How to Lose Weight Without Rebounding
(End Yo-Yo Dieting For Good)
By Adrian| August 13th, 2023
If someone told you that you can eat more food without gaining weight, you probably think it sounds too good to be true.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great trade off. But isn’t this impossible?
Maybe not.
Why Maintaining Weight Loss is Difficult:
Do you know someone who may have lost a lot of weight in the past only for them to rebound and put it all back on?
Unfortunately, this is all too common because while losing weight can be a difficult thing to do, maintaining your weight loss can be even harder.
Why? When you reduce your calories, your body size (and often your weight) reduces. This means your metabolism will eventually slow down – a smaller body burns fewer calories than a bigger one.
All too often, by the time someone reaches their goal weight, the number of calories they need to eat to maintain that weight doesn’t translate into a lot of food. This can become frustrating & difficult to stick to.
What usually happens then is, once we “arrive” at the destination and reach our goal weight, we increase our calories too rapidly.
We eat way more food than we previously did when dieting and suddenly the scale starts very quickly.
This is commonly referred to as “rebounding” where we put back on the weight we lost.
This all comes from increasing our calories too rapidly after a period of dieting.
We think that once we lose the weight, we can just go back to eating as normal like we did pre-dieting. Once we regain the weight, the process begins again.
And the yo-yo cycle goes on.
Enter reverse dieting
Reverse dieting involves slowly & strategically increasing your food intake over time all in an effort to increase your metabolism.
So instead of rapidly increasing your calories after a period of dieting, reverse dieting is more of a gradual approach.
Reverse dieting will make you more likely to be able to sustain your fat loss over time.
Before we discuss how reverse dieting works, lets firstly analyse what happens after a period of dieting.
We’re gonna pretend that there’s a guy called Jack who wants to lose some weight.
Jack’s maintenance levels of calories are 2,500. This is the number of calories he needs to consume to maintain his current weight.
But Jack doesn’t want to maintain his weight, Jack wants to lose weight.
So, he reduces his calories by 20% to 2,000 calories a day.
He does this for 6 weeks.
Then he decides to reduce his calories further to 1,700 for another 6 weeks and he really begins to see some changes. He loses some weight.
However, while loss of weight on the scale occurs, it’s not the only change that happen when you drop down in weight. Other things change too:
Basic Metabolic Rate Declines:
This is the number of calories you’d need to consume if you were stay in bed all day and rest.
Your body needs calories so your brain, central nervous system, heart, kidneys, muscles etc. function properly.
Exercising Becomes More Difficult:
You have less available energy due to eating less calories.
Therefore, you’re likely to burn fewer calories from your exercise as the intensity wouldn’t be as high as normal.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) Reduces:
You’re less likely to want to walk or move around more because of your reduced calorie consumption.
Because of these changes, Jack – maintenance calories will likely reduce by 5-15%.
This means his new maintenance calories are likely going to be anywhere from 125-375 calories less than his previous maintenance.
-Jack’s Maintenance Calories Pre-Dieting: 2,500 Calories
Jack’s New Maintenance Calories Post-Dieting: 2,125 – 2,375 Calories
In other words, if you lose an extreme amount of weight, the percent drop in calories needs to reduce too.
Your lighter body will have a new maintenance level of calories than your previously heavier body.
This is where reverse dieting comes in.
If you’ve been dieting for a long time and are finally happy and ready to maintain your current level of bodyfat, reverse dieting can help increase maintenance calories.
Once you’ve reached your goal weight and physique and you want to maintain it, you need to increase your calories slowly from your deficit. If you’ve been dieting for 12 weeks, you might need to give your metabolism 12 weeks to adjust.
Reverse dieting, if executed properly will allow you to eat more food without gaining weight.
Eventually you hit a calorie intake where you feel energised, you’re performing well in the gym, you’re minimising fat gain and even adding on some muscle.
When I reverse dieted after my Photoshoot, in 8 weeks later at the end of August, I had increased my calories by over 1,000 per day yet had lost an additional 1.8Kg. This was due to reverse dieting.
My energy and strength started to increase again with the additional calories but I was able to do so without gaining excess bodyfat.
That was my goal – to regain strength with minimal fat gain.
Broadly speaking, after 12-16 weeks of dieting, it may be beneficial for you to go through a maintenance phase for a short period of time before going back to the dieting phase.
Think of this maintenance phase as a short-term break from the diet to hit a long-term goal of fat loss.
It will give your body a chance to reset and re-prepare for another dieting phase.
Your weight may increase during this maintenance phase but it doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in fat.
This is very context dependent but a maintenance phase may last for as little as 1 week to as long as 4 weeks.
It all depends on how long you’ve been dieting for and how strict you’ve been with your caloric intake during that period.
Just to recap, reverse dieting is effective once you’ve reached your goal physique and want to maintain it.
Once you’re happy with your new toned, trim & sleek physique, here’s how you maintain it:
1. Track your Calories
You need a method to track your calories.
If you’re not assessing, you’re just guessing. I’d recommend using MyFitnessPal.
2. Determine Your Maintenance Calories
Before you strategically increase your calories, you’ll need to determine what your new maintenance levels are. I did a blog post on how to find this out.
3. Determine Your Macros
I’d recommend keeping your protein high (2g per Kg of Bodyweight) and balancing out your carbs and fats.
More carbohydrates on training days. More fats on rest days.
4. Slowly Increase Calories
Your rate of progression will depend on how long you’ve been dieting. In general, it’s not a bad idea to reverse diet for the same period of time as you dieted.
