Areya2005's IIFYM + IF Metabolism Repair and Growth Log

**areya2005** · 08-12-2011, 12:55 AM

So I figured I'd set up this log sooner rather than later so it ensures I stick to my reverse diet plan. I believe that having to report to you guys will keep me on track. I will be starting the reverse diet on Monday, August 15th, 2011. I'm gunna take the weekend to enjoy 2-3 indulgences, but then it's back to business.

My approach will be just as the title says, using both IIFYM and IF principles. I do however like to still eat a lot of wholesome foods, so expect a 70% clean/30% IIFYM eating style. There will be food porn, so look out for that! Also, I will be posting a link to my MyFitnessPal page.

For anyone who hasn't read my recent posts, I've been dieting on a very low calorie diet to prepare for my show on August 13th, 2011. My macros have bottomed out at about 25/80/220 (f/c/p). I've attached my reverse diet plan, and as you will see, I will be VERY gradually increasing my macros. I have just demolished my metabolism this prep, and if I want to bring a presence to this show next year, preparation pretty much needs to start now with a smart, pre-planned strategy.

As you'll see in the file, I will be eating low-carb on my non training days, and will still include a refeed weekly until my metabolism is recovered. Each week, the magnitude of the refeed will decrease as my macros throughout the week increase, until there isn't much of a calorie disparity rather than a change in macros.

As for the training, I will be doing a upper body/lower body, power/hypertrophy split, putting me in the gym to train four times per week. In addition, I will be doing 3-4 bouts of cardio a week. I will be mixing that up with some LISS and HIIT, so I'll just take the cardio day by day.

The attachment is below. See everyone on Monday....Enjoy your weekend!

Off-Season Reverse Diet.xlsx

**Bnizzle163** · 08-12-2011, 08:41 AM

You're only taking in 1380 cals??

**areya2005** · 08-12-2011, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Bnizzle163

You're only taking in 1380 cals??

Well ~1450...with little to no muscle loss. Odd, ay? Now you can see why my increase increments need to be so small.

**areya2005** · 08-13-2011, 06:25 PM

1st in debut, 1st in novice and 2nd in open.*Recap to come.

**ashlibbie** · 08-14-2011, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by areya2005

1st in debut, 1st in novice and 2nd in open.*Recap to come.

Congrats!! I was there and prejudging was intense! Great job

**areya2005** · 08-14-2011, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by ashlibbie

Congrats!! I was there and prejudging was intense! Great job

Just a spectator? I had no idea it was that intense. They wore me out, especially it was the beginning of the day and it was the second class to be presented. The other two classes were compared for a shorter amount of time, but by the end of the day, I was DONE!

Recap (WARNING: LONG READ):
Preparation really began the week before for this competition. I had my last carb-up and assembled a peak week strategy that I believed would be effective in bringing in a good stage presence. I won't go into detail much (unless asked), but the plan utilized different techniques I compiled from all over the net, such as these forums, Layne's article, etc., and my own previous experience and knowledge of how my body reacts.

To sum up a majority of the week, the goal was to lose post Skipload water weight and weigh in as low as I possibly could. Knowing my reaction time to carbs, I knew that I didn't need much in terms of amount of carbs or time to fill out, so my plan was to low-carb until weigh-ins, which was on Friday afternoon, and begin my carb-up right after, up until the show.

On Friday, I weighed 159lbs. in the morning. At weigh-ins, I was 160lbs. While waiting to take my polygraphs, I started my carb-up process. Doing a low carb diet throughout prep, and monitoring how my body reacts to the number of carbs I take in with my Skiploads, I knew that I could be mostly full on around 450-500g, but chose to play it safe and take in 400g from the first meal on Friday up until the show, including Layne's recommended high fat/high carb/high sodium meal. Anywho, the eating process continued all day, not doing much else but relaxing, applying tanner and getting into the zone for the upcoming BIG day.

