Starving to lose fat...

nicehormones
nicehormones Posts: 503 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I keep seeing posts and hearing things that are making me sad. Despite what the billion dollar diet industry has told you for decades, ladies and gentlemen, you do NOT have to starve your body to lose weight!!! Please, PLEASE stop thinking with this mindset. The industry sets you up to fail to ensure that you will be return customers! Think about the damage you may be doing to your body and metabolism for years by eating so little calories. Your body cannot function properly if you are not giving it what it needs. Not to mention, in an extreme calorie deficit, your body is going to do whatever it can to survive. It is going to shed MUSCLE because muscle burns more calories than fat does. With less muscle, your body will "think" it can live longer with the low amount of calories it is being fed in its efforts to survive. Do you want to work your butt off and rely on willpower to lose lots of weight to find that you are still soft and have no muscle definition? It takes a few months eating low calories to lose pounds of muscle. It takes YEARS of hard, consistent work to replace that muscle and repair your metabolism. Eat at your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and you will ensure that your body is getting what it needs. I promise, you will not go hungry if you eat this many calories of healthy, lean, good for you foods. It is a lot, trust me! You will feel great and energized. Strength train to ensure you don't lose too much muscle mass during your weight loss journey.
And for the record, this post is to help awaken some people to a different way of thinking. It is NOT to say that I am right, and you are wrong. Please do not take it this way. No, I am not a doctor. This is all mine and many others' theory on weight loss due to my experience and the research I have done in the past several months.


And finally, this calculator (and podcast) has helped me to drop 30 pounds while feeling great and never hungry-

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

Treat your body right, it does so much for you! :)

Replies

  • 170isreal
    170isreal Posts: 151 Member
    I really liked that BMR calculator, it took into consideration many factors and its great to know that I am only eating below my BMR by about 100-200 calories. Thanks for this info!
  • Eskimovm
    Eskimovm Posts: 53 Member
    Which calorie intake/BMR from that site do you follow?
  • bpurc22
    bpurc22 Posts: 180 Member
    Interesting, my BMR ranges between 2800-3100 from this site (Moderately Active-Very Active).
    On MFP, I entered the 2nd-highest active setting and the same qualifications and my goal is 1900 calories
  • mysteria_
    mysteria_ Posts: 44 Member
    that number doesn't make sense to me... it tells me I should eat close to 1800, when eating like that's what caused me to put on a couple pounds in the first place... it just seems like too much for me, but maybe it's because I'm on the leaner side to begin with...?
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
    Awesome post!
  • jody2807
    jody2807 Posts: 115 Member
    Thankyou i enjoy posts like this as the more information the better , I struggle to eat the allowed 1200 calories a day and also was not sure if this was to many calories as i have formed the habit of not eating breakfast as well which iam trying to break , and have also started to consume Nuts to boost the calorie intake , .

    Will i be unsuccesful at weight loss if i dont manage to increase calorie intake ????
  • lindzmt22
    lindzmt22 Posts: 335
    Love this post. :)
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    that number doesn't make sense to me... it tells me I should eat close to 1800, when eating like that's what caused me to put on a couple pounds in the first place... it just seems like too much for me, but maybe it's because I'm on the leaner side to begin with...?

    I think that site is already including your exercise and then averaging out for the week. On MFP, when you choose your lifestyle type (sedentary, moderate etc), it's talking about your level of activity during normal activities, NOT exercise. This site is saying, if you choose "moderate" that means you do a good workout three times a week (example), so it's going to add, say, 2000 calories to your weekly total then divide it out. Anyway, that' s what it looked like to me.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    This is why I just set mine to sedentary that way I can log all activity without confusion.
  • crysofmyk
    crysofmyk Posts: 52 Member
    Good post! Thanks, many people seem to have this misconception, I hope that you can open a few eyes.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I agree 110%! :heart:

    Most of the time I was losing, I averaged between 1800-2000 calories (and that includes exercise calories). I wouldn't have believed a year ago that I could eat "that much" and still lose weight, but I did!

    I also wouldn't have believed I would look like I look and be able to run 7 miles or lift heavy weights. I thought the way I looked a year ago was the way I was supposed to look, and since past weight loss attempts all failed, that I was incapable of losing.

    I love being wrong!
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
    Awesome website. I am thinking I need a serious up in calories!! I am eating 1400 and am feeling very sluggish lately! I am hesitant to up my calories even though I dont even want to lose more. I just dont want to go the other way so have been slowly upping them. Maybe I need to do a big jump and try 1800. MFP says that I would maintain at 1550?! I am 5'3" and 112lbs!
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    OMG Thanks!!!!!!!
  • wendyw8
    wendyw8 Posts: 86 Member
    It is very true that ppl think that if you don't eat you will lose weight! I find myself not eating sometimes even though I know that it does not work (I think some of us are just programmed to think that way, from certain sources) and than you just get even hungrier and eat more later and it sabotages your whole weight loss! It is so hard to get a new mind set! I get very upset sometimes when I eat over my calories, but I have actually gained weight and not lost it, so I have to be doing something wrong!!
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