Metabolism Rehabilitation: A DIY Reverse Dieting Guide
Metabolism Rehabilitation: Important Terms to Know
Metabolism Rehabilitation: An Overview
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Learning How to Count Macros/IIFYM
Step 3: Baselining & Training
Step 4: Calculating Your Individual Macros
Step 5: Reverse Dieting
Step 6: Planning Your Goals
Metabolism Rehabilitation: An Overview
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Learning How to Count Macros/IIFYM
Step 3: Baselining & Training
Step 4: Calculating Your Individual Macros
Step 5: Reverse Dieting
Step 6: Planning Your Goals
Step 5: Reverse Dieting
Ah, reverse dieting. Sounds great on paper. But how the heck do you actually do it?
It’s really NOT hard. At all. Yet people pay tons of money hiring other people to tell them exactly what I am about to tell you. If little old me, Cait Roberts, can do it completely on my own – SO CAN YOU. Here’s how:
Start your own “Macro Experiment”
Make a chart that looks like mine! You can obviously leave off the bodyfat % unless you feel so inclined to measure yours. Here’s a sample of what my actual chart looks like:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
8.13.14 110 16.0 117 161 34 1,418 (+58)
8.6.14 110 15.7 117 151 32 1,360 (+58)
7.30.14 109.5 15.5 117 141 30 1,302 (+58)
7.23.14 110.5 15.7 117 131 28 1, 244 (+18)
7.16.14 109 15.0 117 131 26 1,226 (+58)
7.9.14 109 14.9 117 121 24 1,168 (+49)
7.2.14 110 15.6 117 111 23 1,119 (+49)
6.25.14 110.5 15.4 117 101 22 1,070 (+40)
6.18.14 110 16.1 117 91 22 1,030 (+43)
6.11.14 112.5 16.8 117 81 20 987 (+40)*
START 117 77 19 947
Every week you will add in calories to your daily caloric intake. You will be adding CARBS and FAT. Protein should stay the same. The key is to add calories at a rate in which your bodyweight remains constant. You may even lose a little weight. This is fine. You just don’t want to GAIN weight. Monitoring your weight throughout the reverse diet is KEY.
Start by adding in 2-3% of your calories. Since every body is so different, it is best to start off being conservative. So in Anna Banana’s case from Step 4, at 1,260 calories she should add in about 38 calories (3% of 1,260). She could start by adding about 5g carbs and 2g fat. You are going to want to keep your fat always between 20-30% of your total calories so you will be adding mostly carbs and a few grams of fat here and there.
If you are not gaining weight adding 5g of carbs and 1-2g of fat per week, you may want to increase to 10g of carbs and 1-2g of fat. You may be able to add even more per week depending on how your body handles it. As I said, the key during all of this is to NOT gain weight.
Once you start to gain weight, you should hold off on adding in macros for a week or so for your body to reach homeostasis again. The next week, you may want to begin increasing again, but with fewer calories. Here is an example scenario:
Anna Banana’s Reverse Diet
Week Weight Carbs Protein Fat
1 110 115 121 35
2 110 120 121 37
3 109.5 130 121 39
4 110 140 121 41
5 111 150 121 43
6 113 150 121 43 (hold off this week due to weight gain)
7 111 155 121 44
8 111 160 121 45
Continue this process until you max out your metabolic rate. In other words, keep adding in calories every week until you hit a maximum caloric intake. This “threshold” is determined when you start to gain significant weight (1-2% of your bodyweight). You can continue to add in calories for however long you’d like. It just depends on if you are personally comfortable with gaining weight.
For me personally, I will probably continue to add in calories until I gain 2-3 pounds max. Then I will do a “mini cut” (reducing calories by about 10-15% for a short period of time) followed by another reverse diet. I will probably do a few cycles of this just to see what happens because I am a nerd. My personal goal is to get my metabolism as high as possible and set myself up to be able to maintain a lean/muscular physique year round. This is just my personal goal, so you should do whatever YOU want to do!
