The Reverse Diet Solution Plan

This diet plan advocates eating dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. No, you don't have to eat chicken in the morning, but you do need to fuel your body with a large breakfast, large/medium lunch, and small dinner. The theory behind this plan is that people tend to starve themselves throughout the day and binge on excess calories at night. On the Reverse Diet solution, you eat "like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, and a pauper for dinner." By eating a sensibly small meal at night, this plan promises that you will sleep better and have a healthy appetite for the next day's breakfast, which, if eaten at the right time, will help give you more energy throughout the day.

What makes the Reverse Diet solution a different weight loss plan?

The Reverse Diet encourages more whole foods, less processed foods, and a healthy eating schedule that keeps you satiated throughout the day. What really makes it different are the sizes of each meal (a large breakfast and small dinner) and the heavy focus on reversing emotional eating?

What is the Reverse Diet solution?

This diet solution is a long-term plan, which it intends that you follow for the rest of your life. There are three phases on this diet:

Phase 1: Reverse Diet Weight Loss Phase . Designed to help you reach your goal weight, this phase helps reprogram your eating pattern by having a large breakfast, a large/medium lunch, and a small dinner. This phase can last anywhere from two weeks to one year.

Phase 2: Reverse Diet Bridge Phase . Once you reach your goal weight, this transition phase shows you how to reintroduce high-calorie foods in small portions without gaining all the weight back. This phase lasts about 3 months.

Phase 3: Reverse Diet Maintenance Phase . This phase is designed to help you maintain your newfound healthful lifestyle for the rest of your life. Maintaining motivation and setting new goals in life is a focus, once you have achieved your ultimate goal of weight loss.

The Reverse Diet solution stresses eating a large breakfast no later than one hour after you wake up. You don.t necessarily have to choose from your regular breakfast items for breakfast or from your typical dinner items for dinner. You can choose leftovers from the day before as breakfast, and you can have a bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk for dinner. This enables you to have a greater selection of foods during each meal. Sample meal plans, recipes and tips are given to help you follow this diet. The following is a typical day on the Weight Loss Phase:

Breakfast: 1 cup of whole wheat pasta with Reverse Diet Spaghetti Sauce (recipe included), baked tuna steak, green beans with sliced almonds and hot lemon water.

Snack: 1 cup of cantaloupe with a 1/2 cup of fat-free cottage cheese.

Lunch: Hot lemon water, roasted red and yellow peppers, grilled calamari with 3/4 of a cup of mushrooms, 2 slices of grilled tofu and a 1/2 cup of orange juice.

Snack: A handful of unsalted sunflower seeds.

Dinner: Two eggs (any style), 1 slice of whole wheat bread, a cup of skim milk and hot lemon water.

One recommendation is to drink "Sunshine Tea," which is simply hot lemon water (with a sprig of mint if you desire). It is very simple to make fresh or to carry around in a bottle to enjoy throughout the day. The Reverse Diet solution encourages drinking "Sunshine Tea" as a substitute for caffeinated beverages or beverages that are high in calories, such as sodas or processed juices.

Another key recommendation is to keep a journal. Besides being able to see how well you have stuck to the Reverse Diet, the journal functions as a way to write down your feelings about food and body image. Writing exercises that promote reflection on emotional eating are included and meant to be written into your journal. During the later phases, you are encouraged to go back to earlier journal entries and read through the changes that you have made over the past months.

An online club is available and designed to serve as a support system. Forums where you can voice your accomplishments, news, concerns and questions are available, and you are able to post your daily food intake for other Reverse Dieters to comment on.

What are the weight loss expectations?

The Reverse Diet solution says it is designed for those who need to lose 5 to 100 pounds. The rate of weight loss is not specified. Instead, you create a "realistic" weight loss goal based on the loose guidelines provided.

Is exercise promoted?

Exercise is not a major focus of the Reverse Diet solution. However, you are encouraged to exercise during any of the three phases as an additional step to having a well-rounded lifestyle.

Exercise guidelines are pretty relaxed. They include setting achievable goals such as doing a physical activity you enjoy for 10 to 20 minutes per day, 3 times per week. Both resistance training (with weights or exercise bands) and cardio (such as walking, biking, or hiking) are suggested.

Are supplements recommended?

A multivitamin/mineral supplement and a calcium supplement are recommended for both men and women on the Reverse Diet solution. If a woman is menstruating, the multivitamin/mineral supplement should include iron.