Do you gain in the beginning

I did the very first time.. I had to learn how to reach maintenance properly for me. In other words going straight from a calorie deficit to maintenance did not suit me.

cnjg420 wrote: »

So how do you do it

Well, a couple of points.

1) If you have small deficit, its easy to reach maintenance.
2) The longer you have been on a deficit, a little more difficult and it also includes point #1..

Reverse diet really is a term used to slowly work to increase calories back to a maintenance level. You can determine an approx TDEE using an online calculator, etc.. but remember these are just estimates, so if you have a good idea of your rate of loss, etc.. you will know how many to add back at what appropriate times.

I was inexperienced and did not understand my numbers very well. It will be trial and error. And moreover weight fluctuations are key and they happen daily.

Give your self a weight range like +/- 5 pounds.

cnjg420 wrote: »

So how do you do it

I did it by having a very small weekly deficit for the last pounds, I never restricted carbs, I had many days at maintenance whilst losing weight.

So I could flip straight from a deficit to maintenance without a water/glycogen bounce.
I did have to make some very minor adjustments over time (I've always manually set my calorie goal).

It's not the only way to transition and the water/glycogen bounce (if it happens) isn't something to fear, it's just something to understand. It's part of understanding normal weight fluctuations and not letting them cause you stress.

I didn't, but I first added in 250 and then 500 calories when I came off my deficit.

What I did notice was my first instinct was to add back in a lot of simple carbs like bread or cookies. That makes me hold water.