Wow,… well, I won’t repeat what Lonnie mentioned (all good points), but I’ll throw in the “live and learn” advice and just say to focus on the goal despite this un-fun experience.
I’ve had some seriously high carb days myself during past preps, where I ended up seeking out newer foods because I didn’t think I’d hit my #s with my usual filling carb sources, but I don’t think I exceeded double my usual carb intake. There’s just a point that to go beyond it pointless IMO. ie, If you’re normally on what I would consider the lower range of carbs for a ~200 lbs male (150g), chances are you’d experience a nice bump both physically and psychologically from double that (300g). Some people can push it a bit (400g), but after that, do you really think 500g, 600g is going to have so much more of an effect than the 300g? of course not. Chances are you’d end up retaining so much water (in addition to possibly losing a bit of actual progress) that you’d be a psychological mess for the rest of the week -lol.
It sounds like you may have actually just gotten the flu, because those are some crazy biological responses to carb(even high carb) intake. The bloat and wanting to stay near a toilet are totally normal, but the chills/fever part not so much. I’m not saying go try that shit again right away to confirm, but ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’ and whatnot. Sometimes you’re just sick, and it’s not actually because of the odd thing you did that day.
It does sound like you somewhat realize that possibility though.
My training session was amazing last night and some of the carbs must have found a home because I was pumped up! I went to bed weighing in at almost 10 lbs over my regular morning weight but was almost back to normal in the morning. I woke up with a bad headache and some neck stiffness, so things may be looking like perhaps I did get a bug, but regardless I will conduct a more moderate refeed next time around.
I woke this morning at around 174 and did 30 min “fasted” cardio/circuit training session. I noted that I looked full and very well defined. Still a way to go with conditioning so I am going to be creating a larger deficit in calories via cardio and will be cutting 100-200 calories from food intake if it doesn’t drive me too crazy.
My face is starting to suck in a bit and I noticed the biggest change this morning was that my ass is actually starting to get a bit of ripple to it. I will be taking some more photos tonight and possibly a video if I can figure it out. It would be nice to get something a little easier to critique up here (and not just of my ass of course haha).
172 this morning! Snapped some photos first thing, I am not pumped or anything but I like to think that I am getting leaner. Didn’t get a chance to post pics after my training session yesterday so hopefully these will make up for it.
I think it is safe to say that I did in fact get a stomach bug when I did my refeed. My wife has just come down with something similar to what I had and she has not eaten near as many carbs as I did. I am sure my immune system is pretty beaten from all this dieting so perhaps the refeed and the way things panned out was a blessing in disguise. Dont get me wrong it was a terrible experience, but I am sure the extra calories and carbs helped it pass. I am still waking up a little groggy and achy, but it seems to pass after I am up for a bit.
Something interesting to note is that I feel warm as I am eating lately and with the recent weight loss I would say my metabolism is back on track.
QUESTION:
For any of you out there who have done a contest prep, I am reading conflicting info on when to carb up. I read the most “traditional” way to prep is start carb loading the day before and the morning of the show, but have recently stumbled upon a few preps that start days before the show. Just curious if any of you have experience with doing it both ways and what was more effective. I would assume that the idea of carbing up a few days out would be along the same lines of a refeed and depending on how long it takes to reach that baseline weight again would be an indication on when to start. Also in the world of natty vs chemically enhanced they never seem to include disclaimers on articles to indicate what they are tailored for.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I followed this protocol, it worked pretty damn well. I can post pics of the before/after if you want[/quote]
That would be great! I am always interested to see what works for others. I am kind of on the fence now with the “shredded in 6 days.” It may work great, but just the fact the I have never taken glycerol or anything It seems like it could be completely hit or miss. I already picked everything up in case I don’t formulate another plan between now and then.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Here is the results of the water protocol and the tanning. It works pretty well I think[/quote]
Wow, looks like that certainly worked for you. I know you mentioned before that you kept up the refeeds until the contest, did you treat your carb load the same minus water manipulation?
Woke at 172 this morning and it has been 6 days since my refeed. I plan to incorporate a refeed tomorrow and I will aim to consume between 300 and 400g of carbs within a 6 hour window. This of course will be half of what I pounded back last Friday but I still need to find my range. If I am successful with this refeed and it really boosts things along I may try to squeeze a few more in before the show.
I have started doing more cardio in the morning when my schedule permits and keep adding more cardio time to the end of my training sessions. It is near impossible to hit all days with my work schedule, but I make due.
