January 28, 2025 • 48 mins
Have you ever felt stuck in a dieting cycle that leaves you tired, frustrated, and always in a calorie deficit? In this episode, Couture Coaches Jo and Leigh Ann break down the concept of reverse dieting, an approach to nutrition that helps you fuel your body, optimize your metabolism, and escape the rollercoaster of restrictive eating.
We’ll cover:
- What reverse dieting is and how it works.
- The benefits of eating more to achieve metabolic health, muscle growth, and long-term fat loss.
- How to ditch the diet mindset, reset your caloric intake, and embrace sustainable nutrition.
- Why reverse dieting is a long-term strategy for building a stronger, healthier body.
This episode is packed with actionable tips for:
- Adjusting your calories gradually and overcoming the fear of eating more.
- Improving your nutrition with whole, nutrient-dense foods.
- Incorporating movement and managing stress to support your reverse dieting journey.
Whether you're looking to improve your energy, balance your hormones, or simply feel better in your own skin, this episode will give you the tools to make it happen.
Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome to another episode ofthe booster metabolism.
After age 30 podcast, you've gotJoe here today.
And today we're going to betackling a topic that many
people find confusing or evenscary, and it's the topic of
reverse dieting.
I'm here with our own coach,Leanne, who has helped so many
women reverse diet, and todaywe're going to explain what a
(00:23):
reverse diet is and how itreally works.
We really wanted to demystifythis process.
Many people hear about reversedieting and number 1, they might
be terrified to try it becausethey think it will make them
gain weight.
If they already think that theyare under eating, they often
think if I eat more, if I'munder eating and I can't lose
(00:43):
weight under eating, if I eatmore, there's no way I'm not
just going to gain a ton ofweight.
Or they hear about it and thinkit's some sort of magical
mystical thing that happens thatwhen you eat more, you start
losing weight.
And that is beyond explanation,but today we're going to break
it down, explain how it works,and then give some of our best
coaching tips for reversedieting in the hopes that if
(01:05):
you.
Recognize yourself in any of thethings that we described today,
or have a sense that you mightneed to reverse diet.
We will demystify the processfor you, and it will hopefully
inspire you to try reversedieting if you need to do that
to recalibrate your body.
So first, let's talk about whatreverse dieting is.
(01:26):
It is what it is the intentionalgradual increase of.
Caloric intake and doing thatwill help preserve and can even
boost your metabolism.
So it's the opposite of what wethink of when we hear the word
diet.
Traditionally in our culture,that means cutting calories with
the aim of losing weight.
Again, reverse dieting is theopposite.
(01:47):
You're increasing your caloricintake and the goals of a
reverse diet are not immediateweight loss.
Now, truth be told, some peopledo lose weight in a reverse
diet.
A lot.
Most people do lose inches.
The scale may not move thatmuch.
But that this is not the goal atall.
Weight loss.
Is not really the goal.
(02:07):
The goal is to optimize yournutrition.
So at some point, your body canrespond successfully to a future
calorie deficit to aid in fatloss.
Now, if you don't need to loseweight or you don't, your body
composition is fine.
The purpose of a reverse diet isjust to get those calories up to
help your body thrive and helpyou have more energy and feel
(02:29):
better.
But if you have weight to lose,the goal of a reverse diet is to
get your body to a point that itwill respond successfully to a
future calorie deficit.
Another goal of reverse dietingis to maintain or gain muscle
while you are, getting yourcaloric intake increased it also
helps in resetting your caloricthreshold.
(02:52):
That has many benefits again.
It will help your body respondto dieting temps better in the
future and it also reduces thestress on your body of being in
a calorie deficit.
And then the ultimate goal isthat we we increase your
calories.
with minimal weight gain andbody recomposition along the
way, meaning you gain somemuscle, maybe even lose some
(03:13):
body fat along the way.
But again, making the scale godown is not the main goal of a
reverse diet.
Any comments on any of thatLeanne in terms of what people
might think a reverse diet isand what the aim of a reverse
diet is and what it actually is.
So I think when it comes toreverse dieting, it's foreign to
(03:36):
so many people that, of course,everyone wants to lose weight.
No matter when they jump intoany program, but looking into
these items and what the actualpurposes I think is will help
set that person up for success alittle bit more mentally
preparing themselves.
Just, Kind of getting out ofthat I have to have my results
right now and accepting this iswhat it's going to take.
(04:00):
This is going to be the goalthat I need to aim towards and
this is going to be basicallythe path I need to take.
In order to get where I want tobe, so these items that you
listed accepting that these aremore than more likely the
outcomes of the reverse diet andwhat it will take to help
(04:20):
improve my health that's goingto be the hardest part, I think,
for people to accept going intoa reverse, especially since it
is, very nuanced for mostpeople.
Yeah, I think probably mostpeople hear the word diet and
think that the only.
Successful result of any sort ofdieting process is to lose
weight, and that's just notreally the aim of a reverse
(04:41):
diet.
But in terms of results thatpeople get we've worked with,
we've helped a lot of womenreverse diet, I would say, no
one gains as much weight as theythink they will.
Many people lose weight on areverse diet.
Many people don't lose or gainweight, but definitely lose
inches.
Their weight stabilizes, butthey lose inches.
(05:03):
And then I would say most peoplejust feel a whole lot better
regardless of what the scale isdoing.
Let's talk about, I want to talkabout like how reverse dieting
works when someone is losingweight and what's going on
there.
Because again, I think, it seemslike magical or mystical that
this could possibly happen, butthere, there are some real
scientific explanations as tohow this happens.
(05:26):
And I think again, anotherreason why maybe not to be
afraid of reverse dieting.
Number one reason that you mightlose weight on a reverse diet or
lose body fat is that when youstart out on the reverse diet,
you actually end up eating lessthan you were before.
And you don't realize it.
So very few people actually knowhow much they are eating unless
(05:47):
they are tracking their foodmeticulously.
And even when you're trackingthat can be 20 to 30 percent
off.
I know and I will put a plug infor this.
Now we have this fast food guidethat is in our show notes that
you can get a link to.
So when we were putting thattogether, I went to three or
four different sources to checkthe different calorie and macro
amounts for the difference.
(06:08):
Items in that fast food guideand they were all vastly
different.
Sometimes what I found in myfitness pal was, off by.
100 percent meaning it would saya food item was 500 calories.
When I went to the restaurantnutrition information, it was
1000 calories.
So things can just be off andyou don't realize it.
None of us are, calibratedenough to know this is what 1200
(06:29):
calories feels like in my body.
So for some people, when theystart reverse dieting, they
become very intentional abouttheir nutrition.
The quality of their nutritionimproves, and so they actually
end up eating less on a day today basis when they're quote
unquote reverse dieting, whichcan result in weight loss.
I have heard Many men cover thetopic of reverse dieting and
(06:52):
they always say, Oh, there's noway anyone is actually eating
1200 calories a day.
That's not true.
They're probably eating morelike 2000 calories a day that
has not been our experience.
But I will say that a lot ofpeople are maybe eating a little
bit more, or maybe they're onlyeating 1200 calories of food,
but then drinking 4 or 500calories of alcohol a day or
(07:16):
having little, snacks orhandfuls of this or that, that
really increase that caloricintake.
And so when they, again, start areverse diet, their actual
overall calorie intake goes downa bit.
So that's one way.
Reverse dieting works and canhave, you can have positive
results and actually lose weightin a reverse diet.
So that should give you hopebecause you're going to get real
(07:38):
intentional about your nutritionwhen you reverse diet.
And so the results may bedifferent than you think that
they are.
Okay, number 2, the other reasonthat you might lose weight on a
reverse diet is that it gets youoff of the calorie roller
coaster.
This is something we see a lot.
A lot of people, a lot of womenand I think this is probably
promoted to some extent by dietculture, you might.
(08:01):
Be very restrictive during theweek and so you eat very low
calorie some or most day of thedays of the week, but you're not
eating that low calorie all thetime.
Let's say, maybe you're eating,you're eating 1200 calories a
day, and you work very hard toeat 1200 calories a day Monday
through Thursday.
And then by the time you rollinto the weekend, you're tired.
(08:21):
You have some parties to go to.
You're going to go out to eatwith your husband or your
friends and then you jump up tomaybe double that.
I've seen we've seen caloriefluctuations of sometimes even
triple what you're eating duringthe week.
You're going crazy on theweekends.
And so when you go into areverse diet, you're eating more
(08:43):
during the week, but we'rebringing those calories down
during the weekend.
And what you're eatingconsistently day to day might
actually be fewer caloriesoverall, which can cause weight
loss or minimize weight gainduring a reverse diet, even
though it feels like you'reeating more most days.
And yeah, getting off thatcalorie rollercoaster and
(09:05):
getting consistent nutrition canalso result in.
In weight loss during a reversediet.
Okay, the 3rd way that a reversediet can work and actually cause
you to lose weight is that youare improving your nutrition
overall.
So not all calories are equal.
you are improving your caloriequantity when you reverse diet.
(09:27):
We'll get into this a little bitlater.
The way that you want to reversediet is you really want to
improve your nutrition.
So we're not talking aboutincreasing your calories through
wine and donuts and Oreos.
If you work with a coach or youfollow, I would say any basic
guidelines about reversedieting.
Most for most people, thequality of their nutrition
improves drastically.
(09:47):
You're probably going to beeating more protein and more
whole foods.
I know something we commonly seewith people who reverse diet is
like terror, terrified of carbs.
Maybe we'll have them starteating like some.
Oatmeal or carbs that are veryhigh quality carbs like oatmeal,
rice, potatoes that were bannedbefore because they're carby and
(10:09):
they're terrible for you.
But overall but we're replacingthings like junk food or
processed food with these wholefoods.
These whole foods, protein allhave a much higher thermogenic
effect than highly processedfood.
So that might result in someweight loss or fat burning as
well.
And again, you may just end upeating fewer calories by cutting
(10:31):
out a lot of processed food andor alcohol that might make up
more of your calories than yourealize and your body doesn't
digest as well.
And so just improving thequality of that nutrition.
I'll just put it this way.
