Stephanie Buttermore's "All In" isn't a diet. It's recovery from chronic under-eating - and some of your clients need it.
The viral "All In" concept is really about one uncomfortable truth: some clients are stuck not because they're eating too much, but because they've been eating too little for too long. This breakdown covers Buttermore's documented approach in our own words, adds our honest take on where it fits a coaching roster, and shows how to build a "signs you may be under-eating" screen you can reuse for every client - while keeping a clear line about what belongs with a clinician.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
General education for coaches, not medical advice. Chronic under-eating, a lost menstrual cycle, and disordered eating are medical matters - a coach observes and refers to a doctor or dietitian, and does not diagnose or treat.
the short version
Buttermore's "All In" documents eating to full satiety to recover normal hunger cues after chronic restriction and extreme leanness - a recovery-from-restriction concept, not a diet or a bulk. The one thing a coach should do about it: build a simple screen for chronic under-eating (relentless hunger, low energy, poor sleep, a missing cycle, stalled progress on very little food) so you catch the client who needs more food instead of a deeper deficit - and refer out the moment it looks like RED-S or disordered eating.
Stephanie Buttermore - I'm Going ALL IN | Why Am I So Hungry? (Day 1)
Source: Stephanie Buttermore on YouTube - "I'm Going ALL IN | Why Am I So Hungry? (Day 1)". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Stephanie Buttermore, and nothing here implies her endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Stephanie Buttermore, and why coaches watch
Stephanie Buttermore holds a PhD in pathology and cell biology, and built a large following on YouTube for science-literate fitness and nutrition content. She became widely known for publicly documenting her "All In" journey - eating to full satiety to recover from years of chronic restriction and extreme leanness, and using her platform to talk openly about body positivity and rethinking a restrictive relationship with food. For coaches, she matters less as a program to copy and more as a reference point for a conversation most of us struggle with: the client who is stuck, hungry all the time, and convinced the answer is eating even less. That is exactly the lens this page is written for - not "should I put a client All In," but "how do I recognise chronic under-eating, coach the recoverable version of it, and refer out the part that isn't mine to treat."
What "All In" actually is (our summary)
This is our summary of the documented approach, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for her exact story, and remember this is her personal experience, not a protocol prescribed for anyone else.
- 1
The problem was chronic restriction, not overeating. After a long stretch of eating too little while staying extremely lean, she described relentless, ravenous hunger and a lost menstrual cycle - the body signalling that it needed more energy, not less.
- 2
"All In" meant eating to full satiety. Rather than fighting hunger with more willpower, the approach was to stop restricting and eat until genuinely satisfied every day, letting appetite - not a calorie target - lead.
- 3
Weight regain was expected, not a failure. She documented gaining weight as part of recovery, framing it as the cost of restoring normal function rather than something to be reversed - a hard reframe for anyone who has spent years chasing leanness.
- 4
The goal was hunger normalising. Over time she described her extreme hunger settling down as the body reached a place it was no longer fighting for energy - the signal that recovery, not restriction, was doing its job.
- 5
It's about the relationship with food, too. Alongside the physiology, she used the experience to push back on diet culture and a restrictive relationship with food - the mental side of recovery that a screen or a macro target never captures on its own.
Coachway's take
We think the most valuable thing "All In" did was make a taboo idea sayable: for some clients, the answer is more food, not less. Coaches are trained to add deficits, cut calories, and tighten adherence - so the client who has quietly been under-eating for a year, is exhausted, cold, hungry all the time, and no longer losing anything, gets exactly the wrong prescription. Buttermore's story is a useful gut-check: before you cut again, ask whether the tank is actually empty.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: her journey is one person's experience of an extreme case, documented publicly - it is not a protocol to copy onto a client. "Eat to full satiety indefinitely" is the right medicine for genuine restriction recovery, and the wrong thing to hand a client who simply had two hard weeks. Your job isn't to prescribe "All In." It's to run a screen, recognise the pattern of chronic under-eating, and respond with a structured, gradual increase in intake - a recovery or reverse phase - rather than another deficit.
And the boundary has to be explicit, because this topic sits right next to real medical issues. A missing menstrual cycle can be a sign of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). A relationship with food that looks compulsive, secretive, or distressing can be disordered eating. Neither is a coaching problem. When you see those signals, the professional move is to raise it kindly, stop any aggressive deficit, and refer to a doctor, a registered dietitian, or a therapist. A coach observes and refers; a coach does not diagnose or treat - and a recovery phase must never become the place a clinical issue goes quietly unaddressed.
