Reverse Dieting: What to Do When Your Diet Has Been Too Much

Yes, caloric intake and energy expenditure play a role in weight and body composition.

Definitely want to acknowledge this as it’s the focus of this blog but they are NOT the only contributing factors. I have a plethora of other blogs that go over all the other things that influence weight independent of “calories in, calories out.” After 15 years as a RD, I generally see most people’s problem is not caloric related issues, but occasionally it is.

The healthcare and fitness industry endlessly sell this message of “calories in versus calories out” while you’re likely sitting there beyond frustrated because your caloric deficit is overall “not working.”

I hear ALL the time from patients that they “hit a plateau” or calorie counting flat out never “worked.” Assuming the weight gain is not from something else, calorie deficits not done well don’t yield the intended results, and can also be disastrous for physical health (and mental health too).

With your body continuously programmed for survival, it will try to bridge the gap between what you are eating and what you are “burning” when it feels threatened and it goes on efficiency mode.

You can only drop calories so far and increase exercise so much before that lifestyle becomes miserable, impossible to maintain, and arguably not good for you at times. So what happens as a downside:

What are the potential downsides to too restrictive of eating:

• Sex hormones downregulated/amenorrhea
• Infertility
• Decreased bone mineral density
• Decreased lean body mass
• Increased risk of developing gallstones
• Depression
• Vitamin & mineral deficiencies – less energy
• Eating disorder, including binge eating disorders
• Lower core body temperature
• Hair loss
• More susceptibility to communicable illness

This is a [non-exhaustive] list of things to consider:

1) Is it not a calorie balance issue and you need to overturn other stones (which is the number 1 thing I see in practice)

2) Is your calorie deficit way too drastic and actually worsening the situation?

3) Is what you are striving for in alignment with true physical and/or psychological health – or is it a pursuit of thinness that might not be in your best interest with all things considered? I know this is hard question to ask but important to put out there.

For today, Let’s talk about option 2 as I think there is a time and place to safely pursue intentional weight loss (in a psycho-socially sound way) and reverse dieting can be one effective strategy to mitigate drastic calorie reduction.

What is Reverse Dieting?

After too drastic of a calorie deficit, reverse dieting is a methodical way of slowly increasing caloric intake and decreasing cardio. Loose analogy if you will but it helps “throw a log” in the metabolism fire, along with other benefits.

Example:

Let’s say a person has been eating 1200 calories per day (in an attempt to lose weight). Their estimated needs are 2000 calories daily. Yes, eating less than estimated calorics needs can facilitate some weight loss, but over time if it’s too radical, the body can sense this and typically compensates by slowing down and conserving more. This is called metabolic adaptation. When this happens, some have been given bad advice to cut calories even further which usually just backfires; often times the solution is increasing calories even if this seems counter intuitive.

So the concept of reverse dieting is to gradually work up closer to or reach “maintenance calories.”

Benefits of Reverse Dieting (and there are many more than this list):

• More food intake and likely achieving satiety
• More energy, more nourishment
• Increased gym performance
• Improved mood
• Improved sleep
• Increased thermic effect of food
• Not freezing cold, hair growing back thicker

Who is Reverse Dieting Most Suited For?

• Those restricting calories and not losing weight as intended
• History of yo-yo dieting and over it
• If someone has reached their weight loss goal and wants to shift to increasing lean body mass (increasing calories combined with increasing strength training)
• Someone who is starting to notice decreased bowel regularity, feeling more cold, signs of hormonal imbalance
• Sleep is worse
• Energy is low, and performance when working out has decreased
• Note if a female loses her menstrual period and she is of reproductive age, this is serious and I would advise seeing a Doctor. This can also be a sensitive topic, but important to say that evaluation for an eating disorder is also advisable.

How to Start Reverse Dieting:

• Be honest with your current habits and start tracking to get a true baseline of what you are doing in terms of food patterns and calorie intake
• Now, estimate your maintenance calories. I use the Mifflin St. Jeor equation. Working up to this will be the long term end goal (there is nuance in this FYI).
• For 2-4 weeks, increase calorie intake by adding in an extra 100/day from the baseline. For example if you were eating only 1200 per day, increase to 1300 calories per day for about two weeks.
• Then increase by another 100 calories per day for 2-4 more weeks (1400 calories per day for example). Use a food tracker to help with accuracy and precision. My patients have access a free food tracker in my patient portal that we can review the inputted data together and strategize this.
• Slowly keep working up over time. If a person is trying for “gains” in the gym, then often going above maintenance calories with increased strength training can be helpful (time & place matter here).

It is important to state that reverse dieting works best when a person is consistent, is tracking, and adhering to their plan. Consider working with a skilled dietitian one on one to help you with this process if this is something that interests you.

And if something is not adding up, like I said earlier, consider looking into other culprits that can alter metabolism. Things like toxic indoor mold exposure, heavy metal bioaccumulation, gut dysbiosis, hormone dysfunction, hashimoto’s, lyme disease, etc. can all play a role in weight independent of calorie restriction.

I was a marathon running dietitian….and I gained 30 lbs when I moved into a moldy home (unknowingly because home inspection are not mold inspections). I am firm believer of always checking the home for clinically significant levels of toxic indoor mold. A simple at home screen you can do for this (that I wish I would have known back then) is called an ERMI. Buy Kit#1, collect the dust from your house per the kit instructions and send back to lab and get a report in less than a week showing what type of mold and “how much” is in the home. Any ERMI score over of a 5 warrants professional mold inspection to find the WHERE and WHY it grew, and likely next remediation which is nothing you can DIY. Mold remediation is what led to losing weight – that no amount of running and dieting could touch. Want more info on this topic- take my affordable HEALING FROM MOLD Online Program.

I must do my due diligence and say that preoccupation with thinness and drastic food omission can indicate an eating disorder and warrants evaluation, treatment, and care. This is not an area of expertise and I do refer out for eating disorder care. Please schedule elsewhere for this area of practice as patients with an eating disorder deserve a multidisciplinary team of experts that Dietetics with Driessens LLC is not equipped for.

As quoted by Michelle Sharpiro, RD: “It is okay to want to lose weight. Our desire to lose weight only gets into the category of dysmorphic/disordered when the stress of needing to lose weight becomes greater than the medical need to lose it.”

Please book a consultation package if you are interested in pursuing weight management where a whole variety of strategies can be discussed and then individualized.

*This blog on the Dietetics with Driessens LLC website is maintained by Katie Driessens, Owner. All opinions are her own and for general educational purposes. Advertising, affiliate links or other forms of compensation are within this website and a small commission is earned for sales made through these links (with no extra cost to you) that help cover costs of running a small business. Products and services listed are prior carefully created and/or evaluated to ensure that they are accurate and supported by scientific evidence. Items or programs that are endorsed are based on Katie’s professional experience and expertise & are worthy of such endorsement. Dietetics with Driessens LLC assumes no responsibility or liability for damage or injury to persons arising from any use of any product, information, or opinion contained in the information of this blog, none of which is to be considered personal medical advice. By viewing, using, and shopping from this website, you agree to release Dietetics with Driessens LLC from full responsibility to the fullest extent allowed by law. Products & Services sold are not intended to diagnose or cure any disease. Consult your physician before beginning any exercise, supplement, meal plan or program. Thank you!