Fast forward to Saturday morning, and I still was flat as all hell. At this point, I had already taken in close to 300g+ of carbs through white potatoes, sweet potatoes and white rice....and NOTHING. At this point, I knew my next small meal of carbs and the "Layne meal" wasn't gunna pull some miracle and fill me out, so I hit the breakfast buffet. Again, I didn't go crazy because I already had 300g+ carbs, but I knew I needed to pull a mini-****load to make something worth taking to the stage. So off I went, knowing what I could handle, I put down cream cheese muffins, blueberry muffins, banana nut bread, sausage, eggs, and mini waffles. From the time I finished eating to the time I walked back to my hotel room, I could almost feel myself filling out. Got back to the hotel and looked in the mirror, and my thoughts were affirmed....I was filling out.

So I get to the venue, turn in my music and meet a ton of great people. It was great seeing and talking to so many people who shared the same common interest. It was really a change of pace. The first of the three classes I was competing in was going second, right after the Juniors, so I did some last minute touch-ups, crushed my bag of Peanut M&Ms and started pumping up.

Up until now, a whole 25 weeks prior, I was so nervous about this show. Somehow, the second I stepped foot on that stage, it just felt natural (no pun intended lol). I knew I was there to showcase what I worked so hard for. Win, lose or draw, I was a winner, going through hell and back, losing 40lbs for this show.

The prejudging began for the Debut class and the symmetry and mandatory poses were called out. I held poses for what had seemed like an eternity, and it would have been difficult to convince me otherwise. The sheer pain in my legs made me want to relax for just a bit, but I stuck through. We hit our poses and walked off the stage. I felt comfortable in how I performed and was just hoping to be in the top 5 to get a trophy.

Upon walking backstage, fellow competitors, trainers and spectators kept complimenting my physique and told me how well I did. I didn't want my ego to get over-inflated, and I was still in a very critical mindset, so I thanked them all, but really took it for a grain of salt. From there, I put on some clothes and went and sat with my family and watched the other competitors until my next class was called up. Looking at it from the stands, this was a very stacked show, and most of the competitors looked absolutely phenomenal.

The Novice Lightweight class was called up to go next, so I pumped up a little bit more. I kind of knew what to expect from my first trip on stage, so I wasn't nervous anymore, but just eager to get up there! We were out there for a shorter time period (thank god) and came backstage. Again, I was confident in how I did, but you really can't see how your competitors posed, but only how they look backstage. Once more, I was just hoping for top 5.

When it was time for the Middleweight Open class to go up, I saw my competition and knew I had no chance. These guys were stacked! A little intimidated, but not discouraged, I went up on stage and strutted my stuff. Out of four, I was expecting last place, maybe 3rd, but these guys looked so good, 3rd wouldn't be so bad.

And just like that, prejudging was over. And boy, was I HUNGRY. Knowing that all placings were pretty much decided from there, I let loose and ate a good bit. I brought back food from the breakfast buffet from earlier and crushed that. I spilled. I expected it. I felt bloated and a fat mess. Oh well!

I got back to the venue and we all started chit chatting about what we ate during the intermission and how fat and disgusted most of us felt. One guy ate a whole Sampler at Ruby Tuesday! I felt a little too soft, but my friend said he couldn't tell any difference, so I guess I didn't look as bad as I felt.

So we sat down and watched the routines until it was my turn. I went out, and performed this little number:
http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...t=MOV01226.mp4

Nothing special to report after that, so I just went back in the crowd with my friends and family and watched the rest of the routines.

It was now time for the awards ceremony and the classes would be called out in the same order as we performed earlier, so it wouldn't be long before I knew how I did. The Debut class was called out. Only the top 5 would be presented with a trophy and four placings had already been called out. At this time, I knew I either didn't place, or I won, obviously hoping for the latter. "And the first place trophy goes to........" Finally, I'd know how I did. "Number 38, Areya Dargahi." I won! I freaking won! Against a stacked Debut class, I won! I took my position, and hit a side-tri the audience had never seen, with swagger!

