The Reverse Diet: Does it Have a Place in Weight Loss Therapies?

The Reverse Diet: Does it Have a Place in Weight Loss Therapies?

What is the Reverse Diet?

Is it possible to eat as much as your body demands and not only maintain your weight but ultimately lose weight and keep it off?

It sounds like it might be too good to be true (and it really is) but there is a place for this type of diet in many people who suffer from obesity and weight loss resistance. 

But before you run out and try it we need to explain exactly what this diet is, who it should be used in, and how to know if you are someone who needs it. 

First off, let’s talk about the reverse diet and explain what it is:

The reverse diet is exactly what you would expect based on its name. 

While most diets tend to be RESTRICTIVE in how many calories you can eat or the types of foods that you can consume, this reverse diet gives you the leeway to listen to your body and increase your calorie consumption. 

The reverse diet doesn’t give you leeway to stuff your face full of pizza and chocolate instead it allows you to fill your body with NUTRITIOUS and HEALTHY foods that you would otherwise be eating but in higher amounts than normal. 

The idea is for people who have severely damaged metabolisms due to caloric restriction throughout their lives to slowly increase the number of calories they eat each day up to a normal amount. 

This process generally occurs over a period of weeks to months and should be slow and controlled. 

Your calorie intake is slowly increased over time as you listen to your body and allow your own appetite to control how many calories you need. 

Practically, this looks like eating until you have reached the sensation of “fullness” or being “satiated”. 

Surprisingly, many of you reading this might NOT be doing this and perhaps haven’t practiced this in many years. 

Again, this doesn’t mean that you can stuff your face full of unhealthy non-nutritious foods but it does mean that you will have the chance to eat MORE of the same healthy food you were already eating before the diet. 

But does this sort of diet work?

The answer is yes… but only for CERTAIN people (we will discuss this in-depth very soon) and we have medical research to prove it (1). 

It might sound crazy at first but as you understand how it’s working and what it’s doing to your body it will make sense. 

Calorie Restriction and your Metabolism Explained

Here’s why this matters:

Most people, especially women and those with thyroid conditions, tend to suffer from weight gain and weight loss resistance. 

We know from data from the CDC that the rates of obesity are rising the fastest among women (2). 

And what do you think those women who are struggling with weight gain are doing?

They are following the advice of so-called “experts” who recommend that they eat less and exercise more. 

Unfortunately, this type of dieting has a 99% failure rate according to science (3) which puts these people right back in the same situation as they started. 

And if you are in your 40s or 50s you’ve probably used 5 or more of these diets throughout your life with variable success (you wouldn’t be reading this if they actually worked, right?). 

But each time you do one of these diets you cause a little bit of damage to your metabolism. 

This damage to your metabolism is known as metabolic adaptation (4) and it is a well-researched phenomenon. 

How do you know if you have metabolic adaptation AKA damage to your metabolism?

Only a handful of conditions cause it and they are all listed below:

  • Persistent calorie-restricted diets (any diet which reduces your total calories for more than 21 days at a time)
  • Overexercising with cardio to try and slim down (for example, imagine you eat a cookie for 150 calories and then you immediately hop on a treadmill to try and burn those calories off)
  • Low thyroid function, hypothyroidism, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

The problem with damaging your metabolism is that there aren’t very many ways to “fix” it or “heal” it which leads to persistent problems down the line. 

People with metabolic damage tend to only get worse over time as they try to “fix” their weight problem with more dieting which only makes the metabolic damage even worse. 

This process continues until they are eventually eating 1,000 calories per day just to maintain their weight. 

The reverse diet, sometimes referred to as reverse dieting is a potential solution to this problem. 

But it comes at a cost, which we will discuss in detail below. 

And, as I said, make sure you are someone who would benefit from using it BEFORE you try it. 

Should you consider using the Reverse Diet?

Only certain people should consider dieting to help improve their metabolism. 

If you don’t fit into any of these categories and you try this sort of diet then you may end up gaining weight without any added benefit!

Obviously, this isn’t ideal so you want to make sure you fit the criteria below. 

