What Is 'Reverse Dieting?'
One of the biggest issues many people, especially women, face when trying to lose weight is that they will do all the 'right' steps, eat a lower amount of calories per day, exercise, focus on nutritious foods, etc., in order to lose weight.
If they follow those steps to a tee, most likely, they will lose weight. However, once they start focusing a bit less on their weight loss and calculating their calories, which is normal and to be expected, they're likely to pack the pounds back on over time instead of maintaining their weight loss. Reverse dieting is a weight loss technique that can help prevent that.
"We like to call a reverse diet 'the diet after the diet,'" says Emily in her video. "A reverse diet is when you are going to slowly increase your caloric intake over a longer period of time to get to a place of maintenance calories. So, you will then be maintaining your weight and hopefully maintaining those results at a higher, healthier, and more sustainable place of calories."
How To Approach Reverse Dieting And Why It's 'Beneficial'
According to Emily, reverse dieting can be better for your body in the long run, noting that eating a lower amount of calories can have a significant impact on your body and metabolism, and over time, if you're frequently dieting or not eating enough calories, you might "not feel great," experience low energy, etc. She warns that you want to avoid your body getting used to functioning off a calorie deficit, and instead, reach a more "sustainable" place.
"A reverse diet is going to look different for everyone," she says. "Everyone is so individualized. Typically, a reverse diet is done to then get to a place of 'maintenance calories,' where you will maintain your weight while eating a higher amount of food."
To maintain your goal weight, reverse dieting involves "slowly" increasing your daily caloric intake over a period of time. In her practice, Emily adds calories back into her client's diet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, increasing their ideal caloric intake by 50 to 200 calories "in the form of carbohydrates or fats" until they're able to maintain.
It's always a good idea to check in with your doctor or nutritionist to see if reverse dieting is right for you and how many calories you should ideally consume in a day. Other than that, this can be an excellent method for those who are sick of eating in a deficit but are worried about losing their progress.