Eat to Lose Weight: Keeping Metabolism High

Every now and then, there comes a morning when you wake up with that old unfulfilled but burning desire in your heart.

A desire that makes you transcend all extremes you have ever known; s desire so intense that it burns you inside out while you remain clueless.

It is the desire to be slim – to lose all the flabby skin that makes you feel ashamed and diffident. So, what do you do? You start to resist food, the culprit, with all your inner strength.

It seems to work for a while, you may lose a pound or more, but what happens afterwards? The opposite of what you expected – you regain the lost weight.

You start to binge eat. The cravings become uncontrollable. You begin to deviate from your goal and that desire slowly burns out for the time being, only to return at another unexpected time.

The Known and Unknown Reasons

Cutting down on food to the extent that your body is barely able to receive the required amount of calories to function properly, will definitely result in weight loss.

But it will not be the fat that you lose, it will be the muscle. And you are guaranteed to gain the weight back. Permanent fat loss cannot occur with strict dieting. Here’s why:

• The body responds defensively to the starvation technique

When there’s a large calorie deficit, the body goes into starvation mode. It slows down the metabolic rate – the rate at which calories are burnt to be used as energy – to save as much energy as possible so that is able to sustain itself for a longer duration on the scant amount of food it is getting.

As a result, you don’t burn any fat, instead you store it.

• Low calories result in slow metabolism

The lower your calories are, the lower your metabolism will be. If you continue to starve yourself for a long period, then soon your body will become so accustomed to living on the small amount of calories, that you will not be able to lose any weight despite eating very less.

• The chances of regaining the lost weight increase

Initially, restricting the food intake leads to decrease in weight, but it’s only a matter of time until the body starts to save fat and the weight loss comes to a halt.

You are unable to make progress which leads to frustration. Eventually, you stop trying and start eating in excess. And before you know it, regression takes effect.

• The less you eat, the more you crave

When your body is not getting the necessary calories, you start to experience extreme hunger and increased cravings for food.

Your body wants you to eat more so that it can get out of the starvation mode. For most people it is hard to refrain from eating and stick to the diet when they feel famished all the time.

The Better Alternative

Diets will only give you temporary results. To lose weight permanently, you will have to adopt a healthy lifestyle – eating well and exercising regularly.

You will need to replace the old habits with new ones. Gaining more muscles will increase your metabolic rate for they burn calories even at rest. Including cardio or weight training in your exercise regime will help to build muscle.

Exercising more frequently or rigorously and eating a little less will create a calorie deficit, which is necessary to lose weight. But a negative calorie balance should not be maintained for too long, else you will hit the plateau.

Most importantly, eat in small portions throughout the day. Keep a track of your calories and do not overeat or skip a meal. You need to eat food to accelerate your metabolism rate, thus, burn more calories.

Below is a list of some essential foods that will help you lose fat and get slim, trim and healthy:

• Oats – for they have balanced amount of protein carbohydrates and fats.
• Potatoes – they are low in calories, high in fiber and are complex carbohydrates.
• Egg whites – full of protein and no fat at all.
• Fresh fruits and green vegetables – for they are high in fiber and an excellent source of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
• Fresh fish – a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Trout, tuna, salmon, cod, etc. along with crabs, shrimps and lobsters can be included in the diet.
• Other healthier options – try to have brown rice instead of white, whole grain bread in place of white bread and replace whole milk or dairy products with skim milk or fat-free products.

Foods that have high amount of calories or fat contain refined sugar, artificial flavors and colors or are low in nutritional value should be avoided at all costs. Good examples include, fried potato chips, cakes and pastries, carbonated drinks, fried and all sorts of junk food.

A healthy and balanced diet coupled with weight training or cardio exercises will deliver favorable results.

Severe dieting will keep on slowing down your metabolism, deplete your muscle tissue and leave you feeble with no energy. Therefore, one must be willing to make an effort, be patient and not look for any useless shortcuts.

Food is the fuel that keeps us running. Not eating will only make us mentally and physically weak; the fat will stay but the muscle and vigor will go away. And a weak body is not a healthy body, is it?