If you fit into any of the following categories then reverse dieting may be beneficial to you: 

  • People who have been unable to lose weight despite restricting their calories daily (this would be you if you are eating 1,000 to 1,200 calories just to maintain your weight)
  • People who don’t respond to calorie-restricted diets like they used to (this would be you if you have tried diets that have previously worked for you but are now not working)
  • You suffer from constant low body temperature, low resting heart rate, low energy, and hair loss, especially if these symptoms occurred after dieting. 
  • You have high reverse T3 levels and low free T3 levels after dieting. 
  • You are already eating healthy and you’ve tried various other healthy types of diets without success (healthy diets may include the keto diet, whole30, Mediterranean diet, and so on).

If you don’t fit into these categories then you would NOT want to use the reverse diet. 

Benefits of the Reverse Diet

Now that you understand a little bit about what this diet is let’s talk about the type of benefits that you would expect to see if you underwent this diet. 

Remember:

This assumes that your metabolism is damaged from either excessive calorie restriction in your life, or from excessive cardio workouts, or low thyroid function. 

If you do not fit any of these categories then you probably won’t see the benefits listed below. 

#1. It may help improve your metabolism

The primary reason to use the reverse diet is to improve your overall metabolism. 

If you can fix your metabolism then you will naturally enhance your ability to lose weight long-term. 

You will also put yourself in a situation where you can build more muscle and maintain a constant weight over time. 

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I see many patients who can manage their weight but it’s in such a way that it severely impacts their quality of life. 

They aren’t able to vary from their strict diet, they can’t eat out at restaurants, they can’t eat out at large gatherings, they have to bring their own food to every major event they go to, and the list goes on. 

This situation can be caused by metabolic damage which puts you on the “edge” of gaining weight with minor changes to your diet. 

In reality, your body and your metabolism should be able to weather changes to the intake of your food. 

You should be able to indulge on occasion without suffering severe consequences as a result. 

#2. It may help improve your chances of long-term weight loss

When you think about weight loss you need to shift your thinking away from short-term weight loss to something known as long-term weight loss. 

Long-term weight loss is simply the act of losing weight and keeping it off… forever. 

Long-term weight can, of course, come back but only in rare circumstances. 

When I help people lose weight I am looking to help them lose weight in a controlled and sustained weight with the goal to 

This may sound obvious but this is not how most people (including doctors) look at weight loss. 

Weight loss medications and supplements are considered ‘effective’ if they help people lose weight in the short term (usually around 6 weeks). 

But you probably know, most likely from experience, that weight loss is relatively easy but it’s pointless to lose weight if it comes back within a few weeks. 

Using the reverse diet can help your body manage weight in the long term. 

#3. You will probably see more energy

One of the main symptoms of caloric restriction is fatigue!

This is mediated through energy production in the mitochondria of your cells. 

If your body thinks that you are starving then it will operate your body on low power mode (starvation mode). 

This low-power mode will result in decreased energy production, decreased heat production, and decreased thyroid function. 

As energy production falls this manifests as low energy or fatigue. 

This is exactly why so many people who undergo calorie-restricted diets, especially diets like the hCG diet, end up with very low energy. 

And this problem tends to persist even AFTER you stop your diet. 

The fatigue may be a symptom of damage to your metabolism that will be long-lasting. 

But this damage has the potential to be reversed provided you eat enough food. 

#4. It may improve your thyroid

Another huge benefit is that consuming more food may help to improve your thyroid function even if you didn’t realize that your thyroid wasn’t working properly. 

Your thyroid and metabolism are linked together such that your brain controls and regulates your metabolism through various hormones such as leptin

These hormones help signal to the brain what is going on with your fat stores which then helps your brain decide how much food you should eat and how much thyroid hormone you should produce. 

And because your thyroid is the primary controller of your metabolism, you can see how problems in the brain can impact your weight. 

Consuming more food can help regulate your thyroid by balancing the cross-talk that occurs between your brain and fat cells through leptin. 

Taking your body out of “starvation” mode or the “metabolic adaptation” mode will help naturally improve your thyroid function. 

And I see plenty of patients with thyroid disease who fall into this trap because those with thyroid problems already have a predisposition to developing weight problems out of the gate. 

#5. It may help you better understand food and how to eat healthily

Another thing that many people notice is that their relationship with food changes. 

Many people, especially women and hypothyroid patients, have a… difficult relationship with food. 

