The Infamous “Reset” Diet

I know the feeling. The feeling that you had one too many cocktails last weekend. Then you remember the fast food you got on the way home… “Ugh, I really need to get back on track with my diet.” I get it.

Maybe you’ve been celebrating with friends more often lately, or perhaps you’ve just been enjoying a vacation. Whatever the reason, you find yourself needing to cleanse your system. 

However, we all seem to want to “over-correct” the situation. We try to reach for extreme ways to get back on track. 

For example, my roommate’s favorite way to “reset” is through a juicing cleanse. Since she is a close friend of mine, I feel comfortable, and maybe even inclined, to display my distaste for this method. But I’m not perfect, and I tend to overdo the cardio when I notice a slight shift in the scale, running 5x a week to “burn off the fluff.” 

Even though we are both healthy individuals that are educated in fitness and nutrition, we fall for the same desire for the “quick-fix.” Both approaches are flawed.

However, our reactions make sense, given that 90% of fitness influencers make a living from selling these quick fixes. We are so susceptible to thinking that is the right answer. 

But let me tell you why it is the worst thing you can do. 

Your body desires me in homeostasis. Its entire job, its entire function, is to keep you alive.

When you drop your calories significantly, it doesn’t think “Oh, this is the perfect time to get rid of that belly fat.”

It thinks “Oh sh*t, it seems like we don’t have food available - so to stay alive we need to try and burn less calories, and store what calories we can in case we can’t find food later.” 

And then, when you break your diet, your body seems to gain fat extraordinarily quickly. And you feel frustrated at how all your “work” just went to waste.

When you put your body through extremes, it will react in kind.

If you are trying to change your habits in any way - the change needs to be gradual. 

You need to be gentle with your body. You need to make sure it feels safe and cared for. If you skip meals - your body will not feel safe to let go of fat. You need to coax it to lose fat. 

Otherwise it will release a whole bunch of hormones to respond to the “threats.”

This occurs when you are stressed out, don’t sleep well, or participate in extreme dieting. Your hormones are thrown all out of whack, and your body loses its metronome for regular function. 

So what is a better way to correct your diet after going astray?

The first step is to cut out the junk. 

You want to reduce your alcohol, sugar, and fat consumption.

However - it is not the best tactic to go cold turkey. Instead, go into this step with the mindset “the more times I can choose to eat something healthy, the closer I am to reaching my goal.” It won’t kill you to eat 1 burger, the problem is when it becomes a habit. So just do your best to choose healthy, clean options. 

The key is to be present when you are hungry, and try to make a decision on what to eat based on your needs and not  your habits or desires. Be gentle. 

The next step is to prioritize protein. 

Protein increases satiation (ie. keeps you fuller, longer) and is very difficult for your body to store as fat. A high protein intake can also boost metabolism and increase the amount of calories you burn daily. Make sure that in each meal you eat throughout the day, a large percentage of the meal is protein. 

The third step here is prioritizing recovery.

Sleep is especially critical for recovery, and balancing your hormones. When you are in a sleep deficit, your hunger, stress, and anabolic hormones are triggered. 

Leptin and ghrelin are the two hunger hormones that are affected by sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, your ghrelin production increases and your leptin production decreases, causing increased hunger and decreased satiation.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, is released when your body is in a state of stress, putting it in fight or flight mode. This can cause your body to break down existing muscle to be able to be used as readily available fuel (for fleeing or fighting). When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more cortisol than typical the following day. 

The human growth hormone, and testosterone, are both anabolic hormones that promote lean muscle mass. About 70% of human growth hormone secretion occurs during deep sleep. Not getting enough good quality sleep means your body is not optimized to build lean muscle and burn fat. 

 One final note.

Although all of the above factors are important, losing weight is a simple calculation of eating less calories than you burn. 

To lose weight, you need to be aware of how many calories you are consuming, and understanding how that compares to your activity level. It’s important to correct the habits listed above first, to make sure your body is in the best position to improve your body composition - but the final step here is what ensures results. 

Read my blog post about losing fat to learn more.