Soon after it was time for the Novice Lightweight class to take their positions on the stage and accept their trophies, if awarded. The same scenario played out. Places 2-5th were called out and again, I was in the same predicament, either not placing or coming in first. And once more, my name was called out for 1st place. I was ecstatic. I already got two 1st place trophies in my first show, something I didn't think I would even come close to. But now, I had to compete with the Novice Middleweight winner for the Novice Overall position.....Maybe I shouldn't have ate so bad after pre-judging ;-p The poses were called and then the posedown. I did my thing with poise and confidence. Even if I lost this, I had already surpassed my expectation by far and was having a blast. He ended up winning, but I was still on cloud nine. I congratulated him and went backstage.

After some lollygagging to waste time, it was time for the Open Middleweights to take the stage. Again, these guys looked GREAT, and out of four competitors, I knew I was probably gunna get 4th place, but with no shame! I was wrong....I got 2nd place!

The night was almost over, but I needed to gorge myself before I was gunna let that happen. Anyone who does IIFYM knows there's a great amount of leniency in food choices. For me, while I'd eat mostly whatever I wanted, I would always prepare food myself so I knew EXACTLY the amount of food and what was in it so I can log it accurately as well as precisely. I haven't eaten out in 25 weeks, and there was no time better than the present.

My family and I visited a Persian restaurant. Being Persian and not having my native food in 25 weeks, this was like heaven on earth. For anyone who has been to a Persian restaurant know that it's customary for them to bring out a tandoori cooked bread with yogurt sauces. I literally must have eaten 40 slices of bread. I was stuffed to the brim, but as my steak dish just came out, I wasn't about to not eat that, so I did.

Driving home, I was just overwhelmed and just thinking about the entire day, the entire prep, the journey, etc. Expecting to be at my exit soon, I look up and notice I've been driving in the opposite direction for the past 20 minutes lol. Finally, I get home, wash off this tanner and just go to bed.

That was my weekend!

**domingochavez** · 08-14-2011, 03:16 PM

Fantastic write up man really enjoyed that! Your routine was very entertaining haha way to own that stage buddy, both song choices were fantastic.

Can't wait to see more photos to see who you were up against.

**brademan76** · 08-14-2011, 04:12 PM

Congratulations, dude! Sounds like you had a great experience! You looked good from the vid of your routine, and that was funny and entertaining!

**areya2005** · 08-14-2011, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by domingochavez

Fantastic write up man really enjoyed that! Your routine was very entertaining haha way to own that stage buddy, both song choices were fantastic.

Can't wait to see more photos to see who you were up against.

Originally Posted by brademan76

Congratulations, dude! Sounds like you had a great experience! You looked good from the vid of your routine, and that was funny and entertaining!

Thank you both! I could have looked a tad better, but the marginal difference wouldn't have changed the outcome. At that point in the day when that vid was taken, I had already eaten my brains out with sugary goodness.

As for today, I just got done CRUSHING at a sushi buffet and went and got a humongous ice cream cone after. It's pretty much all I've eaten today. Tomorrow, reverse dieting begins at a whopping 1680 calories.....sense the sarcasm?

I'll try to post food porn at least 3x per week. I'm really excited to see where my strength goes with the extra cals.

**areya2005** · 08-14-2011, 04:52 PM

Here are a few good pics my friends got. I'm in the red, number 38.

And this was 25 weeks ago:

**domingochavez** · 08-14-2011, 05:20 PM

Dude you came a long way in 25 weeks, something to be very proud of!

You held on to a lot of size also, quads cut up sick! Were those photos post sugar binge also? Were your hams and glutes a little sharper? Jelly of that chest also, man I'm pumped after reading this to get on stage in 6 weeks!!