So our version of the takeaway is small and safe: screen every dieting client for under-eating, treat the recoverable version with more food and less fear, and route the medical version to someone qualified. Then build the screen once as a reusable check-in question instead of relying on remembering to ask - which is the part a platform actually helps with.
Catch under-eating before it stalls the client
A screen only works if you actually run it on everyone, every time. That's what Coachway's check-ins and progress tracking are for: build the "signs you may be under-eating" questions into your regular check-in so hunger, energy, sleep, mood and cycle come back on a schedule instead of only when a client thinks to mention them - and you can see the trend, not just one bad week. Put the same questions on the intake form so you catch a chronically under-fuelled client before you ever prescribe a deficit, and when a recovery phase is warranted, use the meal planner to raise intake in a structured, visible way rather than a vague "eat more."
For the strategy layer, our guide to reverse dieting and metabolic adaptation covers how to bring calories back up without panic, the breakdown on coaching around the menstrual cycle covers the RED-S signals to refer on, and scope of practice for online coaches draws the line between what you coach and what you refer.
"Signs you may be under-eating" client screen + recovery metrics
A screen you can copy into an intake form or check-in for any dieting client, plus the metrics to watch if a recovery phase is warranted. Several flags together - not one in isolation - are the signal to stop cutting. This is a coaching conversation tool, not a diagnosis: a missing cycle, or a relationship with food that feels out of control, is a reason to refer to a doctor or dietitian, not to run this screen and coach on regardless.
Under-eating screen & recovery metrics
Signs you may be under-eating (screen)
| Signal | What to look for | Client-facing question |
|---|---|---|
| Hunger | Constant, intrusive food thoughts | Are you hungry most of the day, even after eating? |
| Energy | Persistent fatigue, poor recovery | How's your energy through the day, 1-10? |
| Sleep | Trouble falling/staying asleep | How well are you sleeping this week? |
| Body temperature | Feeling cold often, cold hands/feet | Are you colder than usual lately? |
| Mood / food thoughts | Low or flat mood, food preoccupation | How's your mood and headspace around food? |
| Menstrual cycle | Missing or irregular (refer out) | Any change to your cycle? (optional) |
| Progress | Stalled on an already very low intake | Has progress stalled despite eating little? |
If a recovery phase is warranted - metrics to watch
| Metric | Direction you want | Check-in cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Hunger cues | Settling, less extreme over time | Weekly |
| Energy | Rising | Weekly |
| Sleep quality | Improving | Weekly |
| Training performance | Stable or improving | Weekly |
| Mood / food relationship | Calmer, less preoccupied | Weekly |
| Cycle (if applicable) | Returning - clinician-led | Refer out |
| Body weight | Expect an increase; context, not alarm | Weekly |
How to use it: run the screen on every dieting client. If several flags cluster in someone who has been in a deficit for months, stop cutting and consider a structured recovery/reverse phase, watching the metrics above - and set the expectation up front that weight will rise and that this is the point. Refer to a doctor or dietitian for a missing cycle, or to a therapist if the relationship with food looks disordered. This screen is a coaching tool, not a diagnosis.
"SIGNS YOU MAY BE UNDER-EATING" CLIENT SCREEN + RECOVERY METRICS (via Coachway) Coaching tool, not a diagnosis. Refer out for a missing cycle or a disordered relationship with food. SIGNS YOU MAY BE UNDER-EATING (SCREEN) Signal What to look for Client-facing question Hunger Constant, intrusive food thoughts Are you hungry most of the day, even after eating? Energy Persistent fatigue, poor recovery How's your energy through the day, 1-10? Sleep Trouble falling/staying asleep How well are you sleeping this week? Body temperature Feeling cold often, cold hands/feet Are you colder than usual lately? Mood / food thoughts Low or flat mood, food preoccupation How's your mood and headspace around food? Menstrual cycle Missing or irregular (REFER OUT) Any change to your cycle? (optional) Progress Stalled on an already very low intake Has progress stalled despite eating little? IF A RECOVERY PHASE IS WARRANTED - METRICS TO WATCH Metric Direction you want Check-in cadence Hunger cues Settling, less extreme over time Weekly Energy Rising Weekly Sleep quality Improving Weekly Training performance Stable or improving Weekly Mood / food relationship Calmer, less preoccupied Weekly Cycle (if applicable) Returning - clinician-led Refer out Body weight Expect an increase; context, not alarm Weekly HOW TO USE: Run the screen on every dieting client. Several flags together in a long-term dieter = stop cutting, consider a structured recovery/reverse phase, and watch the metrics. Set the expectation that weight rises - that's the point. Refer out for a missing cycle (doctor/dietitian) or a disordered relationship with food (therapist). This is a coaching tool, not a diagnosis.
