A reverse diet adds a small, fixed amount of food each week after a fat-loss diet, so you climb back toward maintenance without regaining fat quickly. Enter what you eat now and the planner shows each week’s calories, carbs and fat.
Example: carbs 200 g, protein 150 g, fat 60 g, Low tolerance, target 2,400 calories
1,990calories a day in week 1
That is 50 more than the 1,940 you eat now: add 8 g of carbs and 2 g of fat a day, and keep protein at 150 g.
Eat each row for 7 days, then move to the next. Reverse dieting comes from physique sport: a 2014 review describes it as raising calories in steps and says research still has to show that it works. Enter your own numbers above to replace this example.
Each week
+50 calories
8 g carbs and 2 g fat; protein stays at 150 g.
Weeks to 2,400 calories
10
From 1,940 today, 50 more a week, with the last week stopping on the target.
| Your day | Now | Week 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 200 g | 208 g |
| Protein | 150 g | 150 g |
| Fat | 60 g | 62 g |
| Calories | 1,940 | 1,990 |
| Week by week | Calories | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1,990 | 208 g | 62 g |
| Week 2 | 2,040 | 216 g | 64 g |
| Week 3 | 2,090 | 224 g | 66 g |
| Week 4 | 2,140 | 232 g | 68 g |
| Week 5 | 2,190 | 240 g | 70 g |
| Week 6 | 2,240 | 248 g | 72 g |
| Week 7 | 2,290 | 256 g | 74 g |
| Week 8 | 2,340 | 264 g | 76 g |
| Week 9 | 2,390 | 272 g | 78 g |
| Week 10 | 2,400 | 274 g | 78 g |
- Next stepTDEE calculatorYour maintenance calories: the usual place to end a reverse diet.
- Next stepMacro calculatorA protein, fat and carb split for the calories you end at.
Formula: calories = 4 x 200 g carbs + 4 x 150 g protein + 9 x 60 g fat = 1,940; each week + 1 x (8 g carbs + 2 g fat) = + 50 calories. Calories come from 4 a gram for carbs and protein and 9 for fat. Low, Moderate and High add one, two or three 50-calorie steps a week; the steps are this page's rule, not a study's.
Let’s be honest: dieting to lose weight sucks. Weeks or even months of restricted eating can sour your mood, mess with your sleep, disrupt your metabolism, rob you of energy, and cause severe hunger and cravings.
The only good thing about most diets is that they eventually end!
However, the hard work is usually worth it, and reaching your target weight or body fat percentage is incredibly satisfying. You’ll look damn good at the end, too.
Sadly, a large percentage of dieters soon regain the weight they’ve lost. This is often called yo-yo dieting. Your weight goes down, only to shoot back up again, and all your hard work is wasted.
Reverse dieting is nutritional strategy designed to minimize fat regain and ease your transition from dieting to regular eating. But how many calories and what macros should you eat when reverse dieting?
Use our calculator to find the answer!
What is the Reverse Dieting Calculator?
Reverse dieting is the process of gradually increasing your calorie intake after a fat-loss diet. The idea is to transition smoothly from strict dieting back to a more relaxed style of eating while avoiding fat regain.
Typically, reverse dieting involves increasing your calorie intake by 50-100 calories per week, for example:
- Calorie intake during diet: 1,500
- Week 1: 1,600
- Week 2: 1,700
- Week 3: 1,800
- Week 4: 1,900, etc.
However, some reverse dieting experts suggest increasing your caloric intake by 10% per week. So, using the percentage method, your reverse diet would look like this:
- Calorie intake during diet: 1,500
- Week 1: 1,650
- Week 2: 1,815
- Week 3: 1,996
- Week 4: 2,196, etc.
This calculator uses fixed weekly steps, not a percentage.
Needless to say, all this number crunching can be laborious, and what do you do about your macros?
Our reverse dieting calculator does all the math for you, so you can bring your diet to a close, ease back into a more sustainable eating plan, and avoid regaining the weight you’ve just worked so hard to lose.
