Sheeeeeeesh, where to begin. As you know, I like to keep it 100% real so I will just tell you like it is.
This blog post is called lessons learned because I'd rather you learn from my experience than suffer through it yourself. So lemme spare you some gray hairs and tears, aight?! :)
REVERSE DIET & CUTTING LESSONS:
1) Don't do a mini-cut right after you get your period for the first time in a year. Chances are, weight gain is water retention due to crazy hormone changes. Being a girl just straight up sucks sometimes.
2) Don't do a mini-cut during the most stressful time of your life. Because cortisol.
3) Don't do a mini-cut when you are only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. Because cortisol.
4) The scale is not the best measurement tool so chill out and don't put your faith in it.
As you can see, I have not changed my macros at ALL. I have been on POINT with hitting my exact macros every day and have not had one "cheat day" because I don't do those. Yet my weight has increased. Interestingly enough, exactly one month ago to this day my weight had increased about 2 lbs (and then went back down a week later…) because my period happened for the first time in a year. I expect that to happen again soon, probably this week. Sorry for any dudes who read my blog but it is what it is. I'm a girl. :)
LIFE LESSONS:
I'm not going number these, but this week I learned a lot about myself. I am a perfectionist in most areas of my life and that characteristic can really mess me up when I am stretched too thin. I am not the kind of person who half-a$$es anything. When I commit to something, I give it my all and that is difficult when there is a lack of time. To me, that means I have to compensate by overkilling everything. I have felt so much pressure lately in ALL ares of my life (personal, school, work). On top of that, I felt like my mini-cut was essentially a waste of time (and precious carbs that I could have eaten dangit!!) that I will be totally honest -- there came a point where I Just had to sit down and cry for like an hour straight. I had to just let it out and it felt freaking amazing.
Even though this blog is primarily about physical changes--reverse dieting, building muscle, optimizing body composition, etc.--this whole experience is changing me from the outside in. This week, during that "good cry" sesh, I had a defining moment. I'm legitimately done with letting the scale dictate my level of happiness. The logic finally trumped the crazy. It was a huge breakthrough for me. I was seriously contemplating quitting the scale altogether and not weighing myself anymore, but I decided that I need to continue for the sake of the macro experiment so I can keep up with this data for you guys. I also know that in order to gain legit muscle, I will probably see the scale weight increase and that is not a bad thing. I am going to focus now on increasing my strength and increasing my macros relative to that. I want to build some solid muscle and then do a real cut. And perfect timing 'cause guess what?!
I have never had a coach before… until now!
I am so excited to officially be with team Alpha Training Protocols. I have followed them since the beginning of the macro experiment… and I remember when I first found them on IG thinking "holy crap this is THE gold mine of IIFYM!!" I respect these guys so much. Excited, honored, grateful, STOKED to say the least. They are the perfect combo of solid evidence-based coaching and GOOD PEOPLE (crazy nice, ethical, hilarious...) So... huge shout out to Alpha Training Protocols. You should follow them on FB and IG if you don't already. <3
STATS:
REVERSE DIET 2:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
9.22.14 114 15.5 120 150 35 1,395 (+95)
MINI-CUT 1:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
10.15.14 112.5 15.5 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
10.8.14 111.5 15.2 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
10.1.14 113.5 15 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
9.24.14 115 16.0 120 140 29 1,300 (-350)
REVERSE DIET 1:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
9.17.14 113 15.4 117 201 42 1,650 (+0)
9.10.14 111.5 16.2 117 201 42 1,650 (+58)
9.3.14 111 16.8 117 191 40 1,592 (+58)
8.27.14 111.5 16.4 117 181 38 1,534 (+58)
8.20.14 111.5 15.7 117 171 36 1,476 (+58)**
8.13.14 110 16.0 117 161 34 1,418 (+58)
8.6.14 110 15.7 117 151 32 1,360 (+58)
7.30.14 109.5 15.5 117 141 30 1,302 (+58)
7.23.14 110.5 15.7 117 131 28 1, 244 (+18)
7.16.14 109 15.0 117 131 26 1,226 (+58)
7.9.14 109 14.9 117 121 24 1,168 (+49)
7.2.14 110 15.6 117 111 23 1,119 (+49)
6.25.14 110.5 15.4 117 101 22 1,070 (+40)
6.18.14 110 16.1 117 91 22 1,030 (+43)
6.11.14 112.5 16.8 117 81 20 987 (+40)*
START 117 77 19 947
Much <3,
- C
This blog post is called lessons learned because I'd rather you learn from my experience than suffer through it yourself. So lemme spare you some gray hairs and tears, aight?! :)
REVERSE DIET & CUTTING LESSONS:
1) Don't do a mini-cut right after you get your period for the first time in a year. Chances are, weight gain is water retention due to crazy hormone changes. Being a girl just straight up sucks sometimes.