If you just, let's say you wereeating 1, 500 calories of really
not great nutrition, highlyprocessed food, not much
(10:52):
protein, lots of alcohol, andthen you just moved that to 1,
500 calories.
Of really high qualitynutrition, lots of protein, lots
of whole foods, cut out thealcohol, cut out a lot of the
processed food.
You would probably see weightloss or at least a change in how
your body looks a lot of thebloat.
(11:13):
A lot of digestive issues wouldprobably go away.
So that can be another reasonwhy you lose weight or just
generally feel like you lookbetter after a reverse diet.
There's no way around it.
High quality nutrition helpsyour body thrive.
And you will probably feelbetter.
And so that's another way thatthat doing a reverse diet can
actually result in weight loss.
(11:35):
So that's those are thecategories that we just
discussed are like.
Just talking about the caloriesand the difference in nutrition
between a reverse diet and maybewhat you were doing before,
we're going to get into someother ways that reverse dieting
can actually result in weightloss.
But Leanne, what are yourthoughts on just changing up
that nutrition?
What have you seen with clients?
(11:56):
I know personally how reversedieting worked for me.
I gained a few pounds, but Ilost Some inches.
And I know for me, it was justgetting me off the calorie
roller coaster.
And so just, I would restrictduring the week and then just
throw everything out the windowon the weekend because I was
sick of restricting and so itjust was all equaling itself
(12:19):
out.
So when I did a reverse diet andjust, ate.
Enough every day.
I know that it really balancedout my nutrition and helped.
But so what have youexperienced?
And what do you think forclients?
You see the most in terms ofthis category of how reverse
dieting works.
So for myself, I will say that Iwent from being extremely
(12:42):
restrictive and thinking thateven fruits were bad to then
reopening my eyes to, oh, okaythese foods that are out there,
these potatoes, the pastas.
These are okay to incorporateespecially, there, there are
those type plans out there.
I know I mentioned fruit, butthere are some plans out there
(13:03):
that some way demonized fruitwhen there are so many nutrients
that are in those foods.
So reopening my eyes to insteadof complete restriction of, just
doing eggs in the morning to,doing eggs with a carb being
more intentional about that andthen increasing those whole
foods and then working in, somegoodies like an M and M ice
(13:26):
cream sandwich or something, notevery day, but still working in
those things.
It was a matter of, for melearning to get up my calories,
still being mindful of where thefood is coming from.
But really having my body takingadvantage of.
Those foods that I've been,leaving out or intentionally
leaving out because I think itwould, help reduce my weight in
(13:47):
one point or another actuallyflip my perspective to, wow,
like this is something that isachievable.
It's something that is.
realistic.
And I also in, in some way gotoff a calorie rollercoaster
myself.
So I was someone who was veryrestrictive during the week.
And then, yeah, weekends weredefinitely a free for all.
(14:07):
I know I have no idea how manycalories I was actually
consuming during the weekend,but really I would say a
combination between, stop beingso restrictive for myself.
And matching that with myactivity, cause I, my activity
was still very high, but mybody, I was just running it into
the ground and my body wasbasically running on fumes And
yeah, becoming much moreconsistent with the Calgary
(14:28):
rollercoaster.
Now I will say that while Ibecame more consistent during
the week, intentionally feelingmy body, the rollercoaster on
the weekend still somewhatcontinued as a free for all.
So that was something that I hadlearned of, Oh yes.
Consistently Monday throughSunday, it's important.
And it's not just Monday throughFriday.
(14:49):
But a lot of times with clients,I tend to see, yeah, getting off
a rollercoaster a lot insteadof, okay, overate one day.
So I need to under eat for thenext two days.
No, you don't need to do that.
It's a matter of, getting backto your plan and if you overeat
one day, then okay.
But realizing that it does take3, 500 calories to gain one
(15:09):
pound.
Yes, every once in a while, ithappens, but.
I think 1 of the biggest thingsin a reverse.
Is that consistency piece andincreasing, but then also taking
a step back and realizing.
Okay.
Maybe my weekends are somethingthat is causing this increase.
Because if we're consistentlydriving our calories up on the
(15:30):
weekend and not stayingconsistent that's a habit.
That's a habit that then leadsto a surplus over time.
So yes, that can lead toincrease there.
But oftentimes though theimproved quality, I'd say is the
biggest piece that people arelike, Oh my gosh, I can eat
tortillas.
(15:51):
I can eat potatoes and I feelfull and I actually have energy.
I think That is one of the mostrewarding pieces that I get to
hear about as a coach is peoplereleasing the guilt of these
foods, not going, out of controlwith these foods, but releasing
any kind of bad relationshipwith food.
(16:14):
And The process of improvingtheir quality of food along the
way certainly helps with that.
Yeah, I think I agree.
I think that the improvement innutrition quality is where I see
the biggest change for clients.
Again, maybe the scale isn'tdoing anything, but their waste
is coming in an inch, every fewweeks and they just are like,
(16:36):
what's going on?
I can't believe I was likeyou're not living on protein
bars anymore, or you're actuallyeating, real food.
And that changes a lot of thingsin terms of like skin hair, just
all around.
So that is my favorite part ofhelping someone through a
reverse diet is just seeing thequality of their nutrition
improve so drastically.
(16:56):
And then the other benefits thatbrings along.
So let's talk next about theother kind of way that reverse
dieting works.
So let's say that you aresomeone who truly was just
eating 12 to 1300 calories dayin and day out.
And, again, I think that you arenot probably going to experience
weight gain in that situationunless you're going overboard on
(17:18):
the weekends or a few times amonth that can definitely
happen.
But for the most part, you areeating low calorie.
day in and day out.
And so what we see when peoplereverse diet is that the reverse
dieting by like bringing up thatnutrition is they have increased
activity levels even withoutknowing it.
So we know that when peoplerestrict calories, their neat or
(17:41):
non exercise activitythermogenesis goes down.
So that's, you won't evenrealize that you fidget less.
You move less, you blink slower.
That we know that is for surethat non intentional movement
decreases when your calories godown.
And so when you bring yourcalories up, there's just more
energy for your body to engagein that and you don't even
(18:03):
realize that's happening.
So that's non-intentionalincrease in activity.
And that doesn't probablyaccount for a lot of calories
every day, but I do think itmatters for sure.
But the other thing that wenotice when when you improve
your nutrition is that, clientsactually have the energy to work
out, to go to the gym, toactually perform more intense
(18:24):
workouts.
I don't mean 3 hours of cardio.
Like when they get in the gymand lift, they actually have
energy to push that weightaround.
So they're able to lift heavier.
They may have more energy for,some shorter bursts of cardio.
They have energy to get their10, 000 steps in a day.
And then the other big piece ofthis is with the more with the
better nutrition is that theyare actually able to recover
(18:47):
from those workouts.
And I was this person beforewhen like my periods of, I don't
even know that I'm going to callit under eating, just like
shitty nutrition, pardon myFrench, in the name of being low
carb or following this or thatdiet protocol is that.
I do that I go in hit it hard inthe gym and then I inevitably
(19:07):
like I would strain something ahamstring my shoulder and then I
would be in pain and I would notrecover from that injury because
I wasn't giving my body what itneeded to recover.
And then it would sideline me.
So it was this constant cycle ofhitting it hard.
We're going to the gym hurtingmyself, then being taken out
for, I don't know, a few days toa week.
And so there just was notconsistent energy expenditure in
(19:31):
the gym that really was leadingto anything.
So that's another way that just,eating more, you can actually
end up burning more caloriesbecause you have more energy.
Do you feel like moving more?
And so that is 1 way.
Also, that reverse dietingworks.
We see, even if you perceivethat, if you're a low calorie
person, you're like, oh, no, Iwork out all the time.
(19:55):
I would guess that if we were towatch you, maybe the quality of
those workouts would not be whatyou think that they are.
Even if you're consistent withworking out.
I do think the quality ofworkouts takes a hit when you
are chronically low calories.
Just.
Yeah, so we see that but thenthe other thing we see is the
person who's the under eater nonmover.
So they don't eat much, but theyalso don't move much.
(20:17):
And that is a horrible recipefor gaining fat, losing muscle.
And so once we get that personeating more and getting in the
gym and moving more and gettingmore steps in every day and
lifting weights, their bodieschange.
Very quickly even though theyare eating more they're
compensating for it by movingmore.
So the other thing that eatingmore or getting your nutrition
(20:40):
up helps you worth is that youactually get to read the benefit
of your workouts.
So you can go to the gym andwork very hard and do lots of
things.
of lifting, but if you are notgiving your body the nutrition
to do something with thoseworkouts, like nothing really
happens.
So when you are giving your bodygood quality nutrition, you can
build muscle in the gym.
And again, your body willrecover from those workouts.
(21:04):
And that's actually when yougain the muscle fiber is during
that recovery period.
And so you actually get to reapthe benefits of your workout and
recomp your body when you aregiving your body the appropriate
nutrition to support thatactivity level.
And that extra muscle is goingto increase your metabolism.
You're going to get stronger.
So that's another way thatreverse dieting works and can
(21:25):
actually help you.
I'm going to say in thiscategory, recomp your body,
meaning gain muscle and losebody fat.
And then the final way thateating more food can actually
result in weight loss or fatloss is just overall stress
reduction on your body.
And that I don't, I haven't seenlike any scientific studies on
this.
I can't tell you exactly whathormones are impacted.
(21:47):
I imagine cortisol and some ofthe other stress hormones, but
when you are.
Not giving your body enoughnutrition.
It's very stressful on yourbody.
Even if you don't recognize itas stress but so I've just seen
this time and time again, webring someone's calories up and
I think it just reduces theoverall stress on their body of
(22:07):
under eating.
And so they're sleeping better,they're recovering better, and
their body is just willing tolet go of fat, body fat when
that stress is reduced.
The other thing that's happens,like, when you reduce that
stress of under eating is yourbody stops down regulating all
the time and really startsfunctioning optimally.
And like I said, usually peoplereport sleeping better, having
(22:30):
more energy, having betterdigestion, just everything works
better in their body when theyare getting good.
Quality, adequate nutrition.
So in these last categories,Leanne, anything that you've
noticed with clients.
Who have chosen to reverse diet.
