The ABC’s of Reverse Dieting and How to Approach it Yourself
I’ve been asked many times over the last few years what exactly is reverse dieting and what does it entail.
Reverse dieting is the methodological process of training your metabolism to speed up by slowly increasing food on a weekly basis. When we reverse diet, we are giving our bodies the green light to use the food we are eating as energy by allowing it to come out of fight or flight mode.
Here’s the deal when it comes to Reverse Dieting
When we restrict food, our bodies and metabolisms slow down to the rate which we are eating.
Why does the body do this?
To put it simply, to protect you.
And also, adaptation. Your body is very intelligent and is protecting you by storing the limited amount of calories that you are eating as fat because it essentially doesn’t want you to starve. Thus, whatever little food you are eating is being put on the back burner (love handles, butt, belly, etc) and stored as fat to keep you ALIVE.
It seems many people are in need of a reverse diet after they go through extreme dieting or fall into a caloric deficit for many years. On top of that, they’re often over-training in order to try and counter the lack of changes they’re seeing from their workouts.
Some people may experience weight gain without changing their workouts or food intake. People often come to me hopeless and frustrated. I feel for them because some have been prescribed this “diet” from their very own doctor’s who encourage them to eat 1000 calories or less a day! The reality is that yes, this will work initially, but after a couple of years, the scale starts to creep back up and they panic because they have literally changed nothing. That’s when I come in.
So what’s my Reverse Dieting story?
I first came across reverse dieting back in 2015 after competing in my first Bikini Bodybuilding Show. After going through the extreme dieting process, meticulously tracking macros and calories and working out two times a day or more, after my show, I felt like a deer in headlights. I was lost. My coach left me high and dry post show and I had no idea what I was going to do to get myself and my body back to normal.
I was eating around 1500 calories a day which I knew was not sustainable. I was terrified because I read and saw so many women after competing go back to their “normal” eating habits and some claimed to have put on 20 pounds of weight in two weeks or less! Although I loved the way I looked, living my life in such a restrictive manner was not only unrealistic for me but was excruciatingly boring. I was miserable and fighting demons daily in my head. This was not my idea of healthy living. I knew I had to slowly go back to eating more food and working out less. But I was terrified. So I researched and studied for months.
I began to slowly increase calories week to week and slowly scale back the time I was spending in the gym. I needed to be happy and mentally get out of the food fixation and obsession competing instilled in me. I knew this was not the way I wanted to live my life. I had been an athlete all my life and prior to bodybuilding, I was never one who fixated too much on food. Not only were there physical obstacles I knew I had to overcome, but there were mental obstacles too. I knew I was a perfect candidate for reverse dieting.
How to know if you are a good fit for Reverse Dieting
You may not have competed in a bodybuilding show or you may not have stepped foot in a gym in a year. That doesn’t mean you aren’t a good candidate for reverse dieting!
Below I highlight some obvious signs I have found in the last few years from working with over dozens of men and women who all were in need of reverse dieting due to their own individual circumstances
You have come off of an extreme weight loss diet and never changed anything after the initial weight loss. (AKA never slowly started to eat more)
You have a history of yo-yo dieting
You have hit a plateau and nothing you do seems to work or make a change in your body
You don’t eat a lot (1200 calories or less a day) and oddly enough, most of the time you’re not even hungry
Ladies, you have lost your period or it’s spotty month to month
You don’t really have regular bowel movements
You work out a TON (everyday or close to everyday)
You do cardio 5x a week or more
You are often tired, sore, achy and overall just feeling blah
You worry about your next meals or often feel guilty for eating certain foods
You don’t feel good about your body despite how much you diet and how much you workout
If you have answered yes to eight out of eleven of these questions, you should consider reverse dieting.
I know the idea of eating more food is terrifying. Seriously. I know because I was there. You have to know that you are not alone and that there is hope. Ask yourself what you are going to do going forward. Do you want to continue living your life as a slave to the gym and/or constantly putting up rules and restrictions around food? How many days a week would you workout in an ideal world if you felt like you didn’t “need” to?
Now imagine you were doing that and getting the results you desired. Well, guess what? It is possible! Reverse dieting is a long term investment in your body and in your overall LIFE. Not only can it change your physical appearance but it will have a positive impact on your entire life on a much larger scale.
So HOW and WHERE should I start Reverse Dieting?
The process of Reverse Dieting will look different for each and every individual, as each body will respond differently. Before you begin this process, it is important to note that your success directly correlates with your ability to be consistent, track your food and stay within your program.
