Metabolism, which corresponds to the different ways the body uses energy, is divided into 4 components:

the basal metabolism (the most important component), which corresponds to the energy cost to make our organism function, in short, to stay alive.

the thermal effect of food, which corresponds to the energy cost to digest and assimilate what we eat or drink.

non-exercise activity, which corresponds to the energy cost of our trips, movements, etc. everyday.

exercise activity, which corresponds to the energy cost of our sports activities.

For the last two, the solution is simple: move more (take the stairs rather than the elevator, find opportunities to walk more, stand up rather than sit…) and do more sport.

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For the first two, in short… eat more! For the second, it’s pretty obvious, because the more we eat, the more energy we will spend to digest and assimilate all that. NB: We can also change the composition of our food to make it more energy-intensive to digest: it suffices to increase the proportion of proteins.

For the first, when we reduce our energy intake (diet), our basal metabolism also decreases: we are colder, we feel less strong, more lethargic. But the good news is that by increasing our energy intake (calories), we can increase it again. And if we do it gradually enough, we can get there without gaining (a lot) of fat.

This is the principle on which the reverse diet is based. It’s a bit of a pain in terms of organization, because it involves tracking and persisting +/- everything we eat, but I can say from experience that it works.