Yeah.
Energy is definitely 1 of thebiggest things.
I would say a lot of people alsobenefit from feeling good in the
(22:54):
gym and being like, wow, I'mfeeling good.
I actually feel so much better.
And then actually when they getinto a cut, they're like, what
happened to my food?
But but yeah, when it comes tothe client's experience with
this sleep is one of the biggestthings that when people get to
the point where their stress isreduced enough, where they're
(23:15):
not running on fumes anymorethey can cut out caffeine later
on in the day because they don'tneed it anymore because they
have had.
A good night's sleep.
A lot of good domino effectshappen.
They see a great improvement intheir quality of life.
Just simple things like thatreduction of caffeine in the
afternoon that I need to cutmyself after 2 PM or else I
(23:36):
can't sleep or that they reallyneed it, then they have it.
Then it leads to more.
More energy deficits, which thenthe next day would lead to try
to go up on this up and downCalvary roller coaster of high
carbs, low carb, so I really dofeel like the balancing out of
energy levels helps people makethose more conscious decisions.
(24:00):
In the reverse into maintenanceand in.
Then when people do see thosebody recomposition increasing
their muscle, decreasing theirfat those are some of the
biggest things with the reversethat, that are great benefits
that I see clients go through.
For sure yeah, and I think alsoif you're not skipping breakfast
(24:21):
in the name of fasting and,you've got good nutrition
rolling into the afternoon, youprobably aren't going to need
that.
You're not going to rely oncaffeine and get into this
vicious, chasing energy cycle.
We hear that a lot from clients.
They just feel so much better.
They don't need their afternoonnap anymore.
1 client said I don't get sleepycat syndrome in the afternoon
anymore.
(24:41):
And that's all just from fuelingyour body properly.
Okay, so that's the, that's ourbet on demystifying how a
reverse diet works.
Okay, Leanne, do you want totalk from a coaching perspective
as to tips for success in areverse diet?
Your best advice for someonethat's going to embark on a
reverse diet?
(25:03):
Sure.
First and foremost Absolutelylook at reverse dieting as a
long-term strategy.
We put clients in a reverse foras long as it takes to be able
to get up to that healthy rangeof 1800 to 2000 calories.
This is not a, alright, I'mgonna eat for high calories for
two days or two weeks and mybody's fixed.
(25:24):
It doesn't work like that.
Setting up and accepting thatreverse dieting is going to be a
long term strategy in yourhealth.
I'm not talking about, sittingin something for two years.
You can do anything for threemonths or more if someone's had,
extreme dieting history, then itwill take a little bit longer
and your body deserves that yourbody deserves that time to
(25:46):
really repair its metabolism.
Accepting this timeline, that'sgoing to be required.
And, focusing on other thingsand then really getting in sync
with your body with some ofthose benefits we mentioned,
like the decreased stress betterenergy, those kind of things.
Is going to be veryadvantageous.
I would definitely avoid the dayto day stressing over the scale
(26:09):
fluctuations.
The scale is a cheap data point.
It's a great cheap data point,but also it's gonna be
advantageous to not Really focuson that scale number while
you're in a reverse.
It's, as long as you follow aplan and gradually increase your
calories, you're going to befine.
But avoiding stressing overthose day to day scale
(26:31):
fluctuations is going to be keyfor mostly your mindset because
mindset is the biggest piece ofthis that can.
Very easily second guess everymoment of your life while you're
in a reverse.
Avoid stressing over those dailybiometrics.
And then I would We live in likea amazon prime period where
(26:54):
everything happens in two daysSo if it's possible then ignore
the period of time that youUsually are the period of my the
period of time that you have inyour mind for measuring success.
Because this is gonna bedifferent for everyone.
But trusting your coaches andthe time that it takes and
(27:15):
trusting your process and thejourney is going to be key.
So the next thing I would, I'lljust say that's also is the
things that you usually say aremeasure success by.
So that again, the scale goingdown maybe fitting into the pair
of jeans, that's 2 sizessmaller, those typical things
that you might measure successby throw those out the window,
(27:36):
you can measure success bydifferent things.
I would measure success by, am Ifeeling better?
Am I sleeping better?
How are my energy levels?
Am I eating enough protein dayto day?
Those are things that you cancall wins.
And don't worry for a period oftime whether that's what that's
translating to on the scale.
Similar to what you said aboutjust ignore.
(27:59):
The day to day scalefluctuations for a while, but
also like ignore, I've seen somany women do this.
They'll be like I'm feelingbetter.
I'm sleeping better, but scalesthe same.
So this is all for not.
And that is just not true howyou feel how you, how much
better your nutrition improve isimproving is so much more
(28:20):
important than the scale.
And you absolutely should countthose as wins along the way.
Those are really good points,Joe.
All right, so next I'm going totalk a little bit about tips
around focusing your quality ofcalories.
When it comes to the quality ofyour calories, definitely
increase your calories withnutrient dense foods.
(28:43):
So going back to those emptycalories per se worker, if
you're eating a bunch of,Process foods.
Maybe prepackaged foods.
Maybe if you can visualize thatbetter switching those out with
those more whole foods.
Prioritize your proteins withthose whole foods as well.
Whole foods, meaning like thepotatoes, the tortillas, the
(29:04):
rice is for proteins.
If you need to increase yourproteins whole foods is always
going to be the best way to go.
Whether that be the tofu, thechicken.
The steak.
Those are always going toprovide more nutrients for your
body.
Then maybe some of theprepackaged, foods that are
going to be more supplemental.
(29:25):
I would also avoid gettingexcess calories from that, from
those from like wine or foodthat you don't prepare yourself.
So oftentimes fast food aregoing out.
They tend to add a lot morecalories just because.
It tastes good.
A lot of the oils, the cookingoils, especially and whatever
preservatives that they have inthere.
(29:46):
Of course, eating out can befun.
I know we do it once a week justbecause it's a fun break for
myself because I love cooking,but it's also fun to take a
break.
I would try to reduce the amountof fast food or that processed
food through fast food duringthe week.
And still focus on getting moreof those Whole sources of foods
at home, and a lot of this isdeveloping those habits or
(30:11):
developing skills.
So if you're not a big cooker,there's still some other
companies out there that arebecoming pretty big that they're
still going to provide wholefoods for you.
And then you don't have to doall the meal prep and stuff.
So even investing in somethinglike that tech can help you
focus on those high qualityfoods like sun basket.
I know it was 1 of them.
(30:31):
Joe, do you know of any othergood?
I don't I used to subscribe likeblue apron years ago.
And I think there are moreoptions now that are in the
maybe they, They tell you whatthe macros are, or they're like
higher protein, reasonable fat,reasonable carbs.
But, yeah, there, there arecertainly a lot of options out
there.
Yeah, definitely are that aregood.
(30:55):
Yeah.
And it's not going to be allprocessed right off the bat.
So it can somewhat be preparedfor you without.
Wasting the extra calories oneating out all the time.
Yeah.
For sure.
If you reverse diet just by Oh,great.
I can add a bunch of Oreos andwine and I'm going to add
calories through highlyprocessed kind of low value
nutrition.
You are not going to like theresults of your reverse diet.
(31:19):
It's not really just abouteating more calories that come
from anywhere.
You want to be pretty judiciousand where you're getting your
extra calories from absolutelystuff like the full fat cheeses,
even cottage cheese, potatoesrice, regular tortillas rather
than carb balanced tortillas.
(31:39):
Those are great for if you're ina fat loss phase because of all
the dietary fiber and stuffthat's in there.
But really focusing onincreasing that quality there.
I would say also while you'refocusing on the calorie quality,
this is a great time in yourreverse.
If you're like I have no ideawhat a carb, what a protein,
what a fat is.
Then this is a perfect time foryou to learn what comes from
(32:02):
where and intentionally beingable to feel your body and
rediscover your relationshipwith a lot of foods that for
whatever reason have been deemedas bad.
So during this calorie qualityuplifting, or say, or
improvement.
Great opportunity to become moresituationally aware of what
(32:23):
macronutrients come from.
Where any other thoughts onthat?
Joe?
No, I think those are all reallygood points.
When, take this as a time toreset and just really learn what
you're putting into your bodyand how your body responds to
it.
That's my and give yourself acouple of weeks.
If you are used to just eating,a protein bar for breakfast, I
(32:45):
don't know maybe a salad forlunch and a cup of soup for
dinner or something.
Yeah.
If you, when you start eatingmore a real breakfast, that's
maybe has like eggs and oatmealand and, a more balanced lunch,
you, it might take a few weeksfor your body to adjust to that.
And so just be really patientwith yourself, with your body.
(33:06):
And I promise that the qualityof nutrition, you're, you, it
will pay you back your body willthrive with that good quality
nutrition.
Absolutely.
So the next tip I would havegoing into a reverse diet is
ditching the dieting mindset.
Let go of the calorie phobia andscale obsession that we tend to
(33:27):
see.
I know a long time ago,especially in the nineties, it
was just like, oh, low caloriecalories.
And it wasn't about.
What type of calories are weactually consuming?
So the calorie phobia, beingafraid of calories, which is
actually just energy.
The unit of calorie is a unit ofenergy for our body.
And take shifting the mindsetand perspective to.
(33:49):
I'm giving my body more energyto live and keep the lights on
in the house.
And of course I know wementioned the scale obsession,
so that's going to be.
Really big as if the scale isvery triggering, maybe only,
jump on the scale once a week,if not twice a week, or none at
all, just depending on whereyou're at mindset wise but
(34:10):
really shifting the focus tofueling your body and not
restricting it any longer.
For so long, dieting culture hasbeen restrict restrict when the
reverse is the complete oppositeof that, where we want you to
feel your body.
We want you to provide it withnutrients intentional nutrients
of carbs, proteins, and fats inorder to keep the lights on, but
(34:32):
also to.
To reach your goals and be ableto get a good balance of
nutrition.
The scale is something that, youdo want to track during reverse.
It can still be a great tool.
I would pick it as anopportunity to learn about your
body's biometric trends withsodium, exercise, menstrual
cycles, even alcoholconsumption.
(34:54):
These are just a few things thattend to influence our body's
weight and it's okay.