1. Be Consistent!
Consistency is hugely important in achieving results both in the Reverse Dieting and Body Fat Loss phases of your fitness journey. Do not expect to experience results and increase your caloric-intake with minimal weight gain if you only plan to be consistent 6 days a week. Your body will keep an accurate record of your discipline and consistency. Remember this is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. I embrace and teach balance, no foods are off limits, but this does not mean that you can be inconsistent and still achieve your goals. There are several apps available to help you track what you eat. My favorite is MyFitnessPal.
2. Counting Macros Versus Counting Calories
The most effective way to approach nutrition and achieve fitness goals is through tracking the amount of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, known as macronutrients or ‘macros’ for short, your body needs on a daily basis.
Your macronutrients determine your daily caloric intake as 1g of protein = 4 cals, 1g of carbohydrates = 4 cals, and 1g of fat = 9 cals. Don’t worry about tracking your total daily calories. It is more important that you track your macros, three different numbers – protein, carbs, and fats. When you track macros you are inadvertently tracking calories as well.
Your protein intake will stay the same throughout the duration of your program, as your body does not need more than 1.0 – 1.4g of protein per pound of body weight. However, your carbs and fats will be adjusted.
After a full 7 days tracking and hitting your target macros, we will begin to slowly increase you. This weekly increase should continue as long as you do not begin to gain weight rapidly.
You will increase your carbs and fats by 2-5% every week as long as your weight stays the same or decreases.
If you gain 1-2 pounds or more in a week, hold off increasing food volume that week. Keep your macros the same for the next week to give your body more time to adjust to your current intake.
If you gain less than 1 pound in a week, increase carbs and fats by 2% that week. If you maintain your weight, increase carbs and fats by 4% that week. If you lose weight, increase carbs and fats by 5% that week.
Let’s look at an example of Client A:
Starting macros for Week One: 130g Protein, 123g Carbs, and 46g Fat.
If all went well with Client A above and he/she maintained his or her weight as someone reverse diet typically does, his or her new macros for Week Two would be: 130g Protein, 127g Carbs, and 47g Fats.
Check simple math below.
123g of Carbs x .04 (4% increase because weight maintained the same) = 4g of Carbs increased, 123g + 4g = 127g of Carbs for Week Two.
46g of Fat x .04 (4% increase because weight maintained the same) = 1g of Fat increased, 46g + 1g = 47g of Fat for Week Two.
3. Adhere to Your Program
Strive for progress not perfection. If you hit your macros within 5 grams consistently each day, you adhered fully. If you adhered fully and continue to gain weight, you have most likely reached your metabolic capacity. Before claiming you have reached your metabolic capacity, it is critical to evaluate your level of consistency!
As mentioned earlier, the more consistent you are, the further you will be able to strengthen your metabolism, increase your macronutrient intake and gain minimal weight in the process. However, there will come a point where your metabolism will reach its maximum capacity and increasing your macros will cause weight gain.
At this point, you can either choose to stay with these macros with a goal of maintaining your current weight, or you can decide to enter a body fat loss phase where macros will then decrease with the goal of losing weight and body fat. I recommend maintenance (keeping calories and macros at the number we leave off at) for at least 6-8 weeks to allow the body to adjust to this new norm before we drop down again into a fat loss phase.
4. Counting macros versus calories
Understanding macros and how to create meals from the grams determined is incredibly important. Nutrition is the number one most factor in shaping your body. In fact, it is about 80% of the overall puzzle. You can't out train a poor diet! Learning about nutrition and fueling your body correctly to function at its most optimal level will take time and practice.
Macronutrients are not a specific “diet” plan. Macros are simply grams of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. All foods are made of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Some foods may contain all three of the macros- peanut butter for example is primarily source of fat,but most brands also contain some protein and carbs, while others are made up of only one or two of the macros. For example, chicken is primarily a source of protein but it also contains a small amount of fat. It does not have any carbohydrates.
Specific diet plans exclude certain foods, while putting an emphasis on other foods. There is nothing wrong with this if one has sensitivities to dairy or gluten for example, however the common myth is that excluding certain foods classified as “bad” will help you progress closer to your goals. The truth is your body needs a specific amount of protein, carbs, and fats on a daily basis to function properly, and stated above, all foods contain some amount of protein, carbs, and fats. The overall goal then becomes simply hitting your macro numbers for the day.
