Have you just started a reverse diet? Maybe you are in the thick of it. Regardless of where you are in your journey, it can be hard at times to know if you are on track. Likewise, there can be false indicators that it is not working if you are not familiar with the process. Below are five perspectives to validate that you are doing great on your reverse diet.
Reverse Diet Perspective #1: Hunger and Satiation
As you slowly up your caloric intake, your body will begin to adapt and adjust to the increase in nutrients. Likewise, you will get a better sense of what hunger and satiation are.
Biologically, we have hunger cues and satiety cues that tell us our body needs more food or that it’s had enough. Unfortunately, many suffer from the throws of diet culture and have dieted for so long that they have lost touch with these hunger cues.
I can easily say I’ve struggled with this in the past. It’s one of the many reasons why I started a reverse diet. Through the process, you are making calculated decisions about your nutritional needs in order to improve your metabolism and achieve maintenance.
By doing this, you learn to bridge the gap between your body’s metabolic needs and your brain’s ability to recognize them. It does not happen immediately, but as you embrace the process and stick to it, it comes naturally.
Reverse Diet Perspective #2: Strength
I mention it in my post about the Reverse Diety Trinity, but having a solid training program is crucial to your success on a reverse diet. Assuming you are sticking to a training, ideally strength-focused, program, you will reap the benefits of your workouts because of your fuel.
In the past, I used to work out a lot. I remember when I was applying for business school I would work out from 5-6 am and then study for an hour before work, it was as awful as it sounded. But even worse was that I was not eating enough and it was not quality.
I remember skipping breakfast, otherwise known as intermittent fasting, and eating skimpy salads for lunch with cucumbers and carrots for snacks. Dinners were probably a few chicken strips and veggies. I was hungry all of the time. Well, it sucked and all of that working out I did was in vain. I struggled to up my weights and didn’t even bother trying to hit PRs.
Fast forward many years later and while going through my reverse diet I was crushing my goals. Yes, there were some initial newbie gains, but even as I was moving past the newbie gains, I still was seeing a positive trend in my strength.
As you continue on your reverse diet and training program, you will notice that upping your weights or exerting yourself a little more is more manageable. It shouldn’t be easy, now that wouldn’t be challenging, but you should feel able to progressively overload over time. Likewise, there is no set rate for how fast you will improve your strength. But no matter how long it takes, if you are slowly or quickly improving, that is still an improvement!
Reverse Diet Perspective #3: Rest
Something about going to bed with a satisfied belly is so comforting. Have you ever gone to bed hungry? I hope not. Many of us are fortunate not to and it is a blessing. So in that spirit, going through a reverse diet generally ensures that you won’t.
If your body is getting adequate nutrition and you are on a training program, likewise you will have a better time sleeping. I can personally attest to having improved sleep since starting. Before my reverse diet, I probably averaged 6-6.5 hours of sleep a night. I now average 7-8 hours a night.
Likely, as you improve your nutrition and training, you will sleep more soundly at night. Like anything, it won’t happen overnight *pun intended* but as you progress if you notice your sleep is improving, that is a great sign.
Reverse Diet Perspective #4: Body Composition
This ties well into my post about weight gain or plateauing. But if you stop focusing on the scale and focus on biofeedback that is indicative of your body composition, you will realize your reverse diet efforts are for the better.
It is possible that your weight will not budge or it could possibly go up. That can be scary to think about for many people. But I promise that can be a great thing. Instead, focus on the physical changes that are not arbitrary “I decided I need to weigh ### much.”
Recognize how your body physically changes in ways that can be indicative of muscle growth and fat loss. Are your measurements (i.e. waist, hips, arms, thighs) staying roughly the same? Are your clothes fitting looser in some areas (waist, belly) and maybe a bit tighter in others (arms, thighs)? Or are they exactly the same? Do you look more muscular? Do you feel stronger? If you can answer yes to one or all of these, more often than not your body has recomposition.
Don’t know what that means? Essentially your body composition (muscle vs. fat for simplicity’s sake) has transitioned the percentage makeup of each. Meaning you have burned more fat (fat percentage went down) and increased muscle (muscle percentage went up). You can also body recomposition in the opposite direction. But if you are following a reverse diet with consistency, likely you will recomposition for the better.
Keep in mind that body composition is not easily reflected on the scale. You could increase muscle and burn more fat, but your weight stays the same or even goes up because of the increase in muscle mass.
Reverse Diet Perspective #5: Mental Health
This was a huge one for me. Call it what you want, but healing your relationship with food and how you show love to your body can be life-changing. Reverse dieting is a form of self-love. It also can be very hard. Eating more food goes against much of what diet culture had taught us.
Yes, eating in a deficit can cause weight loss, but it does not retain muscle well especially if it has been chronic, i.e. for several months or longer. When I first started my reverse diet I was eager. Soon I was discouraged by intrusive thoughts telling me I’m going to put on fat and this will be a disaster.
I used my support system via my coach, partner, and best friend to help validate me and listen to my concerns. I highly recommend having a tight network that will support you through your journey. As I stuck with it, it got easier. I began truly believing in what I was doing and loving how my body was changing. It was different and unknown at first, but I began to fall in love with the process and am so proud of myself for it.
False Indicators
As you recognize these perspectives that encourage you along your reverse diet journey, keep in mind the following are false indicators. Meaning, they are not indicative of your level of success.
Weight
This ties into the perspective of body composition. If your weight is going up or even down (it can happen for some people) that does not mean you are unsuccessful. Gaining weight is likely an indication of muscle growth, losing weight, especially if you have been increasing in strength, is likely an indication that you are losing the fat that may have been in excess in your body.
For more information, read my post about why not losing weight can be a great thing.
Fullness
This was an interesting piece of biofeedback I learned about. The only times I ever really felt full were during holidays or special occasions when I allowed myself to indulge. But feeling full every day? That was new for me and honestly uncomfortable at first. Truly, you shouldn’t feel starved, or overly full for that matter. If you are gradually increasing your calories, then it is a good thing to feel full. Similar to the perspective above, this process will help you relearn your natural hunger and satiety cues.
Slowing Physical Progress
This can apply to strength or biofeedback such as weight and measurements. If you hit the ground running in the beginning and make huge immediate strides it can be discouraging when they start to slow down. But that is totally normal.
If you were increasing in strength exponentially, you would be the Hulk before you know it. Realistically that’s not going to happen.
What will happen is you will still progress, but it may not be as quick as when you started. Like the other false indicators, this is totally normal and okay. It means your body is adapting and what you are doing is sustainable.
Quick Recap
These reverse diet perspectives are important to keep in mind as you go through your journey. All of these are positive indicators of success:
- Hunger and Satiation
- Strength
- Rest
- Body Composition
- Mental Health
Likewise, keep in mind that the following are not indicative of your level of success:
- Weight
- Fullness
- Slowing Physical Progress
I hope you found these helpful as you embark on your reverse diet journey. If you have other helpful perspectives or questions, please comment below!
