Myth Buster

digidoomed

There are two concepts I've heard during my journey that I'm actually curious is true or a myth.
1) Can you actually "ruin" your metabolism? And is it something you can repair/improve?
2) Eating more to lose weight. When I was having trouble losing weight(which was before I started tracking my food more accurately), some articles suggested eating MORE calories to get your body to stop holding on to fat reserves and that's when you would experience weight loss. True?

usmcmp

1. Your hormones shift when you diet, this can be mostly undone. You can destroy lean mass which will reduce the amount of calories you burn, this can be completely fixed and can be reduced during weight loss.
2. Generally when someone allows more calories per day their accuracy improves, so they actually stick to a deficit. There are cases where when someone has been in a deficit and losing weight consistently long term they need more calories to help improve hormonal profiles to continue losing weight, this is not typical because most people are simply not actually sustaining a deficit.

AnvilHead

This touches on both of those subjects:
https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html/

AnnPT77

Reading this would be a good start on both questions:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

asviles

There may be some metabolism voo-doo out there that works for some people, but there's one thing that works for everyone: Consume Fewer Calories Than You Burn - it's physically impossible not to lose weight this way. /thread

cwolfman13

digidoomed wrote: »

There are two concepts I've heard during my journey that I'm actually curious is true or a myth.
1) Can you actually "ruin" your metabolism? And is it something you can repair/improve?
2) Eating more to lose weight. When I was having trouble losing weight(which was before I started tracking my food more accurately), some articles suggested eating MORE calories to get your body to stop holding on to fat reserves and that's when you would experience weight loss. True?

1) Yes and no...a large deficit is going to result in greater loss of muscle mass which in turn will dial down your basal metabolism. There is also adaptive thermogenesis that takes place...basically your metabolism slows by your body becoming more efficient...growing hair and nails slower, involuntary movements like fidgeting cease or are less pronounced, etc. In more extreme cases, loss of menstrual cycle and whatnot...basically your body slows down non essential functions which slows your metabolism.

2)Eating more to lose weight often results in greater dietary adherence...IMO, a 500 calorie deficit is a lot easier to maintain than a 1000 calorie deficit. I can deal with 500 calories pretty easy...I'd be pretty miserable and easily go off track with a 1000 calorie deficit. In my experience, adaptive thermogenesis doesn't seem as pronounced with more calories. Also, large deficits and excessive exercise that goes un-fueled are a big stress on the body which raises cortisol levels and jacks around with all kinds of other hormones...this can impact metabolism and inhibit fat loss.

AnvilHead

cwolfman13 wrote: »

2)Eating more to lose weight often results in greater dietary adherence...IMO, a 500 calorie deficit is a lot easier to maintain than a 1000 calorie deficit. I can deal with 500 calories pretty easy...I'd be pretty miserable and easily go off track with a 1000 calorie deficit. In my experience, adaptive thermogenesis doesn't seem as pronounced with more calories. Also, large deficits and excessive exercise that goes un-fueled are a big stress on the body which raises cortisol levels and jacks around with all kinds of other hormones...this can impact metabolism and inhibit fat loss.

Good point. No way I would have been successful on a 1000 calorie deficit - my adherence would have been near zero and I would've been miserable the whole time. When it comes to weight loss, consistency is the biggest part of the battle.

Part of the answer about eating more to lose weight is that yes, it can be helpful as @cwolfman13 outlined above - as long as you're still in a deficit. "Eating more" to the point where you're no longer in a deficit won't be helpful unless you're deliberately doing a diet break/refeed - which can be beneficial, and is discussed in detail in this thread: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1