So, if you’ve been dieting for 12 weeks you may need to reverse diet for 12 weeks. Start by adding 50-100 calories per week. Adjust accordingly. Again, this is context dependent.
5. Monitor Progress and Adjust
Monitor your progress and adjust as needed.
Here are some ways you can gauge your progress:
-Take tape measurements
- Weekly weigh-in
- Progress pictures
- Workout performance – increased calories should allow you to train at a higher intensity
- Energy and hunger levels – you should have more energy and not be as hungry after an increase in calories
Some people may find they can increase their calories more every week without gaining fat.
Others may find they need to space it out over longer intervals of time.
In general, it’s time to stop reverse dieting when you are comfortable with your physique because you haven’t gained much fat since you’ve dieted, you feel energised by your current calorie intake and you’re performing well in the gym.
What you do next is completely goal dependent – do I want to continue to maintain? Then eat at your maintenance.
Would I like to focus on building muscle? Then transition into a surplus.
Would I like to go through another dieting phase and lose even more weight?
Then go back into a deficit.
1. Reverse dieting is a useful strategy to implement if you’ve been dieting for a long time and are finally happy and ready to maintain your current level of bodyfat.
2.Reverse dieting is not magical and everyone is different. In order to implement it effectively, it needs to be done strategically and will require a lot of trial and error based on your progress.
3.If you’ve been dieting for a long time, it might be beneficial to go through a maintenance phase for a short period of time before going back into a dieting phase again.
References: Weller, C; “Can You Really get Better Results by Eating More?”
Depending on your goal, I have some free resources which might be of benefit to you.
If you’d like a copy of my free, 3-day Total Body Transformation Program click HERE! (Enjoy the core finisher!).
If you’d like a copy of my Free Living Lean Cookbook to prove to you that it’s possible to eat foods you enjoy and get results, click HERE.
(Try out some EPIC protein pancakes!).
And if you’d like access to my Free 7 Day Fat Loss Accelerator (which has helped some members drop up to 7lbs inside 7 days),
click HERE and it will be sent straight to your email.
I hope these free resources help you!
IIf you’d like a coach to help get you out of a routine that isn’t currently working for you and into one that will , then book your
free consultation call today to see if you’d be a good fit for my Online Coaching.
This is where having the structure and accountability of a coach comes in. I’ll help you get the results you’ve always desired and
make your journey much easier and quicker than doing it on your own.
You’re just one click away of becoming a success story.
IAdrian McDonnell is a highly specialised Personal Trainer & Online Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway, Ireland.
Previously a primary school teacher for almost 5 years, Adrian followed his passion and pursued a career in fitness after seeing first hands the results he could achieve with himself.
Although Adrian is a Personal Trainer & now Full-Time Online Transformation Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway – he not only coaches clients locally, but also nationally and internationally.
Adrian specialises in helping working professionals:
- Be confident in themselves·
- Feel more comfortable in their clothes·
- Look better in the mirror·
- Increase their energy and go for more promotions at work·
- Get fitter, leaner & stronger without following rigid meal plans·
- Go on more dates (this is a common one)·
- And feel proud of themselves for doing something they never thought was possible!
To date he has helped Transform over 500 Clients into fitter, more toned & confident individuals.
Transforming people’s lives through proper fitness, sustainable & enjoyable nutrition practices & mindset mentoring is something Adrian is truly passionate about and this is his mission in life.
Want to find out more? Contact me today & I’ll answer any questions you have.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
While the above three relate specifically to training and nutrition, this final topic related to mindset. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the test of success. What’s the test of success?
You know that feeling of accomplishment you get when you put a few “good days” back to back? For instance, Monday - Friday you’ve been eating really healthily and so you feel like rewarding yourself at the weekend? Or that sense of achievement you feel when you weigh yourself and see the scale move down and you now look forward to treating yourself.
I love those feelings too - everyone loves to win. But a mistake I made in the past was to let these wins give me a false sense of security. I justified these wins to allow myself to go binge-eating at the weekend and reverting back to my old habits. I would eat portions of food way bigger than normal. This all came off the back of getting a false sense of security from encountering a small win.
I let the test of success get to me - that temptation to “take the foot off the gas” when you experience a win instead of striving for better. It’s a fine line. So, while I’m not saying you shouldn’t take time to celebrate the wins, I am saying it’s important not to let complacency kick in when you do win. Not to allow yourself to lose your momentum and revert back to old habits.
I have lost weight before and rebounded so I know what it feels like. However, this year, I managed to lose weight and keep it off forever by focusing on the fundamentals and handling the test of success. So when you experience a win, when you start making progress, are you going to become comfortable and coast? Or are you going to continue to do the fundamentals that led to your success in the first place? This has been one of the biggest changes I’ve made this year – in my mindset.
Remember, losing weight is one skill to master, but creating a lifestyle change where you can learn how to sustain it and keep it is another skill entirely in itself. Being aware of the test of success and following the fundamentals is the final (and perhaps most important) way to stay lean year round.
Thank you for reading – I hope you learned something new and got some value from this.
If you did get value from it, please pay the fee. What's the fee?
If you find this content valuable (maybe you learned something new or are going to implement a new practice) then please share my blog post with a friend or on your social stories and tag me on Instagram (@McLifestyleFitness).
For such a small act that doesn't cost anything, it really helps me reach more people and spread the word on how to optimise your health and fitness.
I don’t run ads towards my blog posts, everything I’ve done to date has been done organically from people like you reading spreading the good word. I’d appreciate your continued support.
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