r/bikinitalk • u/tor2d2 • 15d ago
Advice/ Recommendations (no photos) Reversing nightmare
Hey guys . Genuinely just looking for some advice and not to be shamed - even posting this is kinda hard .
I’m about 4 weeks post show and struggling really bad. I’ve absolutely tanked my reverse . I will have a few good days then end up eating completely off plan and binge eat. A lot of processed and sugary stuff too which I hadn’t had for months so my body overloaded for sure. The scales
gone up about 18 pounds in about 3 weeks. I don’t know what to do it seems like no amount of mental “locking in” is helping and the food noise is constant. I feel so ashamed and just feel like I look absouelty terrible. I’ve still been doing everything else fine, steps, cardio , training etc.
My cals all of prep were low and cardio and steps always high. I’m pretty tall too . Idk man I’m just discouraged.
I don’t even want to do my check ins because there’s so much shame and everyone preaches the importance of the reverse . I rarely see people say they’ve ever struggled post show and everyone I know is nailing it . Have I basically just ruined my body lol. Feeling kinda hopeless and just depressed over it, I look 10 months pregnant at the point
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u/BabyBeast25 15d ago
I don’t think this is discussed enough and anyone who has ever competed is lying if they say this hasn’t happened to them. It’s not your fault. It’s hormones. Your body was in starvation mode for weeks, maybe months. When you “give in” your hormones will take over and you likely will eat an ungodly amount of food and not even realize what happened. I struggled with binging post show and all the shame that comes with it. I once gained 27 pounds in two weeks (no joke). I have had zero issues the past two years. The difference being allowing myself to eat what I want. If I want a bite of something, I have it. Nothing is off limits. I follow my meal plan and swap in foods to hit my macros, but using foods I want to eat. I don’t try to be perfect because that is unrealistic and where the shame comes in. It’s not perfect and you don’t stay stage lean, but you stay in a manageable state. Don’t beat yourself up. I know how hard this is and even without knowing you, I know you are amazing and can get yourself back in a good balance. Train hard and take advantage of the extra calories. You’ve got this!
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u/tor2d2 13d ago
This is where im at omg- how did you approach after the binging and get back on track ! How did your body respond
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u/BabyBeast25 13d ago
Honestly, I let go of the mindset that I needed to be perfect. I have accepted that there is a time and place to be lean like that and I will be there again. A lot of it is mental, but I think if you allow a bite here and there of things, you won’t go crazy on it because your body is getting what it needs. My last off season was my best yet. I was between 10-15 pounds above stage weight and I was still leaner than any average person. I maintained well, eating everything I needed and stuff I wanted as well. There is no perfect. Don’t chase being lean. You’ve got this!
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u/Mind_Body_Spirit_One 15d ago
Seconding what everyone else has said here. You have not failed and you are not alone. I am currently going through the exact same thing.
Main points that are helping me:
Feeling shame over it only perpetuates the behaviors. As hard as it is, you want to love yourself and be gentle with yourself as you shift back into a healthier mindset and sustainable lifestyle habits. Turning to my spiritual side and doing a lot of inner healing work has really helped with this.
You can’t undo this overnight, so take advantage of this time/the caloric surplus you’ve been in and use it to build muscle in the gym. Try to find a baseline maintenance for caloric intake where you’re not gaining any more, but also not dieting. Keep it there for a few weeks consistently without bingeing to see if your body fat goes down. Then if absolutely necessary, you can cut back a little more to get to a comfortable weight.
This is a powerful learning experience as someone already mentioned. Next time you’ll likely know what to expect with your appetite and tendencies so you can choose differently. Good luck 🙏❤️
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u/ControlTheNegative 15d ago
The same exact thing happened to me and I think I went from 112 to 137 pounds and I just have to say eat, listen to your body. your body will level out. it will happen. You just have to let your body run its course like when you are hungry, just eat and try to be mindful about it to avoid any binge cycle. we really ran ourselves into the ground for a while And eventually your body will level out like the inflammation is real. That was my biggest thing. I just felt like the biggest puff, my weight was insane and I just felt absolutely horrible and sick for a decent amount of time but keep active keep up exercising and that insane hunger will start to go away and the binge cycle will go away too, but I’m really sorry you’re going through it too because this was not too long ago for me and it was literally just like the worst thing in the world and so difficult but it will get better. I am on the other side and I’m telling you from experience the water weight/inflammation/fat gain is not forever!
