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 Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:38 pm
I know, I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but please hear me out.
One pound of fat is approximately 3500 calories. In order to burn one pound of fat, your body needs to burn 3500 calories.
Most bodies, if you're completely inert (just lying in bed all day), to maintain their weight (not gain or lose), they would have to consume approximately 2500 calories.
SO to lose a lot of weight you just need to eat 750 calories a day and work out at the gym to burn them all off, right? NO!
Our bodies have a survival mechanism built in called "starvation mode." The way it works is, if your body is receiving less than the bare minimum of calories to keep the heart pumping and lungs moving, etc, it will go into starvation mode. While in starvation mode, your body will convert almost everything you eat into fat and instead of burning it to get its energy deficit, it will break down your muscle. So, you'll get chubbier and weaker.
It's generally recommended that women not eat fewer than 1200 calories (and men not eat fewer than 1500 calories) in order to lose weight, and for most people, it'll be even higher than that. In addition, you should not aim to lose more than 1% of your current body weight per week.
I got this analogy from someone on a different website; think of your body as a campfire. If you put too many logs on it and try to light it, it won't burn. The logs will just smother it, and you'll have a bunch of logs on the fire. If you put one stick on, sure it'll burn for around five minutes, then it'll burn out. If you put just the right amount of fuel on the fire and replenish it as it burns out, then it'll burn long and hot.
Going back to the 2500 calories to maintain your weight figure. Let's say your goal is to lose 1 pound every week. All you need to do is eat 500 fewer calories every day. 500 calories * 7 days = 3500 calories in a week, which means you've lost one pound of body fat by eating 2,000 calories a day. If you want to lose 2 pounds a week, you'll eat 1000 calories fewer each day, which is 7000 fewer calories in the week, burning off 2 pounds.
So, count your calories! Weight loss isn't about starvation, it's about portion control and starting fresh. If you find yourself on a plateau, you may be eating too little. Your body needs to have energy to survive, and cutting it off is not the best way to lose weight.
I use www.livestrong.com to track my calories; it tells me how many I should eat per day. I'm currently at 1500-ish calories to lose 1.5 lbs per week, and I'm not tired or hungry, and I have lost the weight. There are other websites you could use, but just remember that you need to eat.
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:16 pm
Wow, the campfire analogy is the best one I've heard yet.
www.livestrong.com seems like a pretty great site. <3
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:22 pm
You're preaching my song, I'm loving the camp fire analogy and I'm going to use it often from now on.
Thanks for the post!
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:52 am
That all sounds right except that I don't think you burn 2500 calories in a sedentary lifestyle. The figures I have heard is about 1600 for sedentary lifestyles, but of course most people aren't completely sedentary. It really depends on your height, current weight, and activity level. I am pretty short, so my daily calories need for maintaining weight is less than 2500. I know if I eat 2500 calories without doing much movement I will gain weight. The biggest thing is people need to stop using arbitrary numbers for themselves when each person needs something different. "Starvation Mode" certainly exists, but it's not the same for every person. The best thing to do is to learn to listen to your own body. There are some days when I eat 1800 calories and feel completely satisfied, and some days when I do more exercise where if I eat 1800 calories I feel week and hungry. When that happens, you need to eat something else and it doesn't matter if that pushes you over some decided upon number.
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:24 am
Goldenlici That all sounds right except that I don't think you burn 2500 calories in a sedentary lifestyle. The figures I have heard is about 1600 for sedentary lifestyles, but of course most people aren't completely sedentary. It really depends on your height, current weight, and activity level. I am pretty short, so my daily calories need for maintaining weight is less than 2500. I know if I eat 2500 calories without doing much movement I will gain weight. The biggest thing is people need to stop using arbitrary numbers for themselves when each person needs something different. "Starvation Mode" certainly exists, but it's not the same for every person. The best thing to do is to learn to listen to your own body. There are some days when I eat 1800 calories and feel completely satisfied, and some days when I do more exercise where if I eat 1800 calories I feel week and hungry. When that happens, you need to eat something else and it doesn't matter if that pushes you over some decided upon number. Of course, everyone's number is different. The average that I've heard is 2500 -- a little over 100 calories an hour. My personal number is about 2200, but you're right, a lot of it depends on your own body. It depends on your height and your weight (when you weigh more, there's more of everything for your body to sustain, so it requires more energy). And a lot of hunger is based on nutrients. Your body is smart, if you're not eating a balanced diet, it will feel hungry no matter how many calories you've eaten -- that's why people feel hungry even when they've eaten 1000s of calories of candy and junk food. But yes, listen to your body. If you're feeling hungry, there is a reason for it, and people should be losing weight to be healthy. Ignoring your body isn't a healthy thing to do. 3nodding
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