Most people who track calories and macros are focused on getting and staying in a calorie deficit long enough to lose weight.
But how do you come out of one?
One part is the mechanics of slowly increasing your calories week over week. But the trickier part is the mental and emotional side of eating more, when you've worked hard to orient yourself to a lower number. Depending on how lean you got, you might put on a little weight. That's not a bad thing. I'd like to talk about why coming out of a deficit matters, and why you shouldn't correlate your leanest self with your best self.
Why Coming Out Of A Deficit Matters There are a few things happening in your body that most people never get told about.
Hunger cues get stronger. This isn't food noise or a lack of willpower. The deeper and longer you diet, the more your body ramps up hunger hormones.
When you can't resist it, you end up talking down to yourself. In reality, you're not undisciplined - you're just hungry. And there's no cheat code except eating more; no amount of extra fibre or protein timing fixes physiological hunger.
Hormones start to shift. Drop below a certain body fat threshold and your body slows or shuts down processes tied to sleep, libido, recovery, and energy. That threshold is different for everyone, and it can even change for you over time.
Unfortunately, there's no supplement that fixes this. The only real solution is eating more or doing less.
You risk losing muscle. Stay in a deficit long enough and your body eventually can't maintain the muscle you built. This is the line good coaches should be watching for, not an arbitrary weight number.
Why Your Leanest Self Isn't Your Best Self Here's the part nobody prepares you for. Once you've seen yourself at your leanest, you can't unsee it. You know what your abs looked like at their sharpest, what that vein running down your arm looked like, what the scale read on your best day.
That image gets burned in and becomes the new standard, so nothing after it feels lean enough. It's a real side effect of getting shredded, but it doesn't mean it's true.
If there were no mirrors and no scale, how would you actually know you were doing well? You'd know by how you felt. Energy, appetite, sleep, libido, digestion. Those are the real markers of health, and they're often at their worst right when the number on the scale looks its best.
I've seen some reverse diet slowly and methodically after a cut. Their body weight barely moves for months, while their strength and energy climb.
They might not be quite as shredded as they were at their leanest, but their physique actually improves, because they look stronger and fuller. A better physique doesn't mean smaller, leaner, more shredded, or lighter. That mindset is exactly what needs to be broken.
The Takeaway If you're reverse dieting after a cut or lean bulking, the number going up on the scale doesn't mean you're losing what you built. It means you're finally giving your body what it needs to be its best self.
You didn't get shredded so you could white-knuckle your way through the rest of your life at your lowest weight.
Being in a deficit is just one part of the chapter. Eating more, getting stronger, building on what you started - that's the next one. If you need guidance - please respond.