I’ve treated many patients who become so obsessed with food that it consumes their every thought. 

They need to be told what to eat when to eat, and how much to eat, and I’ve even had people ask me how they know if they are full. 

If you’ve had these types of thoughts before then you know that your relationship with food is bordering on pathologic!

And I would venture to guess that many of you are either teetering on this stage or have crossed the line entirely. 

Consuming food to a level that allows your body to feel full and topped off helps to reset this relationship. 

Instead of hating food or being afraid of food, you will understand that it plays an important role in regulating your body, hormones, and metabolism. 

Will I gain weight? 

One thing you should be aware of if using this diet is the chance of weight gain. 

This might be an immediate turn-off to many of you reading this but you should know that it may be necessary. 

I’ve written about the idea of gaining weight to lose weight in the past and this concept applies here as well. 

Consider this scenario to help you understand what I am talking about:

Imagine you are someone who is suffering from metabolic damage. 

Your damage is so severe that you must eat around 1,200 calories per day just to maintain your own weight. 

We can peg the metabolism in this hypothetical person at around 1,200 calories burned per day. 

Now imagine this person decides to go on the reverse diet and attempt to increase their calories slowly over a 3-4 month period. 

They start by increasing their calorie consumption to 1,400 calories each day. 

If they are only burning 1,200 calories per day and they start consuming 1,400 calories per day you can imagine that they may start to lose weight. 

But what happens at the same time is that their low metabolism, which was originally at 1,200 calories per day, will start to increase up to 1,400 calories. 

This results in a slight uptick in metabolism at the cost of some minor weight gain. 

But they also have improved their thyroid function in the process and improved other hormones such as leptin

So even if they are gaining some minor amounts of weight they are dramatically improving their overall position. 

This concept is VERY hard for some people to understand but it’s something you need to wrap your head around if you end up using a diet such as this. 

Final Thoughts

I think one of the reasons that so many people struggle with losing weight and keeping it off is that they are looking at the problem all wrong. 

If you think that the solution to weight gain is to eat less and exercise more then you have fallen into the current paradigm and it can really be a struggle to get out. 

This is why I think it’s so important for you to understand the hormones that drive both weight gain and weight loss. 

Once you understand how these hormones play together you will better understand the types of therapies that will help you lose weight and keep it off. 

Reverse dieting fits right into this picture and it makes sense for a lot of people. 

But now I want to hear from you:

Are you someone who thinks you will benefit from reverse dieting?

Do you know or suspect that you have damaged your metabolism?

Have you used a lot of calorie-restricted diets in your life?

Have you tried this sort of diet in the past or anything like it?

Leave your questions or comments below! 

#1. https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-11-7

#2. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

#3. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-33551498

#4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3943438/

reverse dieting for weight loss

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About Dr. Westin Childs

Hey! I'm Westin Childs D.O. (former Osteopathic Physician). I don't practice medicine anymore and instead specialize in helping people like YOU who have thyroid problems, hormone imbalances, and weight loss resistance. I love to write and share what I've learned over the years. I also happen to formulate the best supplements on the market (well, at least in my opinion!) and I'm proud to say that over 80,000+ people have used them over the last 7 years. You can read more about my own personal health journey and why I am so passionate about what I do.

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29 thoughts on “The Reverse Diet: Does it Have a Place in Weight Loss Therapies?”

  1. Very interesting! I have dieted all my life and nothing works for me now. I’ve been hypothyroid for 29 years. Three years ago coinciding with menopause I started experiencing extreme fatigue, insomnia, weight gain no matter how hard I exercised or dieted. I was just feeling not myself. My doctor would test anything but TSH as I was in normal range and had healthy numbers. He said I was fit and fat. Well eventually I couldn’t even find energy to exercise and it was all I could do to get through my work day. Finally last year I found a doctor who would test my full thyroid panel and my RT3 is high and FT3 low – she put me on Armour and I feel better but I’m still struggling to get my weight under control. I finally am exercising again and energy is normal. This sounds like something that may work for me. What do you think?

