Over the last 20 years I have had the opportunity to diet many times for competition. I have also trained countless individuals for contests, bodybuilding, figure and fitness, and worked with many other great coaches and trainers. Along the way I have learned many great things about diet, training and fat loss. This has allowed me to fine tune my contest preps and improve my conditioning the way. However, in my 20+ years of research I have found little helpful information about coming OFF the contest diet!
 

I fee there are four phases to a successful contest approach. Each phase is critical and must be mapped out for a successful contest diet. The phases are; baseline diet, conditioning phase, peaking and the endgame or coming off the diet. Of all the phases the most neglected is the endgame.
 

Is this familiar, you start the diet at 12-18% body fat, diet hard for 10-24 weeks, get down to a low single digit body fat percent, do all kinds of stuff the last week to improve the condition of your physique, do the show and then…… eat everything in site? A week later your 20 pounds over contest weight, your mental state is in flux, you won’t take your shirt off in public and you cover all the mirrors in the bathroom so you don’t have to look at yourself! There must be a better way to come off the diet?
 

First, here are a few things that happen when we slowly and systematically diet to low body fat percentages; a reduction in metabolic rate and sympathetic nervous system output, a reduction in thyroid hormone output, a reduction in testosterone, GH and other hormones, increased insulin insensitivity and a uncontrolled affinity for “bad food”.
 

This is all common with dieting and a drop in metabolic rate and thyroid and other hormone concentrations con not be avoided in natural bodybuilders. Hormone concentrations are sensitive to energy balances, so a reduction in energy balance (calories in) causes a corresponding reduction in metabolism and hormone concentrations. The insulin insensitivity is caused by the drop in percentage of carbohydrates that accompanies most dietary approaches. Most of the Team Sully diets involve some type of carbohydrate restriction or cycling based on individual needs. As for the desire for “Bad” foods, do I even need to elaborate?
 

So what happened in the week following the diet? First there is a huge rebound in water due to increased carb consumption. Remember, water will follow glycogen in about a 3:1 ratio. Your poor tolerance to carbohydrates will cause most glycogen to be shuttled into the fat cell as opposed to the muscle cell. Besides that you will suffer huge mood swings and suffer lethargy. So at the end of a week we are a fat and depressed 20 pounds over contest weight.
 

There is a better way! Just like your contest diet, have a plan to come off the diet. I like to do things in 3 week intervals when I diet, so let’s use the same process to reverse the diet. It is a two to three step process followed over 6-9 weeks that allows for a proper transition into off season eating. The first thing I recommend is to enjoy a set period of unrestricted eating, a SHORT, set period. I prefer 24-36 hours post contest to indulge in a few favorites, pizza, ice cream and pancakes are a few of my favorites. After that clean out the crap or you will end up wearing a tent to work because nothing in your word robe fits.
 

Once you have satisfied all your cravings the next step is to an extra meal per day. Keep the meal clean, lean meats, veggies normal contest foods. Add the condiments back in to make all meals more satisfying, and add things like cream to your coffee or perhaps some sugar free coco mix at night. If you were on a cyclogenic diet, several low carb days and a high carb day, keep the same process but cut a day between refeeds. In other words if you were going four low carb days then a refeed, move to three lows and a refeed. You can allow yourself to have one of the refeeds as a cheat meal, but again try to limit the damage at first. A few slices of pizza and an ice cream would be acceptable. Spending all day Sunday at an all you can eat buffet is not. Follow this for three weeks and then move to the next step.
 

For the next three week segment increase the number of calories you're eating per meal by about 100kcal.  Make sure the majority of the calories come from clean foods, such a second scoop of protein in a drink, one whole egg and one egg white or 4 oz. lean meat to your protein feeding or 8 oz. sweet potato or ½ cup oats to a carbohydrate feeding. For example if your first meal is egg whites and grapefruit, add 100kcal of egg and grapefruit. If modifying the diet after a ketogenic or carb cycling diet then and you’re adjusting a refeed meal of oats and sweet potato, add 100kcal of oats and/or potato. You can also move the refeed day back another day. In our example above we started at four lows and a refeed and adjusted to three lows and a refeed for the first three week segment. For this three week segment move the refeed so you’re having two lows and a refeed meal. Again choose the same foods you did in the last weeks of your diet, lean meats, vegetables, whole oats, sweet potato and egg whites.
 

Now for the final three weeks add another 100 calories to each meal. You can also start to change the macronutrient profile by adding in more carbs to your first meal and the post training meals. If coming of the ketogenic or carb cycling approach them move to a 1:1 ratio of low to high carb days, one low and one high. Add another 100 calories to the refeed day as well and one or two cheat meals per week would be permissible. At the end of the nine weeks your metabolism should be readjusted and you would be ready to follow a more balanced off season diet. If coming off the ketogenic diet or carb cycling approach stop doing the refeeds and balance out your daily carbs intake in all 6 meals or take carbs and proteins in at meal #1 and your pre/post workout meals and keep the other three meals as protein and fats with veggies.
 

As you gradually increase your calorie intake as well as micronutrient intake, you should also begin to taper off your supplements. Start with 1/3 less of your fat burning supplements the first 3 weeks, then another 1/3 the next three and finally the last 1/3 the final three weeks. Keep your normal health supplements in, multiples, fish oils and post workout whey protein should stay, but if you did high dose BCAA’s then should be dropped by ½ over the same 9 weeks. I still like to keep my BCAA’s in year round. If you were using creatine then you can just drop it for the nine weeks without tapering.
 

Don’t end the cardio cold turkey! Again use the rule of 1/3’s and drop both the intensity and duration by 1/3 the first three weeks. If you were doing 60 min and 20 of that was HITT  5-6 days per week then go to 40 min with only a 10 min HITT session for 4-5 days per week (drop one day). After the first three weeks drop another 1/3 and stop all HITT work and drop one more day so it would be 4 days per week for 20 min. The final three weeks drop one more session, but keep to the 20 min moderate cardio 3 X week. I strongly believe in cardio year round, but 15-20 min 3 X week is enough.
 

If you have followed the previous nine weeks then you should have a decent baseline. If you want to maintain your current weight adjust as stated above, balance the carbs out and go with a 40-40-20 macronutrient plan, or have three carb/protein meals and three protein/veggie meals. If you want to gain weight start by adding 500 calories to the above plan, but no more at first. Add slowly and weigh yourself weekly and monitor body comp through the mirror. If you’re gaining too fast, mostly fat, cut 250 calories, if too slow add another 250.
 

This is the best way I have found to prevent looking like the Goodyear blimp in 2 weeks and puts the final phase, the endgame, in place for a proper transition into off season.