An Introduction to Reverse Dieting
Wait a minute. Reverse dieting? What is that? It sounds like it might be the opposite of a diet.
Simply put, it is the diet after the diet.
Have you ever lost a significant amount of weight and then put it right back on plus a few? The goal of reverse dieting is to counteract the side effects of extreme caloric deprivation. These include the slowing of metabolism, increased hunger, decreased feelings of fullness or satisfaction, muscle loss, etc.
In this article, we will discuss the following topics related to reverse dieting including:
What is it?
What are the potential benefits?
Who should avoid it?
What does current research say about it?
What does a plan look like?
Sample 1500 calorie meal plan
Conclusion
**Disclaimer: As a Registered Dietitian, I am not a proponent of any “diet” which requires food tracking for long periods of time, extreme caloric restriction or frequent weights. These types of diets can damage a person’s relationship with food, promote eating disorders and cause deprivation, frustration and guilt. Consistency with making, small lifestyle changes over the long term, is more likely to set a person up for success.
With that being said, for those who have lost weight and want to be successful with maintenance, reverse dieting may provide the structure to help the metabolic rate recover slowly while maintaining muscle stores. **
What is it?
Reverse dieting involves a gradual increase of caloric intake once weight loss is achieved and weight maintenance is the goal. It is called, “The Diet After the Diet”. The goal with reverse dieting is to prevent muscle loss and fat gain while slowly increasing caloric intake back to normal ranges for weight maintenance.
Reverse dieting has been used more commonly with physique athletes and body builders who have undergone extreme caloric restriction for competitions. These athletes have suffered from hormonal alterations such as:
These hormones are ones which affect metabolic rate, muscle loss/gain, fat storage, hunger and fullness signals, and macronutrient breakdown. The athletes struggled with decreased resting energy expenditures, increased hunger and decreased feelings of fullness and muscle loss and fat gain once returning to regular eating habits. Evidence suggested that these altered hormone levels persisted even after weight loss stopped.
*For more information on the metabolic adaptations to weight loss, click here.
What are the potential benefits?
Why don’t quick fix, extremely restrictive diets work for the long term?
Participants often struggle maintaining the weight loss due to feelings of deprivation and frustration, making it easier to fall back into old eating habits. Even when a person has achieved their desired weight loss goal, it can be challenging to increase intake without gaining weight back. Reverse dieting could prevent this by providing structure to the increase in calories.
Reverse dieting prevents loss of muscle mass by incorporating more protein and typically, structured weight training exercise. Calorie restriction and low body weight can both cause elevated cortisol levels and decreased testosterone levels. These hormonal changes can affect muscle protein breakdown and fat storage. Since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, this affects resting metabolic rate. By preventing muscle loss and fat storage, metabolic rate can be preserved or increased.
The increased protein intake will help you feel more full and satisfied. The body’s survival mechanism when it is feeling “starved” is to make you feel more hungry and decrease those signals telling you when you are full so your body can make up for the losses. This can be a struggle while attempting to maintain weight, so it is important to incorporate high protein foods into each meal and snack to feel satisfied.
Who should avoid it?
Reverse dieting requires careful tracking of calorie and protein intake as well as monitoring of weight. This method would not be recommended for anyone with a history of disordered eating or anyone who may be triggered by tracking food intake and/or weighing themselves.
The plan is typically high in protein, so it isn’t recommended for anyone with kidney dysfunction or who is on a protein restriction, unless first discussed with their doctor.
What does current research say about it?
Unfortunately, there is not much quality research that has been done on this topic. Early in 2022, the University of Colorado in Denver completed a study called, “Feasability and Preliminary Efficacy of a Reverse Diet as a Novel Weight Loss Maintenance Strategy for Weight-Reduced Adults with Overweight/Obesity”. This was a small study of only 24 participants with the requirement of having lost >10% of their body weight prior to entering the study.
In the intervention group, the caloric intake was increased by 2-3% per week over 12 weeks. The control group received the standard weight maintenance recommendations. The participants had their resting energy expenditure, body mass and composition and appetite/food intake behaviors measured at the beginning and throughout the study. The results of this study have not been published yet.
A larger randomized study would provide more information, but nutrition research can be difficult. Even if the research is conducted in a controlled environment, it would not be mimicking real life so results would be biased.
How can you create your own simple reverse dieting plan?
There is really no standardized plan for reverse dieting because each person is different based off of their resting metabolic rate, daily activity and exercise and typical food consumption. (Read more about this in one of our past blog posts). There are also varying thoughts on how much to increase calorie consumption as well as the timeline involved. Since this blog is reaching a variety of people with varying lifestyles, this plan is a simple one.
1. Determine your caloric goal.
a. How many calories have you been consuming to lose weight?
b. If you are unsure, click here to estimate your needs (this will likely be an estimate of your ending calorie goal to maintain your weight) then subtract 300-500 calories per day (this would be your starting caloric goal).
c. If you were consistently losing >2# per week, this goal was likely too low.
d. The average active adult should never be consuming less than 1200 calories per day. If your goal was/is less than 1200 calories, start at 1200.
2. Set a protein goal of >25% of your total calories from #1 above.
a. For example, if your goal is 1500 calories, you want 375 calories each day coming from protein.
b. Divide the calories by 4 which gives you the number of grams of protein you need each day.
i. For example, 375 calories divided by 4= 94 g of protein.
c. Adequate protein is essential in reverse dieting to promote satiety and maintain muscle mass.
3. Track your food intake with an app of your choice
a. Try myfitnesspal for an easy-to-use app with a large database of foods.
4. Each week, you will increase your calories by 50-100 calories until you reach the calorie level where you are maintaining your weight.
5. It is imperative with reverse dieting, to incorporate strength training into your weekly workout routine to maintain your muscle mass.
a. Check out our new client personal training discount package and let us help you create a strength training program just for you!!
6. Meal planning is imperative to be successful.
a. Plan your meals each week
b. Prepare some meals in advance for easy grab and go.
c. Here is a sample meal plan
Sample ~1500 calorie meal plan with 30% of calories from protein (116 g)
Conclusion
Reverse dieting is the “diet after the diet” which is meant to counteract the negative side effects caused by caloric deprivation like decreased resting metabolic rate, loss of muscle mass, increased fat storage, increased hunger and decreased fullness. After reaching weight loss goal, a reverse diet plan would slowly increase calories while providing a high protein diet to maintain muscle mass and promote satiety. Food tracking and frequent weights are a component of reverse dieting so it is not recommended for those with eating disorders or who are triggered by either of these things. In order to safely and effectively develop a quality reverse dieting plan, see a registered dietitian or other properly educated nutrition professional.
What do you think about reverse dieting or what other questions do you have after reading this article? Please comment below.