Post competition nutrition really perplexed me. That’s actually a nice
way to put it. Bluntly put, it bugged the freakin hell out of me. And let’s be
clear - to date I have never received a post competition nutrition guide. I’ve
always muddled along on my own. So, in lieu of that, I have tried a number of
ways that have given me a widely varied post-competition experience.
Not that there isn’t plenty of people that will give advice, there
certainly are. But I’m afraid the fluffy ideas didn’t actually work – as they
say ‘advice is cheap’. But no one actually gave me anything practical to do.
Plenty of Good Ideas Department blogs and posts on how to protect your tummy, and
how to keep the focus on Long Term Health, and the Sensible Plans … but that
did NOT help me one little iota when it came to figuring out just what I could
eat and how much of it to wolf down in those first few days.
So I’m prepared to summarise what I think works, and what I think
doesn’t – based purely on my own experience. Take it, leave it, file it away
for a rainy day – whatever works.
1.
The “Eat
all you want for a good few days and then jump back onto a massively calorie
restricted diet for the foreseeable future” approach.
Pros:
·
For at least 2 whole days, you can ensure that
you plug into every taste in the entire world that you haven’t been able to
indulge in for the past few months. Think cheese, ice-cream, fried donuts,
milkshakes, oats, jam…… fast food, burgers, chips, PIZZA!!!
·
You have an End Date in sight. You know you only
have a small amount of freedom before the reigns will come back in. And you
can’t do too much damage in a couple of days! Right?....
·
Your poor, depleted system will absolutely love
the increase and you’ll quite possibly be able to lift mammoth amounts in the
gym – IF you stop eating long enough to get there!! Only 48 odd hours
remember!! So much eating to do - so
little time!
·
Your friends are going to encourage you the
whole way along, repeatedly reminding you that “You deserve it!! You’ve denied yourself for sooooo long!!”
Cons:
·
When your poor, depleted system meets up with
some full-fat, high sugar treats, it’s pretty much the culmination of The
Perfect Storm. The side effects will undoubtedly surface sometime in the next
few hours and WILL include; sore tummy, the trots, a mouth so dry it will feel
and taste like sandpaper by the morning, a pounding head and swelling to most
of your limbs as those carbs start driving water back through your muscles.
·
Your 6-pack abs will almost immediately become a
keg.
·
Instead of strutting your stuff in hot and funky
gym gear, you may find yourself heading for the elastic waist-banded items in
your wardrobe due to the discomfort and water-retention.
·
Your weight will
spike. Upward. It just will.
·
And perhaps, the worst con of all – you may not
find yourself physically able to actually reign it in like you thought you
would be able to. All of the best intentions in the world will be there, but
reality is, that sugar becomes almost instantly addictive. And the fear of not
being able to have it again becomes a tangible feeling.
What it specifically did for me;
This was definitely my most damaging post-comp approach. I ate until I
could not longer eat. Literally. I felt that I deserved the food and I kidded
myself that it was necessary to feed up a starved system. My legs and feet blew
up like I had gout and my tummy was in a perpetual state of being upset. My
mood was grim and the more I tried to put the brakes on, the worse it got. I
spiralled out of control for about two weeks before I retreated back to the
safety of the strictest diet you could imagine. And I sat unhappily in this
little ‘pen’ until I made the decision to compete again in order to gain some
control of my life. In summary, I did everything wrong for all of the wrong
reasons and it was awful. No recommended.
I would give this approach .5 of a star out of a possible 3,258 stars.
2. The – “I’m
going to eat exactly what I ate pre-comp but just in bigger quantities”
approach.
Pros:
·
It just sounds so damn sensible!! Makes you
sound credible and real!
·
It would cycle you perfectly out of a
less-than-optimal situation of depletion.
·
It would protect your gut and system from any
nasty shocks.
·
It would keep your weight from spiking.
Cons:
·
You have to be a man or woman of steele to
achieve this. Seriously. My pre-comp diet really sux. It involves an awful lot
of watery based salad foods, pure white meats, and (at the very end) no yummy
proteins. Maybe others achieve their leanness with more foods (though some seriously bullshit about this –
I know that for a fact!), but to get that last little piece of stubborn fat
from my arse, I am ruthless with what goes, or more importantly doesn’t go in
my mouth. The thought of only eating those same foods after the heady high of a
competition is NOT something I could achieve!
·
You will continue to be anti-social,
carb-depleted and basically a little unhappy if you continue with a pre-comp
diet in a post-comp setting. But good luck if this one suits.
