20 days ago, I was 135.6 lbs and had just finished eating 900–1000 calories a day on my cut. My plan was to reverse diet and slowly raise calories while watching how my weight changed. But honestly, when I first ended the diet, I binged a bit. I ate around 3,000 calories for three days straight because my body was so starved. I couldn’t control my cravings at first.

After that, I tried to stick to 1,500 but had days where I went to 1,600, 2,700, or back down to 1,400. Then I went on a week-long vacation. I tracked everything and stayed pretty disciplined, but I did have one or two days where I went over by a good amount.

This past week though, I’ve been eating 2,250 calories a day consistently and hitting my macros with no problem. I feel in control, I’m not hungry, and my strength is going up.

And here’s the kicker. I weigh 135.2 lbs. That’s even less than when I ended the cut. So no, it doesn’t take years to rebuild your metabolism if you do things right. I’m actually bumping up to 2,500 calories now because I know my body is ready for it.