REVERSE DIET – WEEK 1 RECAP & How to Log Restaurant Meals

At the very top you will see my Week 1 Reverse Diet progress pictures (I thought I’d change-up my swimsuit for the Reverse Diet series) as compared to the end of my 7 week cut (directly below that set of pictures).

Date:  11/02/15

Height: 5’8 3/4″

Weight: 135.1 (134.8lb at end of cut;  This is not really a true indicator of my current weight…it’s water retention).  I had lunch at my favorite Mediterranean restaurant (gyro salad) yesterday and that salad is much saltier than what I typically eat on a daily basis.  I also had a salty dinner.  Below is my weight log for the past week.

Last Week of CUT Macros:

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1555 calories 125C / 140P / 55F

Friday 1792 calories 190C / 150P / 48F (heaviest weight lifting day)

Sunday 1562 calories 106C / 145P / 62F (rest day)

Last Week’s Macros:

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1595 calories 130C / 145P / 55F

Friday 1832 calories 195C / 155P / 48F (heaviest weight lifting day)

Sunday 1578 calories 110C / 145P / 62F (rest day)

This Week’s Macros:

Time to increase again...

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1624 calories 135C / 145P / 56F

Friday 1861 calories 200C / 155P / 48F (heaviest weight lifting day)

Sunday 1607 calories 115C / 145P / 63F (rest day)

Workout Plan:

This week is not going to be my typical kind of week when it comes to workouts.  Today I did the Ashley Kaltwasser Glute & Ab Program workout I have done for the last 4 weeks, but lighter and higher rep.  I have been a bit exhausted for the past few days, so I am taking it a little easier and doing a de-load of sorts.

I also have a colonoscopy scheduled for Wednesday and have to do the prep for that all day tomorrow which basically means I can’t eat anything solid and have to give myself diarrhea for the day (awesome, right?).  I have a family history of diverticulitis and my mom has had polyps removed, so my doctor wants to take precautionary measures and start screening me.  WELCOME TO 40!!!

Having never gone through the procedure before, I plan on waking up tomorrow and working out before my prep begins, but I am guessing I won’t have much energy for my typical workout the next day so I am just going to play it by ear this week and do what I feel like in the gym each day.

NEXT week I will begin the 14 week program I purchased which is Jessie Hilgenberg’s Muscle Building e-book.  I always get excited to begin a new program.

Comments:

As you can see I maintained the leanness from my cut this week and if anything I think my physique may be a little bit leaner which makes sense because when accounting for water retention I actually lost weight this week.  I considered adding in MORE macros than typical this week because of the weight loss, but ultimately decided not to since my workouts will not be nearly as intense this week and I plan on taking it easier than I normally would do to the colonoscopy and my level of fatigue.

______________________________

I had a great week last week.  It’s always fun to begin a Reverse Diet and shift your focus from fat loss to maintenance and increasing calories.  Friday we went out with my my Boise besties and our husbands for a nice night at the gorgeous new Chateau de Fleurs to celebrate my 4oth a little early (great excuse to buy a new dress! Goldendoodle photobomb by Russell).

When I looked at the menu ahead of time (I always do that to plan my macros) I was so excited to see that they had monkfish on the menu.  As a child I would always ask my mom to make either monkfish or flank steak (which I made last night) for my birthday dinner.  I hadn’t had it in YEARS and it was just as good as I remembered it.

I know a lot of people struggle with eating out and how to track macros for a meal, so I thought I’d let you know how I tracked this particular meal.  I decided to start with the Garden Greens Salad.  The description read, “Mixed green salad with Château dressing.”  I looked up a garden salad w/o dressing or croutons in MFP and found one from the Dominos chain for 70cals/3.5F/5C/4P.  I then looked-up Balsamic Dressing and logged 2Tbs of Panera’s Balsamin Vinaigrette at 90cal/8F/6C/0P.

The monkfish dish description read, “Monkfish Provençal –  Monkfish sautéed with seasonal ratatouille and finished with a white wine and tomato reduction. Served with a turmeric and ginger basmati rice.”  I always assume that restaurant proteins range between 4-5oz and decided to log 5oz. of monkfish (cooked dry heat) at 137cal/2.8F/0C/26.3P.  I assumed the ratatouille would be about 1cup and chose a homemade version from MFP at 40cal/1F/6C/1P.  I also assumed the basmati rice would be around 1cup and looked up “ginger basmati rice” in MFP and found an entry titled “cooked basmati rice w. ginger” so I decided to log that 205cal/0.4F/44.5C/4.2P.  Lastly, restaurant meals tend to be higher in fat than what I cook at home, so I decided to add 3 tsp of olive oil to my dinner macros at 119cal/1.35F/0C/0P for a grand total meal macro count of 662cal/29F/62C/35P.

The dessert menu looked great, but I have been waiting 8 weeks for frozen yogurt so we all loaded up in our nice clothes and hit Aspen Leaf at 10:15pm for 13oz of frozen yogurt with chocolate sprinkles.  Those of you who have been following me for a while know how CrAzY my froyos used to be LOADED with candy and piled crazy high.  Abstaining for 8 weeks brought me back to a place where I truly didn’t even want to do that.  I really really enjoyed my froyo with just chocolate sprinkles (my husband was shocked!).

All macros accounted for and all thoroughly enjoyed.  I really want to do this Reverse Diet right and feel like I am finally in such a good place when it comes to my relationship with food…the best gift I could give myself at 40 years old.

Have a great week everyone!

______________________________

Click HERE to see the weekly logs of my 8 Weeks to 40 Cut

Click HERE to see the recap of Week 2 of my Reverse Diet