Diet Information
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Eat Enough To Lose WeightToo Few Calories Causes Slow Weight LossMany dieters see food and calories as the enemy of weight loss. So they think the fewer calories they eat, the more weight they will lose. One reason why fad diets like the Cabbage Soup diet and Grapefruit diet are so popular. Unfortunately, although we do need to restrict calories if we want our body to burn its stored fat, we can't afford to eat too little. Why not? Because this sends a signal to our brain that food is scarce and convinces it to conserve calories. As a result, we stop burning calories as fast as normal, which leads to slower weight loss. Starvation Causes Muscle Loss Not Fat LossOkay, so when food is scarce, our body conserves energy and goes into "starvation mode" which slows down weight reduction. If we continue to eat too little food, our body typically conserves fat and burns muscle instead. Why? Because less energy is needed to maintain fat stores. In other words, if our diet contains insufficient calories, either we stop losing weight, or (if this calorie-deficit continues) we lose muscle tissue instead of fat. This is bad news for weight loss, as the higher our body fat percentage, the fewer calories we can eat before we gain weight. Going Without Food During the Day is Bad For Weight ReductionA similar situation occurs if we go too long without food during the day. As a rough guide, going longer than three hours without eating something is a maximum. Any longer and our body may start to conserve calories. Result? Weight reduction slows. For Efficient Weight Loss Maintain an Efficient Metabolic RateIf you really want to lose weight, you need to persuade your brain that food is plentiful and that calorie-burning can therefore proceed at an efficient and fast rate. To do this, follow a diet that contains an adequate amount of total calories AND consume those calories regularly throughout the day. |
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