So my weight fluctuates 4 poundsper day.
That includes, the one thing Ididn't include on that original
list was, just processing youryour digestive schedule when
there is more body when there'smore food moving through your
(35:14):
body your body is going to havea different biometric read.
I believe for every gram ofwater or sorry, every gram of
carb that our body.
Consumes.
We retain three grams of water.
And taking into account thatlittle statistic there, your
body will increase in weightjust because you're going to be
(35:37):
more than likely increasing yourcarbs.
If you're when you are doingthat reverse diet.
Very rarely have we seen itwhere in a reverse people.
Don't change the thing abouttheir carbs.
Usually it's bringing up theircarbs.
And even if the scale does go upmore than likely, most of that
weight is just going to be yourbody holding on to more water
and that's perfectly normal,your body's just holding on to
(35:59):
more water for, yeah, as awhole, just think about this as
the time to optimize yournutrition versus just eating
more and increasing calories.
Really optimize where your foodis coming from and acknowledge
the wins during this dietingmindset.
The dieting mindset can be verytricky, and it's probably 1 of
the biggest things that can holdsomeone back and getting in
(36:20):
their way of their own success.
Acknowledging your wins alongthe way is going to be huge.
So those wins non scale related,better sleep, you're better
nutrition.
You're feeling your body better.
You feel better, yourconsistency, especially if
you're getting off that rollercoaster, better energy, and just
in general, forming betterhabits than maybe you have
(36:42):
before.
All that to say the number onthe scale is not the only
measure for success butespecially in reverse diet.
So any other thoughts on that,Joe?
Yeah, I think in retrospect, the1st time that I actually reverse
dieted, I didn't know that'swhat was happening.
I went to, I was working with acoach and so I was so frustrated
(37:05):
with just basically the resultsof my nutrition and exercise
habits that I was just willingto turn it over to someone else.
And I, we didn't do like macroor calorie tracking.
She just gave me a food plan.
And I remember thinking like,wow, this is a lot of food.
I honestly don't know if like itwas more calories or less
(37:26):
calories, but I know the mindsetthat I went into while working
with that coach was like, I'mgoing to let her optimize
everything.
I'm going to let her optimize mynutrition.
I'm going to let her optimizelike my exercise habits.
And then we're just going to seewhat happens.
So I really.
It was just, it was a real shiftin mindset.
I didn't worry about thecalories that she was giving me.
(37:46):
And honestly, every good coachthat I've worked with that's
like a physique coach or, that'sthe goal is to improve your
physique.
They usually start you out byjust loading you up with tons of
good nutrition.
It doesn't typically start withjust like yanking everything out
and putting you into starvationmode.
Just really think of it, maybeinstead of oh, I'm increasing my
calories and no, what's going tohappen?
(38:08):
You know what?
No, for once in my life, I'mjust going to optimize my
nutrition to my energy output.
And we're going to see how mybody does.
And usually you will be prettyastounded at the results.
So that's my best.
Advice or mindset hack onreverse dieting is maybe don't
think of it necessarily asincreasing calories, but more
just like optimizing nutrition.
(38:30):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I think.
The more that can be focused onthe more positive.
I love that perspective.
You had the better off you'regoing to be versus if it is just
going to be focused on if you'relaser focus with blinders on.
Going into the process, it canalmost be a little bit.
(38:51):
hindering along the process.
The last piece of advice I wouldsay is make sure you stay
active.
So I've had clients in a reversediet where it's wonderful to eat
more food and it feels good toeat more food.
But the activity piece tends to,fall aside at where that
activity habit does not getincluded.
(39:13):
And it's important to keep inmind in a reverse that this is
going to be a lifestyle changeif you're not currently active.
So incorporating regularphysical activity with the
weight lifting and steps, forinstance those are going to be 2
important elements to, to also.
(39:34):
Taken to the process.
Because if we it would be aperfect world, right?
If we didn't have to be activeand we could just eat all this
food.
That's just not the way ourbodies work.
And our bodies are meant tomove.
Oftentimes sedentary lifestylestend to lead to more injuries
over time because if our musclesaren't used well, that our
(39:58):
muscles are also going todwindle away.
So if you don't use it, you loseit.
You lose those muscle fibers andyour ability.
To become more mobile, to behave more stability for doing
things like hikes or evenwalking around the grocery
store, those different thingsthat are just daily activities.
Incorporating that regularphysical activity with the
reverse is still going to be anecessary part.
(40:21):
Yeah, it just, avoiding thatsedentary routine during the
diet reverse dieting process isgoing to be.
1 of the 1 of the other things Iwould mention.
They all go ahead.
Joe.
Yeah, I think the best again,this is going to be like a
mindset or a lifestyle shift.
And so typically people who arereverse dieting they're wanting,
(40:42):
they're doing this to improvetheir overall health.
Maybe they're frustrated becausethey can't lose weight anymore.
But typically, the way they'rethinking about it is.
There's a vanity piece, but alsoI want to get healthy.
And so you just have to realizethat there is no such thing as a
sedentary lifestyle that ishealthy.
It doesn't really have so muchto do with the weight, but like
(41:02):
there, there just is no suchthing.
Like we were meant to move.
We were not meant to be couchpotatoes.
And so this is just, exercise isreally a non negotiable.
And so maybe as you're switchingout your, Nutrition habits.
It's also time to switch out theexercise habits if you were
doing nothing before.
And this is not oh, I'm justgoing to exercise while I do my
(41:24):
reverse diet.
No, I hate to break it to you,but like you really need to be
thinking about incorporatingyour exer or exercise into your
life on a regular basis fromhere on out.
It will help you reap thebenefits of a reverse diet,
especially if you were doingnothing before.
But, just like we're not goingto go back to 1200 calorie days
and the calorie roller coaster.
(41:44):
You would not want to reversediet and do all that work to go
back to that lifestyle.
You're also not going to, you'regoing to give up the sedentary
lifestyle.
You will feel a ton better.
You're, you just will.
And there just is no such thingas a healthy sedentary
lifestyle.
On the other hand, I don't wantyou to think of it in terms of
I'm eating more, so I'm going tocompensate by moving more.
(42:05):
They're they're related, butdon't think of it as a calorie
in calorie out sort of thing.
Because that can drive you crazytoo.
So you're just going to, inaddition to incorporating and up
leveling your nutrition habits,you're also going to up level
your exercise habits during thisprocess.
Again, if you.
Go about your reverse diet ofoh, goody, just, I just need to
(42:26):
eat more.
It doesn't matter where mycalories come from and I'm going
to continue, not moving much, orI don't have time to move.
You were, you will very much notlike the results of your reverse
diet.
That's, it's not going to be theresult that you're looking for.
Okay.
Any other tips?
Yeah, I would just say one more.
I would say if I were to go backin time and, see reverse
(42:50):
sighting on, the internetsomewhere, probably Instagram, I
would not have trusted myself togo through their process alone
because I would have been like,all right, I'm going to do this
for three weeks and if it's,nothing's really changing, then
I'm just going to go back to theway things were before.
So if you are very similar tothe way I thought I would be, I
(43:16):
highly recommend getting a coachbecause it is, it helps your
mindset so much and it alsohelps you trust the process so
much more.
By having a coach in your cornerto be like, nope, yep, you're
doing the right things or italso helps you with
accountability to identify Whereyour current habits are and does
(43:37):
it align with where your goalsare?
So I highly recommend getting acoach if you don't feel
confident enough to do this onyour own, or if you're left to
your own devices, I feel likeyou would, probably not follow
through within, 3 weeks.
Yeah, probably go my last pieceof advice there.
Yeah, I totally echo that.
I remember 1st time I reversedieted intentionally, like,
(43:58):
where I was just told, no you'regoing to get your calories up to
2000 a day.
There's.
There's no other path for youAnd then I think at one week, or
there was like one week where Igot gained two pounds and I
freaked out and I remember justbeing like, I'm, talking to my
coach like this.
I can't do this like this.
And she just was like, this isnothing, you need to stay on the
(44:20):
path.
The scale ended up going down,but it really would've abandoned
ship.
It just would not, it would nothave been a successful process,
either because I would haveabandoned it.
How I reverse dieted would havebeen very wonky in terms of what
I was eating that sort of thing.
And it's just helpful to have areality check and someone
(44:42):
telling you like, Nope, you'redoing it exactly right.
Your body's responding the way Ithink it should.
And just to help you through Thedifferent changes your body
might go through as you gothrough this process.
So definitely think thatespecially if you are someone
that is very, has a kind of adisordered relationship with
calories, with food with yourbody, which honestly, at this
(45:03):
point, I am convinced as mostwomen but I, we've helped so
many women who just had, likeall calories were bad eating was
bad.
The less.
You could eat the better itreally, you, it takes some work
to get out of that mindset.
But you will never breakthrough.
You'll be caught in a horriblecycle if you don't.
So definitely recommendcoaching.
(45:26):
And so on that note, I think.
I think that's all we have fortoday.
So thanks for tuning in.
And just remember really reversedieting is a lot more than just
about eating more or adding morecalories.
It really is about giving yourbody the resources it needs to
thrive.
Any conclusory thoughts fromyou, Leanne, about just the
whole process of reversedieting.
(45:48):
Yeah, I would say it's been agame changer for me and my life
and my lifestyle.
If you're wondering if this isright for you, I would highly
recommend just to stop secondguessing yourself and just do
it, get with us, get withsomeone you trust.
It is something that is animmense improvement for quality
of life that you can take withyou for the rest of your life.
(46:10):
Yeah, it's just going to helpyou build a stronger, healthier,
and more resilient body and setyou up for long term success.
So please share this episodewith anyone that you think might
find it helpful and feel free toleave us review.
And like we said, if you thinkyou need to reverse diet, or
this sounds interesting, orsounds like you, and you want
help, please check out our oneon one coaching program.
(46:32):
There are links to it in theshow notes.
We have helped.
I would say at least half of ourclients come to us and need to
spend some time reverse dieting.
So it's something that we'vehelped a lot of women with with
really good results and goodsuccess.
So please check that out.
We also do have a 79 do ityourself course and links to
that are in the show notes aswell, where you can reverse diet
(46:53):
yourself.
