When there’s talk of weight loss, the words exercise and diet follow closely. They’re an inextricable part of any program. Now, a calorie deficit needs to be created in order to lose the weight. However, this does not imply that you’re free to take on crazy crash diets, for they can sometimes prove to be fatal.
In fact, drastically cutting down your calorie intake might just do the opposite of what you’re hoping for. It could send your body into a catabolic state (because of over training), or starvation mode (lack of nutrition), and that’s never a good sign. After all, when your body doesn’t know when its next meal is coming, any bit of food you consume thereafter, is immediately stored as fats for reserve.
What you need to do is pace your weight loss, consult a nutritionist, and workout a meal plan to adhere to the ideal caloric intake for your body type, for sustainable and healthy results. After that, it’s simply a matter of understanding your body.
Understanding Metabolism
To know what weight loss plan suits you best, you first need to understand your body—your metabolism in particular. What is metabolism? Simply put, it’s when food gets converted to energy. While metabolic rates differ according to height, weight and age, an ideal metabolic rate is what will help burn all the food consumed, and avoid any excess fats from accumulating. Now, you can’t significantly affect the speed of your metabolism, but you can make it work to your advantage by indulging in metabolism-boosting foods that promote weight loss.
Reduce Portions, Not Calories
Eating small meals in a timely manner is the best way to get your metabolism moving. Drastically cutting calories forces your metabolism to respond by slowing down. This means the food you do consume, low in calories or not, is not effectively converted into energy to burn off, and that means your body is accumulating fat. According to Riverside Medical Clinic, a slow metabolism rarely causes weight gain. However, when a slow metabolic rate is the direct result of reduced calorie intake, it causes your body to conserve calories by mooching off nutrients from body tissues, such as the muscle. This means that no matter how much you work out, you’re not going to lose weight; and, can sometimes gain weight too!
Lastly, what people don’t realize is that depriving their body of necessary nutrients for prolonged periods of time causes them to binge eat; even if accidentally, they end up consuming high-calorie foods or fatty foods. This yo-yo effect means that the period of extreme starvation is inevitably going to be followed by a period of overeating, resulting in weight gain.
In order to lose weight, make eating right a way of living; if it feels like a diet (usually because it’s restrictive), that’s your cue to know you’re doing it wrong, and need to change it up!
PS: Here’s an exhaustive list of Diets For Weight Loss.
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