WHAT IS REVERSE DIETING?

Through understanding the purpose of a reverse diet, and when to start one, you’re going to be able to keep the fat loss progress you worked so hard for, for the rest of your life.

1. A reverse diet IS what you use to KEEP your fat loss progress
2. A reverse diet IS an opportunity to improve body composition
3. A reverse diet IS intended to increase the amount of food you eat

If you really want to break down the definition into one grand statement, you could think of a reverse diet like this: A reverse diet is the process through which you gradually add carbs, fats, and protein (macronutrients) to your daily intake, through controlled weekly increases, typically after a period of fat loss, in order to return to maintenance calories while keeping any weight or fat regain to an absolute minimum.

WHEN SHOULD YOU START A REVERSE?

The most obvious time to start a reverse diet is when you’re at the end of a fat loss phase, and the end of a fat loss phase is typically indicated by the following:

  1. You’ve reached your fat loss goal

  2. Your calories required to continue losing weight are very low, and you can’t stick to them any more

  3. You lose your menstrual cycle

  4. You find yourself going over your targets every week, or are feeling the urge to binge

  5. A plateau in progress lasting for 3 or more weeks despite diet adherence

  6. A dip in motivation and willingness to diet (or tracking fatigue)

  7. Your biofeedback starts to suffer: Poor sleep, poor digestion, increased general hunger and obsession with food, stress increases, libido decreases, energy plummets, notable decline in exercise capacity and performance

WHY SOME WOMEN LOSE WEIGHT…

Reverse diets are to set your body up for weight loss, but they aren't for short term weight loss. It is meant to optimize your metabolism and get your body to a place where it'll respond to a deficit. However some women do lose weight during a reverse. Some reasons why:

  1. During the reverse process you are still in a deficit since you have yet to reach your maintenance target.

  2. While in a deficit, thyroid, testosterone and leptin hormones all drop which cause your metabolism to slow down. So when you start to increase those calories you may start to restore some of those hormones bringing your metabolism back up to a normal speed.

  3. When you consume more calories, you will likely have more energy which results in more movement throughout the day unintentionally, exercising harder, and putting on more muscle and "boosting" the metabolism. 

WHY SOME WOMEN GAIN WEIGHT…

The slight weight gain some experience is not abnormal. Some weight may be gained back but not in the form of fat. During a maintenance phase, body weight may rise a little due to several factors. Some include:

  1. Increased carbohydrates in the liver and muscles

  2. Increased fluid retention stored along with those carbohydrates and from additional sodium

  3. Increased intestinal weight sitting in your stomach from more food volume & fiber.

  4. The weight gained is purely water retention. The only way to gain fat is being in a calorie surplus.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS WHILE BEING IN MAINTENANCE:

  1. Maintenance phases are a chance for any down-regulated factors of metabolism to return to normal. This helps you create a gap between the calories you eat and the calories you burn (calorie deficit) when you start dieting again.

  2. Maintenance phases act as a mental break from dieting to recover any reductions in motivation.

  3. Maintenance phases can help mitigate any increases in food obsession and general hunger that may impact fat loss adherence.

  4. Maintenance phases may allow some productive, high performance training to take place which can help reduce the risk of muscle loss.

  5. Maintenance phases should be implemented every 4-16 weeks, ideally.

  6. Maintenance phases’ duration is highly dependent on the client. The rule of thumb is to stay in maintenance the same amount of time you were in a deficit.

All of the above essentially re-prepare you for another phase of efficient fat loss, increasing your chances of long-term success. The longer you stay in maintenance, the better your chances are of your body responding to your next deficit. You’ll be physically and mentally ready to continue towards your long-term goal!