Reverse Dieting 101: How Does it Work?

Reverse dieting is a diet strategy commonly used in the bodybuilding community and is used to prevent weight regain after a weight loss period, but does it actually work? Here is everything you need to know about a reverse diet.

What is reverse dieting?

Reverse dieting is a process that involves slowly and strategically increasing calorie intake after a period of prolonged calorie restriction or dieting ⁽¹⁾. The goal of “reverse dieting” is to maintain weight loss, prevent weight gain, and potentially boost metabolism by increasing calorie intake in an incremental manner.

When dieting, your body may experience metabolic adaptation: a natural survival mechanism that helps to ensure the body has enough energy to perform essential functions and survive in times of food scarcity or famine. In a calorie deficit, particularly when extreme or done for prolonged periods, the body will reduce energy expenditure to conserve calories by slowing metabolism ⁽²⁾. As you lose weight, your body will repeatedly adapt to a lower calorie deficit, which becomes your maintenance calorie intake.

When you reverse diet, the opposite is true. By repeatedly increasing your daily calorie intake with a small calorie surplus, your body will adapt to reverse the adaptations that occurred during the calorie deficit, to create a new and higher maintenance calorie intake ^{(3, 4)}.

Unlike a “bulking” or weight gain phase, where the goal is to eat in a calorie surplus to gain weight and/or muscle, a reverse diet aims to increase calorie intake while minimizing weight gain.

Benefits of Reverse Dieting

While there is currently limited scientific evidence to fully support all of the claims, reverse dieting proponents suggest the primary benefits include:

1. Minimized Fat Gain

By increasing calorie intake in a gradual step-by-step manner, you can help minimize fat gain by adding a small calorie surplus that is at or near your new maintenance level. Weight loss primes the body for fat regain as a protective mechanism to prevent starvation, since body fat is a form of stored energy.

Although fat regain is essential for hormonal health in certain individuals, such as competitive bodybuilders and physique competitors who are extremely lean, the average person who has worked hard to reduce body fat to healthy levels from a high body mass index (BMI) or obesity would benefit from minimizing rapid weight regain ^{(5, 6)}.

2. Improved Muscle Gain

The small, controlled, incremental calorie surplus implemented during a reverse diet supports muscle growth. While a calorie surplus can lead to weight gain, as you eat more calories than you expend, when done strategically, the weight gain is more likely to come from increased muscle mass than body fat.

Unlike fat gain, which can happen quickly by a binge of surplus calories, gaining muscle is a slow process that requires a lot of time and effort ⁽⁷⁾. By following a consistent resistance training program during a reverse diet, along with adequate protein intake, you can help to ensure any weight gain comes from muscle growth.

3. Increased Energy Output

Increasing calorie intake increases energy levels and calorie output. During a calorie deficit, when you eat fewer calories than you expend, metabolism and energy levels decrease. Given that reverse dieting slowly reintroduces calories, individuals may benefit from a boost in metabolism and a specific increase in non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) through movement like fidgeting, housework, and walking.

4. Improved Hormone Levels

The fat loss that comes with dieting brings a cascade of hormonal changes, particularly when in a calorie deficit for prolonged periods. As body fat declines, leptin, testosterone, and thyroid hormones decrease, and ghrelin increases, altering metabolic rate, hunger cues, and energy levels ^{(8, 9, 10).}

In some cases, the process of reverse dieting provides a much-needed metabolic “boost” thanks to the calorie increase to maintenance level after a deficit, and reflects higher levels of hormones, such as thyroid hormone, leptin, and testosterone.

5. Improved Mood

Not only can strict dieting lead to decreased energy levels, but it can also cause mood disturbances. The hormone disturbances and nutrient deficiencies caused by extremely restrictive dieting have been shown to cause irritability, anxiety, and even depression in some cases ⁽¹¹⁾. Reverse dieting can help to improve mood by providing more energy and balancing feel-good hormones such as serotonin and dopamine.

6. Reduced Hunger

Not only does the increase in calorie intake provide the body with more energy during a reverse diet, but it also helps to balance the hunger hormones that control your hunger cues. Leptin, produced by fat cells, signals fullness, and ghrelin stimulates hunger.

As calorie intake decreases while dieting, reduced leptin levels and increased ghrelin levels can make it increasingly difficult to avoid overeating, as heightened hunger signals can drive extreme overeating ⁽⁸⁾. Therefore, following an extremely restrictive diet, reverse dieting can help to restore these hunger hormones to balance. 

Who should reverse diet?

Reverse dieting can work for:

• Individuals who utilize drastic diets to get “cut” to extremely low body fat percentages for competitions, such as bodybuilders, fitness competitors, and bikini contestants.
• Individuals who are wrapping up an intentional weight loss phase with a drastically low maintenance calorie intake.
• Individuals who are chronic yo-yo dieters and bounce from an extremely restrictive diet with a low-calorie intake to a free-for-all diet with a binge-level calorie intake.

While reverse dieting has its benefits, it’s important to note that it’s not for everyone. Tracking calorie intake, be it for a weight loss diet or a reverse diet, has pros and cons that need to be considered before embarking on the process.

Individuals with a history of disordered eating, anxiety around food, or mental health issues should avoid reverse dieting or strongly consider its potentially harmful implications. Moreover, reverse dieting is not well suited for individuals who have no interest in weighing and measuring food and tracking calories.

How to Reverse Diet

Here are the 3 steps to reverse dieting:

1. Select your tracking method.

Calorie tracking and macro tracking are the preferred tracking methods for reverse dieting. Compared to other dieting approaches, such as hand portion sizes, they allow for more precise tracking as they require the weighing and measuring of food intake.

While both methods work, macro counting is generally considered more precise than calorie counting as it considers calorie intake and macronutrient balance, while calorie counting only accounts for calories. Macro counting is ideal for individuals looking to maintain or build muscle during the reverse dieting process while minimizing fat gain, as there is a stronger emphasis on protein intake.

2. Gradually increase calorie intake.

Beginning with the calorie intake used during the weight loss phase, raise your calorie intake to help with hunger levels in the first 1-2 weeks, roughly 200-300 calories from carbohydrates and fat. During this time, monitor your hunger levels, energy levels, and body weight changes, ignoring daily weight fluctuations, while paying attention to weekly changes.

Once completed, assuming no major increases in weight, continue gradually increasing your calorie intake by 50-100 calories per week for 4-10 weeks until you’ve reached maintenance calories (i.e., how many calories you need to maintain your current weight). You’ll know you’ve reached your new maintenance calorie intake once the scale stabilizes to weight maintenance, and additional increases in calories cause the number on the scale to increase or body composition to alter negatively.

3. Be patient and consistent.

During a reverse diet, you must be patient and consistent. The process of reverse dieting is slow, long, and cannot be rushed. It is the small, strategic, and incremental calorie increases that help to ensure you reap the benefits of reverse dieting.

Moreover, for successful weight maintenance, the process of reverse dieting must be implemented through sustainable habits and behaviors. Practicing healthy eating habits, intuitive eating, and mindful eating during a reverse diet can help ensure you promote long-term health.

The Bottom Line

Reverse dieting involves gradually increasing your calories after a period of calorie restriction to establish a new maintenance calorie level. While there is limited scientific evidence, reverse dieting proponents suggest it can help to minimize fat regain, increase metabolism, and improve energy and mood. If you are unsure, it is best to work with a registered dietitian to determine if reverse dieting is a good approach for you and your goals.