Today finishes my sixth week into my reverse diet since surgery. For those of you who are new around here, a reverse diet is the intentional increase in nutrition to your daily consumption. After my show in April, we had slowly been increasing my daily nutrition weekly based off of how I had been maintaining and reacting to the macros we increased. I got 3.5 weeks into my reverse and was maintaining before I had my abdominoplasty or tummy tuck or excess skin removal – whatever you’d like to call it.
Since surgery put me on bed rest, which for me went from going lifting 6 days a week with 50 minutes of cardio to nothing at all, I spoke to Alaina about a nutrition plan so we could adjust my macro nutrients accordingly. Another concern I had was loss of appetite. Hitting macros perfectly or close to is like a puzzle, but since I knew I would be sleeping a lot and some of the medications I was prescribed would effect my appetite, I wanted to make sure my eating goals were also reasonable and not a mind fuck.
I was cleared to go back to the gym at 13 days post surgery. Again, working with my coach and bringing information from surgeon to determine workouts appropriate. This meant a lot of upper body in the beginning, then adding lower body and walking at 5 weeks post surgery adding hard cardio like running and HIIT back into m schedule. As soon as I got cleared to go back to the gym, we started increasing my macros again to meet the level of activity.
Last week after checking in with Alaina both fat and carbohydrates were increased while protein remained at roughly 1g per pound I weigh. She initially wanted to eliminate my 10 minute HIIT session, but it’s only 10 minutes and I asked if keeping it in meant more fat, then let’s do it. So last week I hit the 200 club – eating 200g of carbohydrates daily. My fats were also the highest they’ve been in a while. Overall calories – which I don’t track, but obviously are associated with macro nutrients – are higher and are almost as high as they were when I was cutting back in October at 157 pounds, they’re just shifted – less protein, more fat and carbs. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I love food, there’s no doubt about it and I make my treats work with my goals, but I can’t remember the last time I intentionally ate this much food and had it working with me, not against me.
So this week, I had a little more fun with my flexibility, but I also added volume where necessary. So let’s recap with pictures.
This upcoming week is the last week before prep starts AND we’ve increased my carbs again, so I’m at 210g daily for the week. I can’t wait to see how I handle the 10g or extra 50 calories, however you count. I’m also super excited to see how my body can change with a higher macro count during prep. Last season my calorie totals didn’t fall below 1400 and I lost 20 pounds over 17 weeks. The focus will be more on leanness rather than weightloss, but I’m confident that we can keep food intake higher in relation to how lean I am now and what I can handle post-surgery.
I have some fun things planned for this week like shrimp tacos and a cheese danish for an office welcoming we’re hosting for a new member of my team. Remember that coworker with the brownies? Yeah, she told me we were having a welcoming breakfast-y thing and asked me to pick out my pastry. FUCKING LOVE THIS WOMAN. She also knows it’s my last week before prep and we’re getting cupcakes together at a bakery near our office that I’ve never been to. She knows the way to my heart and understand the short term restriction.
Cheers to Saturday night and the upcoming week!
<3 Cristina