    Reply
  2. Dr. Childs
    The Reverse diet sounds of interest to me. I have had low thyroid/Hashimoto for 49 years. I am 71 and still struggling with the weight issue. I have been on several Thyroid medications over the years, some better than others. Currently on Synthroid. I have struggled with my weight and generally go on the low calorie diet, only to gain it all back and then some, quite quickly.
    I am exhausted from thinking about dieting. I used to be able to lose the weight by restricting calories and sometimes keep it off for 6 months. Now it is a major struggle and I feel I am starving myself to lose maybe a 1/2 lb a week on 1,000 calories. I would say I am a classic yo yo dieter. I admit I am not big on exercise, but do walk daily for at least 2-3 miles as long as I am not feeling ill or having a knee issue. I would really like to learn more about the Reverse Diet.

    Reply
  3. I contracted lyme disease and developed hashimotos 4 years ago. I was always athletic and lean, but after getting sick, I gained 55lbs over 2 years. It was like nothing I ever knew worked anymore. I managed to lose 20 of those pounds, but then got to the point where, like you say in the article, I was eating 1,000 calories a day to maintain weight (and feeling very low energy, struggling to improve my fitness when exercising, not gaining muscle, HR was wonky). I’ve been reverse dieting the last 2 months and am back up to 1400 calories, without gaining any weight really!! I feel much better, am exercising better, and am getting stronger! I am starting your program this week and am hopeful for continued improvement.

    Reply
  4. This fits me to a “T”, I recently had a microbiome test done and am following their suggestions while reading a book from the Institute for the Psychology of eating named “the Slow Down Diet” by Marc David. He doesn’t tell you what to eat but how to eat. I started eating more food and following the “how to” eat and the food recommendations and gained ten pounds, yikes. I stopped weighing my self every minute and waited a week to get on the scale and I went down 6 pounds, I waited a week and today I am the same weight as last week. I am freaking out over this. I didn’t see a place to click on the reverse diet info, I would like to see what you have. I am organic, I don’t drink or eat sweets, but you have probably heard all this before. Thanks for a link to the reverse diet and all that you do.

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  5. This really piqued my interest. I seem to be at one extreme or another – either no self control or eating 1200 calories a day. It seems that, either way, my weight does not change. My trainer is always telling me I need to eat paleo and consume 1700 calories a day. That scares me. I’m very interested in knowing more!

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  6. Thank you for this article, I have followed your writings for some time (due to my Hashimoto’s journey)and am certain you have figured this oh-so-complicated mess out! My weight has always been an issue, I had success in my 20’s with the 1980’s original Keto diet where I used to go to a clinic, pay for boxed food and pee on a stick to see if I was in ketosis. It worked, but it was short lived after I became pregnant, overgained, and then despite several attempts to lose it, the weight just kept piling on so I quit trying. Fast forward to my 50s, diagnosed with Hashi’s and my quest to educate myself to tame the many beasts that are all interconnected with my thyroid. I am subclinical and have tried several thyroid meds with no success and confusing side effects. I am currently off precription thyroid meds and working with a functional doc using supplements and to see about resuming precription thyroid meds. In March 2017, I saw a nutritionist, did a food sensitivity test, completely and radically changed my diet(very close to AIP/PALEO) but did not restrict any amounts of my “safe” foods. Lost about 90 lbs. in a year which kind of scared me since I wasn’t trying to lose weight AT ALL. I have since leveled off and currently bounce around by 5-7 lbs. Again, not trying to diet, just trying to manage the host of symptoms that Hashi’s throws at me and roll with it. So, here’s where I find myself now: I really do feel better overall when I notice the scale gains a few pounds! I can’t even count how many times I have told myself “oh well, at least I feel better today so I am just going to ignore it, there is no rhyme or reason to it anyways”. My RT3 has been elevated in past blood draws, and now it is finally making sense to me!! So, hooray for a lightbulb moment (and thank you again!) My primary goal is feel better, put my Hashi’s into remission or at least get my antibodies under control, and then (as a bonus) lose another 30 lbs.
    Now, where do I go from here? Is there a method or protocol that you recommend? (Also to note, I can relate very much to the fear of food that you mentioned, I play it safe and struggle reintroducing foods to avoid food sensitivity reactions) Thank you!

