The 8 Steps to Reverse Dieting

A reverse diet is maybe my favorite process to go through with anyone and if you’re here reading this, I hope it’s for at least one of these reasons:

• You want to learn how to eat more food without gaining weight

• You want to speed up your metabolism

• You want to understand the steps of how to reverse diet the right way!

I know someone’s going to think “But I just want to tone up!” and this is for you too. Like I’ve told you before, part of the only proven way to tone is that you need to focus on building a high baseline of calories. A reverse diet could be a great way to do that!

Before we get started, I want to remind you that everyone is different which means that there’s no one-way ticket to success and just because a proven roadmap is laid out, doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t need to slow down for some unmapped speed bumps or take the backroads to get to the destination.

Also, if you haven’t read “What is Reverse Dieting and Is It for Me?”, I’d recommend giving that a read before going further!

So, how do we do it?

Losing fat is already hard - and there are seemingly unlimited things to learn about it. If you think you’re ready to do a reverse diet, I don’t want to make that process any harder.

Here are the simple steps to reverse dieting that have proven time and time again to work for myself, and my clients.

Step 1.

Identify what your typical food habits look like. (I.e; do you eat 3 meals, do you graze most of the day, are you having dessert, etc.) Understanding this before you get started can give you an insight to what habits you can adjust.

Step 2.

Identify how much you’ve been eating.

• In an ideal world, this means tracking your food for 10-14 days and getting an average number so you know where you’re starting from. If you’re not sure why this helps, read here.

• If tracking isn’t for you, the next best option is to take pictures of your food and simply store them in a separate album on your phone. This gives you a way of keeping track without the actual action of tracking.

Note: your accuracy is always relative to YOUR accuracy. When you measure a cup of rice or a glass of milk, just consistently use that form of measurement. And, if you track in any form for the first week and then stop, chances are the following steps won’t help you much.

Step 3.

Weigh yourself - this is just your baseline! Don’t overthink it, it’s just a number.

Step 4.

Add 5-10% more calories each day (I.e; if you’re eating 1,200 kcal per day, eat 1,260-1,320 kcal daily)

• These added calories, especially at the beginning, will preferably be something you’re already eating so that you’ll just be able to add something to a preexisting meal/snack.

• Lean towards the lower end of this addition if you’ve never done this before - if you’re looking to add calories but don’t want to gain weight, go slowly.

• If you’re not sure of calories because you’re not tracking, shoot for just a little more food. One more serving of fruit or an extra egg or something to that effect.

Step 5.

Spend about two weeks averaging at that calorie level & re-weigh yourself.

Step 6.

If your weight hasn’t gone up (aside from water/bloat/activity level change - in other words, if all other things are equal) add another 5-10% (again the slower, the better) and proceed to step 8. If it did increase, go to step 7.

Step 7.

If your weight has moved, stay at this level for another 1-2 weeks, weigh yourself and reassess. From there, you’ve either moved too fast and need to cut back temporarily or you’ll see your weight didn’t increase and you’re clear to move to step 8.

Step 8.

Repeat steps 5-7 until you reach your food/calorie/physique goal! Yes, that simple.

This is simplified to show what actionable steps would look like if you decide that a reverse diet is right for you! Again, this is why I first introduced you to “What is Reverse Dieting and Is It for Me?” so you can get an understanding of the “why”, “who”, and “when” - this is your “how”!

Things like your overall energy output, your diet history, your relationship to food and your willingness to commit to the (potentially long) process are among many of the things that can impact whether or not this is a successful approach for you. Like with everything in fitness, you can find a lot of success when you’re willing to take small, but consistent, steps to becoming just a little better than yesterday.