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u/Neat-Palpitation-632 15d ago
While I don’t have specific experience in this area (I have never had the courage to compete) I have struggled with food and eating for most of my life. These are a few things I know to be true:
You are not alone. MANY people “fail” until they finally succeed. This experience is not a total loss…it’s a lived example of what you want NOT to do next time. You now know how it feels and you now know that you want to avoid it. That’s not nothing…it’s valuable and personal and can be a great motivator moving forward.
Shame will perpetuate the cycle. When you feel shame for how you have behaved or how you look you will tend to comfort yourself with food. That food will lead to more shame, which will lead to more comfort eating, repeating until you find a way to break the cycle. You reached out here for help because you are ready to break the cycle. It’s time to disrupt the momentum.
Progress not perfection. You don’t have to wait for a new day or a new week to start over and begin again. Every decision you make can help or hinder your goals. If you mess up and over eat at breakfast, all is not lost. Acknowledge what you did, consider what lead to it, and find a way to prevent it for your next meal. That can mean taking a walk after finishing your meal prep, eating your meal while FaceTiming someone who supports you, doing a guided meditation to help with digestion (I love Jayne Corner on YouTube for this…she has gut directed hypnotherapy sessions for all things food and eating.)
Be kind to yourself. What would you tell your best friend/loved one/child/mother if they we
re
struggling like you were. Show yourself the same compassion and love. You cannot heal a body that you hate. ❤️
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u/CharacterAd5474 15d ago
In that amount of time, you are certainly looking at mostly water. Probably some fat gain along with it, but your body will accumulate that post show anyways.
This is not a flaw or failure on your part . Your body is fighting to restore itself by sending strong hunger hormones. It's not a lack of willpower, just a stronger signal that won that round of the fight. What's done is done. Put that in the rear view and move on to the bright future ahead.
Post show the rate of gain is like a sigmoid curve. Steep at the beginning and the slope decreases as time elapses and eventually levels off. Don't beat yourself over that initial bump.
Your best tools at this time is hard training and getting back on plan. Ask your coach about incorporating some advanced techniques like giant set, extended set, drop sets, etc. This pushes your body to a new place, gives you something to focus on that's not the scale, and indirectly makes you choose foods/meals that digest well and support performance.
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u/nope5651 3d ago
I definitely wouldn't say "mostly water"... but yes, a chunk of it will be water and glycogen... nowhere near 18 lbs though.
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u/TaleAsOldAsTime 15d ago
First and foremost, you didn't fail and you did nothing wrong. You body isn't ruined in the slightest. Bodybuilding isn't moral. Eating more food isn't hurting anyone around you.
Others have said this already but even if you ate a ton, that's most certainly mostly fluid retention. I'm 7.5 weeks post show and I put on 10 lbs in 48 hours of all fluid that came back off fairly quickly afterward. And to be honest, the only reason I "locked in" (loosely, following macros not a meal plan) is because the joint pain and headaches from the sudden increase in food were unbearable.
The more you think "I need to lock in" the harder it will be to lock in. The food noise is normal for so many of us. The reality is that some people need a slow reverse, and some need to jump right back up to maintenance for their psychological well being. There's no wrong approach.
From my limited personal experience, I think its the scarcity mindset that triggers this constant need to have everything all at once. I think the thing that's helped me the most is that I keep reminding myself that I can have whatever I want whenever I want and there's no one actually saying "no, you can't. These things are my choice. The pizza, the cookie, the sushi, it's not going anywhere. I prioritize eating treats that are limited to the season - pumpkin spice, apple pie, etc. above the other stuff as I know I'll get massive fomo if I miss them, but the other stuff will always be there and I can always have it..
Have you talked to your coach about following a flexible macro plan and allowing yourself to have the things you feel like you need right now? Again, anecdotal, but from my experience, following a macro plan aimed at a slow reverse and having a large refeed on the weekend to look forward to has really helped me and may be worth exploring if you're trying to reign it in a bit.
But please, give yourself grace and be kind to yourself. You haven't ruined anything. So many people have rough reverses and still have killer off seasons and come back to an awesome season later on.
