How to Repair Your Metabolism So You Can Keep Losing Weight
"I'm working out and eating healthy whole foods but I can't lose any more weight."
"I'm eating healthy and running a lot but nothing's happening."
"No matter what I do the scale doesn't change. Maybe I just have bad genes."
Do one of these sound like you?
If one of these statements resonates with you, I just want you to know, you’re not doing anything wrong! If you’ve been consistent with your diet and training and you know you’re in a calorie deficit, chances are your metabolism has just slowed down significantly from an extended period of dieting.
This doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to lose more weight. And it doesn’t mean you’re stuck.
It does, however, mean you will need to put your weight loss goal aside temporarily to focus on rehabilitating your metabolism. Remember, weight loss is a gradual, nonlinear, and long term process. Slow and steady wins this race.
That being said….
Let's introduce the Reverse Diet.
If:
- You have TRULY committed yourself to your diet and training
- Your calories are as low as you can take them healthily or while maintaining your sanity
- You can’t fathom doing any more cardio
Then: It’s time to reverse diet.
This is the process of adding calories slowly back into your diet and reducing cardio over time.
Let’s talk through why this is necessary.
Throughout the process of driving your calories down and adding cardio to lower your weight, your body has realized you’re not feeding it what it’s used to. You’re having it do a lot more work (more exercise) with a lot less food. It starts to lose fat.
Your body has a comfortable body fat set point that it likes to maintain.
It does everything in its power to try to maintain this level of body fat.
When you start losing fat via calorie deficit and increased cardio, your metabolism slows down so that your body can hold onto fat. Your slower metabolism tells your body that it now takes more work (exercise) and less calorie consumption (food) to achieve the same weight loss.
This is why it feels like no matter what you do, your weight isn’t changing! You’ve taken your calories down low and you’re doing heavy cardio but it just doesn’t feel like enough because your metabolic rate is slower than when you started.
The process of reverse dieting allows your body to readjust its metabolic rate with minimal fat gain. In other words, you add calories back and reduce cardio slowly enough that your metabolism has enough time to catch up to your new consumption rate and training regimen.
You are “retraining” your body to burn more.
This process can take several months but in the grand scheme of your fitness journey, months is a short amount of time to achieve results more efficiently.
Think of it this way, if you continue down the path you’re currently on, you may take calories to a level that just isn’t sustainable or healthy. This can lead to binge eating, which will cause rapid weight rebound. It can also lead to you driving calories lower than what is needed for your body to maintain normal daily internal processes. This leads to low energy levels and general feelings of exhaustion. Not to mention, it takes away from your quality of life and interferes with healthy hormone levels.
If you have been dieting for an extended time and results have stalled, it is likely time to consider this approach for the sake of your long term health and commitment to your goals.
Need assistance with your reverse diet?
Reverse dieting has quickly become my area of expertise with my 1:1 customized training and nutrition clients.
I know that you’re feeling discouraged and tired from the work you’re putting in to achieve your goals without seeing the results you want. I can help you get there faster and in good health.
Want to see for yourself? Click here to see Client Success Stories.
Now is the time to rehabilitate your metabolism so you can build muscle, lose fat, and break through your weight loss plateaus in a way that is healthy, fun, and sustainable.
You ready?
Click here to apply for 1:1 training and nutrition coaching.
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