I have attached a few pictures from this morning after taking the dogs for an hour walk. I may do some more compulsory poses here after my training session tonight but having to work the night shift puts a real crunch on everything.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Here is the results of the water protocol and the tanning. It works pretty well I think[/quote]
Wow, looks like that certainly worked for you. I know you mentioned before that you kept up the refeeds until the contest, did you treat your carb load the same minus water manipulation? [/quote]
Basically. I think I might have even eaten a little more that day.
One suggestion I do have is the bath… If tanning isnt an issue (I had to tan super early the day before), try to make the bath last a good while and do it as late as possible. Mine was limited but you can literally see yourself getting leaner as the minutes go by because of the water manipulation. I would probably do 2 or 3 of them if I could. Or find a hot tub or something.
A gentleman by the name Tim Mcbride (he has a contest prep log on here from a year ago that is well worth looking at) did a 3 day carb up with great success. I believe the goal was to get around 600g carbs per day. He came in D-R-Y so there is more than one way to do things
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
A gentleman by the name Tim Mcbride (he has a contest prep log on here from a year ago that is well worth looking at) did a 3 day carb up with great success. I believe the goal was to get around 600g carbs per day. He came in D-R-Y so there is more than one way to do things[/quote]
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Here is the results of the water protocol and the tanning. It works pretty well I think[/quote]
Wow, looks like that certainly worked for you. I know you mentioned before that you kept up the refeeds until the contest, did you treat your carb load the same minus water manipulation? [/quote]
Basically. I think I might have even eaten a little more that day.
One suggestion I do have is the bath… If tanning isnt an issue (I had to tan super early the day before), try to make the bath last a good while and do it as late as possible. Mine was limited but you can literally see yourself getting leaner as the minutes go by because of the water manipulation. I would probably do 2 or 3 of them if I could. Or find a hot tub or something.
A gentleman by the name Tim Mcbride (he has a contest prep log on here from a year ago that is well worth looking at) did a 3 day carb up with great success. I believe the goal was to get around 600g carbs per day. He came in D-R-Y so there is more than one way to do things[/quote]
A bath looks like a great idea. I take Epsom salt baths from time to time now and do notice a huge difference by the time I get out.
I have a few time constraints because the competition is an hour away and I have to go in the night before to weigh in and attend the meeting. I will probably not leave the city until 8 or 9 the way the schedule is. then i gotta be back bright and early the next morning. Not that I will sleep much anyway with the excitement and all going on with the dieting, but its always nice to have a bit of extra time in case something goes wrong.
I actually read through Mr. Mcbride’s thread a few weeks back, I try to read through at least one here a week and try to gauge where I’m at in relation to the show. I will have to take another gander. I am trying another refeed today which I will detail more in my update.
Thanks again for the help!
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
A gentleman by the name Tim Mcbride (he has a contest prep log on here from a year ago that is well worth looking at) did a 3 day carb up with great success. I believe the goal was to get around 600g carbs per day. He came in D-R-Y so there is more than one way to do things[/quote]
Sounds like a real tool, this Tim guy.[/quote]
Haha if you were a tool it would have to be a chisel!
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Legs are looking great. Side quads (in tri shot) getting those cheese-shredder lines going!
S[/quote]
Thanks! They start to just kinda come out of nowhere eh. It seems like every week im getting a new line or ripple somewhere, its exciting. Veins have been interesting to watch as well.
Not sure what happened, but I woke up @ 170.8 which is my lowest weight to date, and just in time for a refeed!
I have started in already after sleeping a few hours this morning coming off the night shift. I have placed a cap of 400g of carbs to get a handle on this thing. I cut out all the junk type foods and have consumed just enough so far that I still want a bit more but know if I cross that boundary I will start to feel bloated. It is hard to slow down when the savage cravings keep at ya. I am also trying to space my meals a bit this time too instead of a free for all. All this has accomplished so far is me staring at the clock for that next fix haha.
I will post my results of this refeed as soon as I get a chance. It is going to be a busy weekend of visiting parents and in laws to break some exciting news. News that I will also use keep you in suspense hahah evil I know!
I will be going to a public gym to work legs and I am pretty excited. I will be trying out a gym in a brand new civic centre that my mother in law works at when we head up to visit them, so we shall see how it goes!
The pics are from yesterday after an arm training session.
If I am remembering right, you were “stuck” at around 174ish for a few weeks, right? And now that you did your refeed you seem to be inching down now. Sounds good to me. You are coming up on the final weeks here, so there isn’t too much to change at this point, but if you are doing things right you should start seeing changes pretty much daily… New veins, less fat here and there, etc…
Keep it up man, can’t wait to see what your refeed does for you.
