The Biggest Mistake You're Making When Losing Weight
95% of you who are trying to lose weight are doing this wrong
I got tired of following hundreds of miracle diets that I found on the Internet and I decided to go with a professional.
I understood that losing weight is not a complex science, however, we make too many mistakes trying.
I went for a doctor's consultation so I could fit into my old skinny jeans again. I ended with a lesson that completely opened my mind.
"Why don't more people know this?!"
For everyone reading this, I will save you the doctor's appointment and share all the wisdom I received.
Buckle up and prepare your mind to be blown up and your belly to be flattened.
We've all been doing weight loss wrong
Well not everyone, just those of us who believe in miracle products instead of going with a certified professional.
My doctor explained to me that the biggest misconception around weight loss is that we should eat less than we need. Every day we expend energy, and if we consume more fuel than we need, that fuel remains stored in our body. Simple, right?
Well, the problem lies there. We focus on reducing the calories we normally consume, believing that we will lose weight. And yes we will, but we will not be losing fat.
Let's say you reduce your caloric intake. Let's use 2,000 calories for this example because calculations are easier to do this way (and I'm terrible at math). You start consuming 25% fewer calories, so you only consume 1,500 per day. You will start to lose weight, but you will reach a limit where you cannot lose more weight. Has it happened to you?
The worst part, when you go off the diet, you regain the lost weight and even gain more. Why? Because we have messed up our metabolism trying to lose weight.
You are not losing fat, you are losing muscle
When you start eating fewer calories, your body doesn't understand that what you want is a summer body or your old jeans back. Your body assumes that there is less food in the environment, and therefore you eat less.
What begins to happen is that your metabolism begins to slow down to adapt to the new amount of food in the environment.
You begin to consume muscle, since it stores little energy but consumes a lot. And you start to store fat since it stores lots of energy and consumes little. So those 10 pounds that you lost are muscle loss.
Why do you stop losing weight?
Because your body adapted to this new diet. To keep losing weight, you need to cut even more calories and start over.
In short, eating less only slows down our metabolism until it adapts. The result: we lose weight but increase the percentage of body fat.
When you start eating like before, you regain those 10 pounds in no time because your metabolism now runs on fewer calories. Fastly, you gain more weight than you lost.
Don't cut calories. Speed up your metabolism
So what is the solution? The one you read above.
The idea is to speed up your metabolism so that by consuming 2,000 calories as in the beginning, you begin to lose weight.
The ways to speed up your metabolism are:
Intermittent fasting
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and weight training
Healthy sleep
So my nutritionist didn't prescribe me to eat just broccoli. He basically told me to stay active, eat balanced, and sleep well. That way, my metabolism will adjust and my usual consumption of calories will turn into a caloric deficit.
The benefits:
You lose fat instead of muscle
Improve your aerobic fitness
You correct eating habits
That's basically it.
Now I will focus on intermittent fasting and HIIT. I can talk about how to use them correctly in another post in the future.
Wish me luck!
Read every story from Mindsmatter (and thousands of other writers on Medium) As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story on Medium____________________________________________________
We made something a little great! The Anxiety Workbook, get yours by clicking here.
____________________________________________________
Want To Support Us?
You can like this story, tell a friend about it, buy us a coffee on Ko-fi, check us out on Medium, or all of the above! It all helps!
____________________________________________________
Want Even More?
Grab the latest updates from Mindsmatter. Exclusive stories, mental health resources, and more!
About the Creator
Mindsmatter.
Mindsmatter is written by Bola Kwame, Jack Graves and Emma Buryd.
De-stigmatizing mental illness one day at a time.
Our socials: https://linktr.ee/Mindsmatter
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.