I have readjusted my caloric intake goal from "Less than 1500" and changed it to "1400-1600". According to my doctor, there is a lower limit threshold for metabolic efficiency and for men it is at 1400 calories per day. I am currently averaging around 1000 calories per day. She stated that when you eat below the limit, your metabolism goes into shock and goes into starvation mode. In starvation mode the body begins to hoard and store fat. It also does not process protein and passes it. If you continue to eat below the limit for a long period of time, you train your body to continue to process food in this fashion, and when you stop dieting you will quickly gain any weight you may have lost back, and will gain more. It could also lead to other serious medical issues like kidney failure. When you eat above the lower limit threshold, you body starts releasing/burning the fat, and begins processing the protein. The doctor also confirmed that increasing my caloric intake by 400 calories would slow my rate of loss, but in the long run it would set me up for continued efficient loss in the future.
In addition to minimum caloric intake, time between meals can negatively effect metabolic efficiency. You should eat something every 2-3 hours while you are awake. Extending the time between meals longer than 3 hours will slow the metabolism. Additionally there should not be any one meal that is greatly larger than the others, especially the last meal of the day. The meals should be close to equal in size(calories) and the last meal should not be the largest. If there is a larger meal it should be eaten in the morning to midday.
Maybe this explains the periodic streaks of no loss that svg-p90x and I experience, despite no change in diet or dedication to the exercise routine. I would gladly trade my inconsistent but faster loss for consistent but slower heathier loss that will achieve my goals(permanent fat loss) and set me up for continuing success.
2 comments:
i guess i gotta toss something else into my diet but i dont know what. I added green beans the other day, but they are very low in calories. so i was up to 4 meals a day but not much caloric intake. I guess i could add the soup back into the routine.
The doctor also said, from a weight loss stand point and not overall health, you could eat nothing but Cheeto's as long as you are eating 1400 calories worth(and of course exercising.) For health, you of course want a mix of meats, fruits, veggies, and grains (multivitamin, too.) Additionally the doctor recommended a high protein diet for weight loss. Maybe you could pick up an extra H/T sandwich during the day. For me the challenge seems to be adding the extra calories without dumping them all in one meal(like the last meal.)
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