Has anyone tried reverse dieting?

[iamforgivenandredeemed]

@vireak I'm struggling with the idea of a "goal weight" and trying to focus more on muscle mass. I've always wanted to be around 120 lb, but im letting go of weight as a goal and focusing on progress photos and feeling strong. But man, it's hard to shift my thinking.
I decided to do a reverse diet because I've been tracking food on and off since I was 16, and nothing I've done in the past besides starving myself made me weigh less. I figured, wth... I may as well commit to 6 months of eating more and seeing what that does.
I'll be honest. It's been very hard to stick with it. I get in my head about being too heavy and just want another quick fix. Then I remind myself that it's only a few months and I'm learning so much. I've literally never tried to eat MORE. I am lifting heavier, I don't feel tired throughout the day, and I realized anything over 1725 calories is much more food than I ever want in a day. It's pretty cool knowing what my body's natural "max" is. I have an accountability buddy who I send a screenshot of MFP calories to every night. It helps a lot having someone to talk to through it. I'm gonna keep this up through December and drop it down. I'm hoping to lose quite a bit of fat and keep all my hard earned muscle if possible.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit.
The best part about a reverse diet is to get your metabolism back up so that your new maintenance can be higher than 1200.

 

[vireak]

@iamforgivenandredeemed Actually, the doctors Ive seen want me to aim for 48-50kgs because its my “ideal” weight but I dont wanna be that anymore. I use to weight 45kg and I look like a kid I told them I do strength more than cardio so my weight is not lowering fast and they keep telling me to eat less, more cardio. Like how can I eat less than 1200? how long did you do reverse dieting and how do you know if thats your new maintenance? Im a little lost on that bit

 

[iamforgivenandredeemed]

@vireak The way I understand it, it if I can eat 2050 every day and maintain my weight at 137, then it's my new maintenance. I started increasing my calories a couple months ago and have about a month left to go until I'm at 2050. I have maintained my weight this entire time, but don't be discouraged if you decide to do this and gain a couple pounds. It can also be water weight.

Here is an article that is pretty helpful. Please lmk if you have any questions.

https://www.sharpmuscle.com/nutrition/reverse-dieting/

 

[vireak]

@iamforgivenandredeemed Thank you for this! would you say a consistent weight for a week would be enough to identify your new maintenance? My weight fluctuates so much. Like the biggest fluctuation I saw was 2 kilos! i almost cried gaining 2 kilos then i weighed myself again the next morning and it was back.

 

[iamforgivenandredeemed]

@vireak I feel ya! I can fluctuate that much, too. I weigh and measure every week in the morning. It's the only way I know where I'm at. Sometimes, I'm heavier, and my waist is the same. I think after a couple weeks of measurements and weigh-ins, you will get an idea of where your body is. I am now usually the same weight and measurement weekly. I think it's most important to weigh in a consistent time of day - that will give you the information you need.

 

[danieljames]

@vireak Reverse diets are the way to do. At some point you can’t eat 1200 consistently because when you do stall you have no where healthy to go. This is why “diet” advice fails women.

I reverse dieted and moved my maintenance from 1500 to 2100 while focusing on lifting heavy. Almost no cardio. Took around 6 months or so but I’m way happier now and making way more progress

Also if you add more muscle on your frame you’ll “look” leaner in the mirror with a higher weight and a higher maintenance calorie number. It’s much easier to maintain as well since muscle burns more at rest

 

[vireak]

@danieljames Thank you so much for this I guess the pressure from my doctors to keep eating less and do more cardio is getting to me more than I realize. Ill try upping up my maintenance to maybe about 1600 depending on how my body reacts. Youre all so helpful

 

[lmg633]

@vireak I’m 4’9” and started at 123 pounds, now at 100. What worked for me was eating about 1300 a day and averaging 8,000 steps per day, no regular exercise. Do you know what your current step count is like? Perhaps you just need to add more walking to increase your TDEE. I also saw you mentioned a hormonal imbalance. I’m not sure if you meant that is also something affecting your weight loss?

 

[vireak]

@lmg633 Oh woow! Congrats on the loss hmm.. yeah I think I lack cardio/steps. I work from home most of the time and I dont even reach 2k on those days. Ive been walking more as training for my next travel and making sure I reach 10k during my walks hehe however its not everyday. Maybe I should be more consistent yeah unfortunately my hormonal imbalance can affect me but Im just trying to get through it thank youuu! Based on the answers here I think my next step is to really be consistent with my workouts. Ill also add a bit more to my calorie intake. How long were you eating 1300 for?

