Reverse dieting: what is it? Should you do it? After losing weight, here’s why you should be reverse dieting.
Co-Authored
Whitney Jones IFBB PRO and Megan Rigby IFBB PRO
The phrase “Reverse Dieting” has created a buzz in the body building world. People are talking about this because many competitors lean down for a show and look great, but within a week have gained 10-20lbs. Eventually many of these competitors struggle with losing the excess weight gain. This is due to improper nutrition after a show and not rebuilding their food intake slowly. Reverse Dieting does not only apply to competitors; it can be used to help anyone who has done extreme dieting to lose weight. Have you ever began a diet and lost 10-20 lbs, only to regain it when you resume normal eating habits? Popular crash diets are known to have this affect; only to leave people back at square one. Let us tell you a little bit about Reverse Dieting and its benefits to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle post weight loss.
What is Reverse Dieting and Why Should I do it?
During most weight loss programs, diet and exercise can place increased amounts of stress on the body. Decreased calories and increased cardio can take a toll on our hormones and metabolism. After weeks of strenuous exercise and a calorie deficit (Calories out are greater than calories in) our metabolism begins to adjust and slow down because of these changes. Our body is very smart and adaptable. With the lowered calories our metabolism “wises-up” and realizes it should slow down to help our body preserve energy. Once this happens any sudden influx in calories for an extended period of time may cause the body to retain fat. Even though our bodies are adaptable, the actual process of slowing and speeding up the metabolism takes time. For this reason, a sudden decrease in calories and increase in exercise will lead to weight loss, but overtime the body will adjust. So when a individual is done dieting, the metabolism has typically reached a slower state and for this reason Reverse Dieting is essential.
After prolonged calorie deficit one can not return to a “normal” diet without slowly rebuilding calories. This can take 4-5 weeks before one is are able to eat a more substantial meal plan. If an individual was to suddenly increase all of their macros (protein, fats and carbs) the body may not be able to adapt appropriately. The increase can cause weight gain and possible disruption of the hormones. (We call this “Post-Diet Rebound”). If this occurs, it can take weeks or even months before the body has a chance to recover and find balance. This does not mean that a few meals will cause rebound, but continued intake of foods above previous calories could cause sudden weight gain that may have been preventable.
So What Does Reverse Dieting Entail?
Reverse Dieting involves slowly increasing calories/macros every week, which allows the body to adjust. To begin one would start by increasing fats and carbohydrates in small increments on alternating weeks while monitoring the body’s response. This process may help prevent excess weight gain. Reverse dieting can take a few weeks depending on the body’s reaction. This can be a difficult process, especially if one does not feel like their body needs to ease back into post diet eating. Rest assured that keeping our body healthy will make the post- weight loss transition much easier.
At Pro Physiques we teach clients about the importance of Reverse Dieting before its too late! Do not let post- diet binging get the best of you!
About the Authors
I am a Wife, Doctorate-prepared Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Pro Physiques Online Coordinator/Prep Assistant and IFBB Figure Pro.
Whitney began competing at a very young age in every sport she could possibly enter. Growing up with two older brothers, she had no choice but to develop a love for sports and competition. She found her passion in competitive dance and cheerleading and continued with it through high school and onto college at Arizona State University where she graduated with honors, summa cum laude with a degree in Business Communications.
The post The Importance of Reverse Dieting Post Weight Loss appeared first on FitFluential. it'sFitFluential4u!
