Reverse Dieting: Eat More, Feel Better!
NUTRITIONFIT
How To Start A Reverse Diet
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First off, food is fuel, not something to fear. What's more, calorie totals are relative to each person's activity level, muscle mass, and goals. If you're someone who has been cutting for 8-16 weeks, now is a great time to transition into reverse dieting.
Your training style does not have to change if you're on a reverse diet, because whether you gain or lose weight depends on whether you're in a cut, a bulk, or a maintenance phase. It all comes back to diet.
"I prefer hypertrophy-focused training with a snippet of strength training thrown in for good measure," says Scoggin. "But for the most part, I like to keep my reps and intensity high so that during my workout I can get a little bit of cardio in without stepping on a treadmill."
During a reverse diet, the key is adding calories back in slowly. The exact number will vary by individual. As Scoggin puts it, "What's going to work for you is going to work for you, and what works for one person may not work for another."
How To Tell If Your Reverse Diet Is Working
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To see if the changes you've made to your diet are working, you really just need to listen to your body and see how it's responding, and that all comes down to the weekly check-in.
Pick a day during the week where you can take a moment to evaluate the preceding week. On your check-in day, weigh yourself in the morning, preferably fasted.
"I recommend weighing yourself daily," explains Scoggin. "Then you'll see that your weight does in fact fluctuate throughout the week, and you'll be less likely to panic if you see a pound up on the scale or a pound down, because you'll know what's going on. "
Weighing yourself daily also helps you trace back to what you've been doing during the week. For example, if you eat at Chipotle on Tuesday and you're up in weight on Wednesday, you now know that Chipotle bloats you. Tracking your weight throughout the week gives you a better understanding of what certain foods do to your body.
What Happens When You Add Calories
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The key to reverse dieting is to add food, which can be scary and unfamiliar to someone who's been dieting for a long time. Many reverse dieters actually lose weight as they add on calories, which can lead to confusion.
"Basically, your body can be in such a starvation mode that it ends up stalling," explains Scoggin. "When you start to feed your body food again, your metabolism ramps back up and you end up losing weight."
When you begin a reverse diet, you might also see a change in your body shape that isn't reflected by the number on a scale.
The Benefits Of Reverse Dieting
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Scoggin is quick to point out that improvements in body composition are just one of many benefits with reverse dieting.
"The beautiful thing about reverse dieting is that you're increasing your metabolism and your caloric intake," she says. "This means your energy improves, you're feeling good, your gym lifts are crazy and you can start enjoying a little bit more food with a lot less restriction."
Basically, instead of having to eat nothing but veggies and chicken each day, reverse dieting gives you the caloric leeway to eat more of your favorite foods and feel better doing it.
Increasing your calories through reverse dieting also helps broaden your horizons and take in more food.
"I've had clients try to explain to me they can only eat 1,300 calories and their body doesn't do well with carbs," says Scoggin. "I tell them, 'Trust me, your body does well on carbs.' I love showing my clients they can eat 200 grams of carbs per day and not gain weight. That's because your body needs it."
To gain the full benefits of reverse dieting, she explains, you need to keep an open mind, because you'll need to experiment with your body to see what works
