Are you eating enough?

If you are one of these people who don’t eat anything and maybe even exercise but cannot lose a single pound, you are most probably not eating enough; your body may actually have gone into starvation mode. Let me tell you what happens: This amazing machine called your body is coming up with a rescue plan to survive the starvation period you put him through. It will basically pursue three strategies:

• Burn lean muscle tissue to get some of the calories it needs to keep functioning
• Slow down the metabolism in order to burn less calories
• Once you eat, your body will stock all the food in form of fat deposits to be ready for the next hunger attack.

Of course, these are great measures of Mother Nature if you’re in a famine situation. But if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s going to do little to help you shift those unwanted pounds. Luckily there are several ways to prevent serious metabolic issues from occurring:

1. Calculate the calories you need to lose weight healthily together with your dietician and personal trainer. You may check out this link for a rough idea.

2. Give yourself time to diet. You should aim to lose no more than a kilo of fat per week. This will ensure that muscle loss is minimized. Keep in mind that minor changes in your diet and fitness routine are more likely to lead to success than massive cuts or radical workouts.

3. Eat lots of vegetables – vegetables are carbs and low in calories.

4. Reduce stress because it will unbalance your autonomic nervous system which will again slow down the fat burning process in your body.

5. Get plenty of rest. You actually build up muscle by damaging it. Growth hormone production kicks in and your new muscles will build during sleep.

I have never been on a diet in my whole life. This is why I got very upset with a colleague the other day. He works as a personal trainer at a gym I occasionally train at and he told me he was getting tired of all these girls asking him what my secrets were. I got curious and asked: “So what did you tell them?” “That you work out hard and eat very little”, he said. ME, EATING LITTLE?! Are you kidding me, I eat tons! First of all because I love eating and second because I need energy for all the things I accomplish in a day! To be honest, I have no clue which foods have how many calories. How much is an apple? How much my bowl of vegetables? Absolutley no idea. But I know about the proportions of protein, carbs and fats and if the carbs are unrefined and the fats unsaturated or not. I guess that I must consume around 2200 calories a day. I try never to miss out on a meal, but if that happens, my body wants me to eat double once I get hold of food. I learned that listening to my body is all it takes to stay healthy really. I love my body, I could never let it starve.