**areya2005** · 08-14-2011, 05:26 PM

Well like I said in the recap, I started a mini s-hitload because I wasn't filling out on rice and potatoes. I think I may have gone a bit overboard too, so yes, I could have been a tad bit sharper. Also, looking these over, I don't think I'm flexing some muscles that I usually would when I would practice.....then again, I never held the poses this long and it's possible I just got tired and let go.

It seems I'm rationalizing a bit....I don't want it to come off that way.

**ashlibbie** · 08-14-2011, 07:54 PM

Yeah I was a spectator, I don't know how you all made it through that. It was crazy especially after everyone took a break and they brought you all back out and really put ya'll through the ringer. You definitely deserved to win! I only went to prejudging but I was dying to see the awards because I was cracking up during the mens fitness round. LOL!

**pblove** · 08-14-2011, 08:22 PM

Congratulations! You did so well and you certainly deserve to enjoy it! I've been following some of your posts. You should be proud of having such a successful journey with yourself as your prep coach. Really great write-up too, enjoyed reading it.

Good luck with your reverse diet. I'm two weeks out now and am a bit nervous about that aspect.

**andyboi** · 08-14-2011, 09:24 PM

Congratulations on the awesome placings! That was a stacked as lineup and you did very impressively. even if you didn't place, whoa, what a transformation! Dying to watch the clip, will watch it after cardio tonight, or even DURING

**areya2005** · 08-14-2011, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by pblove

Congratulations! You did so well and you certainly deserve to enjoy it! I've been following some of your posts. You should be proud of having such a successful journey with yourself as your prep coach. Really great write-up too, enjoyed reading it.

Good luck with your reverse diet. I'm two weeks out now and am a bit nervous about that aspect.

Thank you so much! I think if anyone had the will-power to diet down, they can definitely diet up too. That trait isn't off/on. Some people just care more about the food, and that's fine, but I'm more concerned with my metabolism, so I can handle the food I care about :-)

I think I'll be okay with the reverse for a few reasons:

1. Because I had huge carb loads where I ate anything I was deprived on during prep, I'm not craving anything now. If I have this low of cravings immediately post show, I'll probably have less as time moves forward.*

2. I'll be doing IF. Because I was dieting on such low calories, the slight bump my reverse will start with (200 cals) won't be much different than dieting. Having maybe a 350 cal meal, train, 1000 cal meal, and another 350 cal meal in a 6-8 hour span will keep me satiated.

3. I will be trying to keep a regular update in this log. Reporting to someone and worried about being judged definitely helps fuel the fire to succeed. Part of my prep was to show that IIFYM macros works to all my friends who went against me. I proved them wrong...I won.*

**areya2005** · 08-15-2011, 01:06 PM

Day 1

Weight:167.2lbs.

Difference from contest weight: +8
This is great! This is after 2 post show binges and no poop in the morning (yea..I said it). Up only 8lbs over contest weight and a lot of it is glycogen and water. Love it!

Macros (f/c/p): 45/130/190

Food:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/areya2005

Workout:
Upper Body Strength: 5x6-8 for each body part (chest, back, delts, bis, tris, traps)
Cardio: None

Pictures:
Chipotle Burrito

One bite in:

Realizing I'm reverse dieting and eating what I want (and looking stupid/goofy):

**areya2005** · 08-15-2011, 07:08 PM

Reverse dieting is awesome! ha

**StaticZ** · 08-15-2011, 09:10 PM

Definitely subbed! Awesome job man, seriously awesome.

**areya2005** · 08-16-2011, 09:16 AM

Day 2

Weight:166.0lbs.

Difference from contest weight: +6 Difference from yesterday: -1.2
All after a PWO GIGANTIC burrito from Chipotle....can't complain! I do notice way less striations throughout my body. Don't know the exact cause, whether it's water or fat. Also, this large shift in weight can probably be attributed to the ~1500-2000g carbs I ingested from the Friday morning carb-up all the way to Sunday night. I'm going to let some time pass before I freak out, if I freak out at all.

