will be just like the macros on a quest bar, including fiber! So stay tuned for that. ;)

- C