Binged and need help

[justin3690]

Ok guys, so I made a pretty big mistake, got myself in a pretty bad situation, and would like some advice to get myself out of it the best way possible. I started a pre contest diet 14 weeks ago with plans of competing after 12 weeks. When I started, I was sitting at 208 pounds, around 12-13% BF (I had ate good through the whole offseason). Started at 3200 calories, dropping about 150 per week until I got to 2400. After 12 weeks, I was down to 185 pounds, prob around 9% bf. Well, some things came up and I decided not to compete, but I wanted to keep going with the diet until I had reached my goal (around 4-5% bf). On my refeed day on the 12th week, I decided to take a "cheat day" since I was no longer competing. Long story short, this cheat day turned into 2 weeks of pretty much eating whatever I wanted. Before anyone starts criticizing me, I know how big of a mistake this was, and how stupid it was, but it happened. There's nothing I can do about it now, I just want to move on from it the best way possible and use it as a learning experience to never let it happen again.
I really would like to get back on a diet and go back through until I hit my goal of 5% (regardless of how far this has set me back). My question is this. Should I jump straight back to the 2400 calories I was at previously along with the 7 days of cardio (30 min per day), or should I start back a little higher (like 2800-3000 cals) with around 4 days of cardio and slowly drop them each week as if I were starting over? Or should I just call it quits on the diet and start reverse dieting out into a bulk? Any help would be greatly appreciated! And please, like I said earlier, no criticizing. (Again, I know how stupid this was, but it has already been done)

[dipatel13]

Why so low bf%? 5% is in no way sustainable long term and you're not competing.

[AdamWW]

Why so low bf%? 5% is in no way sustainable long term and you're not competing.

In my experience, when people say 5%, they mean 10%

[justin3690]

No I've been lifting for about 6 years, I know what 5% actually looks like. And I know it's not sustainable, I just want to get their to see what I look like at that point. I wanna compete in the future, and I want to know what it feels like to be 5% and also how much work it takes me to get their (and how long). So what do you think is the best approach when resuming the diet?

[AdamWW]

No I've been lifting for about 6 years, I know what 5% actually looks like. And I know it's not sustainable, I just want to get their to see what I look like at that point. I wanna compete in the future, and I want to know what it feels like to be 5% and also how much work it takes me to get their (and how long). So what do you think is the best approach when resuming the diet?

So you're wanting to be leaner than this?:





Cuz he was tested on DEXA at 6.1%

[Mrpb]

Should I jump straight back to the 2400 calories I was at previously

Yes.

[BennoMac]

continue where you fell off from.

[grayguo]

Ok guys, so I made a pretty big mistake, got myself in a pretty bad situation, and would like some advice to get myself out of it the best way possible. I started a pre contest diet 14 weeks ago with plans of competing after 12 weeks. When I started, I was sitting at 208 pounds, around 12-13% BF (I had ate good through the whole offseason). Started at 3200 calories, dropping about 150 per week until I got to 2400. After 12 weeks, I was down to 185 pounds, prob around 9% bf. Well, some things came up and I decided not to compete, but I wanted to keep going with the diet until I had reached my goal (around 4-5% bf). On my refeed day on the 12th week, I decided to take a "cheat day" since I was no longer competing. Long story short, this cheat day turned into 2 weeks of pretty much eating whatever I wanted. Before anyone starts criticizing me, I know how big of a mistake this was, and how stupid it was, but it happened. There's nothing I can do about it now, I just want to move on from it the best way possible and use it as a learning experience to never let it happen again.
I really would like to get back on a diet and go back through until I hit my goal of 5% (regardless of how far this has set me back). My question is this. Should I jump straight back to the 2400 calories I was at previously along with the 7 days of cardio (30 min per day), or should I start back a little higher (like 2800-3000 cals) with around 4 days of cardio and slowly drop them each week as if I were starting over? Or should I just call it quits on the diet and start reverse dieting out into a bulk? Any help would be greatly appreciated! And please, like I said earlier, no criticizing. (Again, I know how stupid this was, but it has already been done)

Hey justin3690, good job on cutting down over 20 pounds, and yea I can sympathize about your binging episode. I think it's perfectly normal to want to binge after being on a 12 week calorie deficit and losing that much weight. Likely because you didn't have any planned diet break and had an aggressive fat loss plan, after you got the opportunity to eat whatever you want, the chains were set lose and you went overboard.

Maybe in your next competition prep, you can be a bit kinder to your mind and body and give yourself more time to cut (20+ weeks) and also give yourself a diet break week every 6-8 weeks to keep you sane and prevent binging.