    Reply
  7. My main problem is onset of hypothyroidism at 53, along with a whole host of other auto immune stuff – gluten intolerance, fibromyalgia, vit D, B12 deficiency, hypermobility. Followed low carb eating for over four decades. Now 62. Never had a ‘big appetite, even less now due to bloating and always considered myself to eat healthily which doesn’t explain the huge weight that I am now.

    Would this fit with Intermittent Fasting?

    Reply
  8. This is amazing timing – I’ve been on a very restricted diet for years with Hashimoto’s, Sjogrens, EBV. And I’ve been gaining weight, feeling fatigued and cold and recently losing hair, so that now I have some bald patches – major distress! Last month I went on a week’s retreat during which I ate much more carbohydrate than usual and felt surprisingly good. So I’ve just started increasing how much I eat and including more carbs and guess what . . . I’ve lost weight, have more energy and don’t feel so cold! Hoping the hair starts to regrow. Am hugely grateful to read your piece about this and can see how it’s already begun working for me. Thank you!

    Reply
  9. Thanks Dr. Child and fellow sufferers! I read your articles regularly. (And the comments!)
    I fit spot on in this and would certainly benefit with reverse dieting. I am hypothyroid since 15 years and since done one very calorie diet and lost 17 kgs. Put on some and maintained for a while whilst controlling my diet, exercising. It yoyoed all the time but with an upward trajectory. Then hit menopause running October 2019 and put on 20kgs in one year. Despite trying healthy keto (very tough since I am vegetarian), and other self imposed restrictions, I am now very obese. I have huge ups and downs on a daily basis 500gms- 1kg. Living in London, I must be one of very few hypothyroid patients that is prescribed T3. So I am on 5mcg T3 and 75mcg levothyroxine; they don’t test RT3 here. Because I am on T3, I am seen twice a year by an endocrinologist. She had suggested HRT but I declined. With the rapid and increasing weight gain I have been put on Ollistat for three months to stop the gain. I am not convinced about the ollistat.
    I am hugely indebted to Dr. Child since through his blogs he educated me about T3 and I made a case with the doctors here. My life changed after T3; the weight gain is relentless but prior to T3 I was near to depression (or probably clinically depressed even) and was severely cold. Now I am happy with my body temperature and of course feeling a lot better mentally! So thank you so much, Dr Child!

    Reply
  10. This is me to a tee! I used to able to lose any extra weight, but when my thyroid decided to have nodules & part of it was removed it became harder. Now after several years on meds for thyroid I find it impossible to lose! It seems lately no matter what I do I gain at least a 1# a week. I feel like I am in free fall. I will try this idea to see if it helps. If not, by the time I’m 71 (in a year) I will weight 300#

    Reply
  11. l attend a naturopath here in Australia due to severe symptoms of brain fog and extreme exhaustion, which l have been having most of my 28 yrs with Hashimoto’s. My Endocrinologist had no answers but told me l was over weight and needed to lose some weight, his solution was to give me diet pills and exercise more. I was doing healthy keto but high fat and fasting and for 3 days a week only eating one meal a day, until my adrenals were exhausted and l was exhausted of all hope. My naturopath said l needed to eat more then 6 times a day and eat abundance of food, of course l resisted, l could walk past a bakery and put on weight. l gave in after my BP and BSL were very low to the point l felt horrible. So my plan. Breakfast: 1 litre of pure filtered water on rising .Quinoa porrij made with water, soaked chia seeds and dried apricots with pure maple syrup and a splash of plant base milk, piece of non wheat gluten free toast and pure raw honey, if l’m very hungry l will add mashed banana to my toast. Snack 90 mins later : Green Smoothie fill vitamix 3/4 full of mixed green leaves of choice, 1/4 cup of chia seeds, then fill to the top with fruit (normally l will put 2-3 banana’s Cup of pineapple, 3 dates and several kiwi’s). I also juice 3 apples, bunch of celery sticks, cucumber and 4 carrots and add this to my smoothie, fill the rest of the way up to the green leaves with coconut water or pure plan filtered water. This makes around 2 liter’s and l drink this for a snack through out the day. Lunch is a high carb so l cook potatoes in my air fryer and add salt and maple syrup (large bowl) salad and piece of fruit maybe watermelon. Continue to snack on the green smoothie. Dinner large plate of veggies and very small piece of meat or fish must be wild caught or grass feed meat.( less then palm size)and finish off my green smoothie. Snack dark choc(8 squares) cup of tea. 1 coffee in the morning and tea or green tea through out the day. I can eat anything in abundant with fruit and veggies as long as its carb with a carb, e.g. toast with honey. Also l love eating Medical Medium wild blueberry muffins, google the recipe its very easy. If l eat fat its with my dinner at night avocado/meat/fish. No more sluggish brain fog, weakness, dry skin or constipation. At the start l was bloated and running to the toilet with all the water but l was introducing new community members to my gut and now its more comfortable. This is how l ate when l was a kid always snacking but on healthy food. All food should be organic when possible but anything with thick skin you can skimp on organic. At first l put on weight and was ready to go back to fasting but now l can feel my body working and l am starting to lose weight, which l haven’t been able to do even with fasting.