 

[lmg633]

@vireak I ate 1300 consistently for a little over 5 months. I think the working from home part is definitely a challenge. I have a busy/on your feet all day type of job that gives me the 8k steps per day. If you’re sticking to 1200, I feel like actual working out more may be difficult (I know it was for me before I went into maintenance mode). If there is any way you can regularly get more steps in, it may be more beneficial than going hard with the typical 1-2 hour workouts on only 1200 cal. Wishing you the best! I know how hard it is being so short

 

[sefo]

@vireak Yes. Worked brilliantly for me. If only I could be bothered with it now!

 

[vireak]

@sefo Can I ask what made you try reverse dieting? Was it also plateau?

 

[sefo]

@vireak A plateau and a really good online coach swears by it. I got some coaching with him.

 

[vireak]

@sefo Thank you! How do you decide on how much cals you should add and when to stop? Im planning to add 100 this week.

 

[sefo]

@vireak It was too far ago for me to remember! Sorry!

 

[vireak]

@sefo Oh no, no worries. At least I know it worked for a lot of ppl. Thank you!

 

[sneebuck]

@vireak I am 2 cm taller than you and started at your weight (64kg) I was able to lose 20kg in one year. I’m trying to gain more to at least 50kg with muscle but my stomach is a lot smaller and I’m full by lunch time

First find your maintenance calories. Measure everything using a scale and drink lots of water. At least 8 glasses a day. Do this for a month and measure yourself weekly-daily if you do not have triggers. Once you find that maintenance you can subtract 300-500 to lose weight. My maintenance at that point was around 1600. With exercise it took me a year but without will probably take you twice as long

It takes longer for our size and you have to have a serious mind set but it is possible

What worked for me:
DAILY yoga (Adrienne)
DAILY Walking for a few hour (2?)a day and general NEET
Weight lifting 3-4x a week until failure. Use alternating days for upper body and lower body
DAILY Basic Calisthenics (floor routines like planks, push-ups , squats, bicycle )
Not eating back calories.

My Tdee would be asking 1800 for all of this and I ate 1500 on a good day and 1200 on a day that I was a zombie. I work from home so my NEET is low at least 2 days a week. That’s when I ate at below maintenance (between 1200-1500)

It is possible to eat below that, but you will be big sad. I am able to get all my nutrients at 1300 by eating whole foods

 

[vireak]

@sneebuck Hi! Ive been doing deficit since February. I only subtracted 200 because if I do more, I would be eating less than 1200. Different calculators gice me different TDEE but my maintenance was around 1300-1500. I work out but not very regular

 

[inthepottershands]

@vireak u would need to add cardio daily, it doesn't have to be anything hard, aerobic cardio will do fine. i'm slightly taller and younger yet i couldn't start losing eating 1200 before i started working out seriously (home workouts weren't burning enough).

so being sedentary (no steps, no exercise) and adding some minor exercise like walking and moving dumbbells around for 30 minutes without any consistency, won't push u past sedentary.

u likely lost water weight and some fat initially, but it's not enough activity to keep going, sadly. i'd suggest hitting gym 3-4 days a week, heavy lifting for recomp and aerobic cardio (20-30 min or more if u can - i couldn't when i was out of shape) after/on days off to increase the deficit. high protein diet.

i lost total about 15kg, stuck on 3kg from my set goal, and been in deficit for 6+ months. so right now i decided to finally refeed or reverse diet if u will, and it surprisingly works. i already see some weight loss eating 1500 calories a day (been 3 days now). u need to do this only when hitting plateau since body adapts to long term dieting. if u want to keep losing fat, increase activity and eat 1200 daily. at ur height it's really hard so i hope it will work out for u. i'm pretty sure ur the shortest i've seen on this sub so far

 

[vireak]

@inthepottershands So Ive been at 1200 cals for 7 months, with irregular workouts. I cant afford to go to gym but I do have 10 and 15 lbs dumbbell which I use. The cardios (brisk walking 10k) I only added this month to train for my travel hehe maybe Ill add more intensity to my strength and run more often. I do stair climbs on my walk as well because I do it in some kind of a mall where theres a football, basketball and open field. Ill keep doing this for a few more months and then refeed if its still not budging? I dont wanna stay on 1200 cal for a long time