Decreasing Body Fat... The Healthy Way

Eat MORE to Lose MORE?

Our bodies require a certain number of calories each day. That calorie requirement is based on our individual height, weight, gender, and activity level. People often make claims that eating less or skipping meals will cause your body to enter “starvation mode.” Even though eating less than what your body requires will eventually affect your metabolism, it will not immediately cause your body to become a fat-storing machine. Consuming any less than what your body needs will however compromise your ability to shed body fat!

Oftentimes, we’re under the impression that in order to get to a goal weight, we need to drastically cut calories. Somewhere on a webpage or in a magazine, we read that cutting 500 calories from your current calorie intake will help you to see weight loss results. And we often assume that cutting more calories will lead to more weight loss. I’ll admit, there is some fact to that. If we cut a bunch of calories from our current intake, we will lose weight, at least temporarily. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are losing body fat. It might instead be hard earned muscle, water weight or even bone mass which will ultimately make us less likely to achieve our goals.

Over time, your metabolism adjusts to the number of calories you are feeding it on a regular basis. The body has one main function- survival- and will make changes to adapt to almost anything that you ask it to do consistently. {Think about how your body adapts when you lift weights or run, how it adapts to your sleep schedule or even how your skin gets tan when you’re in the sun} So you cut those 500 calories/day and initially drop 5 pounds in the first 2 weeks. But you want to lose 10 more… So what do you do now? Cut more calories? At some point, you will have so few calories to consume that you cannot possibly eat any less. By then, you will most likely have low energy and may even appear to be less lean/muscular. Knowing how many calories you should consume, and cutting calories correctly will help to ensure that your efforts to lose body fat are worthwhile!

{EXAMPLE}
A moderately active, 30-year-old woman who weighs 150 lbs at 5’5” tall, requires 2061 calories/day. Giving her any less than that will ultimately stall her progress by making her organ systems work harder just to function, while holding on to stored body fat to ensure fuel in the future.

Now, if a woman with the same age, activity level, and height currently weighs 175 lbs, but has a goal weight of 150 lbs, the requirements are a little different. Her daily requirements would then be 1713 calories/day. You’ll notice that number is less than if she were already at her goal weight, but isn’t a drastic difference.

{CALCULATIONS}

WOMEN: 655 + (9.56 x weight in kg) + (1.85 x height in cm) – (4.68 x age) = RMR

MEN: 66.5 + (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5.0 x height in cm) – (6.76 x age) = RMR

to convert weight in lbs to kg:             ______________             lbs        x  .454   = ________________

to convert height in inches to cm:             ______________            inches  x  2.54  = ________________

Once you’ve calculated your Resting Metabolic Rate above, multiply your RMR by the respective number for your activity level.

Sedentary: 1.2

Lightly Active (gardening, walking): 1.3

Moderately Active (exercise most days): 1.4

Very Active (exercising intensely on a daily basis): 1.5

If your goal is weight loss, you will subtract up to 500 calories from that number. If your goal is maintenance, that is the number of calories you should aim to consume. If your goal is weight gain or muscle gain, add up to 500 calories to that number.

**NOTE: If you have been consuming a low calorie diet for an extended period of time, now may be a good time to do some research on reverse dieting, which is a topic I will cover at a later date J 

In next week’s blog, I will discuss how the calories, calculated above, should ideally be distributed between proteins, carbohydrates, and fats based on your goals!

If you’d like more information on your specific calorie needs, please contact me at fitlabconsults@yahoo.com