Reverse dieting

The idea is to raise calories gradually after a diet rather than all at once. It is sensible in practice and oversold in theory.

1. 01 Add a little Roughly 100–150 calories a week
2. 02 Watch the average Weekly mean weight, not single mornings
3. 03 Stop at maintenance When weight holds steady at the higher intake

What it claims

That raising calories slowly "repairs" or "rebuilds" a metabolism suppressed by dieting, letting you eat considerably more at the same bodyweight than before.

The strong version of this claim is not well supported. Metabolic adaptation to dieting is real but modest, and it largely reverses on its own once you eat and move normally again.

Why it is still worth doing

The genuine benefit is behavioural and psychological. Coming out of a long deficit into unrestricted eating usually produces rapid regain, some of it fat, and a great deal of the anxiety that follows.

A gradual increase gives you a controlled way to find your new maintenance, and it separates real fat gain from the water and glycogen that arrive as soon as carbohydrate does.

The simpler alternative

Add calories back to your estimated maintenance in one or two steps over a fortnight, then hold there and watch the weekly average.

For most people this works as well as a twelve-week reverse and costs far less time in a state of restriction. The elaborate protocols suit competitors coming off contest prep, not somebody finishing a normal cut.

What to expect either way

A quick rise of a kilo or two as glycogen and water return. This is not fat and it will look like failure if nobody warns you.

Better training, better sleep and a much better mood, usually within days.

Questions