Thank you for all the kind messages about my grandma the other day. She really is incredible. I just love her very much. She is an amazing women. Watching her at 92 truly motivates me to take care of myself that much more. I want to be healthy and happy well into my 90s. I want to live my best life for many, many years to come. Healthy inside and out. We have one body, one life be our best selves.

Reverse dieting is one of my most commonly requested topics. I get so many questions regarding reverse diets. What is it? How did you do it? You began eating more and lost weight, huh? So, I thought it was about time to share my experience with all of you. Remember not everyone’s body will respond the same way, we are all different. My body loved reverse dieting, my body cherished and needed the extra macros/calories. My body loves all the FOOD. For my little 5’2″ frame 2400 calories is A LOT.

I hope this post answers all of your questions. If not please feel free to contact me, I am here to help you be your best self. I want you to fall in love with taking care of yourself.

What is reverse dieting:

Simply stated, it is the act of upping your calories. The process of slowly reversing out of a calorie deficit and possibly into a calorie surplus.

I reverse dieted (little by little upping my carbs and fats each week) for about a year and loved it. I probably could have kept going (continue upping my macros/calories), but I felt satisfied in my results both with my body and caloric level. After reversing I transitioned into maintenance (maintaining my weight and macros – protein, carbs, fats). I came to a point where I felt I was eating enough. Some days I felt as though I was eating simply to hit my macros, I was eating unneeded food (not my favorite feeling). I have been pretty much maintaining for the past year and a half. Yes this is a great phase to be in, but also not my favorite stage. I love setting goals and maintenance is pretty much cruise control.

I am just not a cruise control type of girl.

My Reverse Dieting Journey

My style of reverse dieting is what one would call extremely conservative. At the early stages I continually upped my carbs and fats each week (only about 5-10 grams each). However, once my calories began to escalate, I slowed the intensity down a bit. Meaning, I would keep my macros steady for an extra week or two before increasing them again. By doing this, my body was able adjust to the higher macros over a longer period of time. This enabled my body to put on less fat, throughout the reverse process. I didn’t want to shock my system, I wanted to try to keep the amount of fat I gained to a minimum. 

*Everyone has their own way of reversing this is what worked for me.

I have been reversing and maintaining for over 2 years now. Throughout, the past year I have been maintaining. During my reverse I increased my caloric intake from 1400 calories to 2400 calories. Believe it or not I actually weigh less now than I did at the start of my reverse in July of 2017. Right now I feel AMAZING and I may very well transition back into a reverse diet to allow more muscle growth. Basically, begin eating a little above maintenance, eat in surplus. More muscle = higher metabolism which equates in a higher macro/caloric intake. Muscle is always a good thing. I will keep you updated.

As I said earlier, maintaining is not my favorite stage. I feel as though I am not working toward anything in particular. I am very goal oriented and feel a little lost without one. I think I am ready for another goal, I am just not sure what I want to focus on just yet. I know I don’t need fat loss, so muscle gain may be the next step. For now, I am simply working on stabilizing my hormones and healing myself from the inside out, this is a feat in and of itself. Healing the mind may be the most difficult process.

*Post coming soon on my road to stabilizing my hormones and healing whole self, mind and body.

Remember when we aren’t nourishing our bodies with enough quality food we can’t function to our full potential. Our bodies cannot run on empty, you must fuel your body well. Remember, you only have one body, one life you are worth it. Take care of yourself.

Take care of your body it’s the only place you have to live.

– Jim Rohn

I am beyond grateful to avatarnutrtion.com for everything they have taught me and continue to teach me throughout this journey. Once I started macro counting my urges to binge disappeared, this was the turning point of my relationship with food. I no longer saw food as good or bad, it’s simply carbs, fats, and protein. This is a much better approach to eating for me. This is a much better way a living.

My macro counting journey took off in December of 2016. I began working with Quincey from iheartmacros and she was amazing. She helped me every step of the way. I truly had no idea what a macro was when I first began, I was so confused. At that time I wanted to lose a little weight to reveal my muscle from all my workouts. Therefore, we began with a 12 week cut, then started upping my macros slowly and I transitioned to a full reverse. The rest is history.