5. Tapering Off Cardio
Your metabolism is affected by both your nutritional approach AND your approach to training. This can’t be overlooked. Your body and specifically your metabolism adapts to whatever it is subjected to. For example, if you are restricting your calories and doing cardio twice per day 5 days a week, your body will adapt and your metabolism will become more efficient (which, as stated earlier, is NOT a good thing!). This is why many individuals get stuck in a plateau. The body is fighting back and trying to protect itself against you, your diet, and your training approach.
I recommend a balanced approach to training, with the most effective method being weight training. I typically give my clients a weight-training program that involves 3-4 days of weight lifting intermixed with 1-4 days of High Intensity interval training (known as HIIT). Cardio sessions are high intensity but typically no longer than 30 minutes in duration and the maximum amount of time my clients ever spend in the gym is 2 hours (and this is on the high end).
6. Food volume
I want to point out one important note when it comes to “nutrient dense” foods like sweet potatoes and veggies versus less nutrient dense food like Pop Tarts and ice cream. Because nutrient dense foods have less chemicals and artificial ingredients, you will usually have to eat a lot more of them to hit your total macros versus meeting your macros using less nutrient dense foods, that tend to be much higher in carbs and fats.
For example a large plate of veggies, and a pile of sweet potatoes is going to have about the same amount of carbs as one little Pop Tart. Feeling satiated and full will happen much easier with nutrient dense foods. Again, you will just need to experiment with what works best for you. Remember this has to be an enjoyable lifestyle if you truly want to be able to maintain them long-term.
7. Meal Planning
Once you have calculated your macronutrients you must then be able to create meals that fit within your specific amount of proteins, carbs, and fats. It will likely be an overwhelming task at first, using a macronutrient tracking application like are MyFitnessPal, My Macros+ and Lose It! will simplify this process for you.
You are given three numbers and then have to create meals based on a certain number of proteins, carbs, and fats.
However, once you get the hang of it, it will become easier- I promise! This is why people hire coaches for this process. It is difficult and overwhelming at first but the longer you do it, the easier it becomes. Be persistent and patient when learning this process. You are most likely not going to get it perfect at first and that’s OK. Just aim to do your best. The easiest way to begin creating your meals is dividing your daily total of macronutrients by the number of meals you wish to consume throughout the day.
For example, if you choose to eat 5 meals a day and your daily macro requirements are 160 grams of protein, 180 grams of carbs, and 45 grams of fat, (random numbers), you will want to divide each of those numbers by 5 to determine the grams per meal:
160g protein / 5meals = 32g of protein per meal • 180g carbs / 5meals = 36g of carbs per meal • 45g fats / 5meals = 9g of fats per meal
When you put together a meal you’ll want to aim for 32g of protein, 36g of carbs, and 9g of fats per meal. Note that you will probably not be able to hit these numbers exactly, and that’s okay. Some meals may have a few grams more fat or carbs, while others will have a few grams less. Try to hit your daily totals as close as possible. But do NOT stress if you are a few grams off.
When you are counting macros from food sources you want to count all the macros for all of your foods. For example, chicken is primarily a source of protein but it also has some fat in it. Count both the protein and fat into your daily macros. You will want to count the carbs and proteins in peanut butter, in addition to the grams of fat.
Here is an example meal for a person with the macros calculated above 32g of protein, 36g of carbs, 9g of fats:
Eggs & Turkey Bacon, 2 slices of toast, with 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
Turkey Bacon (2 Slices): Protein: 4g, Carbs: 0g, Fats: 5g
Egg Whites (4): Protein: 20g, Carbs: 0g, Fats: 0g
Ezekiel Bread (2 slices): Protein: 8g, Carbs: 30g, Fats: 1g
Smart Balance Peanut Butter (1/2 tbsp): Protein: 1.75g, Carbs: 1.50g, Fats: 4g
Total macros for meal: Protein: 33.8g, Carbs: 31.5g, Fats: 10g
You will notice that the meal did not hit the macros perfectly. It was a little over on protein and fats, while slightly under on carbs. This is nothing to stress about. Just aim to have a few grams less fat for the next meal and a little more carbs.
Overwhelmed? I’m here to help!
My Personal Preference for Reverse Dieting Clients
I recommend following an approach of meeting macros primarily with nutrient dense foods but also allow flexibility and balance in my client's diet.
I find that allowing my clients to enjoy foods they love, (as long as they count them into their daily macros), actually helps them make this a lifestyle that they can maintain for the long-term, rather than a “diet,” that lasts temporarily. Remember, this is a long term investment in your health and you do not have to do this alone. I’m here to help and I’m currently taking on new reverse dieting clients!