Week 25 & 26: Reverse Diet Graph & Updates

The Macro Experiment: Reverse Diet Progress Graph

In 3 months (6/11/14-9/10/14), I was able to increase my calories from 947 to 1650 (700+) without gaining weight or body fat. Here is my final reverse diet data graphed out. As you can see, as my calories increase at a slow and steady rate, body fat and weight remain constant.

I realize there are different beliefs/opinions about the "optimal" speed of reverse dieting. It's actually quite the hot topic right now. My personal belief is this: Everyone is unique with individual goals and physical/psychological states. Therefore, "optimal" approaches to meet goals will vary. For instance, I had been in a severe caloric deficit for 6 years straight so my goal in reverse dieting was mainly to be able to eat more without gaining excess body fat. I had some major physical and psychological issues. Of course, a seasoned bodybuilder may have different goals or at least a different prioritization of goals than me. 

The fact of the matter is there is currently (as of 12/3/2014) no peer-reviewed research on reverse dieting. That was my entire premise of this experiment. Not that this compares AT ALL to peer-reviewed research, but I am so passionate about helping others with similar issues and fears as I once had. I believe this experiment will achieve that goal. :) I plan on discussing this speed of reverse dieting issue in a later post, but for right now I just wanted to update the graph.

OTHER UPDATES

I hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving by the way! I traveled to Wilmington, NC to visit my family and I had a blast! I experienced my first oyster (yuck), my first s'mores in about 10 years (YUM), and WINE ICE CREAM (legit best thing I have ever tasted). The macros kinda suck but it's totally worth it. You can actually get it shipped to you from this website. You're welcome. 11F/25C/3P for a half cup.

I did cave and weigh myself twice. I have stayed consistently between 115-116 for the past month, including pre and post thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, I tracked most of the day and left extra carb/fat room and tried to eat mindfully. I guess it worked out for me considering I did not gain weight. Doing IIFYM for a year and a half has taught me well. 

In other news, I am totally finished with the most stressful two months of my entire life. Long story short, I was working 10+ hours a day and going to school till late at night. It was intense but that is finally over so I have time to do things I actually WANT to do, aka the macro experiment videos and songs! :P I have a few things up my sleeve coming up in the next couple weeks I'm pretty stoked about! I'm calling it "The Swolemate Sessions." Ha.

I also did some major updates to the "about" and "metab rehab" sections of the blog. Feel free to check it out. My goals have changed somewhat and I am now focusing on gaining strength and building up muscle. Therefore, my stats updates on the blog are going to be a little different from now on because I don't necessarily consider this reverse dieting anymore. It's more just straight up lean gaining and adjusting macros based on that--a task I am entrusting to my amazing coach Jose at Alpha Training Protocols. I will continue to check in with these stats but I do want to rely less on the scale and more on progress photos, so I will be weighing myself less frequently. It has been amazing for me mentally so far. :)

Hope you have an awesome week my friends!

Much love,
- C

PS: Macro tip of the day -- some days it's fun to save room for an epic carb/fat treat like this creation I made last night. <3