We show you how to set up yourmacros.
There's a workout plan in thatcourse.
So that's another option.
And then, as I mentioned we aregiving away a free.
Free fast food guide, a highprotein fast food guide.
If you are going to go aboutthis yourself definitely
recommend getting that becauseit will give you some clues as
to what to order at restaurantsthat again, isn't just like junk
(47:18):
calories.
A link to that is in the shownotes.
I think that's all we have fornow.
So thanks for tuning in and seeyou next time.
Hi, everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome to another episode ofthe booster metabolism.
After age 30 podcast, you've gotJoe here today.
And today we're going to betackling a topic that many
people find confusing or evenscary, and it's the topic of
reverse dieting.
I'm here with our own coach,Leanne, who has helped so many
women reverse diet, and todaywe're going to explain what a
(00:23):
reverse diet is and how itreally works.
We really wanted to demystifythis process.
Many people hear about reversedieting and number 1, they might
be terrified to try it becausethey think it will make them
gain weight.
If they already think that theyare under eating, they often
think if I eat more, if I'munder eating and I can't lose
(00:43):
weight under eating, if I eatmore, there's no way I'm not
just going to gain a ton ofweight.
Or they hear about it and thinkit's some sort of magical
mystical thing that happens thatwhen you eat more, you start
losing weight.
And that is beyond explanation,but today we're going to break
it down, explain how it works,and then give some of our best
coaching tips for reversedieting in the hopes that if
(01:05):
you.
Recognize yourself in any of thethings that we described today,
or have a sense that you mightneed to reverse diet.
We will demystify the processfor you, and it will hopefully
inspire you to try reversedieting if you need to do that
to recalibrate your body.
So first, let's talk about whatreverse dieting is.
(01:26):
It is what it is the intentionalgradual increase of.
Caloric intake and doing thatwill help preserve and can even
boost your metabolism.
So it's the opposite of what wethink of when we hear the word
diet.
Traditionally in our culture,that means cutting calories with
the aim of losing weight.
Again, reverse dieting is theopposite.
(01:47):
You're increasing your caloricintake and the goals of a
reverse diet are not immediateweight loss.
Now, truth be told, some peopledo lose weight in a reverse
diet.
A lot.
Most people do lose inches.
The scale may not move thatmuch.
But that this is not the goal atall.
Weight loss.
Is not really the goal.
(02:07):
The goal is to optimize yournutrition.
So at some point, your body canrespond successfully to a future
calorie deficit to aid in fatloss.
Now, if you don't need to loseweight or you don't, your body
composition is fine.
The purpose of a reverse diet isjust to get those calories up to
help your body thrive and helpyou have more energy and feel
(02:29):
better.
But if you have weight to lose,the goal of a reverse diet is to
get your body to a point that itwill respond successfully to a
future calorie deficit.
Another goal of reverse dietingis to maintain or gain muscle
while you are, getting yourcaloric intake increased it also
helps in resetting your caloricthreshold.
(02:52):
That has many benefits again.
It will help your body respondto dieting temps better in the
future and it also reduces thestress on your body of being in
a calorie deficit.
And then the ultimate goal isthat we we increase your
calories.
with minimal weight gain andbody recomposition along the
way, meaning you gain somemuscle, maybe even lose some
(03:13):
body fat along the way.
But again, making the scale godown is not the main goal of a
reverse diet.
Any comments on any of thatLeanne in terms of what people
might think a reverse diet isand what the aim of a reverse
diet is and what it actually is.
So I think when it comes toreverse dieting, it's foreign to
(03:36):
so many people that, of course,everyone wants to lose weight.
No matter when they jump intoany program, but looking into
these items and what the actualpurposes I think is will help
set that person up for success alittle bit more mentally
preparing themselves.
Just, Kind of getting out ofthat I have to have my results
right now and accepting this iswhat it's going to take.
(04:00):
This is going to be the goalthat I need to aim towards and
this is going to be basicallythe path I need to take.
In order to get where I want tobe, so these items that you
listed accepting that these aremore than more likely the
outcomes of the reverse diet andwhat it will take to help
(04:20):
improve my health that's goingto be the hardest part, I think,
for people to accept going intoa reverse, especially since it
is, very nuanced for mostpeople.
Yeah, I think probably mostpeople hear the word diet and
think that the only.
Successful result of any sort ofdieting process is to lose
weight, and that's just notreally the aim of a reverse
(04:41):
diet.
But in terms of results thatpeople get we've worked with,
we've helped a lot of womenreverse diet, I would say, no
one gains as much weight as theythink they will.
Many people lose weight on areverse diet.
Many people don't lose or gainweight, but definitely lose
inches.
Their weight stabilizes, butthey lose inches.
(05:03):
And then I would say most peoplejust feel a whole lot better
regardless of what the scale isdoing.
Let's talk about, I want to talkabout like how reverse dieting
works when someone is losingweight and what's going on
there.
Because again, I think, it seemslike magical or mystical that
this could possibly happen, butthere, there are some real
scientific explanations as tohow this happens.
(05:26):
And I think again, anotherreason why maybe not to be
afraid of reverse dieting.
Number one reason that you mightlose weight on a reverse diet or
lose body fat is that when youstart out on the reverse diet,
you actually end up eating lessthan you were before.
And you don't realize it.
So very few people actually knowhow much they are eating unless
(05:47):
they are tracking their foodmeticulously.
And even when you're trackingthat can be 20 to 30 percent
off.
I know and I will put a plug infor this.
Now we have this fast food guidethat is in our show notes that
you can get a link to.
So when we were putting thattogether, I went to three or
four different sources to checkthe different calorie and macro
amounts for the difference.
(06:08):
Items in that fast food guideand they were all vastly
different.
Sometimes what I found in myfitness pal was, off by.
100 percent meaning it would saya food item was 500 calories.
When I went to the restaurantnutrition information, it was
1000 calories.
So things can just be off andyou don't realize it.
None of us are, calibratedenough to know this is what 1200
(06:29):
calories feels like in my body.
So for some people, when theystart reverse dieting, they
become very intentional abouttheir nutrition.
The quality of their nutritionimproves, and so they actually
end up eating less on a day today basis when they're quote
unquote reverse dieting, whichcan result in weight loss.
I have heard Many men cover thetopic of reverse dieting and
(06:52):
they always say, Oh, there's noway anyone is actually eating
1200 calories a day.
That's not true.
They're probably eating morelike 2000 calories a day that
has not been our experience.
But I will say that a lot ofpeople are maybe eating a little
bit more, or maybe they're onlyeating 1200 calories of food,
but then drinking 4 or 500calories of alcohol a day or
(07:16):
having little, snacks orhandfuls of this or that, that
really increase that caloricintake.
And so when they, again, start areverse diet, their actual
overall calorie intake goes downa bit.
So that's one way.
Reverse dieting works and canhave, you can have positive
results and actually lose weightin a reverse diet.
So that should give you hopebecause you're going to get real
(07:38):
intentional about your nutritionwhen you reverse diet.
And so the results may bedifferent than you think that
they are.
Okay, number 2, the other reasonthat you might lose weight on a
reverse diet is that it gets youoff of the calorie roller
coaster.
This is something we see a lot.
A lot of people, a lot of womenand I think this is probably
promoted to some extent by dietculture, you might.
(08:01):
Be very restrictive during theweek and so you eat very low
calorie some or most day of thedays of the week, but you're not
eating that low calorie all thetime.
Let's say, maybe you're eating,you're eating 1200 calories a
day, and you work very hard toeat 1200 calories a day Monday
through Thursday.
And then by the time you rollinto the weekend, you're tired.
(08:21):
You have some parties to go to.
You're going to go out to eatwith your husband or your
friends and then you jump up tomaybe double that.
I've seen we've seen caloriefluctuations of sometimes even
triple what you're eating duringthe week.
You're going crazy on theweekends.
And so when you go into areverse diet, you're eating more
(08:43):
during the week, but we'rebringing those calories down
during the weekend.
And what you're eatingconsistently day to day might
actually be fewer caloriesoverall, which can cause weight
loss or minimize weight gainduring a reverse diet, even
though it feels like you'reeating more most days.
And yeah, getting off thatcalorie rollercoaster and
(09:05):
getting consistent nutrition canalso result in.
In weight loss during a reversediet.
Okay, the 3rd way that a reversediet can work and actually cause
you to lose weight is that youare improving your nutrition
overall.
So not all calories are equal.
you are improving your caloriequantity when you reverse diet.
(09:27):
We'll get into this a little bitlater.
The way that you want to reversediet is you really want to
improve your nutrition.
So we're not talking aboutincreasing your calories through
wine and donuts and Oreos.
If you work with a coach or youfollow, I would say any basic
guidelines about reversedieting.
Most for most people, thequality of their nutrition
improves drastically.
(09:47):
You're probably going to beeating more protein and more
whole foods.
I know something we commonly seewith people who reverse diet is
like terror, terrified of carbs.
Maybe we'll have them starteating like some.
Oatmeal or carbs that are veryhigh quality carbs like oatmeal,
rice, potatoes that were bannedbefore because they're carby and
(10:09):
they're terrible for you.
But overall but we're replacingthings like junk food or
processed food with these wholefoods.
These whole foods, protein allhave a much higher thermogenic
effect than highly processedfood.
So that might result in someweight loss or fat burning as
well.
And again, you may just end upeating fewer calories by cutting
(10:31):
out a lot of processed food andor alcohol that might make up
more of your calories than yourealize and your body doesn't
digest as well.
And so just improving thequality of that nutrition.
I'll just put it this way.
If you just, let's say you wereeating 1, 500 calories of really
not great nutrition, highlyprocessed food, not much
(10:52):
protein, lots of alcohol, andthen you just moved that to 1,
500 calories.
Of really high qualitynutrition, lots of protein, lots
of whole foods, cut out thealcohol, cut out a lot of the
processed food.
You would probably see weightloss or at least a change in how
your body looks a lot of thebloat.
(11:13):
A lot of digestive issues wouldprobably go away.
So that can be another reasonwhy you lose weight or just
generally feel like you lookbetter after a reverse diet.