What it specifically did for me;
This was an ‘ok’ approach for me. The worst part of it was that I felt
so terribly unsocial when I should have had some freedom. I continued to spend
most of my free hours prepping bloody vegetables and crunching through fibrous
leafy greens. All so sensible and so inherently ‘good’ – but, for gods sake –
life is about way more than chopping and cooking food!! I laboured through this
for a good 18 months and, due to feeling so hard-done-by with all of my
constant ‘clean’ food, I would over-do it on the splurges. And the splurges
started getting closer together and they went on for longer. I started deeming
protein powder as a ‘treat’ food and yoghurt as a dessert. Wake up call. WPI is
NOT a treat food. It’s good, no doubt about it, but that is really some screwed
up mentality to think it is a real treat. I have grown to detest the whole ‘Clean
Food’ approach – it has some air of superiority attached to it and an identity
that comes from making what is perceived to be a ‘Better’ choice when all
around are minions that simply cannot resist ‘Unclean’ or ‘Bad’ food. If I’ve
learned one thing well in the past few years it’s this – pride goes before a
fall. This approach worked in the short term for sure. But long-term – no way.
Not recommended.
I would give this approach 3 stars out of a possible 10 stars.
3. The “F***K
It! I’m just going to go with what I feel like eating and not track or weigh or
anything” approach.
Pros:
·
The FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!
·
The TASTES!!!!!!!!!!
Cons:
·
The almost certain lack of self-control.
·
The body’s reaction to the introduction of too
many new foods in too short a time. See Approach #1.
·
The weight spike.
·
The fat gain.
What it specifically did for me; Nothing good that I can list. Definitely not recommended.
I would give this approach .5 of a star out of a possible million
stars.
4. The “I’m
going to track and plan my new diet and include some of the things I love along
with a fair dose of the things I’ve been eating throughout comp prep”
approach.
This is definitely my favourite and most
successful approach to date. I’ll explain what I did and then go through the
pros and cons.
1.
I tracked my calories in the last week before
the comp.
2. I
plugged it into My Fitness Pal and noted down the ratio of Protein/Carbs/Fats.
3. I
doubled my allowance of calories (due to the fact they were so low).
4. I
kept the same Protein ratio but gave myself double the Carbs and filled up the
remaining space with Fats.
5. I
immediately put back in the things I love and that I know agree with my body.
These were: easy to choose; yoghurt, oats, protein, casein, fruit &
something ‘bready’.
6. I
made the quantities fit my worked out ratios and calories.
7. I
added in there a treat each and every day and made it fit my calorie and ratio
count. Believe it or not, all I wanted for the first week was a beautiful,
chewy Quest bar!! Cookie Dough thank you very much!! And I loved every crunchy little mouthful. But I swapped it out for
an ice cream some days. So the changes looked like this in comparison;
Pre
Comp Week Post
Comp Week
-
Chicken, vegies -
Oats, WPI, Yog – albeit small amounts
-
Tuna, salad -
chicken, salad (couldn’t face tuna!!)
-
Chicken, vegies -
Afternoon treat = Quest Bar!
-
Egg, vegies -
roo, vegies
Casein,
yoghurt
So, while it wasn’t a feeding frenzy for one, it
certainly excited me to wake up to my favs and a nice sweet treat in the
afternoon really helped the cravings. To top it off – going to bed with a bowl
of Casein ‘goo’ was something to think about all day long …sigh
Pros:
·
Immediately there were daily ‘treats’ (maybe not
everyone’s idea of treats but for me they were enough to keep me excited!)
·
Sweet foods in where I needed them
·
More than enough food to keep me satiated for
that first few weeks – and I ‘upped’ the cals and ratios every fortnight
·
A great tracking system that gave me focus and
room to increase without it being a big guessing game of what to increase and
what not to
·
I kept my abs for quite a long time without
starving myself
·
No binging/starving cycles in sight!
·
No tummy aches and not a swollen cankle to be
seen
Cons:
·
I couldn’t go crazy and eat everything in sight
like I really wanted to for a couple of the days
What it specifically did for me;
The best part of this approach was that it gave me something purely
practical to organise before the end of the comp. I had my days planned and the
fridge full. I had enough food to curb my hunger and I had a treat in the
morning, afternoon and before bed. I was able to increase calories at a set
level and I could easily swap out foods to make dinners at restaurants etc fit.
It worked. Very, very well. It worked so well that I still follow it –
with oh, so many more cals these days – haha!
The battles still exist and that is finding a balance of allowing in
treats – and I mean TREATS!!! The odd cake, pizza, parmy, wine, lolly, ic-
cream – all of those things that make going out more special if you have a
sweet or cheesy tooth like me. And if I’m struggling to let go of my control, I
can default to my numbers instead of spiralling into the void of a food frenzy.
The majority of my days centre around beautiful meats, eggs, vegies
and salads, and I add to that the delicious creaminess of WPC (I don’t do WPI
anymore – think the extra cost is seriously not worth the few extra bits and pieces
in there), fruits and dairy – cheese and yoghurt factor in every single day and
are no longer ‘treats’ but staples. I can grab food on the run and happily go
out for dinner and pick anything I want rather than taking the perceived
superior approach of some boring crappy salad. I might not always pick dessert
or garlic bread with it - but some days
I do!
Totally recommended for people like me!
I would give this approach 9 out of a possible 10 stars.
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