Why didn't my reverse diet work?

On Ep. 307, Nikkiey puts it bluntly: most women don't reverse diet, they dabble in it. When it isn't working, quote unquote, they go right back to under-eating. She says that exact move keeps women stuck on the hamster wheel year after year. The length depends on how long you've been under-eating and doing heavy cardio, and she says you'd be amazed at how long it can be. If you've been dieting for years, you might need a true 6 to 12 months of repair before another cut. On Ep. 354 she adds that roughly 90% of WarriorBabe clients spend about their first nine months doing this.

The scale is usually what scares women off. Nikkiey explains on Ep. 354 that a rising or flat scale during a reverse is physics, not failure. You're eating more food, food weighs something, and you're rebuilding glycogen stores that hold water. Underneath, you're building a body that will actually respond when you go back into a deficit. That's why she says to mentally detach from the outcome. The reverse isn't about fat loss. It's the foundation for every fat loss phase after it.

The goal is to eat as much as possible while keeping your body composition, so you have a higher calorie ceiling when you cut. Nikkiey says some clients have worked up to 2,500 calories. If you went into a cut and your body just wasn't having it, she calls that a telltale sign you hadn't healed yet. If you've tried this on your own and you're stuck, she suggests working with a coach.