How to Use the Reverse Dieting Calculator
Our reverse dieting calculator is very straightforward to use. Follow these step-by-step instructions to determine how many calories and the macros you need for your reverse diet.
- Enter the grams of carbs, protein and fat you eat now.
- Pick a fat gain tolerance: Low adds 50 calories a week, Moderate 100, High 150.
- Optional: enter the calories you want to end at, such as your maintenance calories from our TDEE calculator; leave it empty for an 8-week plan.
- Press Plan my reverse diet.
What Your Reverse Diet Plan Shows
The plan shows what you eat now, week 1, and every week after it to your end point: calories, carbs and fat for each week, with protein held where it is. It adds the same small amount of food every week, carbs and fat only, until you reach the calories you set, or for eight weeks if you set none. Eat each row for seven days, then move to the next. You do not need to recalculate each week; come back only if your intake changes.
Reverse Dieting Calculator FAQ
Do you have a question about reverse dieting? No sweat, we have the answers.
1. What does fat gain tolerance mean, and how will it affect my results?
Some people gain fat more easily than others. This is a genetic predisposition. The fat gain tolerance function allows you to fine-tune your macros to further reduce the risk of fat gain.
The calculator does this by manipulating your calorie, carb, and fat intake.
The three settings add 50, 100 or 150 calories a week, as carbs and fat in a 4 to 1 ratio by grams; protein stays where it is. Most people should pick Low.
Moderate and High can also be helpful if you are extremely hungry after your diet, and eating according to the low setting does not satiate you.
2. Reverse dieting seems like a lot of work; can’t I just go back to eating normally?
Low-calorie diets affect your resting metabolism, causing it to decrease. Because of this, if you go back to eating normally too soon, you’ll create a large calorie surplus, making fat regain inevitable. You may even gain back more fat than you lost and end up dieting yourself fatter instead of leaner.
Reverse dieting IS quite labor intensive and means extending your diet by several weeks. But, it helps to avoid overloading your body with so many calories that you gain back the fat you lost.
Unless you like yo-yo dieting, which is very unlikely, reverse dieting will help you keep the weight off that you spent the last few months working so hard to lose.
3. What evidence is there to support reverse dieting?
Reverse dieting comes from bodybuilding, and, like a lot of the things that bodybuilders do, it’s mainly based on anecdotal evidence and “bro-science.” However, thousands of bodybuilders and physique competitors have used reverse dieting, so it seems to be an excellent way to end a diet without regaining fat.
Just because there isn’t much research to support reverse dieting doesn’t mean you should write it off as a fad or fallacy. It’s worked for enough people that it’s worth trying, especially if you’ve previously experienced yo-yo dieting and want to avoid it at the end of your next diet.
4. How should I adjust my workouts during a reverse diet?
It’s common for dieters to do more training, especially cardio, during a diet to maximize fat loss. This is often exhausting and unsustainable. So, in addition to gradually increasing your calorie intake through reverse dieting, you should also ease back on the volume of your workouts until you reach a sustainable level of exercise.
However, avoid cutting back too much or stopping exercise entirely, as doing so could lead to fat regain. Also, make sure you continue lifting weights to preserve your muscle mass.
5. Where can I read more about reverse dieting?
Reverse dieting is quite a big topic, and you must understand all the ins and outs before attempting reverse dieting for yourself. The good news is that you’ll find all the information you need to be successful in this guide to reverse dieting. Make sure you check it out and use it in conjunction with our reverse dieting calculator.
Reverse Dieting Calculator: Wrapping Up
Reverse dieting means gradually eating more and exercising less at the end of a weight-loss diet. The aim of reverse dieting is to minimize or even prevent fat regain, which is a common problem that many dieters experience. Some people even gain back more weight than they lost, dieting themselves fatter and not leaner.
While reverse dieting does require self-control and patience, gradually increasing your caloric intake over several weeks could make your next diet your last.
Use the planner once to get your week-by-week calories, carbs and fat, and follow it row by row until you reach the calories you set.
Yo-yo dieting? Just say no!