As what you can do next... my personal opinion is that shooting for a 5% bf when you're not competing is not necessary or healthy for you. Getting that low of a body fat will likely leave you in a very food focused, low energy and cranky mood, and will probably end up in another binging episode if you diet too aggressively to get there.

Maybe a more sustainable and healthier long-term goal for you is to aim for a low as possible percent bodyfat where you're still feeling strong, eneregtic and not food-focused and making progress on your lfits. Overtime that bodyfat percentage will naturally look better and better as you put on more muscle.

So towards that end, I would suggest slowly rapping up your calories towards maintenance and cutting down cardio to 2 times a week. 7 days of cardio 30 minutes a day is killer man, you don't need that much cardio if you're going to be a bodybuilding athlete! From you there you can assess how you feel, and slowly cut until you feel your lifts, energy and mood is affected negatively and stop and stay at that bodyfat percentage. From there make slow lean gains.

Hope that helps!

[justin3690]

Grayguo, that sounds like pretty sound advice. My biggest reason with still wanting to get to 5% or sub 5% is because I really want to know exactly how long it takes me to reach that point so I know exactly how long I need to diet for next time I decide to do a cut. I would say after all the water weight falls off from the excess sodium and sugar from the last 2 weeks I'll have prob gained around 7-10 pounds. about the diet break part, that's actually why I decided to take this 2 weeks off is because I had done some research on diet breaks (I just went way overboard with it). I thought my weekly refeed would be enough to keep me pretty sane throughout the entire prep but towards the end, 1 refeed day per week still felt like it wasn't enough. I tried doing 2 refeeds around week 9 I think it was, but I felt like it actually set me back further than it helped me. Next time around I will more than likely give myself some extra time (16-20 weeks), so that I can throw in a diet break if I need to. Like I said, I can use this as a learning experience for what not to do next time atleast. Just really disappointed that I didn't meet my goals and expectations before I went on this binge.

[gbullock32]

Grayguo, that sounds like pretty sound advice. My biggest reason with still wanting to get to 5% or sub 5% is because I really want to know exactly how long it takes me to reach that point so I know exactly how long I need to diet for next time I decide to do a cut. I would say after all the water weight falls off from the excess sodium and sugar from the last 2 weeks I'll have prob gained around 7-10 pounds. about the diet break part, that's actually why I decided to take this 2 weeks off is because I had done some research on diet breaks (I just went way overboard with it). I thought my weekly refeed would be enough to keep me pretty sane throughout the entire prep but towards the end, 1 refeed day per week still felt like it wasn't enough. I tried doing 2 refeeds around week 9 I think it was, but I felt like it actually set me back further than it helped me. Next time around I will more than likely give myself some extra time (16-20 weeks), so that I can throw in a diet break if I need to. Like I said, I can use this as a learning experience for what not to do next time atleast. Just really disappointed that I didn't meet my goals and expectations before I went on this binge.

Sub 5%? Your goal to be in the hospital? That is near death area, and even 5% is not maintainable for more than a day, maybe a couple, before serious health risks become a problem. Even pro competitors do not stay 6% or lower for more than their show....

You need to set some realistic goals, all you're doing is setting yourself up to fail.

[justin3690]

I never said anything about planning on staying their. I said I want to get to that point, to see how long it takes to get their! So that I know for future competition preps

[Heisman2]

Have you thought about hiring a coach?

[ErikTheElectric]

Ok guys, so I made a pretty big mistake, got myself in a pretty bad situation, and would like some advice to get myself out of it the best way possible. I started a pre contest diet 14 weeks ago with plans of competing after 12 weeks. When I started, I was sitting at 208 pounds, around 12-13% BF (I had ate good through the whole offseason). Started at 3200 calories, dropping about 150 per week until I got to 2400. After 12 weeks, I was down to 185 pounds, prob around 9% bf. Well, some things came up and I decided not to compete, but I wanted to keep going with the diet until I had reached my goal (around 4-5% bf). On my refeed day on the 12th week, I decided to take a "cheat day" since I was no longer competing. Long story short, this cheat day turned into 2 weeks of pretty much eating whatever I wanted. Before anyone starts criticizing me, I know how big of a mistake this was, and how stupid it was, but it happened. There's nothing I can do about it now, I just want to move on from it the best way possible and use it as a learning experience to never let it happen again.
I really would like to get back on a diet and go back through until I hit my goal of 5% (regardless of how far this has set me back). My question is this. Should I jump straight back to the 2400 calories I was at previously along with the 7 days of cardio (30 min per day), or should I start back a little higher (like 2800-3000 cals) with around 4 days of cardio and slowly drop them each week as if I were starting over? Or should I just call it quits on the diet and start reverse dieting out into a bulk? Any help would be greatly appreciated! And please, like I said earlier, no criticizing. (Again, I know how stupid this was, but it has already been done)

This is your problem.

