Read part 1: juice cleanse here!
I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with dieting, which have all left me feeling pretty bad most of the time. Today’s recap is no exception. Around 2015 (a year after the juice cleanse) I got interested in doing a bodybuilding competition. Super into lifting at the time, I thought that it would be an awesome challenge for me. And it would have been if I made it to the competition.
Dropping body fat to competition levels all while preserving hard-earned muscle takes lots of skill. Particularly in the nutrition department. I wasn’t a dietitian yet and didn’t know too much about counting macros so I worked with a friend who had experience in this.
What does a bodybuilding competition diet look like?
We started off easy enough, just controlling carbs, proteins and fats. I was doing two workouts a day, which wasn’t a huge deal considering I did that a lot of the time anyway. During the week it was difficult to wake up early enough to get a full workout in.
After a couple weeks we worked in carb cycling.
What is carb cycling?
Carb cycling is basically eating different amounts of carbs on different days. Most effective when paired with a workout schedule, you’d do a high carb day on a higher intensity day (like legs, back, HIIT), and a low or moderate carb day on lighter workout days.
I remember I always did a high carb day on Saturday when I did legs. I really looked forward to that day!
I was eating a steady 110-120 g protein/day at the time.
What was wrong with the diet?
I’m not sure if there was something wrong with the diet or just the way my body responded to it. I didn’t lean out nearly as fast as I thought I would, I felt like I should have dropped fat steadily and just wasn’t.
Also, I was so constipated. I’m not sure if it was the combination of the high protein and low carb or what, but I couldn’t go to the bathroom! I felt really bloated all the time.
I was also lethargic. I don’t think it had anything to do with my workout schedule because I was kind of used to that and also I didn’t have much else going on at the time.
On paper, the routine seemed perfect. High protein, low carb, strength and cardio workouts.
So, what happened?
I ended up stopping the prep because I felt so terrible. It was really the constipation and bloating that got me. I also tried adding psyllium husk (which, if you have tried…bleh) and it did not help me to go to the bathroom. I was sick of gaining weight (not muscle) and sacrificing food that I enjoyed.
Moral of the story: even if it’s perfect on paper and you follow the plan exactly it still might not work out!