Why reverse dieting doesn’t work

Your metabolism is broken after years of dieting!

You need to "reverse diet" to "fix" your "damaged" metabolism and avoid gaining all that fat back!

You'll be able to EAT MORE after you reverse diet!

Ah, what to do!

Have you heard these claims?

In the fitness industry, an idea starts in one corner, and by the time it reaches us, it's been twisted, turned, and hyped up beyond recognition.

Reverse dieting is one of those.

Reverse dieting, the still-trendy post-diet strategy that never seems to die, promises to be the golden ticket to boosting metabolism and preventing weight regain.

You might've heard of it.

But if not, here it is...

Reverse dieting is the concept of slowly increasing your calories after a fat loss phase (a prolonged calorie deficit, say 8, 12, 16 weeks or even longer) to get back to maintenance calories.

After a fat loss phase, you gradually increase your calories, hoping to restore and "supercharge" your metabolism, possibly making it easier to resume losing at the same rate on more calories.

Sounds great, right?

Well, the facts tell a different story...

First off, the idea that reverse dieting "fixes" your metabolism?

No such thing. Your metabolism can't "break" in the first place. The amount of calories you burn is highly dynamic. It shifts and changes with your calorie intake, activity, protein, food quality, sleep, stress, and the list goes on.

We call this metabolic adaptation, and it's totally normal...and temporary.

When you're losing weight, it adapts to conserve energy.

When you do too much cardio, it adapts to conserve energy.

When you get too little sleep or too much life stress, it adapts to conserve energy.

When you lose muscle from crash dieting, it adapts to conserve energy.

Get it?

Trying to "fix" it is like trying to fix the sun for setting at night.

The only way to get out of negative metabolic adaptation is to eat more, and the only way to offset it a bit is to increase your expenditure (through walking, more sleep, less stress, more whole foods, etc.).

Then there's the notion that reverse dieting significantly "boosts" your metabolism.

Sadly, the science doesn't back that up.

In fact, reverse dieting might make things worse because you prolong the energy deficiency of a diet longer than you have to and might get a false sense that your metabolism is higher than it is which leads to disordered eating.

Isn't that what you're trying to avoid in the first place?

And preventing weight regain? 

The science is clear. How quickly or slowly you reintroduce calories doesn't determine how much weight you'll regain. Period.

It's all about whether you're in calorie surplus, and the rate at which you gain fat (not just weight) also doesn't decrease just because you slowly bring calories up after a diet.

The allure of reverse dieting is based on myths and misconceptions, and sometimes those half-truths that sound so promising.

So, what DO you do after a fat loss phase?

It's pretty simple.

Immediately return to your current maintenance calories!

Not based on estimates or past data, but where you are right now.

It simplifies things, makes life less stressful, and most importantly, it's supported by science.

Your body will recover as quickly as possible, you won't gain extra weight or fat (other than the short-term water and glycogen from reintroducing more carbs), and your metabolism and hormones will be in their happy place from which to sustain your results or embark on a new muscle-building phase without all that stress on your body!

This means you need to KNOW your current maintenance calories (expenditure), and that means tracking your weekly average calorie intake compared to your change in weight over time.

If you have this data, you get clarity and know exactly what to do on day 1 after you hit your fat loss goal.

Some call this a recovery diet, and it's what I use personally as do all of my clients.

Reverse dieting is a waste of time.

I don't like to waste time, do you?

I don't like to use strategies that don't work for your goals, do you?

Have you been told you need to "reverse diet" to "fix" or "rev up" your metabolism and make fat loss easier or to avoid weight regain?

I'd love to know.

Reach out (or comment below) and tell me what you think about reverse dieting.