Let the reverse diet begin

It’s been a little more than a week since NPC Stewart Fitness and time to start my reverse diet. No reason to throw away all my hard work. I have goals for the 2018 season that actually begin now.

One of the things that I love about my meal plan is that it is sustainable year round. Seriously. I say that because I have lived this lifestyle for two years. For me, it is easier to maintain a lifestyle than feel like you are on a roller coaster ride of diet here and restriction there. It’s too hard to live that way.

The beginning of my reverse diet

My reverse diet will look a lot like my prep diet as we move from lower calories and a bit of cardio to more calories and less cardio. I’m lucky in that my coach allows me to eat almost anything within reason. From the very beginning she asked me about how I worked best. I shared with her give me the outline and range of what I need to eat, but I will take care of the rest. Thankfully there are a lot of resources out there to help guide you. I keep it simple even though I am always open to adding a new recipe or seasoning into the mix.

Here’s what my plan includes year round:

Proteins: egg whites, eggs, ground turkey, chicken, salmon, white fish and tuna

Carbohydrates: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, Ezekiel bread, beans, cream of wheat

Vegetables: Almost any and all

Here’s a great explanation of reverse diet from Bodybuilding.com

Reverse dieting is pretty much what it sounds like: a diet turned upside-down. Instead of cutting calories and ramping up time spent on the treadmill, you increase metabolism by gradually adding calories back into your diet while reducing cardio.

Although it sounds very simple, there’s more to reverse dieting than just “eat more, do less.” If you want to maximize gains in metabolic rate without storing a ton of body fat, you must be strategic and patient. This means giving your metabolism time to adjust by making slow, deliberate changes, rather than hitting the buffet every day and cutting out cardio overnight

My meals this week will include chicken burrito bowls, ground turkey taco bowls, ground turkey meatballs, sweet potatoes, rice and egg white omelettes.

We are slowly adding back carbohydrates, which is something I really didn’t in the last couple of weeks. And my cardio has been reduced as I mentioned on Instagram. I love food. It’s fun to keep it simple and then jazz it up a little. I also enjoy recreating restaurant dishes that can be made a little more healthier and of course cheaper. My goal is to enjoy the food that I eat.

Halo Top for the win

I am human and I love sweets. I had a coupon for a free pint of Halo Top. I decided to try out the Vanilla Bean. How could you go wrong with vanilla bean ice cream? And I was right.

It is creamy like I had hoped. It has specs of vanilla bean and like the ice cream I had been missing for the months of prep. This was my first time trying Halo Top and well worth holding onto that free ice cream coupon for weeks. I will add some other things to it like regular ice cream soon and share how that comes out.

Now that I am officially in my off season, I will be able to enjoy Halo Top here and there. As I mentioned I like to have a structured diet, so treats like this will be far and few between even though it only has 240 calories per pint. Ice cream and sweets of any kind are a gateway to eat more and more for me.

What are your favorite treats you allow yourself to have?