I will perplex the language when I first heard of reverse dieting. My first idea was that it meant losing weight by eating more rather than less. Instead, reverse dieting is about reintroducing calories after a diet has ended. Here’s a rundown of how it will do, as well as my opinions on why it’s not essential if you desire to lose weight safely and sustainably.
Table of Contents
What Is Reverse Dieting?
Reverse dieting is what you do following a tight diet. Assume you’ve reduced your calorie consumption to a low of 1,200 per day to lose weight, and you’ve lost some weight as a result. Reverse dieting advocates recommend gradually increasing your calorie intake by 50–100 calories each week for 4–10 weeks, rather than just returning to your pre-diet eating habit. People who support this strategy believe that it can boost metabolism, balance hunger hormones, and lower the danger of binge eating or rapid weight return.
What Is The Actual Research For Reverse Dieting?
There is no specialized study on reverse dieting, and some of the research cited to support this technique is based on the harmful effects of dieting on metabolic rate and hormone balance. However, this is not the same as controlled research in which reverse dieting will apply to one group vs. a control group to assess outcomes such as changes in metabolism, hormone levels, or other characteristics.
Why Is Reverse Dieting Useless?
The key reason why reverse dieting isn’t required is that rigorous or should avoid low-calorie diets in the first place. While a low-calorie diet may affect weight reduction for some, it can also cause physical and mental adverse effects such as vitamin deficiencies, irritability, moodiness, melancholy, exhaustion. And compulsive food and weight thinking.
Furthermore, many people find calorie counting tiresome and frustrating. According to one study, following a 1,200 calorie diet and tracking calories increased cortisol levels. A stress hormone is known to build belly fat. Those who will not ask to limit their calories but will expect to track them had higher felt stress levels in the same trial.
How to Lose Weight Without Going on a Diet
Traditional weight loss methods based on calories in, calories out are out of date. I focus on food quality, meal balance, timing, and issues like tuning into hunger and fullness signals and managing emotional eating with my private practice clients.
In terms of quality, it will demonstrate that substituting processed meals with whole foods increases post-meal calorie burning. That is, swapping a pastry or sugary cereal for oatmeal with berries and almonds in the morning can have a good influence on weight loss even if no calories will count. Processed meals have also altered gut flora in ways that affect weight management.
When my clients who suffer from emotional eating start to find healthy coping mechanisms that don’t include food. Their calorie intakes drop automatically—not because of rules or numbers, but because of a transformation in their connection with food. In other words, dieting is not simply losing weight, and it is certainly not the most effective or long-term one.
Final Word
Following a rigorous diet with continuous calorie monitoring for a month or two via reverse diet adds stress. Furthermore, there is little evidence that reverse dieting aids in long-term weight reduction maintenance. Sustainable lifestyle adjustments that appropriately fuel your body result in healthy weight loss. Any weight-loss approach you adopt should not need a diet after the diet. And it should also enhance rather than detract from your general well-being.