Eating to Lose Weight
Maybe you think that starving yourself will be the quickest way to shed those extra pounds, but the truth is that your body needs energy to lose weight.
Your body will store fat and your muscle mass will decrease if you decide not to eat rather than eating a healthy diet. If you aren’t a slave to food, you can use it as a tool to get in shape and be healthier. Some simple math will help you determine how many calories you should eat in a day, and help you lose weight by cutting back.
We Need Food
Energy is the first nutritional demand of your body. Your body will convert muscle protein into energy in order to feed your brain, keep your nervous system functioning, and supply your red blood cells if it does not get enough energy from food in the form of calories.
Though you may have reduced your weight in terms of pounds, you are left with a much weaker, unhealthier body. You have lost the tissue that burns fat. It has been shown that muscle tissue burns up to 70% of the fat you lose. Because you have compromised your body’s ability to burn fat, you will gain all that weight back, and even more.
What about Fatty Foods?
Let’s say that you consume a high-calorie meal at a fast-food restaurant. What is the fate of the fat that you have just consumed?
Basically, it can be burned up as energy or it can be moved into fat storage on your hips, thighs, belly, etc. The only way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to burn those calories.
How Can I Lose Weight?
A quick way to determine how many calories you should consume is to multiply your ideal weight by ten. For example, if your ideal weight is 120 pounds, your minimal energy requirement is 1200 calories.
Next, factor in the calories needed for exercise and activity. Very active people (those who exercise 3 hours or more a week) need to multiply their minimal requirement by 1.5. Moderately active individuals (those who exercise 1 to 3 hours per week) need to multiply their requirement by 1.2. Continuing with our example:
(Ideal Weight:) 120 × 10 = 1200 (Minimal Energy Requirement)
1200 × 1.5 (For Active People) = 1800 – This is the total amount of calories you should consume in a day.
Another option is to take an appetite suppressant. In fact, the best weight loss supplement options usually have other benefits, such as fat burners and metabolism boosters. This will especially help you at the beginning on your diet.
Conclusion
The point is not to eliminate food, but to use it. Look at the calorie and fat content in every food you eat, and you will never find yourself surprised by unexpected weight loss. There are deceptively unhealthy foods out there, and we could all benefit from taking small steps to burn fat and muscle every day. Our bodies are not designed to function without food, and the key is to eat less and exercise, not starvation.