How Do I Stop Dieting and Eat Normal Again

Hi Iceman!

This is a loaded question so I am going to give you some things to think about not knowing what type of diet you were on and how much you lost.

1) If you lost more than 15 pounds on a strict diet you have a chance of rebound. Slowly add back cals into your diet by 100 cals/day for 7 days and then raise every week until you reach maintenance. Doing it this slow should minimize your weight gain.

2) If you lost more than 15 pounds and did this by a very low carb diet, begin adding cals back in through protein, fat and green veggies only. Then bring your starches back in pre and post workout only first on weight training days only. Once you feel good about those, add a starch in first thing in the morning on non training days. The thing to avoid here is the "I-need-to-shove-every-piece-of-starchy-carb-into-my-face" feeling that is bound to come on (due to low serotonin) when you introduce a starch. Fat will minimize this feeling.

3) If you succumb to the carb a thon, add lots of good fats to your diet like salmon and olive oil because they will placate that carb drive that is unreal and sometimes unstoppable.

I hope this helps a little. I could go on for days about this one! Good luck with your "diet dismount".

You don't need to raise your calories slowly. Estimate your maintenance calories and just starting eating at that level. You might gain an insignificant amount of fat but you'll never know it. Living in fear of getting fat is no way to live especially when we know so much about basic thermodynamics. Your body can't make fat from nothing so if you don't overeat you'll be just fine.

Stick to the advice everyone always gives on this site- that is eat unprocessed foods (any meats, fruits and vegetables) for your most of your food. Then if you really want to go back to the crap that makes you unhealthy so you have to diet again, only do it on wkds, holidays and vacations.

*IMPORTANT THING TO REALIZE*
Your metabolsm only dropped if you lost lean muscle, not from fat loss. Fat doesnt contribute to metabolism and therefor losing fat does not somehow magically decrease your metabolism. This is why you need to do resistance training (not to lose fat!) as you diet. Resistance training is protective, that is it maintains muscle regardless of calorie deficit created by diet. So do some pushups, pullups, sprints or if you have access to a gym get there and lift some weights. When you build new muscle your metabolism will actually increase and you can eat more without gaining fat. OF course when you gain muscle you will gain weight but its good weight!

One thing to remember is that your previous definition of "eating normally" is what led to the need to diet in the first place. You're going to need to think of it as a "new normal" from now on - almost certainly less calories than you ate before the diet (you'll require less now that you weigh less), but also more fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc and less fast food, processed food, etc.

Assuming your diet was a healthy and balanced one (not one that just cuts something entirely out and relies on the calories saved there to do all the work), you could start by keeping the same menus but increasing the portion sizes, and maybe adding in a dessert or snack that's more of a treat to reward yourself for all this hard work - just be sure you count it in your total daily calories. :)

hi guys . I think the best diet advice you can give in to try and keep busy not focus on food too much, exercise and to take some supplements to keep your metabolism up . keep portions to a fistful of protein and same with veg.
I take a acai supplement . its great and I have been keeping the weight off and loosing pounds and pounds steadily for months now . what do you think of no carb diets ?

First off, if 2K is your maintenance level, then dieting at 1K WILL make you tired and run you down.

Second, don't quit. Instead, take a planned 2 week break from your diet. An occasional planned diet break should be a part of most people's diet regiment anyway. Don't gorge during this period....eat at maintenance. During this two week break, your metab regulating hormones should return to normal. Don't worry about gaining fat either....and don't worry about slowly bringing your food levels up. Just eat at maintenance right away.

In a recent study, dieters were forced to take 2 weeks off of their diet and eat ‘normally’. The study was trying to find out why dieters fall off the diet bandwagon and figured that was best done by making the dieters include the time off. But what they found was just the opposite: the dieters didn’t gain significant weight back and had no problems going back on the diet when the two weeks were up. The diet didn’t fail because of the two weeks off although the study did (failed to do what it set out to do).

And finally, when the two weeks are up, considering using a smaller caloric deficit.

Hi iceman,

Congrats on your progress! I lost 100 pounds about 15 years ago, and I've maintained it. I eat the Zone diet (zonediet.com). From the very start, you eat as you will after you lose you excess fat. It's great. You eat satisfying meals composed of lean protein, veggies and fruit and monounsaturated fats (like olive oil, almonds, avocadoes, etc.). You're never hungry and have plenty of energy.