May 12th, 2017

Hot topic for years has been dieting! You cannot open a magazine, if anyone still read those, watch T.V., get on your computer or any social media without seeing some promise of take this pill, drink this smoothie or shake, do this workout, sleep this way, walk this way, and I can go on and on and on, all of which will promise you that you will lose “this number” of pounds in one week.
 
I am pleased to see that there is more talk about healthy eating over the last couple of years and it seems like that many of you are jumping on board. Eating healthier doesn’t only help you lose weight but provides so many more benefits for your body that I may have to do a separate video for that one.
 
Let’s talk about something though actually let me a pose a question, “How many of you have been on a low-calorie diet?” now “How many times have you been on a low-calorie diet?”
 
By low calorie diet I am talking about you are only putting in maybe 800 to 1000 calories per day, you lose the weight, start putting your regular calorie amount back into your system, you gain weight and maybe some back, so you go on another low-calorie diet, etc. So basically, you put your body in this cycle like a merry-go-round that it doesn’t know what to do.
 
Stop that merry-go-round. Look, when we cut calories it slows down our metabolism rate. What does this mean? This is the rate that your body converts food to energy. Now I could go all scientific on you but like you I don’t have that much time in my day to read it all, so here is my short version of it.
 
Everyone has a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or also referred to as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This is the number of calories your body needs just to function at rest, not working out, playing a sport, or etc. The higher your metabolic rate the more calories your body burns.
 
When you start losing weight your metabolic rate starts slowing down because your body has less weight to carry around, which means you need fewer calories just to function. A five-pound loss isn’t going to make as much as a difference as let’s say 20 to 30 pounds on your metabolic rate.
 
If you have hit a plateau and that weight isn’t coming off or you have reached the weight you want to be at you may need to think about resetting your calorie amount you are consuming. You need to take in consideration your BMR, what you’re eating, and how much energy you are expending, which varies from person to person. There are calculators online that you can utilize, you can talk to a nutritionist, for that matter I can even help you figure your calorie amount out.  
 
Your body adapts to the changes you have made so you can only expect that you need to adapt to the changes your body has made. Check out the article below by Precision Nutrition, it is a little long but does a great job explaining everything and has some great tips.
 

 http://www.precisionnutrition.com/metabolic-damage
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References:
Kevat, D. (2017, March 18) Best Way To Fix And Boost Metabolism After Long Diet. Retrieved: 2017, May 12
http://wiki-fitness.com/fix-metabolism-long-diet/
Pierre, B.  Can eating too little actually damage your metabolism? Retrieved: 2017, May 12
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/metabolic-damage