Weight gain is a common concern for those considering reverse dieting, and this is understandable since gaining a little bit of weight is likely.
But the whole point of slowly increasing calories, rather than all at once, is to limit weight gain. If you gain more than 5-10 lbs on a reverse diet you’re probably either doing it wrong (having non-compliant sprees, increasing calories too quickly, or trying to push calories too high), or your body fat was at an unhealthy level to begin with and you needed to gain weight (for example, fitness competitors).
The hard truth is that, if you’re struggling to stick to miserably low calories and are getting nowhere, you need to do something different. Change requires sacrifice—and that might mean putting on a few pounds now to have the body you want long-term. But this shouldn’t be a deal breaker because if you’re patient and reverse correctly, the small amount of weight you do gain should come off more easily when you’re finally in a better place to diet.
But not everyone gains weight, and for those that do, not all of this is in the form of fat. If you’re regularly weight training, some of the extra weight can be in the form of muscle, which is a good thing!
While most people gain or maintain weight on their reverse, there’s a small number of people who actually lose weight. This may be because they’ve just finished a diet and haven’t reversed long enough to reach their maintenance calories yet (so they’re still in a calorie deficit), or they’re better able to adhere to higher calories without falling prey to occasional binges (so they’re actually lowering their average calorie intake over time).
There’s also the possibility that their metabolism is speeding up faster than calories are increasing, which would put them back in a calorie deficit and cause weight loss. When this happens, more calories are burned through higher levels of NEAT (fidgeting, pacing, and moving around), in addition to higher quality workouts.
For more on why some people lose weight during their reverse, click here.
If you’re concerned about gaining weight but need to reverse diet, choosing a conservative option that adds fewer calories per week will be your best bet. The slower your calories increase, the more time your metabolism has to adapt and the less likely you are to store extra fat.
Also, keep in mind that the system is designed to limit weight gain by only allowing a person to gain up to a certain amount of weight each week. This maximum weekly weight gain limit ranges from 0.5% of total body weight per week on the bottom end of the slider to 1% on the top end. If you exceed this, the system will hold your macros steady to try and prevent additional weight gain.