How to Implement A Reverse Diet
How To Increase You Energy (Calorie) Consumption Without Gaining Weight
Prior to Implementing a Reverse Diet you have to understand how you have been fueling your body. Before Diving into how to implement a reverse diet please check out these prior posts:
Reverse Dieting:
Is a strategic way of slowly Increasing your Intake without gaining weight. If you are under eating your body Is In survival mode and you need to show your body It Is safe, that It can trust you, and that you are going to take care of It.
By following a reverse diet you:
- Reduce the stress your body has been feeling from under eating
- Re-train your metabolism to function properly
- Will start feeling better: Have more energy, sleep better, have a clearer mind, and be more regular…
- Your body will begin feeling comfortable to let go of your unwanted fat. Until this point your body has been hanging onto your unwanted fat to survive.
How To Implement A Reverse Diet:
You will need to track, If you want to properly fuel your body, If you want to lose weight, If you finally want to get ride of those last 5-25 lbs and you have been under eating, you have to track. Tracking will make sure that you are not continuing to under eat but will also prevent you from adding too much food Into your diet too quickly.
There are 3 phases to a reverse diet, Increasing your protein, slowly Increasing your calories, and then adjusting to hit your specific macro goals for protein, carbs, and fat.
During phases 1 and 2 you might not see weight loss, In fact you might see a little weight gain between 1-5 pounds. But please do not freak out, trust the process. This Is your body getting used to eating enough food. It Is your body learning how to trust you again. This Is your metabolism learning how to process more efficiently. Once you have reached your new calorie requirement, where you are properly fueling your body for your specific goal, your body will feel comfortable enough to finally let go of that unwanted fat. It will trust that you are going to continue to feed It and that It doesn’t need to hang onto the extra fat for survival.
The process does not happen overnight, It will take some time to get your calories back up to the correct energy level for your specific goals, and your body will need time to adjust. But trust the process, be patient, be consistent, and I promise you It will work! You will start seeing the weight fall off, and you will be able to enjoy more food, have more energy, and feel better.
This will also teach you how fueling your body for your goals makes It easier to maintain those goals once they have been achieved!
Phases To Implement A Reverse Diet
Phase 1:
For 2 weeks, continue eating at your current calorie Intake, the amount that you have been eating at, but make this one adjustment: Eat your required amount of protein based on your goal and my calculator. Then fill In the remaining calories with carbs and fats. Your protein goal Is the most Important to hit, so getting the right amount of protein from the beginning of the reverse diet Is Important.
For now, you do not need to worry about the amount of carbs and fats you are eating, just get to your calorie goal but don’t go over. However, If you are NOT new to counting macros I would recommend splitting the remaining calories, 55% carbs, 45% fat. But again this Is only If you are comfortable counting macros. For everyone else, please focus on hitting your protein goal, and then fill the rest of your calories with as much whole natural foods as possible.
Phase 2:
Every week increase your calories by 50 calories. Again making sure that you are hitting your protein goal and filling In the remaining calories with healthy carbs and fats. Continue to Increase your calories every week by 50 calories until you have reached your calorie requirement based on my calculator, and your specific goal.
Phase 3:
Once you have hit your calorie requirement It Is time to start narrowing In on your carbs and fats. You do not need to make this change slowly. You can make this change Immediately.
After you have reached this phase and you are hitting your protein, carb, and fat energy requirements for your specific goal, after a short amount of time Is when the magic will happen. You will start seeing:
- The unwanted fat come off
- Muscle beginning to form
- Your energy levels Increase
- Sleep patterns become more normal and you’ll feel more rested
- You also become more regular In the bathroom
If you hit a plateau, after you have reached your weight loss calorie and macro requirements, have been eating them for at least 4 weeks without any change, and you have less than 25 pounds to lose. It is time for your to adjust your goals and begin eating at maintenance level.
Here Are A Few Examples:
Example:
- A 35 year old women
- Weighing 140 lbs
- 5?-6? tall
- Moderate active lifestyle. Working out 5 days a week lifting weights.
- Has been eating 1,200 calories.
Her goal Is to weigh 125 pounds, which Is 15 pounds lighter, she will follow Goal 2: Weight loss, less than 25 pounds.
This means that she should be eating:
- 1,886 Calories, broken down to
- Protein:140 grams / 560 calories
- Carbs: 176 grams / 704 calories
- Fat: 69 grams Fat / 621 calories
Phase 1:
She will continue to eat 1,200 calories for 2 weeks making sure to eat 140 gram of protein. (140 grams = 560 calories from protein) Then she will fill In the rest of her 640 calories with healthy carbs and fat.
Phase 2:
She will slowly Increase her calories every week from 1,250, 1,300, 1,350, 1,400, 1,450, 1,500, 1,550, 1,660, 1,650, 1,700, 1,750, 1,800, 1,850, 1,886 making sure to eat 140 gram of protein. Then she will fill In the rest of her calories with healthy carbs and fat.
Phase 3:
She will continue eating 1,886 calories but now she will focus on hitting each of her macros.
- Protein:140 grams / 560 calories
- Carbs: 176 grams / 704 calories
- Fat: 69 grams Fat / 621 calories
She will do this until she has reached her goal!
Once she has reached her goal, if she decides that she wants to start building more muscle, she will want to slowly continue increasing her calories, just like in phase 2 again, to reach the new calculation for Goal #3 to Build Muscle.
Example:
- A 35 year old women
- Weighing 160 lbs
- 5?-6? tall
- Moderate active lifestyle. Working out 5 days a week doing a mix of cardio and lifting weights.
- Has been eating 1,200 calories.
Her goal Is to weigh 125 pounds, which Is 35 pounds lighter, she will follow Goal 1: Weight loss, more than 25 pounds.
This means that she should be eating:
- 1,663 Calories, broken down to
- Protein:144 grams / 576 calories
- Carbs: 144 grams / 576 calories
- Fat: 57 grams Fat / 513 calories
Phase 1:
She will continue to eat 1,200 calories for 2 weeks making sure to eat 144 gram of protein. (144 grams = 576 calories from protein)Then she will fill In the rest of her 624 calories with healthy carbs and fat.
Phase 2:
She will slowly Increase her calories every week from 1,250, 1,300, 1,350, 1,400, 1,450, 1,600, 1,620, 1,650, 1,663. making sure to eat 144 gram of protein. Then she will fill In the rest of her calories healthy with carbs and fat.
Phase 3:
She will continue eating 1,663 calories but now she will focus on hitting each of her macros.
- Protein:144 grams / 576 calories
- Carbs: 144 grams / 576 calories
- Fat: 57 grams Fat / 513 calories
She will do this until she has reached her goal, or begins to plateau.
If a plateau happens once she is within 5-25 pounds of her goal, she will want to go back to Phase 2, using the calculator again, but this time changing to Goal #2, Increasing her calories to maintenance. The reason for this additional Increase Is because her body Is telling her that she Is no longer eating for her goal. She will also want to do less cardio, and lift more weights.