Macros (f/c/p): 44/125/175

Food:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/areya2005

Workout:
Weights: None
Cardio: 100 calorie on stepper

Pictures:

Breaking the fast:

Pre-workout:

Pissed off I wasn't strong in the gym meal:

**areya2005** · 08-16-2011, 06:37 PM

So today didn't go exactly as planned. My plan was to do legs/abs/cardio. I was extremely tired before walking into the gym and knew it was going to be a horrible lift, but I didn't know it was going to be as bad as it was. Anyway, I went in, I did my warm up on the stepper, and hit the squat rack. I did a few warm up sets and thought they felt heavy as hell. I put on weight for my first working set and could hardly get it up, and it was about 40lbs lower than what I was doing lower in carbs and lower in cals. I didn't want to have a half-ass leg workout, so I came home, ate my meal, and I'm saving the workout for tomorrow, which was supposed to be my off day.

**areya2005** · 08-17-2011, 08:43 AM

Day 3

Feeling a tad under the weather today; it's because I fell asleep in my damn cold basement. I'm keeping my fluids up and hope the sore throat passes before it's time to train.

Weight:165.2lbs.

Difference from contest weight: +5.2 Difference from yesterday: -0.8
Seems like some of the water weight is dropping from the intra/post show eats. Still not looking as lean as I thought, but I'm not too worried. Considering the amount of calories/carbs I ingested pre and post show, I wouldn't be surprised if my weight stabilizes at around 163lbs. or so, which would be a 3lb. gain in fat, which I'm fine with. On the plus side, I have increased my food intake and decreased my activity and the weight is still decreasing!

Macros (f/c/p): 45/130/190

Food:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/areya2005

Workout:
Weights: Power Lower Body -- 2x6-8 on squats, hacks, leg press, power squat, leg curl, and leg extensions, 6x12-15 on calf raises, and 6x6-8 for abs (mixed exercises)
Cardio: I looked at the machine, and walked out lol.

Pictures:

Breaking the fast with Pumpkin/Graham Cracker Whey Oats. This was so good that I can't believe it's my first time trying the combo. Pretty much the same recipe as overnight oats, but I cooked it and let it sit in the fridge. It a lot denser and has the consistency of bread pudding. Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup was mixed in too....I'm definitely going to be eating a HEAPING bowl of this on my refeed.

This is the second time in as long as I can remember that I cooked with butter. Had to get those fatzzzzz. By the way, anyone who likes Samoas Girl Scout Cookies, needs to try out the Kellog's Fiber Plus: Caramel Coconut Fudge. It was like sex in my mouth, with caramel and coconut.

**OoFaP** · 08-17-2011, 08:56 AM

Congrats on the placings man. I gotta say your food looks pretty amazing for such low calories. I agree that having to report here will help with cheating. I haven't done anything unplanned so far and a lot has to do with not wanting to embarrass myself on here haha. Last year when I didn't have a log I binged a few times.

**areya2005** · 08-17-2011, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by OoFaP

Congrats on the placings man. I gotta say your food looks pretty amazing for such low calories. I agree that having to report here will help with cheating. I haven't done anything unplanned so far and a lot has to do with not wanting to embarrass myself on here haha. Last year when I didn't have a log I binged a few times.

Thanks, man! Well I'm really having no binge cravings at all, which is really surprising to me. I've said it time and time again, but I believe it to be because 30% of my diet was IIFYM, and when it came to my huge Skiploads on the weekends, having to consume close to 700g carbs, I indulged in those cravings, so I'm not really deprived.

As far as the food, since calories are so low right now, it takes a lot of pre-planning. I'm not particularly happy about how much time it's taking since I'm not "prepping" anymore, but it's part of the metabolism repair process. Once the calories rise more and more (about 100-125 per week), I'll be able to wing it a little more.