There's no way around it.
High quality nutrition helpsyour body thrive.
And you will probably feelbetter.
And so that's another way thatthat doing a reverse diet can
actually result in weight loss.
(11:35):
So that's those are thecategories that we just
discussed are like.
Just talking about the caloriesand the difference in nutrition
between a reverse diet and maybewhat you were doing before,
we're going to get into someother ways that reverse dieting
can actually result in weightloss.
But Leanne, what are yourthoughts on just changing up
that nutrition?
What have you seen with clients?
(11:56):
I know personally how reversedieting worked for me.
I gained a few pounds, but Ilost Some inches.
And I know for me, it was justgetting me off the calorie
roller coaster.
And so just, I would restrictduring the week and then just
throw everything out the windowon the weekend because I was
sick of restricting and so itjust was all equaling itself
(12:19):
out.
So when I did a reverse diet andjust, ate.
Enough every day.
I know that it really balancedout my nutrition and helped.
But so what have youexperienced?
And what do you think forclients?
You see the most in terms ofthis category of how reverse
dieting works.
So for myself, I will say that Iwent from being extremely
(12:42):
restrictive and thinking thateven fruits were bad to then
reopening my eyes to, oh, okaythese foods that are out there,
these potatoes, the pastas.
These are okay to incorporateespecially, there, there are
those type plans out there.
I know I mentioned fruit, butthere are some plans out there
(13:03):
that some way demonized fruitwhen there are so many nutrients
that are in those foods.
So reopening my eyes to insteadof complete restriction of, just
doing eggs in the morning to,doing eggs with a carb being
more intentional about that andthen increasing those whole
foods and then working in, somegoodies like an M and M ice
(13:26):
cream sandwich or something, notevery day, but still working in
those things.
It was a matter of, for melearning to get up my calories,
still being mindful of where thefood is coming from.
But really having my body takingadvantage of.
Those foods that I've been,leaving out or intentionally
leaving out because I think itwould, help reduce my weight in
(13:47):
one point or another actuallyflip my perspective to, wow,
like this is something that isachievable.
It's something that is.
realistic.
And I also in, in some way gotoff a calorie rollercoaster
myself.
So I was someone who was veryrestrictive during the week.
And then, yeah, weekends weredefinitely a free for all.
(14:07):
I know I have no idea how manycalories I was actually
consuming during the weekend,but really I would say a
combination between, stop beingso restrictive for myself.
And matching that with myactivity, cause I, my activity
was still very high, but mybody, I was just running it into
the ground and my body wasbasically running on fumes And
yeah, becoming much moreconsistent with the Calgary
(14:28):
rollercoaster.
Now I will say that while Ibecame more consistent during
the week, intentionally feelingmy body, the rollercoaster on
the weekend still somewhatcontinued as a free for all.
So that was something that I hadlearned of, Oh yes.
Consistently Monday throughSunday, it's important.
And it's not just Monday throughFriday.
(14:49):
But a lot of times with clients,I tend to see, yeah, getting off
a rollercoaster a lot insteadof, okay, overate one day.
So I need to under eat for thenext two days.
No, you don't need to do that.
It's a matter of, getting backto your plan and if you overeat
one day, then okay.
But realizing that it does take3, 500 calories to gain one
(15:09):
pound.
Yes, every once in a while, ithappens, but.
I think 1 of the biggest thingsin a reverse.
Is that consistency piece andincreasing, but then also taking
a step back and realizing.
Okay.
Maybe my weekends are somethingthat is causing this increase.
Because if we're consistentlydriving our calories up on the
(15:30):
weekend and not stayingconsistent that's a habit.
That's a habit that then leadsto a surplus over time.
So yes, that can lead toincrease there.
But oftentimes though theimproved quality, I'd say is the
biggest piece that people arelike, Oh my gosh, I can eat
tortillas.
(15:51):
I can eat potatoes and I feelfull and I actually have energy.
I think That is one of the mostrewarding pieces that I get to
hear about as a coach is peoplereleasing the guilt of these
foods, not going, out of controlwith these foods, but releasing
any kind of bad relationshipwith food.
(16:14):
And The process of improvingtheir quality of food along the
way certainly helps with that.
Yeah, I think I agree.
I think that the improvement innutrition quality is where I see
the biggest change for clients.
Again, maybe the scale isn'tdoing anything, but their waste
is coming in an inch, every fewweeks and they just are like,
(16:36):
what's going on?
I can't believe I was likeyou're not living on protein
bars anymore, or you're actuallyeating, real food.
And that changes a lot of thingsin terms of like skin hair, just
all around.
So that is my favorite part ofhelping someone through a
reverse diet is just seeing thequality of their nutrition
improve so drastically.
(16:56):
And then the other benefits thatbrings along.
So let's talk next about theother kind of way that reverse
dieting works.
So let's say that you aresomeone who truly was just
eating 12 to 1300 calories dayin and day out.
And, again, I think that you arenot probably going to experience
weight gain in that situationunless you're going overboard on
(17:18):
the weekends or a few times amonth that can definitely
happen.
But for the most part, you areeating low calorie.
day in and day out.
And so what we see when peoplereverse diet is that the reverse
dieting by like bringing up thatnutrition is they have increased
activity levels even withoutknowing it.
So we know that when peoplerestrict calories, their neat or
(17:41):
non exercise activitythermogenesis goes down.
So that's, you won't evenrealize that you fidget less.
You move less, you blink slower.
That we know that is for surethat non intentional movement
decreases when your calories godown.
And so when you bring yourcalories up, there's just more
energy for your body to engagein that and you don't even
(18:03):
realize that's happening.
So that's non-intentionalincrease in activity.
And that doesn't probablyaccount for a lot of calories
every day, but I do think itmatters for sure.
But the other thing that wenotice when when you improve
your nutrition is that, clientsactually have the energy to work
out, to go to the gym, toactually perform more intense
(18:24):
workouts.
I don't mean 3 hours of cardio.
Like when they get in the gymand lift, they actually have
energy to push that weightaround.
So they're able to lift heavier.
They may have more energy for,some shorter bursts of cardio.
They have energy to get their10, 000 steps in a day.
And then the other big piece ofthis is with the more with the
better nutrition is that theyare actually able to recover
(18:47):
from those workouts.
And I was this person beforewhen like my periods of, I don't
even know that I'm going to callit under eating, just like
shitty nutrition, pardon myFrench, in the name of being low
carb or following this or thatdiet protocol is that.
I do that I go in hit it hard inthe gym and then I inevitably
(19:07):
like I would strain something ahamstring my shoulder and then I
would be in pain and I would notrecover from that injury because
I wasn't giving my body what itneeded to recover.
And then it would sideline me.
So it was this constant cycle ofhitting it hard.
We're going to the gym hurtingmyself, then being taken out
for, I don't know, a few days toa week.
And so there just was notconsistent energy expenditure in
(19:31):
the gym that really was leadingto anything.
So that's another way that just,eating more, you can actually
end up burning more caloriesbecause you have more energy.
Do you feel like moving more?
And so that is 1 way.
Also, that reverse dietingworks.
We see, even if you perceivethat, if you're a low calorie
person, you're like, oh, no, Iwork out all the time.
(19:55):
I would guess that if we were towatch you, maybe the quality of
those workouts would not be whatyou think that they are.
Even if you're consistent withworking out.
I do think the quality ofworkouts takes a hit when you
are chronically low calories.
Just.
Yeah, so we see that but thenthe other thing we see is the
person who's the under eater nonmover.
So they don't eat much, but theyalso don't move much.
(20:17):
And that is a horrible recipefor gaining fat, losing muscle.
And so once we get that personeating more and getting in the
gym and moving more and gettingmore steps in every day and
lifting weights, their bodieschange.
Very quickly even though theyare eating more they're
compensating for it by movingmore.
So the other thing that eatingmore or getting your nutrition
(20:40):
up helps you worth is that youactually get to read the benefit
of your workouts.
So you can go to the gym andwork very hard and do lots of
things.
of lifting, but if you are notgiving your body the nutrition
to do something with thoseworkouts, like nothing really
happens.
So when you are giving your bodygood quality nutrition, you can
build muscle in the gym.
And again, your body willrecover from those workouts.
(21:04):
And that's actually when yougain the muscle fiber is during
that recovery period.
And so you actually get to reapthe benefits of your workout and
recomp your body when you aregiving your body the appropriate
nutrition to support thatactivity level.
And that extra muscle is goingto increase your metabolism.
You're going to get stronger.
So that's another way thatreverse dieting works and can
(21:25):
actually help you.
I'm going to say in thiscategory, recomp your body,
meaning gain muscle and losebody fat.
And then the final way thateating more food can actually
result in weight loss or fatloss is just overall stress
reduction on your body.
And that I don't, I haven't seenlike any scientific studies on
this.
I can't tell you exactly whathormones are impacted.
(21:47):
I imagine cortisol and some ofthe other stress hormones, but
when you are.
Not giving your body enoughnutrition.
It's very stressful on yourbody.
Even if you don't recognize itas stress but so I've just seen
this time and time again, webring someone's calories up and
I think it just reduces theoverall stress on their body of
(22:07):
under eating.
And so they're sleeping better,they're recovering better, and
their body is just willing tolet go of fat, body fat when
that stress is reduced.
The other thing that's happens,like, when you reduce that
stress of under eating is yourbody stops down regulating all
the time and really startsfunctioning optimally.
And like I said, usually peoplereport sleeping better, having
(22:30):
more energy, having betterdigestion, just everything works
better in their body when theyare getting good.
Quality, adequate nutrition.
So in these last categories,Leanne, anything that you've
noticed with clients.
Who have chosen to reverse diet.
Yeah.
Energy is definitely 1 of thebiggest things.
I would say a lot of people alsobenefit from feeling good in the
(22:54):
gym and being like, wow, I'mfeeling good.
I actually feel so much better.
And then actually when they getinto a cut, they're like, what
happened to my food?
But but yeah, when it comes tothe client's experience with
this sleep is one of the biggestthings that when people get to
the point where their stress isreduced enough, where they're
(23:15):
not running on fumes anymorethey can cut out caffeine later
on in the day because they don'tneed it anymore because they
have had.
