Be Careful When Cutting Calories
February 4, 2015Eat More, Weigh Less
The New Year has come and gone. Hopefully all of you are still committed to your resolution of “losing weight.” If you have fallen off the wagon, just get back on! It’s never too late to start incorporating healthier lifestyle changes. For those of you that have stuck to a plan and are seeing results, great job!
The first thing people tend to do when they want to lose weight is cut calories. They will consume as little as possible to get them through the day and become cranky, hungry individuals that will throw in the towel at some point soon because they realize they cannot keep this routine up. What if I told you that cutting calories is not exactly the direction to take?
When you cut too many calories at once, the body goes into starvation mode. Cells will hold onto fat because they do not know when their next meal will be. Think of your body as a car – it needs fuel to run. When you eat food, you keep your metabolism working hard. Your body not only burns calories to digest food, but it burns calories keeping each and every organ functioning. Food is so important!
Sticking to “real food” (vegetables, protein, fruits, nuts, etc.) will obviously help with the process of losing weight rather than grabbing a highly processed snack on the go. And, with real foods you can add volume to your meals making it look like you are eating a lot, which is usually what we want (hello, veggies!) When we throw exercise into the mix, we should now be fueling the body so it can perform at its best. Real food (and eating a lot of it!) will deliver that result. Now, this doesn’t mean eating all day long. Each individual is different and should be fueling their body as they see fit. Basic rule of thumb: eat when you are hungry, stop when you are satisfied and not stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Even though you think “skipping lunch” is a good thing, I promise you it is not. Fuel your body with real foods, cut out the processed junk, train hard and rest. Changing one bad meal into something healthier will make such a difference. All you need to do is trust the process and work hard!
Happy eating!
