30 Seconds SummaryMetabolic Adaptation and Reverse Dieting (Part 2)
- Metabolic adaptation during dieting can lead to body fat overshooting, but techniques like refeeds, small caloric adjustments, and diet breaks can help minimize this effect.
- Refeeds involve temporarily increasing calories to improve workout performance and provide a mental break, though evidence on their impact on metabolic rate is not strong.
- Small caloric adjustments and increasing activity can help overcome plateaus in weight loss without significantly lowering metabolic rate.
- Diet breaks consist of raising caloric intake to maintenance levels for 1-3 weeks to normalize hormone levels and metabolic rates, facilitating continued weight loss upon resumption.
- Mini-reverse diets extend the increase in calories over 1-2 months, gradually working up food intake similarly to full reverse diets.
- After dieting, reverse dieting involves slowly increasing food intake and reducing cardio to manage weight regain and normalize metabolic rates.
- The rate of reverse dieting should be tailored, with faster increases potentially needed for individuals coming out of extremely lean stages or individuals struggling with consistency.
- Reverse dieting aims not to lose weight but to mitigate rapid weight regain and the associated negative metabolic impacts of being excessively lean or rapidly regaining weight.
- A general guideline for reverse dieting is to increase calories by 10-20% and decrease cardio initially while adjusting based on individual progress and weight changes.
- Occasionally, weight loss can occur early in a reverse diet due to still being in a caloric deficit, decreased cortisol levels from less cardio, increased NEAT, or less stress about dieting.
Biolayne
Peter Fitschen