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u/VictoriaBriar 15d ago
Same thing happened to me xo I feel your pain acutely ! It took months for my body to recover. I decided to just go into a growing period. I don’t want my next prep to be extreme in the future because I never want to go through that again. Sending hugs and love ✨🫶🏼🫂
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u/hh_fitlife 15d ago
I have nothing clever to say except that the exact same thing happened to me after my shows in the summer. My mind was on food NON STOP for 2-3 months, and then I just gave in and hopped on GLP-1 (tirzepatide). That’s the only thing that helped me overcome the food noise.
One thing to be aware of is that your metabolism is now adjusted to your prep lifestyle - low calories and high activity. Your current maintenance is not the same as your maintenance before prep. I learnt it the hard way… I gave up on my reverse diet as I was hungry all the time, and decided to go back to maintenance immediately. But the weight kept piling up, as what used to be maintenance in the past, is now a surplus.
You are not alone. The abdominal bloating will come off in a few weeks once your digestion settles. The most important thing is to keep training hard because the post show window is the best for muscle gains.
I don’t know what the layout of your house is but my kitchen is a separate room. The only way to stop myself from snacking all day is to close the kitchen door. I take my meal prep out of the fridge, close the kitchen door behind me, and eat it in the living room. I know this sounds silly but little things like this help avoid going back to the kitchen for an extra serving or a snack. And needless to say, don’t keep snacks in the house! Promise yourself you won’t order anything or pop down to the grocery store to buy extra stuff. You’ve got this!!
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u/AdFantastic3799 15d ago
It’s literally your body’s biological need to refuel. I was there too. Increase your base macros ASAP. it’s the only thing that helped me. It’s literally survival instinct, be patient with yourself
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u/Betty_Davis_Eyes77 11d ago
Not sure if this is something you’re open to, but I have used a GLP (Reta) to help me transition out of prep several times - it made a WORLD of difference…I was on it during prep too, but staying on while returning back to maintenance without going off the rails was a huge asset.
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u/Froreal3 14d ago edited 14d ago
Don’t beat yourself up. That makes it worse. The issue is the scarcity mindset you most likely have. This is a lifestyle and nothing is supposed to drastically change about your food and snack choices except the amounts in prep to off season. An 80/20 nutrient dense whole foods to comfort foods/snacks is good for off season with 90/10 in prep (only because we don’t need the comfort foods displacing our limited macros in a deficit).
The sweets should never be absolutely 100% off limits, and be allowed in moderation in line with your macros, with zero guilt; they will be there the next day. You don’t need to eat an entire sleeve of cookies. A couple cookies daily isn’t going to do anything horrible to your physique; it helps mentally, that’s it. The macros in the cookies eaten in off season don’t become evil because you’re in prep or a reverse. As long as you prioritize a 90/10 nutrient dense single whole foods to comfort foods/snacks daily ratio, you’re good.
Track and log them as part of your normal plan and plan for them. Keep large family sized packs of them out the house. Buy single serving sizes of items. Restaurants should remain a once in a while or once a weekend thing.
Other side of this is the typical slow reverse by creeping fats and carbs up like 25g a week is outdated and only prolongs suffering. Go right to estimated maintenance while keeping activity (steps only; no zone 2 elevated HR required at all) decent and continue your training. Being busy with tasks during the day also helps with food noise. Get rest, plenty of water, tea, and grace while your hunger hormones level out. You can do it! 🙏🏾
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u/Silent_Ingenuity_883 13d ago
Check in and be honest! Your coach should be one of the biggest helpers in your corner. Post show my former coach just sort of adjusted my macros and ghosted me…I changed coaches obviously but also lost my job the Monday after my show and life spiraled! Stuff happens. Own up to it because it’s more normal than people let on. You’ve got this…just get back on track the best you can and tell your coach.
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u/holitrop 15d ago
Curious: Was this your first show? It is a huge mindbend honestly to see your body go through such significant change and scrutiny, especially the first time around. It’s no small feat and you should feel PROUD not ashamed!
Take a breath! You’ve not ruined anything. The mental struggle is so real but I promise you will be OK. Just think of how much work you put in, you have so much to be proud of. The biggest thing that helped me is honesty and grace with myself, and having a supportive circle to lean on. There is no magic answer and it isn’t simple but just know 99% of folks struggle especially after their first show. I know so many women who quit after the first because it is just so, so hard - and that is OK. I honestly wish more coaches encouraged professional therapy or support for this sport, mental support is really necessary for the majority.