2) Don't do a mini-cut during the most stressful time of your life. Because cortisol.
3) Don't do a mini-cut when you are only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. Because cortisol.
4) The scale is not the best measurement tool so chill out and don't put your faith in it.
As you can see, I have not changed my macros at ALL. I have been on POINT with hitting my exact macros every day and have not had one "cheat day" because I don't do those. Yet my weight has increased. Interestingly enough, exactly one month ago to this day my weight had increased about 2 lbs (and then went back down a week later…) because my period happened for the first time in a year. I expect that to happen again soon, probably this week. Sorry for any dudes who read my blog but it is what it is. I'm a girl. :)
LIFE LESSONS:
I'm not going number these, but this week I learned a lot about myself. I am a perfectionist in most areas of my life and that characteristic can really mess me up when I am stretched too thin. I am not the kind of person who half-a$$es anything. When I commit to something, I give it my all and that is difficult when there is a lack of time. To me, that means I have to compensate by overkilling everything. I have felt so much pressure lately in ALL ares of my life (personal, school, work). On top of that, I felt like my mini-cut was essentially a waste of time (and precious carbs that I could have eaten dangit!!) that I will be totally honest -- there came a point where I Just had to sit down and cry for like an hour straight. I had to just let it out and it felt freaking amazing.
Even though this blog is primarily about physical changes--reverse dieting, building muscle, optimizing body composition, etc.--this whole experience is changing me from the outside in. This week, during that "good cry" sesh, I had a defining moment. I'm legitimately done with letting the scale dictate my level of happiness. The logic finally trumped the crazy. It was a huge breakthrough for me. I was seriously contemplating quitting the scale altogether and not weighing myself anymore, but I decided that I need to continue for the sake of the macro experiment so I can keep up with this data for you guys. I also know that in order to gain legit muscle, I will probably see the scale weight increase and that is not a bad thing. I am going to focus now on increasing my strength and increasing my macros relative to that. I want to build some solid muscle and then do a real cut. And perfect timing 'cause guess what?!
I have never had a coach before… until now!
I am so excited to officially be with team Alpha Training Protocols. I have followed them since the beginning of the macro experiment… and I remember when I first found them on IG thinking "holy crap this is THE gold mine of IIFYM!!" I respect these guys so much. Excited, honored, grateful, STOKED to say the least. They are the perfect combo of solid evidence-based coaching and GOOD PEOPLE (crazy nice, ethical, hilarious...) So... huge shout out to Alpha Training Protocols. You should follow them on FB and IG if you don't already. <3
STATS:
REVERSE DIET 2:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
9.22.14 114 15.5 120 150 35 1,395 (+95)
MINI-CUT 1:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
10.15.14 112.5 15.5 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
10.8.14 111.5 15.2 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
10.1.14 113.5 15 120 140 29 1,300 (-0)
9.24.14 115 16.0 120 140 29 1,300 (-350)
REVERSE DIET 1:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
9.17.14 113 15.4 117 201 42 1,650 (+0)
9.10.14 111.5 16.2 117 201 42 1,650 (+58)
9.3.14 111 16.8 117 191 40 1,592 (+58)
8.27.14 111.5 16.4 117 181 38 1,534 (+58)
8.20.14 111.5 15.7 117 171 36 1,476 (+58)**
8.13.14 110 16.0 117 161 34 1,418 (+58)
8.6.14 110 15.7 117 151 32 1,360 (+58)
7.30.14 109.5 15.5 117 141 30 1,302 (+58)
7.23.14 110.5 15.7 117 131 28 1, 244 (+18)
7.16.14 109 15.0 117 131 26 1,226 (+58)
7.9.14 109 14.9 117 121 24 1,168 (+49)
7.2.14 110 15.6 117 111 23 1,119 (+49)
6.25.14 110.5 15.4 117 101 22 1,070 (+40)
6.18.14 110 16.1 117 91 22 1,030 (+43)
6.11.14 112.5 16.8 117 81 20 987 (+40)*
START 117 77 19 947
Much <3,
- C
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