Want to amp up your results and actually ENJOY your food? Learn why implementing a reverse diet can give you better weight loss results, performance, energy, focus, and enjoyment!
Though cutting calories can be a good short-term plan, for long term results it will get you stuck.
Learn how to get UNSTUCK and bring back the things you love.
How often are you frustrated trying to restrict food and hating life? Always trying to eat less, less, less.
Less food equals better results, right?
WRONG.
What if I told you that you could see better results by eating more? As a Certified Nutrition Coach, my goal is to help women enjoy what they eat... and achieve their goals. And more often than not, eating under 1000kcals isn't the way to do that.
What Is Reverse Dieting?
Reverse dieting is the practice of weaning yourself out of low-calorie diets and intakes.
Instead, you focus on slowly building up your metabolism by increasing your calorie intake so that you can eat more without weight gain.
Benefits of reverse dieting:
- Better relationship with food
- Higher metabolism
- Weight loss
- Body fat loss
- Enjoyment
- More strength
- Better energy
- Hormone regulation
Low-Calorie Diets: Why They Don't Work
Though the "gold standard" for a low-calorie diet is 1200kcals per day, each woman is a little bit different.
How many calories we eat depends a lot more on body structure than just a flatline number.
A woman who is naturally curvy should not be eating the same as a woman who is naturally very thin.
There is no one-size fits all.
Likewise, trying to stick to a long-term low-calorie diet can actually slow your metabolism and cause weight gain.
Your body needs a certain amount of fuel to do its job. Not getting that on a regular basis will cause it to store what it does get.
Your body is also resourceful, when it realizes that it isn't going to get the fuel it needs, it becomes more efficient at daily tasks. You lose energy, focus, your temper is high, and you can't recover from workouts.
All this means that if you try to eat too low of a diet long-term, you either end up crashing and stalling any body composition goals (like weight loss), or you end up binge eating because you're legit hungry.
Signs You Need To Reverse Diet
Though you may not experience all of these, normally people on a calorie deficit diet for a long time will notice a few:
- Poor recovery from exercise
- Always tired
- Stalled goals
- Crazy hunger
- Poor focus
- Quick to anger
- Loss of period
How To Start A Reverse Diet
Though reverse dieting is great, you can't just jump from 1200 calories per day to 1800.
You need to move slowly.
Begin by adding in 100-150 more calories per day until you work your way up to 1500-1600kcals and then work to find your maintenance calories (the calories your body needs to support the energy you use).
Sometimes, this takes time.
You need to work with your body.
Pay attention to how you're feeling, and recovering, and to what you're eating.
A lot of the process when it comes to the reverse diet is mental. teaching ourselves it is okay to eat more. Some great snacks to add in to help you gain calories slowly are:
- Dairy-free chocolate protein pudding
- Snickerdoodle protein bars
- Protein zucchini bread
- Lemon chia pudding
- High protein snack recipes
When you're ready, if you need a meal plan to follow check out the mom-approved meal plan. It uses a carb cycling approach to help you feel satiated while still losing weight and keeping energy high.
Does Food Choice Matter In A Reverse Diet?
If you want to avoid weight gain, the kind of foods you choose to eat on a reverse diet matter!
Though a calorie is a calorie, what our body does with it is different.
Don't rack up empty calories like those in cookies, chips, or bread with butter.
Focus on giving your body the blocks it needs to do its job. Prioritize:
- Quality protein (meat, eggs, collagen powder, etc) aiming for roughly 1g protein/1lbs bodyweight
- Healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocados)
- Carbs in and around your workouts
Though you can easily avoid fat gain when reverse dieting, you need to make sure that what you're eating matches up with your goals.
Strength Training
To increase your metabolism and boost your daily calorie intake without weight gain, strength train!
Strength training goes hand in hand with reverse dieting.
This doesn't mean you need to go deadlift your body weight, just that you should implement a 3-day workout routine that helps build up your muscle and your metabolism.
Learn more about the benefits of strength training for women and check out these at-home workouts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reverse Dieting
Everyone's body is different and responds differently to reverse dieting. Some people will gain weight, some will lose fat initially, and some will remain the same. Instead of focusing just on the scale number, pay more attention to how your body feels, how it fits in clothes, and your energy levels to begin with.
Yes but it very much depends on the kinds of foods your eating. You're more likely to losing weight when reverse dieting if you make protein a priority and continue with strength training three times per week.
Other Fitness Tips To Help You With Your Goals
- 4 Pillars for long-term weight loss
- 10 Total body workouts for weight loss
- 6-week fat loss workout plan
- How to do a push up in four easy steps
- Sweaty glute finishers
- The benefits of strong glutes
- How to reduce back pain by training glutes
- The ultimate guide to home workouts
- Follow along at home workouts
- Fitness tips for moms
Jill says
I'm looking forward to a few more calories. I've added weight training, and it seems to help with my metabolism. Menopause has proven to be difficult when trying to lose weight. Thanks for the info!
fitasamamabear says
Menopause can be a kick in the face lol but you can ease some of the symptoms! Any questions, feel free to reach out.