    Reply
  12. I definitely think this is for me! I just left a comment on your last video talking about how I struggled from anorexia and weight loss. Even now that I’m recovered, I’ve only been eating 1,500 calories per day. This has been for over a year and for about half of it I was only eating 1,200 but my doctor told me it wasn’t enough. I’m very active. I also was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism this past June. I’m 19 and I have been restricting calories since I was 12 years old which is horrible. I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. I did start to lose weight at a young age restricting calories, but then I developed an obsession with losing weight and that turned into anorexia. I gained all of that weight back when I was 16 and 17, eating decently healthy but I had no sense of my appetite because I hadn’t eaten intuitively in years. I had always been so confused why I keep gaining weight despite eating healthy and restricting calories. My lowest weight was 93 pounds and a size triple 0 was too big. It was horrible. But now, I’m 180 and a size 6. I’m only 5’2” but I do have a lot of muscle and I’m not very big for how overweight I am. I think that I would be healthy at 150 even though my healthy weight range is 110-130, due to my muscle mass. I always weight a lot more than I look. I think this diet would actually work because it’s not a diet. I’m so sick of struggling with my weight and having no control over my body. I’m so young and I shouldn’t be dealing with this. All my friends drink and eat whatever they want. I’m always eating salad and every time I indulge, I gain weight. I’m always so tired and get sick easily. My resting heart rate is very about 55BPM and my temperature is normally 96. All of your videos are so helpful. Thank you for taking the time to educate and help us. I will definitely be trying to increase my calories slowly because it’s not working and I just keep getting less satisfied and I will stick to a healthy diet.

    Reply
    • Your story is similar to mine I used to be a zero but I gained a lot of weight and crash dieted and I am now barely losing any weight. I eat more than you but I do not go out to eat. At least you have a lot of muscle mass. Mine has all deteriorated. I am 32 and age does not help. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this while you’re still young. I wish I had gotten the right help earlier it’s a lifelong battle. You don’t just go into recovery and come out healed.

      Reply
  13. I know that I have a broken metabolic issue. I have been heavy on and off since childhood. When diagnosed with hypothyroidism, prediabetes,fatty liver disease and insulin resistance in 2013, I was at my most unhealthy(labs and weight.) As perimenopause had changed my hormones, my weight gain had tripled with no big changes in activity or eating. After diagnosis and medication, I cut sugar and went grain free for two years with exercise. I would like to say I was not restricting calories, just eating all healthy foods. I only lost only 30 lbs before my body caught on and I plateaued for 12 months. I readded grains then. I also stopped the effort(exercise stopped.) It took 5 years, but I did gain 20lbs back.
    I have had lab work every 3 months for 5 years, so I know things were bad again. Post menopause did not help either.
    Enter 2020. I started my hopfully-last weight loss journey Jan 2. I dropped calories to 1200 a day, counted. Limited sugars, low carb eating. I joined the gym, got a trainor, and it worked for a while. All labs are much improved, except T3 T4 levels are funky. My new Endo Dr is unhelpful. I have lost 42 lbs in 11 months, but again my body has caught on. I only reduce at 900 cals a day or less, but strive to maintain 1200 cals. Basically I have been plateauing for 6 months, while exercising 1.5-2 hrs, 5-6 days a week including strength training.
    I recently tested my temp every morning for a wk, and what used to be 97.1 is now 96.5 degrees. Your article mentioned low temp and metabolism. ALc is consistent at 5.6 with 1000 of MetforminXR. TSH is .86, T4free is 1.4, T3 total is 207, T3free is 2.8 with lyothyrinone and levothyroxine. Liver enzymes levels are back to healthy 20s.
    But I still have 80+ lbs to lose! Reverse dieting might help, but I feel I did that in 2013-15 with my body’s hard stop at 30 lbs. Like now at 40 lbs. It is like my body realizes what I’m doing, and just stops the weight loss! I would like to say, also, I am in a perpetual state of inflamation and pain. I’m Not medicated for this. The inflammation response is not helping weight loss efforts either! What do you think?

