Can You “ByPass” the Maintenance Phase of a Reverse Diet?

I often get asked if someone can hypothetically “bypass” the maintenance period after a reverse diet. ⠀

The problem with this is if you don’t stay in maintenance after you work hard on a reverse diet (usually for months), you risk losing all your hard work and progress. That’s because when you cut too soon, the body has no time to acclimate to your new maintenance threshold in calories. ⠀

In other words, you have to give your body, and metabolism, time to catch up and strengthen. ⠀

You typically want to stay in maintenance equal to the amount of time you’ve been in a deficit. So if you were cutting calories for 6 months, you want to maintain it for 6 months.

To put it simply, the longer you stay out of a deficit, the better your results will be when you drop yourself back into one. So be patient! I know it’s tough but stay in maintenance (and maybe even a slight surplus) for a while, work on getting stronger and supporting your metabolism!

Prioritize sleep, managing stress and eating well balanced home cooked meals.

When we balance our hormones we’re also balancing our metabolism. Think thyroid. And many people don’t know this but being in a deficit is a major stress on the body.

Moral of the story: It’s OK to not always be dieting. Especially so soon after reversing.

Be patient. Trust the process.

Remember: your metabolism is not broken- it’s just adapted!

If this all sounds confusing, don’t stress. Contact me with your questions!