I’ve posted a lot lately on my social media platform about the beauty of reverse dieting and how it has changed my life and physique, so I thought I would go into more detail here since I have the space to! I’ve received so many messages about it and what it means to reverse diet. Well here we go as I dive in.
Reverse dieting is exactly that. Reversing out of a diet. This means slowly taking adding calories back into a diet and slowly lowering expenditure (all that cardio you are doing). Just like you slowly take away calories during a cut (or you should be) this is how you have to approach a reverse. Sounds easy right? Not even close. I hate to break it to you but I think reversing is a lot more challenging, even though the benefits are honestly amazing. When you slowly make your way out of a deficit, you are allowing your metabolism to catch up at the same rate as you are feeding yourself more food. It also allows you to keep your hard earned body that you just worked so hard for as well! I mean, what was the point of getting lean or dieting down, just to blow right back up? Yet it is what so many of us do. This way we can enjoy food slowly but also keep the rocking bod.
It isn’t necessary to just have come out of a diet to reverse though. I would honestly recommend ANYONE to follow a reverse at the start of a coaching program to increase food at first, basically so you can diet on higher calories. Also, sometimes your body needs it. If you have a crazy dieting history, chances are you need to reverse. Your body needs to trust you again with appropriate amounts of food, getting your hormones ready for success. If you are constantly eating 1300-1400 calories a day to maintain because you think that’s what you need to limit yourself to to be able to maintain your weight, you need a reverse. Its really a freeing process, seeing yourself eating more and not gaining weight. It challenges what we conventionally think about dieting and just food in general. It really isn’t the enemy. But we have to play smart and know how and when to implement these increases. I prepared for a bikini competition in june where I got pretty aggressive with my deficit. My body NEEDED a reverse and ever since I added in calories and dropped cardio, I was actually losing weight. Is it magic? Nope. Our bodies need fuel. My body was sending me signals when it was time to end my deficit and start my reverse. Im glad I listened because I am now eating more food than ever at this weight. Ive managed to stay within 1-2 lbs of my stage weight eating WAY more food and cutting more than half of my cardio out.
Reversing is my favorite! Who doesn’t want to stay lean while eating more?