Want to know how to reverse diet? First, what exactly is a reverse diet? Read on to know more.
In the never-ending battle against excess pounds, most people are too focused on the goal of losing weight.
Once they achieve that goal, they revert to old habits.
Soon, they find themselves regaining the exact weight they had lost or, worse, gained more extra pounds than what they had at the beginning.
Believe me when I tell you this.
Losing weight through dieting, exercise and all other weight loss measures is just half the battle. The greatest battle ahead of you is KEEPING THOSE POUNDS OFF!
Scientists have said it many times and verified it through years of research. Dieting is not effective for most people.
Why?
Because months of restrictive eating only build up the hunger and the cravings.
Once you’re done with your diet, those calories you’ve been counting don’t matter anymore, so you go right on eating until you realize that you’re back to square one.
The question that begs to be asked now is this: How can you keep the weight off but still manage to curb the hunger and cravings?
The solution is REVERSE DIETING!
What Is Reverse Dieting?
It may be too simple to define Reverse Dieting as “eat more, do less”, but that is the premise behind this technique. After you’ve done all the grunt and grind of a full weight loss program, you gradually add calories to your diet to boost your metabolism while doing less cardio at the same time.
This increase in calories after prolonged caloric restriction helps to prevent unintended overeating, bingeing, and unwanted weight gain.
In addition, after you lose weight, your body goes through a number of physiological adaptations that cause you to eat more and do less physical activities.
Putting it simply, it’s because of these adaptations that you find it very hard to move on from losing weight to maintaining weight.
If you want to make this smooth transition, then Reverse Dieting is the right method for you!
Here’s how to reverse diet like a pro:
How to Reverse Diet No. 1: Exercise More Through Heavy Compound Weightlifting.
What is heavy compound weightlifting? This involves training more than one large muscle group at a time by lifting heavier weights. What this means is that you should perform your basic squats, bench and military presses, and deadlifts while lifting weights equivalent to or greater than 75 percent of your one-rep max (approximately within the rep range of 8-to 10 and with heavier weights).
Heavy compound weightlifting provides you with a number of great benefits while you are on a Reverse Diet. These benefits are…
- For the short term, it promotes the rapid increase of your metabolic rate so that you burn a great amount of post-workout calories.
- For the long term, it builds muscle, which in turn promotes greater burning of calories while at rest.
- It promotes progressive overload of muscles, which drives greater growth of muscles.
- Improves the composition of the body
- Helps to maintain a healthy and active metabolism
How to Reverse Diet No. 2: Eat a High Protein Diet.
The problem with undergoing a rigid weight loss regimen is that, afterwards, you are so starved (especially for the foods you love) that you end up bingeing on high carbs, high fat fare, like chips, cookies, donuts, pizza, and ice cream. At this point, the last thing on your mind is to eat anything that is heavy on the protein.
However, even after you lose weight, you still need to continue eating a high protein diet to prevent the stunting of muscle growth and fast fat regain. If you are after improving your body composition, eating lots of protein is the key.
Just how much protein should you eat while on a Reverse Diet? The recommended daily intake is 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
Much like heavy compound weightlifting, there are many benefits to continue eating large amounts of protein, including…
- Faster recovery from workouts
- Faster muscle gain
- Promotes satiety after meals (this means that eating protein will give you that feeling of fullness so that you stave off the hunger pangs and the cravings)
How to Reverse Diet No. 3: Observe Gradual Increase of Your Caloric Intake.
Now, we come to the very heart of Reverse Dieting, namely the “eating more” part.
You need to increase your daily caloric intake on a weekly basis until you reach the number of calories that you burn daily (or, as it is more simply known, your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE).
Every five to seven days, you need to increase your daily caloric intake by an estimated 150 calories. You can achieve this goal by eating a combo of proteins, carbs, and fats.
If you want to get the best results though, you can just eat more carbs and fats.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say that you have just finished your weight loss program. During that time, you were eating 2,000 calories daily.
Now that you will be Reverse Dieting, you need to achieve the “maintenance” TDEE of 2,800 daily. Please note though that your protein intake should still be 1 gram per pound daily.
Now, on the first week of your Reverse Diet, you increase your caloric intake to 2,150 calories daily. You can accomplish this by changing the carbs intake in your meal plan to 40 grams (equivalent to 150 to 160 calories).
Next week, you add another 150 calories to the 2,150 calories you are eating to make 2,300 calories. For this week, you increase your daily fat intake by 15 grams (around 135 to 150 calories).
The week after, you decide to make the jump to 2,500 calories per day by increasing your carbs and fats intake. You continue increasing your intake until you reach your TDEE target of 2,800 daily.
The best way to monitor your calorie and macronutrient consumption is by making a meal plan. With a meal plan in place, you can be able to portion out your macros and calories throughout the day.
Of course, it is vital that you follow this meal plan strictly if you want to achieve the best results.
You don’t have to fall into the trap of overeating and bingeing after all those long months of losing weight.
Now you know how to reverse diet, not only will you be able to plan your calorie and nutrient intake, you will be able to maintain that magnificent physique that you have achieved.