[justin3690]

Yes I would love to, and plan to in the future. But I just had a kid, so at this very moment I prob couldn't afford a worthwhile coach

[justin3690]

What is the problem? Wanting to get down to 4-5%? I'm confused on why everybody thinks this is so ridiculous. To be competitive on stage, you pretty much absolutely have to be that lean

[ErikTheElectric]

To be competitive on stage, you pretty much absolutely have to be that lean

So.. when do you plan on stepping on stage?

[gbullock32]

What is the problem? Wanting to get down to 4-5%? I'm confused on why everybody thinks this is so ridiculous. To be competitive on stage, you pretty much absolutely have to be that lean

The problem is you seem to not understand how hard that is to do. It isn't a casual goal... and most simply cannot do it naturally.

[Mrpb]

What is the problem? Wanting to get down to 4-5%? I'm confused on why everybody thinks this is so ridiculous. To be competitive on stage, you pretty much absolutely have to be that lean

Nope. In natural bodybuilding you'll see many people on stage who are 6-8%. A real DEXA scanned 4-5% is extremely rare.

Even cutting to 8% is very hard. You seem to underestimate the effort it will take to get there. I say try it so at least you know how hard it is.

PS. don't confuse a calipers 8% with DEXA 8%, calipers are more forgiving.

[3maj]

Don't know why people are getting so hung up on the "5%" comment, he clearly means "contest ready", to have an idea of the process for when he does compete. The actual number is academic.

[Heisman2]

OP, you'll probably have better luck in the contest prep section: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

[Mrpb]

Don't know why people are getting so hung up on the "5%" comment, he clearly means "contest ready", to have an idea of the process for when he does compete. The actual number is academic.

I think because claiming he wants to get to 5% indicates how little he knows about what he (thinks he) wants to undertake.

This is not something people undertake just for fun, without actually going to a contest.

[ironwill2008]

I know what 5% actually looks like.

This might be true, but it's unlikely you understand exactly what is involved, and how ridiculously difficult---and potentially harmful to your health---a task you're considering attempting. Specific advice to reach such extreme measures are not within the realm of this particular forum; you'd do well to seek the advice/coaching of someone who currently competes/has been there.




Good luck meeting your fitness goals for 2017.

[3maj]

I think because claiming he wants to get to 5% indicates how little he knows about what he (thinks he) wants to undertake.

This is not something people undertake just for fun, without actually going to a contest.

I think it simply means he's been drinking the mainstream coolaid. I'd wager that many pros (as demonstrated by someone like Buendia) think they get to 3% in contest shape. Also, many of these statements are made on account of the caliper measurements.

[justin3690]

3maj, yes I mean contest ready. Maybe I'm a little off on what 3-5% looks like, but I mean to levels that buendia and Sadik compete at on stage. I know the extremes and the risks involved to get their, but I'm willing to do what is necessary. Like I said, I'm no rookie to the game. I wanted people's help with the diet aspect more than the 5% aspect, that just got brought up during conversation. So to anybody who would like to answer my actual initial question, should I go back to my 2400 calories or start a little higher (between 2600-3000) and gradually work my way down?

[gbullock32]

3maj, yes I mean contest ready. Maybe I'm a little off on what 3-5% looks like, but I mean to levels that buendia and Sadik compete at on stage. I know the extremes and the risks involved to get their, but I'm willing to do what is necessary. Like I said, I'm no rookie to the game. I wanted people's help with the diet aspect more than the 5% aspect, that just got brought up during conversation. So to anybody who would like to answer my actual initial question, should I go back to my 2400 calories or start a little higher (between 2600-3000) and gradually work my way down?

Well, either would work, though higher calories would mean a longer cut. Beneficial to muscle retention, but longer in an overall deficit.

Pick the one you can stick to.

[justin3690]

Yea that makes sense. I was just trying to get a better understanding of how these 2 weeks have probably affected my metabolism (whether it be slowed it down or sped it up). I also figured with the weight I assume I have gained, that my deficit wouldn't need to be as drastic as before at the moment. I do wanna get this cut finished sooner rather than later to be honest (to start bulking to prepare for next year), but I also want to be leaner before I start bulking than I currently am right now. I'll have a better idea or where I'm actually at in a few days when I lose the water retention I assume. But I'm guessing I've prob gained atleast 10 pounds or so (even after the water weight.

[Mrpb]

So to anybody who would like to answer my actual initial question, should I go back to my 2400 calories or start a little higher (between 2600-3000) and gradually work my way down?

I already answered that in post #6.

I mean to levels that buendia and Sadik compete at on stage.

I hope you realise how many 'supplements' he takes to get to that level.