And one more thing....The food amount is exactly the reason why I chose to use an IF approach, at least at the beginning. 2 medium meals and 1 large meal are keeping me satiated where I know for a fact that if I was having 6 small meals, I wouldn't ever feel full and would binge/cheat. I kind of chose this method as a preventative measure.

**areya2005** · 08-17-2011, 12:47 PM

Was feeling a bit vascular, so I jammed my arm into my side to make it more pronounced and take a picture. Enjoy.

**areya2005** · 08-17-2011, 05:00 PM

I want to give a few thoughts on the IF protocol so far.

Well, it's only been three days, and I do love the fundamentals of the whole thing. In the mornings, I can just get ready and go to work; no more preparing 2-3 meals, packing them, etc., so it saves time. I've gotten some hunger pangs, but they subside rather quickly. Psychologically, I think it's because you know you can't eat until a certain time, so you can either stress yourself out or choose to forget about it. With the 5-6 meals, if you get a hunger pang, meal time is just around the corner, so you obsess and wait anxiously until feeding time.

As for training, so far it's been okay, but I do wish I could eat more before I train. I always trained at night since I would store the energy of a few meals, but you don't get that with IF. The BCAAs really do help push through the workout since there's much fuel in the system.

Lastly, I want to touch on the biggest and most important factor for me, satiation. Am I full? No. Am I fuller with 3 meals rather than 6 meals? Absolutely. It seems like once I get hungry after the first meal, I start to train, so I focus on something else. I come home to a 800-1000 calorie meal, which takes care of me 2-3 hours until my next meal. So all in all, I am as satiated as I can get, and while reverse dieting on such low calories, IF seems to be the best approach.

**domingochavez** · 08-17-2011, 06:21 PM

I did try IF for a few days and quite liked it, and I can see when on a really low calorie diet, below 2000 for instance that it would be beneficial. I train at 6am most mornings though, and really need something small to eat prior, BCAA's just weren't enough.

Larger meals are definitely better, these last few weeks of my prep I am cutting from 6 to 5 meals, and just chewing some sugar free gum in between.

**areya2005** · 08-18-2011, 08:55 AM

Day 4

Calories are still low, but there's no stress, so I'm feeling a lot better than on prep. Still got a little haze going on, but that will pass as calories rise.*

Weight:165.6lbs.

Difference from contest weight: +5.6 Difference from yesterday: +0.4
Still not sure what to make of this weight. I'm fine being in the 165s, as it's 5lbs over stage weight almost a week post show, which is a lot less than most post show. However, I look "puffier" right now at 165 than I did when I was prepping and was 165. I still haven't pooped, so that should be a 2-3lb loss then that happens lol

Macros (f/c/p): 45/130/190

Food:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/areya2005

Workout:
Weights: Hypertrophy Upper Body -- 5x12-15 for all upper body muscles (mixed exercises)
Cardio: 300 calories post-training on Arc Trainer

Pictures:
Will come soon!

**areya2005** · 08-20-2011, 02:11 PM

Day 6 (One week post-show)

Weight:168.6lbs.

Difference from contest weight: +8.6
I'm not happy about this at all. Yesterday was a low-carb day, so my calories were low for the day. I went to buy some ice cream for my refeed and it all went downhill. I started binging :-( My calories were at 2000 before I even left for the night. I ended up drinking (first time in months) and pigged out on Taco Bell and McD. I'm talking a quesadilla, 2 tacos, a fish filet, large fries and some snacks in the pantry. IT WAS BAD! This weight was also taken right when I woke up and dehydrated as balls, so I'm sure it should be higher. We'll see how it regulates over the next few days.

**bballbrett5** · 08-20-2011, 02:28 PM

don't dwell/feel bad man. you learned a lesson...take it as that and move on

Thread: Areya2005's IIFYM + IF Metabolism Repair and Growth Log

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