Recovery from restriction for clients - FAQ
What does "eating All In" actually mean?
In Stephanie Buttermore's documented approach, going "All In" meant eating to full satiety every day - not restricting portions or fighting hunger - to restore normal appetite signals after a long period of chronic under-eating and extreme leanness. The goal she described was resolving relentless, ravenous hunger and a lost menstrual cycle, and letting her body settle back to a place where hunger cues made sense again. It is best understood as recovery from restriction, not a diet or a bulk. For a coach, the useful takeaway is the concept, not a protocol to copy: some clients are stuck because they have been eating too little for too long, and the fix is more food, not less.
What are the signs a client is chronically under-eating?
The pattern to watch for is a cluster, not a single symptom: constant or intrusive hunger and food thoughts, low energy and poor recovery, disrupted sleep, feeling cold, low or flat mood, stalled progress despite a very low intake, and - in clients who menstruate - a missing or irregular cycle. Any one of these can have another cause, but several together in a client who has been dieting hard for months is a strong flag to stop chasing a deeper deficit. Some of these signals, especially an absent cycle, can point to relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) or disordered eating, which are medical issues. A coach's job there is to notice, raise it kindly, and refer to a doctor or dietitian - not to diagnose or treat it.
Is "All In" the same as bingeing or just eating everything?
No, and this is the distinction a coach has to hold onto. Buttermore framed it as deliberately honouring genuine hunger to recover from restriction, alongside a broader message about body positivity and repairing a strained relationship with food - not as a licence to binge or a loss of control. For a client, the difference between structured recovery and disordered eating matters enormously, and it is not always obvious from the outside. If a client's relationship with food looks compulsive, distressing, or out of control rather than restorative, that is outside a coach's lane and belongs with a qualified clinician.
Can an online coach guide a client through recovery from restriction?
Within scope, yes - for a generally healthy client who has simply been dieting too hard for too long, a coach can raise intake in a structured way, normalise hunger, and reframe the fear of eating more, while tracking energy, sleep, performance and cycle through check-ins. What a coach cannot do is treat an eating disorder or manage a medical presentation like amenorrhea. Those need a physician, a registered dietitian, or a therapist. The honest boundary is the same one that applies across coaching: observe and refer, do not diagnose or treat, and never let a recovery phase become a place a real clinical issue goes unaddressed.
More nutrition-coaching breakdowns
- · Reverse dieting and metabolic adaptation for coaches - how to bring calories back up without panic.
- · Sohee Lee on sustainable fat loss and adherence - the anti-restriction side of nutrition coaching.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in nutrition coaching
all guidesReverse dieting and metabolic adaptation, explained for coaches (2026)
Reverse dieting and metabolic adaptation, explained for coaches: what really happens after a long diet, how to bring calories back up without runaway gain, and how to coach the psychology. General information, not medical advice.
Read the guideRefeed Days: What They Are & How to Structure Them
A coach's guide to refeed days: what a refeed day is, its real purpose, how to structure carbs, protein, and fat, how it differs from a cheat day, and which clients it suits.
Read the guideHow to Coach Clients Around the Menstrual Cycle (2026)
The evidence on cycle-based programming is genuinely mixed and individual variability swamps the averages - so track the individual, not the textbook cycle. Two to three cycles of check-in data first, autoregulation over reprogramming, what hormonal contraception changes, and the red flags that mean refer out.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Warm-Up Set Calculator · Protein Calculator · Weekly Training Volume Calculator
Screen for under-eating on every client, automatically
Catching a chronically under-fuelled client is only reliable if the question gets asked every time. Coachway lets you build your under-eating screen into intake and check-ins, track hunger, energy, sleep and mood as trends, and run a structured recovery phase with the meal planner when it's warranted - so you respond with the right prescription instead of another deficit. Start your 14-day free trial and set up your first client screen in minutes.
