Several weeks ago I talked about an article that discussed under eating. Since then I have had several people comment to me that they seem to be finding themselves hungry all the time so I thought it was something worth revisiting, especially if you missed the discussion in class. As I have said before, many times the problem is not that you are overeating, it is that you are not eating enough! I know that we all occasionally have that special occassion where we do eat entirely too much, or its that time of the month and we binge on sweets, but what I am really talking about is on a day to day basis, do you eat enough? The average woman according to the article in Oxygen Magazine September 2010 issue, should be eating 1800 calories a day. This number is based on on your basal metabolic rate and your Activities of Daily Living. This is the number you body needs to survive. Now add in to that equation that we are all active girls, obviously or you would not be receiving this email, our calorie expenditure will be even higher once we add the calories burned during exercise and then the subsequent after burn! So what happens if you are not eating enough to support all you do on a daily basis. You may loose some weight to begin with, but your body will catch on and it will adapt to the decrease in calories. Your metabloism will slow down so that your body will burn less calories completing everyday tasks. Over time, your body will start burning off muscle mass for fuel which will drop your metablosim even further (since the more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate!). It does seem like every where you look people are constantly putting something in their mouths, and the health care situation in this country is in quite a state with many people overweight and suffering from weight related health issues (diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol), so it seems like cutting back on calories should be the right thing to do. However, maybe what you need to look at is not quantity of food but quality and how it is balanced through out your day. Research has shown that if you take a group of people and put them on a diet of 1500 calories a day, and then further split that group so that half of them, have three, 500 calorie meals a day, and the other half have five 300 calorie meals a day, the group eating more often will loose more weight and be overall healthier with a higher metabolism then those eating only three meals a day. The other issue to look at is the quality of your food. If you are eating more processed food then natural food, then again your calorie intake even if good, may still not meet your needs. You need to limit the amount of foods that have come with a bar code! If you are cleaning up your diet and you find that you are becoming hungrier, then by all means you may eat more, add an extra snack to your daily schedule or add a larger portion to your lunch, but make sure it is clean, as natural as possible food!
So if all this makes sense then what should you do? First of all get a better idea of how much you are actually taking in and burning off. No you don't need to be obsessive about your calorie counting! But you do need to be reading labels and for a short period of time you need to keep track of what is going in your mouth! If you need an idea of how much you are burning you can look to an online tool or come see me for a quick formula. Your daily intake should not be consistently less than what you are burning. Second thing to do is to start eating more but do it gradually. Adding calories to your diet is not easy, your body and mind need time to adapt to the new changes. So add in extra calories to a meal, or include a snack maybe where you have not previoulsy had one. And once that has become easier and you don't feel over full then add again somehwere else! Finally remember to keeps food clean. Adding extra calories, does not mean adding extra butter, or fatty dressings to your food. Instead add extra calories from fruits, nuts, whole grains, sweet potatoes or lean meats and fish.
Five Signs You Are Underfueled
1.
Your losing or not gaining muscle: If you are working out hard and eating enough protein, but seem to be getting weaker or losing definition, your energy intake is low.
2. You're tired all the time and your not sleeping well: If your body constantly lacks fuel you will find it harder to recover from your workouts. Over time undereating can also rob you of sleep which is when you build and repair muscles.
3. You can't get rid of that pesky belly fat: While it may seem to go against everything you have ever heard or believed, it all comes down to hormones and you metabloism. Undereating promotes muscle loss and rises in the levels of belly fattening stress hormone cortisol over time.
4. Your period stops or becomes irregular: Yes, active women should still have their periods. If yours is becoming erratic or has stopped entirely, or if you are having problems getting pregnant, it could be a sign that your body doesn't have enough fuel to produce key reproductive hormones.
5. Your bones are showing Weakness: If you have had a recent stress fracture or an unexpected broken bone from a fall this could be a sign that your bones are weakening, a side effect of low calories and possibly low estrogen levels.
If you have any questions about any of this please feel free to contact me and I will do what I can to help!
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