A good night's sleep.
A lot of good domino effectshappen.
They see a great improvement intheir quality of life.
Just simple things like thatreduction of caffeine in the
afternoon that I need to cutmyself after 2 PM or else I
(23:36):
can't sleep or that they reallyneed it, then they have it.
Then it leads to more.
More energy deficits, which thenthe next day would lead to try
to go up on this up and downCalvary roller coaster of high
carbs, low carb, so I really dofeel like the balancing out of
energy levels helps people makethose more conscious decisions.
(24:00):
In the reverse into maintenanceand in.
Then when people do see thosebody recomposition increasing
their muscle, decreasing theirfat those are some of the
biggest things with the reversethat, that are great benefits
that I see clients go through.
For sure yeah, and I think alsoif you're not skipping breakfast
(24:21):
in the name of fasting and,you've got good nutrition
rolling into the afternoon, youprobably aren't going to need
that.
You're not going to rely oncaffeine and get into this
vicious, chasing energy cycle.
We hear that a lot from clients.
They just feel so much better.
They don't need their afternoonnap anymore.
1 client said I don't get sleepycat syndrome in the afternoon
anymore.
(24:41):
And that's all just from fuelingyour body properly.
Okay, so that's the, that's ourbet on demystifying how a
reverse diet works.
Okay, Leanne, do you want totalk from a coaching perspective
as to tips for success in areverse diet?
Your best advice for someonethat's going to embark on a
reverse diet?
(25:03):
Sure.
First and foremost Absolutelylook at reverse dieting as a
long-term strategy.
We put clients in a reverse foras long as it takes to be able
to get up to that healthy rangeof 1800 to 2000 calories.
This is not a, alright, I'mgonna eat for high calories for
two days or two weeks and mybody's fixed.
(25:24):
It doesn't work like that.
Setting up and accepting thatreverse dieting is going to be a
long term strategy in yourhealth.
I'm not talking about, sittingin something for two years.
You can do anything for threemonths or more if someone's had,
extreme dieting history, then itwill take a little bit longer
and your body deserves that yourbody deserves that time to
(25:46):
really repair its metabolism.
Accepting this timeline, that'sgoing to be required.
And, focusing on other thingsand then really getting in sync
with your body with some ofthose benefits we mentioned,
like the decreased stress betterenergy, those kind of things.
Is going to be veryadvantageous.
I would definitely avoid the dayto day stressing over the scale
(26:09):
fluctuations.
The scale is a cheap data point.
It's a great cheap data point,but also it's gonna be
advantageous to not Really focuson that scale number while
you're in a reverse.
It's, as long as you follow aplan and gradually increase your
calories, you're going to befine.
But avoiding stressing overthose day to day scale
(26:31):
fluctuations is going to be keyfor mostly your mindset because
mindset is the biggest piece ofthis that can.
Very easily second guess everymoment of your life while you're
in a reverse.
Avoid stressing over those dailybiometrics.
And then I would We live in likea amazon prime period where
(26:54):
everything happens in two daysSo if it's possible then ignore
the period of time that youUsually are the period of my the
period of time that you have inyour mind for measuring success.
Because this is gonna bedifferent for everyone.
But trusting your coaches andthe time that it takes and
(27:15):
trusting your process and thejourney is going to be key.
So the next thing I would, I'lljust say that's also is the
things that you usually say aremeasure success by.
So that again, the scale goingdown maybe fitting into the pair
of jeans, that's 2 sizessmaller, those typical things
that you might measure successby throw those out the window,
(27:36):
you can measure success bydifferent things.
I would measure success by, am Ifeeling better?
Am I sleeping better?
How are my energy levels?
Am I eating enough protein dayto day?
Those are things that you cancall wins.
And don't worry for a period oftime whether that's what that's
translating to on the scale.
Similar to what you said aboutjust ignore.
(27:59):
The day to day scalefluctuations for a while, but
also like ignore, I've seen somany women do this.
They'll be like I'm feelingbetter.
I'm sleeping better, but scalesthe same.
So this is all for not.
And that is just not true howyou feel how you, how much
better your nutrition improve isimproving is so much more
(28:20):
important than the scale.
And you absolutely should countthose as wins along the way.
Those are really good points,Joe.
All right, so next I'm going totalk a little bit about tips
around focusing your quality ofcalories.
When it comes to the quality ofyour calories, definitely
increase your calories withnutrient dense foods.
(28:43):
So going back to those emptycalories per se worker, if
you're eating a bunch of,Process foods.
Maybe prepackaged foods.
Maybe if you can visualize thatbetter switching those out with
those more whole foods.
Prioritize your proteins withthose whole foods as well.
Whole foods, meaning like thepotatoes, the tortillas, the
(29:04):
rice is for proteins.
If you need to increase yourproteins whole foods is always
going to be the best way to go.
Whether that be the tofu, thechicken.
The steak.
Those are always going toprovide more nutrients for your
body.
Then maybe some of theprepackaged, foods that are
going to be more supplemental.
(29:25):
I would also avoid gettingexcess calories from that, from
those from like wine or foodthat you don't prepare yourself.
So oftentimes fast food aregoing out.
They tend to add a lot morecalories just because.
It tastes good.
A lot of the oils, the cookingoils, especially and whatever
preservatives that they have inthere.
(29:46):
Of course, eating out can befun.
I know we do it once a week justbecause it's a fun break for
myself because I love cooking,but it's also fun to take a
break.
I would try to reduce the amountof fast food or that processed
food through fast food duringthe week.
And still focus on getting moreof those Whole sources of foods
at home, and a lot of this isdeveloping those habits or
(30:11):
developing skills.
So if you're not a big cooker,there's still some other
companies out there that arebecoming pretty big that they're
still going to provide wholefoods for you.
And then you don't have to doall the meal prep and stuff.
So even investing in somethinglike that tech can help you
focus on those high qualityfoods like sun basket.
I know it was 1 of them.
(30:31):
Joe, do you know of any othergood?
I don't I used to subscribe likeblue apron years ago.
And I think there are moreoptions now that are in the
maybe they, They tell you whatthe macros are, or they're like
higher protein, reasonable fat,reasonable carbs.
But, yeah, there, there arecertainly a lot of options out
there.
Yeah, definitely are that aregood.
(30:55):
Yeah.
And it's not going to be allprocessed right off the bat.
So it can somewhat be preparedfor you without.
Wasting the extra calories oneating out all the time.
Yeah.
For sure.
If you reverse diet just by Oh,great.
I can add a bunch of Oreos andwine and I'm going to add
calories through highlyprocessed kind of low value
nutrition.
You are not going to like theresults of your reverse diet.
(31:19):
It's not really just abouteating more calories that come
from anywhere.
You want to be pretty judiciousand where you're getting your
extra calories from absolutelystuff like the full fat cheeses,
even cottage cheese, potatoesrice, regular tortillas rather
than carb balanced tortillas.
(31:39):
Those are great for if you're ina fat loss phase because of all
the dietary fiber and stuffthat's in there.
But really focusing onincreasing that quality there.
I would say also while you'refocusing on the calorie quality,
this is a great time in yourreverse.
If you're like I have no ideawhat a carb, what a protein,
what a fat is.
Then this is a perfect time foryou to learn what comes from
(32:02):
where and intentionally beingable to feel your body and
rediscover your relationshipwith a lot of foods that for
whatever reason have been deemedas bad.
So during this calorie qualityuplifting, or say, or
improvement.
Great opportunity to become moresituationally aware of what
(32:23):
macronutrients come from.
Where any other thoughts onthat?
Joe?
No, I think those are all reallygood points.
When, take this as a time toreset and just really learn what
you're putting into your bodyand how your body responds to
it.
That's my and give yourself acouple of weeks.
If you are used to just eating,a protein bar for breakfast, I
(32:45):
don't know maybe a salad forlunch and a cup of soup for
dinner or something.
Yeah.
If you, when you start eatingmore a real breakfast, that's
maybe has like eggs and oatmealand and, a more balanced lunch,
you, it might take a few weeksfor your body to adjust to that.
And so just be really patientwith yourself, with your body.
(33:06):
And I promise that the qualityof nutrition, you're, you, it
will pay you back your body willthrive with that good quality
nutrition.
Absolutely.
So the next tip I would havegoing into a reverse diet is
ditching the dieting mindset.
Let go of the calorie phobia andscale obsession that we tend to
(33:27):
see.
I know a long time ago,especially in the nineties, it
was just like, oh, low caloriecalories.
And it wasn't about.
What type of calories are weactually consuming?
So the calorie phobia, beingafraid of calories, which is
actually just energy.
The unit of calorie is a unit ofenergy for our body.
And take shifting the mindsetand perspective to.
(33:49):
I'm giving my body more energyto live and keep the lights on
in the house.
And of course I know wementioned the scale obsession,
so that's going to be.
Really big as if the scale isvery triggering, maybe only,
jump on the scale once a week,if not twice a week, or none at
all, just depending on whereyou're at mindset wise but
(34:10):
really shifting the focus tofueling your body and not
restricting it any longer.
For so long, dieting culture hasbeen restrict restrict when the
reverse is the complete oppositeof that, where we want you to
feel your body.
We want you to provide it withnutrients intentional nutrients
of carbs, proteins, and fats inorder to keep the lights on, but
(34:32):
also to.
To reach your goals and be ableto get a good balance of
nutrition.
The scale is something that, youdo want to track during reverse.
It can still be a great tool.
I would pick it as anopportunity to learn about your
body's biometric trends withsodium, exercise, menstrual
cycles, even alcoholconsumption.
(34:54):
These are just a few things thattend to influence our body's
weight and it's okay.
So my weight fluctuates 4 poundsper day.
That includes, the one thing Ididn't include on that original
list was, just processing youryour digestive schedule when
there is more body when there'smore food moving through your
(35:14):
body your body is going to havea different biometric read.
I believe for every gram ofwater or sorry, every gram of
carb that our body.
Consumes.
We retain three grams of water.
And taking into account thatlittle statistic there, your
body will increase in weightjust because you're going to be
(35:37):
more than likely increasing yourcarbs.
If you're when you are doingthat reverse diet.
