Reverse Dieting Calculator: Recover After a Cut

What reverse dieting actually is

Reverse dieting is a structured way to add calories back after a diet. Instead of jumping straight back to your old intake, you add a small amount each week, typically 50-150 kcal, and let your body, appetite and training capacity catch up. The goal isn't magic metabolic repair, it's a controlled return to maintenance with minimum fat regain.

This calculator estimates your maintenance using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and your activity level, then builds a week-by-week plan that climbs from your current intake to that target, holding protein steady and adding most of the new calories as carbs with a smaller portion as fat.

How to choose a pace

• Conservative (+50 kcal/week). For people coming off contest prep or a very long, aggressive cut. Slow but minimizes any extra fat regain.
• Moderate (+100 kcal/week). The default for most people after a 2-4 month diet. Reasonable speed, manageable scale movement.
• Faster (+150 kcal/week). For shorter diets or when training is suffering badly. Gets you back fast with slightly more variance in the mirror.

Where the calories should go

Hold protein steady, you set it during the diet for a reason and it still applies. Add most of the new calories as carbohydrates and a smaller share as fat. Carbs refill muscle glycogen, sharpen training and lift mood quickly. Fat is calorically dense and easy to overshoot, so it goes up slower. A typical week's addition might be 70% carbs and 30% fat.

Worked examples

Example 1. 28F, 65 kg, light activity, finished a cut at 1,500 kcal. Estimated maintenance ≈ 1,920 kcal. At moderate pace (+100/wk) she reaches maintenance in 5 weeks: 1,500 → 1,600 → 1,700 → 1,800 → 1,900 → 1,920.

Example 2. 35M, 82 kg, moderate activity, finished a long cut at 2,000 kcal. Estimated maintenance ≈ 2,800 kcal. Conservative pace (+50/wk) takes 17 weeks, moderate pace takes 9.

Example 3. 22M, 75 kg, active, ended a 4-week cut at 2,400 kcal. Estimated maintenance ≈ 3,234 kcal. Faster pace (+150/wk) reaches maintenance in 6 weeks.

What to expect on the scale

The scale will go up. 1-2 kg / 2-4 lb in the first 1-2 weeks is normal and largely water, glycogen, and food volume in your digestive tract, not fat. Hold the line. If you keep adding calories and the scale jumps 3+ kg in a single week, you've added too much too fast, drop back one increment for the next week.

Common mistakes

• Treating the scale jump as fat. Most of week one is water and food volume. React to the trend over 3 weeks, not day-to-day weight.
• Adding fat instead of carbs. Fat is calorie-dense and doesn't restore performance the way carbs do.
• Dropping protein. Hold protein steady. It protects muscle and keeps appetite in check.
• Reversing too slowly out of fear. Spending 6 months at 200 kcal under maintenance isn't reverse dieting, it's dieting.
• Skipping the lift. Reverse dieting without training is just eating more. The training gives the new calories somewhere to go.

FAQ