Check out all of my stats and blog entries about my stats to see exactly how many grams of carbs and fats I added per week and why I added them. This will help you understand how to do it on your own and get a better sense of when and how much to add based on my model.
Alright! One final step… planning your goals (Step 6)!
It’s really NOT hard. At all. Yet people pay tons of money hiring other people to tell them exactly what I am about to tell you. If little old me, Cait Roberts, can do it completely on my own – SO CAN YOU. Here’s how:
Start your own “Macro Experiment”
Make a chart that looks like mine! You can obviously leave off the bodyfat % unless you feel so inclined to measure yours. Here’s a sample of what my actual chart looks like:
Date Weight (lb) BF% Protein (g) Carbs Fat Total Cal
8.13.14 110 16.0 117 161 34 1,418 (+58)
8.6.14 110 15.7 117 151 32 1,360 (+58)
7.30.14 109.5 15.5 117 141 30 1,302 (+58)
7.23.14 110.5 15.7 117 131 28 1, 244 (+18)
7.16.14 109 15.0 117 131 26 1,226 (+58)
7.9.14 109 14.9 117 121 24 1,168 (+49)
7.2.14 110 15.6 117 111 23 1,119 (+49)
6.25.14 110.5 15.4 117 101 22 1,070 (+40)
6.18.14 110 16.1 117 91 22 1,030 (+43)
6.11.14 112.5 16.8 117 81 20 987 (+40)*
START 117 77 19 947
Every week you will add in calories to your daily caloric intake. You will be adding CARBS and FAT. Protein should stay the same. The key is to add calories at a rate in which your bodyweight remains constant. You may even lose a little weight. This is fine. You just don’t want to GAIN weight. Monitoring your weight throughout the reverse diet is KEY.
Start by adding in 2-3% of your calories. Since every body is so different, it is best to start off being conservative. So in Anna Banana’s case from Step 4, at 1,260 calories she should add in about 38 calories (3% of 1,260). She could start by adding about 5g carbs and 2g fat. You are going to want to keep your fat always between 20-30% of your total calories so you will be adding mostly carbs and a few grams of fat here and there.
If you are not gaining weight adding 5g of carbs and 1-2g of fat per week, you may want to increase to 10g of carbs and 1-2g of fat. You may be able to add even more per week depending on how your body handles it. As I said, the key during all of this is to NOT gain weight.
Once you start to gain weight, you should hold off on adding in macros for a week or so for your body to reach homeostasis again. The next week, you may want to begin increasing again, but with fewer calories. Here is an example scenario:
Anna Banana’s Reverse Diet
Week Weight Carbs Protein Fat
1 110 115 121 35
2 110 120 121 37
3 109.5 130 121 39
4 110 140 121 41
5 111 150 121 43
6 113 150 121 43 (hold off this week due to weight gain)
7 111 155 121 44
8 111 160 121 45
Continue this process until you max out your metabolic rate. In other words, keep adding in calories every week until you hit a maximum caloric intake. This “threshold” is determined when you start to gain significant weight (1-2% of your bodyweight). You can continue to add in calories for however long you’d like. It just depends on if you are personally comfortable with gaining weight.
For me personally, I will probably continue to add in calories until I gain 2-3 pounds max. Then I will do a “mini cut” (reducing calories by about 10-15% for a short period of time) followed by another reverse diet. I will probably do a few cycles of this just to see what happens because I am a nerd. My personal goal is to get my metabolism as high as possible and set myself up to be able to maintain a lean/muscular physique year round. This is just my personal goal, so you should do whatever YOU want to do!
Check out all of my stats and blog entries about my stats to see exactly how many grams of carbs and fats I added per week and why I added them. This will help you understand how to do it on your own and get a better sense of when and how much to add based on my model.
Alright! One final step… planning your goals (Step 6)!
