Get into the BEST Shape of Your Life

The Starvation Diet

By Figure & Bikini Editor - Kristin Shaffer

3 votes | Login to Vote!

Dieting but can't lose weight? Feel you're eating like a bird but the pounds still aren't coming off?

Nicole Fontenot

0 votes | Login to Vote!

Michelle munier

0 votes | Login to Vote!

Diet > Reverse Dieting and Metabolic Damage

Hi all. This is going to get personal for just a second and then I'll bring it back to the main topic. This past weekend I competed in bikini for the 2nd time. My first competition was in October and I weighted about 129 on "peak week" (I am 5'6.5-5'7" tall) I increased my calories and ate as I wanted over Christmas and continued to go to the gym as I had qualified for the tier 2 and didn't want to gain too much and then try to lose it again. The first competition I had a "coach" who started me off at 1500 cal in April, and then by the time Aug/Sept rolled around I was down to 800 calories of green veggies and dry chicken per day. I felt terrible but since I placed I was on a high and was looking forward to looking better the 2nd time around. I have a great hubby who supported my decision to try and train and diet myself rather than pay someone. It was easier, I didn't feel as hungry but at the end I still found myself spacing meals out and taking in maybe 800-900 calories. I had good intentions and for the most part I kept it higher, did carb cycling and enjoyed having more fat. Now that I am done, and came home empty handed I am fighting feelings of dissapointment and now am facing the idea of reverse dieting as I am deathly (read terrified) of increasing my calories too fast and putting on the weight. What I really want is to maintain around 2000 calories or more if possible with the ability to eat things like bread without feeling terrified that I will balloon up. I want to enjoy my life and would like to try to have kids in the near future (had been putting that off due to competition season) and thinking of all the birthdays, anniversaries and so on that I missed for competition prep makes me sad. I want my life back and I want to be healthy doing it. Having kids soon would be a joy for me, but I really want to get my metabolism in check first. At this point I am very short on money and so I can't hire a metabolic coach to help me out of this. I know I can recover with patience, but I am not sure how to do this. How much of what to increase from where I am now and so on.

Posted By Ally86

Welcome - From the Editor > Meal Planning Tool

This meal planning tool is amazing and worth every penny on this site, If I received nothing else, I would be glad for that, the tracking spreadsheet gave me a bit of trouble as I didn't know that I was supposed to copy and paste and leave the numbers in and just change the dates, so by the 3rd time and 3 or 4 emails to poor Kristen, I think I have it down.lol Okay I am so excited I found this sight and can't wait to tell everyone about it and see my transformation!!! Love :)

Posted By rocsgirl

Diet > Muscle gain

Thank you SOOO much Kristin! I feel much better now! You and your website are beyond helpful. I CANNOT WAIT to share my transformation with you!

Posted By AlisaCo

Diet > Muscle gain

Hi Alisa! So great to hear from you and I'm excited that you're enjoying FAB University! You're right on track and things are going as expected. Check out my personal journey spreadsheet that came with FAB University. You'll see in that first several weeks the same happened to me. Without getting too technical, it's a result of water shifts in the body. When we're eating a diet full of non-clean foods and not drinking enough water, the kidneys don't function as well as they could, and essentially pull water out of our muscles to operate. But we'll hold on to water under the skin still, giving us a "bloated" look. When we begin eating clean and drinking more water, the kidneys then operate very efficiently, coupled with the body receiving the nutrition it needs to build muscle, and the muscles fill with water, working to essentially increase our lean body mass. Therefore, you likely have increased muscle in that 6 weeks - 1 to 3 pounds perhaps. The rest of that lean body mass gain is in the form of water WITHIN muscle tissue, which is a desired effect. So - bottom line - you are ROCKIN' IT! You're dropping fat and retaining/building muscle. KEEP UP THE GREAT PROGRESS! With love, Kristin

Posted By fabeditor

Diet > Muscle gain

I've been logging my results for the past 6 weeks and my weight and body fat measurements seem to be going down in expected increments but the tracker is saying I've gained 6lbs of muscle. It also states I've lost 9 lbs of fat. Is it possible to gain this much muscle in a short amount of time?

Posted By AlisaCo

Competition Tips > Makeup Color??

Try this link about competition makeup to see if this is what you're looking for. I personally use Era Spray for all my competitions. LOVE that stuff! Era builds up in color so you can go as light or as dark as you need to depending on how your body color turns out. With love, Kristin <3

Posted By fabeditor

Diet > Time Saving Tips

Time-saving tip for getting out quickly in the morning.... The night before - Crack and separate your egg whites, put them in containers in the fridge and have your oatmeal all measured and ready to be microwaved in the morning. That extra few minutes makes a world of difference! What tips do you have? With love, Kristin <3

Posted By fabeditor

Competition Tips > Makeup Color??

I, too, am approaching my first competition in October and I'm eager to hear the answer to this! I've no clue how to pick out a foundation color- and unfortunately I couldn't find the makeup thread you mentioned. :-( Looking forward to input.

Posted By sleekgeek

Competition Tips > Makeup Color??

Hello all! I saw the thread about foundation/makeup colors. However, this is my first competition and I will NOT be doing my own tanning...I will be using the spray tan supplied at competition. I have no idea which brand/coloring it is or how it will look on my skin. In this circumstance, how do I know what color or shade foundation to buy so I can match it up with the tan?? Don't want to go too light or too dark. Thanks =)

Posted By JessiMar

Upcoming Competitions > July 6 NPC Bikini

That's so exciting!! I saw your video where you placed first your most recent show...CONGRATS!! So inpring =D I don't know what to expect at all! I just keep reading up on it as much as possible and making sure I am prepared. Hoping for the best, but just getting on stage for me will be an accomplishment! =) Yay Pears! haha I will take some photos tonight to send your way. Thank you so much!!

Posted By JessiMar