At FIT365 LLC, our #1 goal for all of our clients is Sustainability. Our goal is to make sure that clients can get to their ultimate dream body and health and stay there long term. Because what is the point of losing weight only to gain it back after a few months?
We gauge our clients success on the timeline of months and years not on days and weeks (because you won't remember a specific day or week 10 years from now).
Our goal is that by the end of your transformation with us, you do not need a coach any longer because you know (over time) everything your coach knows so that you are able to go on and be your own coach and also coach your family and loved ones to better health.
A critical component of sustainable health is metabolic recovery.
What is Metabolic Recovery and Reverse Dieting?
Metabolic recovery, also known as "reverse dieting" is often described as “the diet after the diet.”
Reverse dieting is an eating plan that involves gradually increasing your calorie intake over a period of several weeks or months to boost metabolism and help your body burn more calories throughout the day. The exact specific time depends on the client, how long they have been in a caloric deficit and how their body reacts to the changes made week by week.
How does it work?
All weight loss and toning involves decreasing calorie intake to create a calorie deficit, meaning that you’re consuming fewer than you’re burning.
Over time, your body starts to adapt, slowing down your metabolism in an effort to conserve energy.
This can become problematic when you’re ready to return to a normal sustainable lifestyle but want to maintain your weight — or when you hit a weight loss plateau and are unable to further cut calories.
How to reverse diet?
Metabolic recovery/Reverse Dieting typically involves increasing calorie intake by 50–100 calories per week above your baseline, which is the number of calories you’re currently consuming to maintain your weight.
This period lasts 4–10 weeks, or until you reach your target, pre-diet intake.
Because protein needs are typically calculated for body weight rather than calorie consumption, your protein intake can remain the same throughout the diet.
Increasing your calorie intake helps boost metabolism and help your body burn more through non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which includes everyday actions like walking, talking, and fidgeting.
In addition, metabolic recovery normalizes levels of circulating hormones, such as leptin, which regulates appetite and body weight.
Research shows that leptin, which is produced and excreted by the fat cells in your body, decreases in response to reduced calorie intake. When leptin levels fall, appetite is increased and calorie burning is reduced.
In fact, in a 6-month study in 48 people, calorie restriction decreased leptin concentrations by 44%
Why is Reverse Dieting so difficult to do alone?
Because reverse dieting requires data gathering and consistency, the 99% of those who attempt to repair their metabolism and do reverse dieting alone fail because of the consistency required to keep the tracking and slow progression over time.
It is for this reason that when you have a 1on1 coach who is doing all the of changes and calculations for you, you are able to stick to the process over the course of many weeks.
If any of this sounds overwhelming, do NOT worry, your coach will be handling all of this for you and all you will need to do is focus on hitting your numbers every week.
Other benefits
1. Allows you to eat more
One of the main reasons that people start reverse dieting is because it allows them to eat more food throughout the day.
This is especially enjoyable for those who have been dieting for weeks or months at a time because it allows for a wider range of healthy meals.
2. Increased energy levels
Overly restrictive diets are often accompanied by symptoms like mood disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and decreased energy levels.
This may be caused by either inadequate calorie intake or nutritional deficiencies.
Because reverse dieting focuses on slowly increasing your calorie intake, it could resolve several downsides related to restricted dieting.
3. Reduced hunger
Cutting calories can alter the levels of several hormones that influence hunger and appetite.
For instance, one study in 14 male bodybuilders showed that 10 weeks of extreme weight loss led to a 27.7% decrease in leptin and a 26.4% increase in ghrelin 3 days prior to a competition.
While leptin promotes fullness, ghrelin stimulates feelings of hunger.
Slowly increasing calorie intake will balance levels of these hormones and reduce hunger levels.