I'm not saying it doesn't work, but...

I'm honestly not sure about this either. I asked my good friend who is a trainer about this the other day, as a matter of fact. She said that it is just too simple to say it that way. Basically, from what she told me, you have to "shake up" your body to lose weight. It's about calories in, calories out (metabolism). If metabolism slows, you shake it up. She recommends changing workouts more than changing foods. SO, if you always jog, you need to add in other workouts, more weights, etc. to get your body out of a rut. She also is a big believer in increasing protein. I don't know the science behind it all, but I agree with you, it is confusing!

Your body is very adaptable. If you have been consistently eating 1200 cals it will get used to that level, know what it is going to get, and become more efficient. By upping your calories you show your body that food is more plentiful and that there is no need to hold on to any excess. It is a very delicate balance. You can expect to gain at first until your body adapts, then you'll stabilize, before you loose any more. If you increase too much you will just gain, if you don't increase enough you risk gain. It is about encouraging your body to utilize the fuel you are giving it, see that it get's enough and there is no need to hold on to excess, and to get rid of stored fat because it does not need it in case of famine. By eating low and staying low your body holds on to the idea that food is not plentiful and it needs to store in case of famine.

I think it's because if you set the calorie limit too low your body goes into "starvation mode" and hangs on to every bit of nourishment it can. Thus when you increase your calories it lets you start burning them again.

How could you know you are pregnant at this point? That is exactly nine month from now, so you are two weeks pregnant and know? I didn't know that was possible.

How could you know you are pregnant at this point? That is exactly nine month from now, so you are two weeks pregnant and know? I didn't know that was possible.

Actually, it is. If the due date was Sept, she would have gotten pregnant in December.

Essentially, food is fuel. If you don't fuel the body properly, the body can't work to burn calories and in fat will preserve calories for later on. This becomes more apparent in those with little weight to lose or those who have low body fat. Your fat stores work harder to retain calories as a quick source of food; essentially, they want to stock up for the winter. When you eat more, your body not only gets the nutrition is needs, but also doesn't anticipate a short fall in energy, so it quickly will process and release the food from your system, aka your metabolism works higher. Now the issue comes in play when those who eat very little over extended periods of time lose a bunch of weight. What happens when you eat low calories, your body has to find a way to produces energy. What happens is your body will cannibalize your lean muscle mass for the amino acids, as it's a source of energy. The problem with is, your lean muscle mass will decrease, which has a direct affect on your metabolism. The lower your lean muscle mass, the slower your metabolism. This is also why you see people gain a lot of weight back from diets. Many of them are very low calorie and destroy your metabolism in pursuit of lower weight. This is why there is a difference between being fit and healthy, and being skinny. Skinny doesn't equate to healthy.


theoneandonly, When you tried to eat more calories, how long did you monitor your progress? Was it a week, a month, several months, etc.... ? The reason I ask, many people say once they ate more, they gained. What they don't say, is this happened for two weeks in a row, they freaked out and reverted back to their old ways. The problem is, your body and metabolism have a period where it needs to adapt to more calories. Generally, it can take 4 weeks for this to happen. Also, generally what happens when you increase calories, you increase carbs. Increasing carbs will increase the amount of glycogen in your system which increases water retention (up to 10 ish lbs). This is the same affect of coming off low carb diets. This is one reason why low carb isn't necessary unless you have an intolerance to carbs; such as women with PCOS.

In my opinion, this is why people should know their body fat (using calipers and not bio impedance machines). Knowing your BF % will allow a person to understand their BMR at a much more consistant level which allows you to calculate your TDEE. At that point, you can determine caloric needs based on goal.

I will add one more note, eating low calories only does one thing; it preserves body fat. You can't build muscle on huge deficits and frequently have trouble maintaining lean muscle mass on big deficits, thence the metabolism slow down.

lemon