Is reverse diet necessary if I know my maintenance?

laurenehopkinsx
laurenehopkinsx Posts: 14 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Basically I went on a diet to lose the couple of lbs I lost over Christmas and I did this on a 1200 diet. Now I'm back to the weight I wanted can I go straight back to maintenance calories as I was before seen as I already know them? Or do I need to recover my metabolism and reverse diet to prevent any weight gain??

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited February 2017
    Your metabolism isn't broken, so no need to do anything extra. Just be prepared to see a jump on the scale (2-5 pounds?) from increased glycogen+water+food when you start eating normally again.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    The hormones leptin, the satiety hormone, and ghrelin, the hunger hormone, can be pretty difficult to control consciously, and there are not many clinical studies yet about how they affect average populations. When I increased from a deficit to maintenance, I went up gradually. For a few weeks, I found I was hungrier at more Calories than I was at fewer Calories. Everyone is different.
  • laurenehopkinsx
    laurenehopkinsx Posts: 14 Member
    Ah right okay. Would the extra few pounds I might put on come off again? Or would my body carry on holding onto it? It was only 5lb which I lost since Christmas so if I'm just going to put it back on again it seems counter productive?:/
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,959 Member
    edited February 2017
    How long did it take you to loose the 5 lbs?

    Honestly... I always consider my first 5 - 8 lbs water weight, and I'm close to goal/in a normal BMI. At 1200 calories a day... I would lose at least 5 lbs in just glycogen... so I personally would expect it would come back.

    However, if it took you a couple of months to lose the 5 lbs, then that's probably not the case in which case you might see just a temporary increase of a few pounds that might drop off. It would also probably indicate your calorie intake wasn't quite as low as 1200 as you thought though.

    It really depends on your body. You can always try it and see how it goes. It's nothing you can't adjust again later.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Do you know what you were eating at previous to dropping down to 1200 calories?
  • laurenehopkinsx
    laurenehopkinsx Posts: 14 Member
    I maintained before on 2300, lost the weight over like 3 weeks or so eating 1200 a day. Only wanted to lose a few pounds which I had put on so I doubt I just lost water weight
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    Just wanted to throw this out there: We don't have a "true weight". It's perfectly normal for our weight to fluctuate anywhere from 3-5 lbs, even on maintenance.

    Perhaps you should consider determining your desired weight range or a "do not exceed" weight now that you're considering switching to maintenance.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Is reverse diet necessary if I know my maintenance?
    No it's not.
    You haven't broken your metabolism by restricting for 3 weeks.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    You aren't going to break your metabolism losing five pounds.

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