Eat More, Weigh Less?
Hi humans!
I'm just going to jump right into what I want to say today: eating less does not equate to weighing less.
A couple of days ago I was in my yoga class when I heard three girls behind me talking about their 1200-calorie-a-day-paleo-diet which consisted of NO fruit, no grains, lots of chicken, turkey, and more chicken. One of the girls talked about how she had a hard time FILLING her macros (lol wut), and how she was planning on cutting her intake further the next week. (LOL WUT)
I listened to them talk about this for quite a while before I finally turned around.
"You know, I eat upwards of 6,000 calories a day. Mostly carbs."
They looked at me with shock and disbelief.
"Do you like, run a lot?"
"No. Not at all."
"You're like, really skinny.."
"Yeah, I recently gained 20 pounds, too."
"You don't gain weight eating 6000 calories?"
"No. I have been trying but it seems the more I eat the harder it is to gain weight."
"I wish I could do that!"
"You can. You're essentially starving yourself eating that little."
*stops talking, even though I want to start lecturing*
In the past, hearing people talk about their low-calorie diets and intense exercise regimens would trigger me like no other. Now, it just makes me sad FOR THEM.
With no disrespect, the girls in that class that were talking about their 1200 calorie diet were not slim. Rather, they were quite overweight.
Based on the fact that (through my eavesdropping) I learned that this 1200 calorie diet had been going on for two years now, obviously something is not working.
Our society has a really huge problem with believing that eating less is going to make them lose weight. Um, no.
Yes, the amount of energy you consume is relevant to the energy expended--but all you are doing by eating that little is KILLING your metabolism and making it impossible to lose weight because your body is desperately clinging to any and all of the food you give it.
Once you start giving your body the energy is really needs and deserves, your metabolism will be on fire and start working normally again.
I believe EVERYONE should consume at least 2500. As a minimum.
You're a man? More. You exercise? More. You use your brain a lot on a daily basis? More. Pregnant? More. Pretty much if you do anything other than lay in bed all day--more.
I'm not recommending that everyone eats as much as I do, because I know that my metabolism is ridiculously fast and it is uncommon. I get that. However, the people who think that eating LESS is going to make them weigh less are really missing out on thousands of calories of food that could actually be helping them LOSE weight.
There are countless stories out there of people who were running miles upon miles every day and eating a minuscule amount of calories--only to be "skinny fat" and not making the progress that they want. Enter: more calories and less cardio (usually replaced with strength training) and that person suddenly has their ideal physique. Imagine that.
The stress of cardio on your body mixed with such a low amount of calories sends your body into confusion and panic mode. It holds onto every bit of food because it's unsure when it will be fed again. Not good.
I could talk for hours about this, but I'll just leave you with this:
Eat more, weigh less.
(No I'm not saying you can just eat and eat and never gain weight indefinitely.)
Give your body what it needs and it will thank you. Stop the stupid restrictive diets and eliminating food groups because you think it will make you skinny. Just stop.
If you choose to ignore this message, no problem. I'll just be over here with my carb-filled bagel and continue struggling to GAIN weight.
