Should I fix my metabolism before trying to lose fat?

On Ep. 372, Nikkiey explains that when you've eaten low for a long time, your metabolism adapts down to match. What used to be a deficit becomes your new maintenance, so cutting again means your body fights you. Yo-yo cycles without rebuilding in between compound that suppression. She estimates about 90 percent of women coming into WarriorBabe need a retrain. Her advice: don't game the assessment. If it tells you to retrain and you don't like hearing that, that's even more reason to do it. She also notes that chronic low energy can have a hormonal side, which is worth raising with your doctor.

In a WarriorBabe video, a coach describes the retrain as a nine-week phase, or longer depending on how much repair is needed. Calories rise gradually to maintenance at a steady pace so you don't gain too fast. You're ready to cut when your under-eating symptoms have eased and you're eating around 2,000 calories or more. The same video warns against slashing calories by 800 for a deadline. Drop 200 to 250 at a time instead.

Client stories show why the order matters. On Ep. 309, Barbara shares that her coach Celeste told her starting straight in fat loss while learning macros would have overwhelmed her. When she did start cutting, she said it just wasn't hard. In another video, Michelle, who had gastric bypass, tried a cut and couldn't stay at the lower food level past two weeks, so she went back to retrain. As her host put it, your metabolism needs to learn to trust you again.

Muscle is part of this too. On Ep. 63, Nikkiey explains that muscle costs more energy to maintain than fat, so building it raises your metabolic rate even at rest. You keep burning more when you cut, and you're more likely to keep the muscle. If past diets stalled, that's the plan's order, not you.