If you feel as if you’ve been “dieting” for years with little to show for your efforts, this article is for you!
I just like you have tried numerous diets in the past few years. There was the low-carb approach for the Hawaiian vacation, the low-fat approach to fit into my friends bridesmaid’s dress, and the paleo diet for that new pair of jeans.
The omg. omg Its valentines day! I need to look hot!!!
Each time I started a new diet, though, it seems like I was trying to lose more and more weight. From 5-6 pounds two summers ago, now hoping to lose 14-15 pounds for the upcoming family vacation. How could it be that, despite all these years of dieting, I felt like I needed to lose more weight than ever?
Is It Time To Stop Dieting?
Dieting has become a habit for an estimated 100 million people in the United States, many of whom say they diet four or five times a year! Surprisingly enough, the answer might be to—wait for it—stop dieting! By understanding how your body reacts to dieting, you can make fundamental changes and finally attain that physique you keep starving yourself for!
Outside Your Comfort Zone
Our bodies view dieting as a stress, not some sort of weird Survivor-type fun vacation. It’s stressful, because eating fewer calories than your body needs pushes it beyond its comfort zone—the body-fat percentage (or weight) where your body feels most comfortable.
Note that this is the weight where your body—not you yourself—feels most comfortable.
To get back into that wonderful, comfy comfort zone (also known as your “body-fat set point”), your body starts sending all kinds of messages to your brain to tell you to stop dieting. The two big messages it sends are “I’m tired” and “I’m hungry.”
To deal with the caloric deficit your diet has created, your body conserves energy by reducing the number of calories you burn each day. Less calories burned means less energy, so, naturally, you feel tired.
Is It Time To Stop Dieting?
To make matters worse, your hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin) go through an abrupt change as your dieting ways continue. It’s not fair (at all), but it’s true: The more you consistently take in fewer calories than you burn, the more urgently your hunger hormones tell your brain you’re really hungry.
Diet-Induced Adaptations
Decreased resting metabolic rate
Decreased thermic effect of food
Decreased exercise and nonexercise activity thermogenesis
Decreased thyroid hormone (T3) production
Decreased leptin
Increased ghrelin
Let’s dig down into how your body’s natural responses—and how you respond to them—can undermine your persistent efforts to lose weight.
Diet Deviation
Originally, My goal was to lose a few pounds before the Hawaiian vacation. The combination of eating fewer calories and bumping up my exercise worked well. Within two months, I neared my goal.
But a week before the trip, my figure still wasn’t quite where she wanted to be—and I didn’t seem to be losing any more weight. To “finish strong,” I made one last macro adjustment: Bye-bye, carbs; hello, fasted cardio. That got her to her target weight, but…
Once I got to the island and started tasting “local food” (Hawaiian burgers, macaroni salad—even Spam wrapped in seaweed and rice), it was as if I never learned the meaning of portion control. 🙂
Finally I mustered up the courage to step on the scale again after a 10-day hiatus from my diet and training routine, I was flabbergasted: I weighed more than I had before I left. But it wasn’t just because I had eaten more food.
My body has grown accustomed to burning significantly fewer calories during my dieting days. When I started to overeat, my body literally didn’t know what to do with all those extra calories, so it did what any sensible body would: it stored them as fat for the next time Crystal (ME) went on a diet.
Is It Time To Stop Dieting???
And the lesson I learned from all that? I started dieting again—and fast. My best friend’s wedding was only months away, and I had to fit into that dress!
Return To Reality
Within two weeks of dieting, though, My weight loss had stalled again, with 5 pounds left to go. I doubled down on my diet—and upped my cardio workouts. Although I had nothing but good intentions, this would lead to my biggest disappointment yet.
Running on an even greater caloric deficit, my body went into full-on “Operation Energy Conservation,” burning fewer and fewer calories. Even with a harsher diet, I still wasn’t losing weight, so I tripled down on my diet. Now I was eating very little and exercising a lot. Not a good strategy.
Finally, overwhelmed with hunger and fatigue, I put portion control on the back burner again, gained more weight, felt even worse about myself, and got back on the next yo-yo diet.
Breaking The Cycle
Rather than starving herself through countless diets, I would have benefited most from a complete break from dieting. Rather than letting my bathroom scale run her life, I should have focused on my energy, exercise performance and recovery, and well-being.
Is It Time To Stop Dieting?
This strategy is not designed for sudden weight loss. Instead, it’s all about working toward a healthier, more energetic body. You’ll be amazed to find that over time, the idea of harshly restricting your caloric intake will seem odd. You’re an active, energetic person. You need those calories to stay fit!
Cut back on weigh-in frequency: What you weigh at any given moment isn’t the best measure of your progress. Instead, lay the foundation for achieving the physique you want by paying attention to your energy (and attitude)—both inside and outside the gym.
Increase your calories by 10 percent: If you’re accustomed to eating 1,200 calories a day, add 120 more. I know—it doesn’t seem to make sense. And I’ll be up front with you: That number on the scale may creep up initially, but if you stay the course, your body will respond by ramping up your metabolism, which means you’ll start burning more calories than before.
Stay patient, and be consistent: As you increase calories, you should start feeling more energetic, which will improve workout performance. It becomes a virtual cycle: The more calories (within reason) you take in, the more you’re able to exercise, which increases your metabolism and helps your body burn even more calories. Plus, once you’re taking in enough calories, your appetite hormones no longer need to send those hunger signals to your brain.
But all of this is just advice! You can do whatever the ((FU**K)) you wanna do!
Your friend and Coach,
Crystal aka Barbell_Barbie.Ny
References:
http://www.lifehack.org/289618/6-signs-you-may-need-stop-dieting