About a month ago I wrote about my peeves regarding the use of the phrase "metabolic damage," which leads me into my peeves with the overuse of this new popular phrase, "reverse dieting."
Reverse dieting is the phrase coined to define the process of slowly increasing caloric consumption after a period of dieting so as not to rebound and gain a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time (yo-yo) post-competition. Some gurus recommend an increase of roughly 20 Calories a week so that the body can adjust to the energy increase, and so the least amount of weight is gained in the process of going back to eating at maintenance. In a sense, it is considered a "solution" to metabolic damage. Bleghk.
There are so many issues with these concepts that I don't even know where to begin.
First off -- If you are consuming 1400 Calories the week before you step on stage, and your maintenance is 2000 Calories, and you were to follow this guru advice and add in 20 calories each week, it would take you 30 weeks or 7 and a half months to get back up to maintenance calories. This means that you would still be at a deficit for almost 8 months post-competition. I don't know if this seems realistic to any of you, but I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a deficit for the course of an entire year: 3-4 months prep, 7-8 months post-comp, no thank you.
Second -- 20 calories is a whopping 5 grams of protein or carbs, or a little over 2 grams of fat. Even the most meticulous dieters often don't control their diets to that degree, especially post-competition.
Third -- Your training post-competition is so different from prep, that this minor caloric increase wouldn't make much of tangible difference. How can someone advise changes in nutrition based off of a training protocol that's not even being implemented post-comp?
Lastly -- Rebounding from a competition isn't even that big of a deal. Most of it is water weight and bloat, and easily comes off once the dieter is eating at maintenance again. Nobody stays competition lean unless they're following a competition diet. That's how it works. You can't stay lean on a diet that doesn't make you lean. You will look the way you eat and train.
In my opinion, all these fancy new bullshit terms are there to scare people into thinking they need more help than they really do. You're not going to die from binging a day or two after your competition (as far as I know, but I'm not a doctor so don't blame me if you suffer from a heart attack post-comp after binging on donuts and ice cream). Just enjoy yourself, take some time off, eat normally, then get right back into the swing of things once you feel mentally and physically ready. Don't go off and diet more after you just got finished dieting, that's just stupid. Our bodies and minds need a break!
Reverse dieting is the phrase coined to define the process of slowly increasing caloric consumption after a period of dieting so as not to rebound and gain a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time (yo-yo) post-competition. Some gurus recommend an increase of roughly 20 Calories a week so that the body can adjust to the energy increase, and so the least amount of weight is gained in the process of going back to eating at maintenance. In a sense, it is considered a "solution" to metabolic damage. Bleghk.
There are so many issues with these concepts that I don't even know where to begin.
First off -- If you are consuming 1400 Calories the week before you step on stage, and your maintenance is 2000 Calories, and you were to follow this guru advice and add in 20 calories each week, it would take you 30 weeks or 7 and a half months to get back up to maintenance calories. This means that you would still be at a deficit for almost 8 months post-competition. I don't know if this seems realistic to any of you, but I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a deficit for the course of an entire year: 3-4 months prep, 7-8 months post-comp, no thank you.
Second -- 20 calories is a whopping 5 grams of protein or carbs, or a little over 2 grams of fat. Even the most meticulous dieters often don't control their diets to that degree, especially post-competition.
OMG, five extra pieces of broccoli?! Yayyyy.
Third -- Your training post-competition is so different from prep, that this minor caloric increase wouldn't make much of tangible difference. How can someone advise changes in nutrition based off of a training protocol that's not even being implemented post-comp?
Lastly -- Rebounding from a competition isn't even that big of a deal. Most of it is water weight and bloat, and easily comes off once the dieter is eating at maintenance again. Nobody stays competition lean unless they're following a competition diet. That's how it works. You can't stay lean on a diet that doesn't make you lean. You will look the way you eat and train.
In my opinion, all these fancy new bullshit terms are there to scare people into thinking they need more help than they really do. You're not going to die from binging a day or two after your competition (as far as I know, but I'm not a doctor so don't blame me if you suffer from a heart attack post-comp after binging on donuts and ice cream). Just enjoy yourself, take some time off, eat normally, then get right back into the swing of things once you feel mentally and physically ready. Don't go off and diet more after you just got finished dieting, that's just stupid. Our bodies and minds need a break!
A competitor doesn't build their body in a few days, and won't destroy it in a few days, either. As with all things, you need time and consistency to achieve your goals. Just stick with it and stop over-complicating things.
Also the biggest thing to note is that the body builds muscle and loses fat at a slow rate. Even if you were susceptable to more fat gain after a cut, any that you'd gain would a) still be put on super slowly and b) negated by the fact that your muscles will be prioritizing the caloric increase to grow.
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