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  14. This describes me perfectly!!
    I’ll certainly try it even if I have to gain weight to help fix the problem.
    Will probably panic a bit though !

    Reply
  15. Look into Transform by Chris and Heidi Powell. Some women are losing weight eating 2200 cals per day. I’m on an average of 1600 per day and I weigh less now than when I was eating 1000 per day (I can only workout 2 days per week due to autoimmune issues)

    Reply
  16. Thank you for this very interesting and informing Post but i still have one question:
    Will i gain weight if i increase the calories by 50 kcal a week and what happens if i eat 1200 for one week but then “binge” and eat 1500 kcal during the same week ? I set the goal to eat 1200 but i binged 2x and now im worried about the reverse diet progress

    Reply
      • This is how I got so big in the first place and why I crash dieted…eating this much food. I wish I would’ve just slowly lowered my calories instead because now I have even more weight to lose. I could not eat that much food anymore if I tried. My body doesn’t want to which is for the best. I am slowly slowly losing on 1700 but my metabolism has never been this slow nor my weight been this high. The future looks incredibly bleak because I am still barely 32. I just hope something happens to me before I hit menopause because my body is already so messed up. It used to be so easy to lose weight…

        Reply
  17. Hi, I would very much like to try this, I regularly read your blogs follow you closely & have tried by buy your supplements for Thyroid Adrenal Reset but the cost of shipping to New Zealand is horrific and I cant afford the shipping costs.
    I have no support from my GP at all he says ‘eat less & exercise more’ I did Keto and found exactly what you described happening, I have had Radio Active Iodine 8 years ago, and on Levothyroxine 100mcg daily now, it was reduced from 125mcg daily 6mths ago, I have extreme fatigue, put on 7kgs & would like to try something else with my daily dietary intake.

    Reply
  18. This is super interesting! This might be for me. In 2006 I had my thyroid removed due to cancer. The surgery went bad and I ended up with my vocal cords paralyzed. Due to the nerves behind the thyroid being damaged. These nerves control voice, breathing and swallowing. I lived way almost 10 years but because of my restricted airway I was not getting enough oxygen and was slowly dying.

    I could not eat more than a few bites of food at a time before being full, I mean like whole meal full. I lost a lot of weight. Was like that for about 4 years. My body finally could not take any more and had to get an emergency tracheotomy. After I got that I started gaining weight. And now I am 40 lbs over weight. I have tried everything to lose it with no success. I will lose a couple pound but if I even look at food it comes right back on. I have to keep it at around 1200 calories or the weight packs on. I don’t think menopause helped. But I know and have known something is not right! So tired of dr’s telling me it is just what happens when you get old. Just eat less. How much less donI have to eat? Do you think I may be a canidate for reverse dieting dr. Westin?

    Reply
    • Hi Trish,

      It’s hard to say without more information. What’s difficult about your case is that you have had your thyroid removed. Given that I would start by trying to optimize your thyroid function first to see how far that gets you. From there you can determine your next steps.

      Reply
  19. I am slowly losing weight on 1700 calories, very exact…including fruits and veggies. I weigh everything and never go out to eat. Am on thyroid. Had a year of missing periods even at a heavy weight. Am now heavier than ever. I wrote this on your other post. It’s mostly from undereating. I want to get back to 110 if possible but that is 50 pounds away. I lose about 1 pound a week and it’s already plateauing this early…I sit at 152 now. Do you think it is at all possible? Reverse dieting worked a long time ago when I was very thin and not insulin/leptin resistant but now it just makes my weight go back up…

    Reply

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