Very rarely have we seen itwhere in a reverse people.
Don't change the thing abouttheir carbs.
Usually it's bringing up theircarbs.
And even if the scale does go upmore than likely, most of that
weight is just going to be yourbody holding on to more water
and that's perfectly normal,your body's just holding on to
(35:59):
more water for, yeah, as awhole, just think about this as
the time to optimize yournutrition versus just eating
more and increasing calories.
Really optimize where your foodis coming from and acknowledge
the wins during this dietingmindset.
The dieting mindset can be verytricky, and it's probably 1 of
the biggest things that can holdsomeone back and getting in
(36:20):
their way of their own success.
Acknowledging your wins alongthe way is going to be huge.
So those wins non scale related,better sleep, you're better
nutrition.
You're feeling your body better.
You feel better, yourconsistency, especially if
you're getting off that rollercoaster, better energy, and just
in general, forming betterhabits than maybe you have
(36:42):
before.
All that to say the number onthe scale is not the only
measure for success butespecially in reverse diet.
So any other thoughts on that,Joe?
Yeah, I think in retrospect, the1st time that I actually reverse
dieted, I didn't know that'swhat was happening.
I went to, I was working with acoach and so I was so frustrated
(37:05):
with just basically the resultsof my nutrition and exercise
habits that I was just willingto turn it over to someone else.
And I, we didn't do like macroor calorie tracking.
She just gave me a food plan.
And I remember thinking like,wow, this is a lot of food.
I honestly don't know if like itwas more calories or less
(37:26):
calories, but I know the mindsetthat I went into while working
with that coach was like, I'mgoing to let her optimize
everything.
I'm going to let her optimize mynutrition.
I'm going to let her optimizelike my exercise habits.
And then we're just going to seewhat happens.
So I really.
It was just, it was a real shiftin mindset.
I didn't worry about thecalories that she was giving me.
(37:46):
And honestly, every good coachthat I've worked with that's
like a physique coach or, that'sthe goal is to improve your
physique.
They usually start you out byjust loading you up with tons of
good nutrition.
It doesn't typically start withjust like yanking everything out
and putting you into starvationmode.
Just really think of it, maybeinstead of oh, I'm increasing my
calories and no, what's going tohappen?
(38:08):
You know what?
No, for once in my life, I'mjust going to optimize my
nutrition to my energy output.
And we're going to see how mybody does.
And usually you will be prettyastounded at the results.
So that's my best.
Advice or mindset hack onreverse dieting is maybe don't
think of it necessarily asincreasing calories, but more
just like optimizing nutrition.
(38:30):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I think.
The more that can be focused onthe more positive.
I love that perspective.
You had the better off you'regoing to be versus if it is just
going to be focused on if you'relaser focus with blinders on.
Going into the process, it canalmost be a little bit.
(38:51):
hindering along the process.
The last piece of advice I wouldsay is make sure you stay
active.
So I've had clients in a reversediet where it's wonderful to eat
more food and it feels good toeat more food.
But the activity piece tends to,fall aside at where that
activity habit does not getincluded.
(39:13):
And it's important to keep inmind in a reverse that this is
going to be a lifestyle changeif you're not currently active.
So incorporating regularphysical activity with the
weight lifting and steps, forinstance those are going to be 2
important elements to, to also.
(39:34):
Taken to the process.
Because if we it would be aperfect world, right?
If we didn't have to be activeand we could just eat all this
food.
That's just not the way ourbodies work.
And our bodies are meant tomove.
Oftentimes sedentary lifestylestend to lead to more injuries
over time because if our musclesaren't used well, that our
(39:58):
muscles are also going todwindle away.
So if you don't use it, you loseit.
You lose those muscle fibers andyour ability.
To become more mobile, to behave more stability for doing
things like hikes or evenwalking around the grocery
store, those different thingsthat are just daily activities.
Incorporating that regularphysical activity with the
reverse is still going to be anecessary part.
(40:21):
Yeah, it just, avoiding thatsedentary routine during the
diet reverse dieting process isgoing to be.
1 of the 1 of the other things Iwould mention.
They all go ahead.
Joe.
Yeah, I think the best again,this is going to be like a
mindset or a lifestyle shift.
And so typically people who arereverse dieting they're wanting,
(40:42):
they're doing this to improvetheir overall health.
Maybe they're frustrated becausethey can't lose weight anymore.
But typically, the way they'rethinking about it is.
There's a vanity piece, but alsoI want to get healthy.
And so you just have to realizethat there is no such thing as a
sedentary lifestyle that ishealthy.
It doesn't really have so muchto do with the weight, but like
(41:02):
there, there just is no suchthing.
Like we were meant to move.
We were not meant to be couchpotatoes.
And so this is just, exercise isreally a non negotiable.
And so maybe as you're switchingout your, Nutrition habits.
It's also time to switch out theexercise habits if you were
doing nothing before.
And this is not oh, I'm justgoing to exercise while I do my
(41:24):
reverse diet.
No, I hate to break it to you,but like you really need to be
thinking about incorporatingyour exer or exercise into your
life on a regular basis fromhere on out.
It will help you reap thebenefits of a reverse diet,
especially if you were doingnothing before.
But, just like we're not goingto go back to 1200 calorie days
and the calorie roller coaster.
(41:44):
You would not want to reversediet and do all that work to go
back to that lifestyle.
You're also not going to, you'regoing to give up the sedentary
lifestyle.
You will feel a ton better.
You're, you just will.
And there just is no such thingas a healthy sedentary
lifestyle.
On the other hand, I don't wantyou to think of it in terms of
I'm eating more, so I'm going tocompensate by moving more.
(42:05):
They're they're related, butdon't think of it as a calorie
in calorie out sort of thing.
Because that can drive you crazytoo.
So you're just going to, inaddition to incorporating and up
leveling your nutrition habits,you're also going to up level
your exercise habits during thisprocess.
Again, if you.
Go about your reverse diet ofoh, goody, just, I just need to
(42:26):
eat more.
It doesn't matter where mycalories come from and I'm going
to continue, not moving much, orI don't have time to move.
You were, you will very much notlike the results of your reverse
diet.
That's, it's not going to be theresult that you're looking for.
Okay.
Any other tips?
Yeah, I would just say one more.
I would say if I were to go backin time and, see reverse
(42:50):
sighting on, the internetsomewhere, probably Instagram, I
would not have trusted myself togo through their process alone
because I would have been like,all right, I'm going to do this
for three weeks and if it's,nothing's really changing, then
I'm just going to go back to theway things were before.
So if you are very similar tothe way I thought I would be, I
(43:16):
highly recommend getting a coachbecause it is, it helps your
mindset so much and it alsohelps you trust the process so
much more.
By having a coach in your cornerto be like, nope, yep, you're
doing the right things or italso helps you with
accountability to identify Whereyour current habits are and does
(43:37):
it align with where your goalsare?
So I highly recommend getting acoach if you don't feel
confident enough to do this onyour own, or if you're left to
your own devices, I feel likeyou would, probably not follow
through within, 3 weeks.
Yeah, probably go my last pieceof advice there.
Yeah, I totally echo that.
I remember 1st time I reversedieted intentionally, like,
(43:58):
where I was just told, no you'regoing to get your calories up to
2000 a day.
There's.
There's no other path for youAnd then I think at one week, or
there was like one week where Igot gained two pounds and I
freaked out and I remember justbeing like, I'm, talking to my
coach like this.
I can't do this like this.
And she just was like, this isnothing, you need to stay on the
(44:20):
path.
The scale ended up going down,but it really would've abandoned
ship.
It just would not, it would nothave been a successful process,
either because I would haveabandoned it.
How I reverse dieted would havebeen very wonky in terms of what
I was eating that sort of thing.
And it's just helpful to have areality check and someone
(44:42):
telling you like, Nope, you'redoing it exactly right.
Your body's responding the way Ithink it should.
And just to help you through Thedifferent changes your body
might go through as you gothrough this process.
So definitely think thatespecially if you are someone
that is very, has a kind of adisordered relationship with
calories, with food with yourbody, which honestly, at this
(45:03):
point, I am convinced as mostwomen but I, we've helped so
many women who just had, likeall calories were bad eating was
bad.
The less.
You could eat the better itreally, you, it takes some work
to get out of that mindset.
But you will never breakthrough.
You'll be caught in a horriblecycle if you don't.
So definitely recommendcoaching.
(45:26):
And so on that note, I think.
I think that's all we have fortoday.
So thanks for tuning in.
And just remember really reversedieting is a lot more than just
about eating more or adding morecalories.
It really is about giving yourbody the resources it needs to
thrive.
Any conclusory thoughts fromyou, Leanne, about just the
whole process of reversedieting.
(45:48):
Yeah, I would say it's been agame changer for me and my life
and my lifestyle.
If you're wondering if this isright for you, I would highly
recommend just to stop secondguessing yourself and just do
it, get with us, get withsomeone you trust.
It is something that is animmense improvement for quality
of life that you can take withyou for the rest of your life.
(46:10):
Yeah, it's just going to helpyou build a stronger, healthier,
and more resilient body and setyou up for long term success.
So please share this episodewith anyone that you think might
find it helpful and feel free toleave us review.
And like we said, if you thinkyou need to reverse diet, or
this sounds interesting, orsounds like you, and you want
help, please check out our oneon one coaching program.
(46:32):
There are links to it in theshow notes.
We have helped.
I would say at least half of ourclients come to us and need to
spend some time reverse dieting.
So it's something that we'vehelped a lot of women with with
really good results and goodsuccess.
So please check that out.
We also do have a 79 do ityourself course and links to
that are in the show notes aswell, where you can reverse diet
(46:53):
yourself.
We show you how to set up yourmacros.
There's a workout plan in thatcourse.
So that's another option.
And then, as I mentioned we aregiving away a free.
Free fast food guide, a highprotein fast food guide.
If you are going to go aboutthis yourself definitely
recommend getting that becauseit will give you some clues as
to what to order at restaurantsthat again, isn't just like junk
(47:18):
calories.
A link to that is in the shownotes.
I think that's all we have fornow.
So thanks for tuning in and seeyou next time.
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