What exactly is a “reverse diet”?
According to one study in 2014, the goal of reverse dieting is to “closely match energy intake to the recovering metabolic rate in an effort to prevent fat accretion by keeping circulating hormone levels and energy expenditure around pre-diet values.”
This diet, in contrast to many others, is not geared toward physical improvement. The effects on metabolic rate are real. By gradually increasing your caloric intake over time, you can boost your metabolic rate and speed up the fat-burning process without (ideally) gaining too much weight. In the end, you’ll be able to eat more calories without gaining any more weight.
Reverse Dieting: Why It’s Necessary
Several indicators will let your trainer know it’s almost time. Here are some signals from your body that may indicate you need to stop cutting calories and start eating more:
- The rate of weight reduction either plateau or drastically decreases
- A tremendous increase in appetite
- There is a drastic decrease in efficiency and/or recovery
- You want to move your attention to increasing calories and enhancing performance now that you’ve attained your weight loss objective.
Those who identify with any of the above may find that a reverse diet is a way to go. And fortunately, it’s not nearly as hard as it seems to explain!
How does reverse dieting work?
The goal of most diets is to reduce caloric intake to a level below energy expenditure.
Your metabolism naturally slows down over time as your body adjusts to conserve energy.
A weight reduction barrier or transitioning back to a normal diet while trying to maintain your weight can both be frustrating because of this. Your dietitian will tell you how many calories to eat per day to lose weight steadily and safely.
A few processes in the body enable this.
- Adaptations in hormone levels. In order to get you to eat more, your body may increase or decrease the levels of certain hormones (such as ghrelin, insulin, leptin, and peptide YY).
- Lowering of the resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your metabolism will shift to prioritize maintaining your life-support systems. Hair and nail growth, considered “non-essential,” receive fewer resources as a result.
- Decrease in exercise activity thermogenesis (EAT). It’s possible that you won’t feel as motivated to exercise, or that you’ll noticeably slowdown in your performance, both of which will lead to a lower caloric expenditure during your routine.
- Non-exercise thermogenesis decreases (NEAT). Daily activities like walking, fidgeting and general motion are all included in NEAT.
How to Find Your Average Weight in a Reverse Diet
Maintaining an accurate record of your typical weight is vital whether you’re trying to lose, gain, or regain the weight. Several things are worth remembering:
- Try to weigh yourself at the same time each morning.
- Taking your weight is especially important before you consume any liquids.
- Wear the same few items of clothing every day.
- Next, calculate your weekly weight average by adding together all of your scale readings at the end of the week, and then use that number to see if your weight has changed from week to week.
Consider factors including macro inconsistency, stress, travel, dehydration, sleep, and training changes if your weight has changed. If those factors have stayed stable, your average weight change (or lack thereof) can be relied upon, and you can make the appropriate adjustments.
A Reversal Diet Plan
The process of going on a diet backward is straightforward. To achieve long-term weight maintenance, you must first establish a new calorie baseline by examining your caloric intake on the limited diet you were following.
You can get back to your original weight by gradually increasing your caloric intake by 50–100 per week for a month to three months (typically around four–ten weeks).
Benefits of a Reverse Diet
Although it’s no silver bullet, a well-thought-out reverse diet can help you gradually return to your pre-weight-loss eating habits and get back into the swing of things in the gym after an intensive weight-loss phase.
1. Food Quantities Improve
By restoring lost caloric intake, one can enjoy a greater variety of foods. By gradually reintroducing these calories, you can avoid excessive weight gain while maintaining or improving your health and happiness.
2. Mental Health
Long-term calorie restriction can have psychological effects. It has the potential to make you drowsy, exhausted, and short-fused. If you’ve been cutting calories for a while and feel like you need a mental break, then a reverse diet may be the answer.
3. Constant Gains in Weight
After finishing a diet, many people make the mistake of immediately returning to their previous eating habits, which typically involve a large increase in calorie consumption. The typical outcome of this is a very quick increase in weight.
Conclusion
When attempting a calorie surplus, you should aim to add 500 every week until you reach your maximum calorie maintenance level.
You can track your progress by weighing yourself weekly during your reverse diet.
If you want to receive a good nutrition plan and avoid any unwanted side effects, you should talk to the best general physician in Lahore before beginning this diet.
FAQs
1. How soon can you expect results from a diet reversal?
Keeping in mind that the goal of a reverse diet is to help your body adjust to eating more, you should be patient with the process. This is why it’s essential to devote four to eight months to the process of reversal.
2. How long should a reverse diet last?
Depending on your initial weight, your eventual target, and the rate at which you add calories each week, the reverse dieting procedure could take anywhere from four to six months.
3. How much weight can I expect to gain after stopping my reverse diet?
Even if you only apply a small increase while still maintaining a caloric deficit, you may experience some weight gain. Some fluid retention after eating more than usual is normal, to be expected, and will go away on its own in due time.