Starvation Mode – Are you Eating Enough?

It is a known fact that when it comes to weight loss, you need to eat fewer calories than you’re burning off (Eat Less & Move More). This may seem logical BUT it is a little more complex than this.

In fact, extreme and prolonged calorie restriction actually causes you to gain weight! The reason? Starvation mode.

Our body is pretty advanced at keeping us alive…

And it has loads of tricks to pull out when it thinks we are in danger. So when you don’t eat enough, your body starts thinking it’s under threat from not having enough resources to sustain you. And most experts will not recommend you go below 1,000 calories per day

Cue starvation mode…

Not having enough resources stresses your body right out! And that stress releases hormones that cause it to hold on to stored energy resources (body fat) and increase inflammation.

Your metabolism slows down to conserve energy, because it doesn’t know when it will be provided with the next meal / fuel again.  Also, non-vital functions such as reproduction can also shut down, which is why many women who undereat and/or overtrain actually stop menstruating.

Eating processed crap makes it worse…

Yep, turning to “low fat” or “low calorie” packaged foods in an effort to shed the kilos probably is not doing you any favours. Infact in some cases this makes it worse!

A lot of people who are obsessing over calories going for things that are ‘low fat’ or ‘zero calories’ – These products are almost always ladened with compounds and sugars that increase inflammation and provide little nutrient value. This then perpetuates what’s already going on inside the body!

Just focus on eating nutrient-dense, REAL foods. People struggle with weight loss on low-calorie diets, but once they starting eating the right amount of real food for them, they shed kilos AND they find their body’s optimal healthy weight. Stop obsessing about the calories in that head of lettuce. What have you got to lose?!