How calorie deficits and extreme diets can cause weight gain

Slowing fasting, calorie counts and deprivations of your metabolism and preventing you from reaching your weight loss goals?

The basic theory behind a calorie deficit is simple: burn more calories than you consume and your body will immerse yourself in its fat reserves for energy, which leads to weight loss.

Jill Brown, a certified master health coach and nutrition expert, said the post that this concept is known in fitness circles as cico or “calories in calories”.

But what does it mean if you count calories and do not achieve any results?

As a rule, women have to eat between 1,800 and 2,400 calories every day to maintain their weight, while men need around 2,000 to 3,000. This is based on the USDA’s food guidelines for Americans 2020–2025.

Experts agree that weight loss occurs when the body is in a calorie deficit. But determining how many calories you consume and what corresponds to a deficit is slippery math.

In fact, a pioneering study showed that people, how many calories they take by up to 1,000 calories a day, calmly calms down.

Really count calories

“When people tell me that they are a calorie deficit, I ask them: ‘How do you know that?’ You can’t really answer. The truth is if you don’t lose weight, you are simply not in a calorie deficit, ”said Brown.

Brown explained that part of the separation between the counting of calories and weight loss is that most people do not know their exact metabolic rate or RMR.

“At home intelligent scales are unreliable and I see that many people use this as primary measurement,” she said.

Instead, it is the best option to get a Dexa scan that measures your body composition, “said Brown.” The next best would be an incotorous machine. These machines give you an estimate of your RMR or how many calories your body burns per day. “

These machine -generated estimates are based on body weight, muscle mass, bone mass and fat mass and offer a more precise picture of your calorie editions.

Brown explained that online calculators only take age, size, weight and self-reported activity level into account and leave sufficient space for errors.

“You can get by up to 20% to 30% in normal, young, healthy people. You can be even further away for older people or those with diseases or obesity.

“Not to mention that none of these calculators flow in medication or the state of health of the intestine.”

Brown noticed that some drugs can confuse with their hunger, change their intestinalism and even slow down their metabolism, which makes it much more difficult to create a calorie deficit.

But how do they count calories without technology?

For those who want to nail a calorie deficit without integrating technology, Brown recommends a good old -fashioned diary.

“To be honest, I have everything they eat (even small sips and licks), logged for a week or two and weigh every day. If the scale is still the same at the end of the week, they burn as many calories as they take, ”she said.

According to Brown, it is easy as soon as this baseline is set to find paths easily to achieve a deficit.

“Eat a little less (think of smaller portions, skip snacks or no desserts), do a little more physical activity and sleep well and you will be in a deficit,” she said.

While a deficit is a healthy goal, Brown says, says Brown deprivation is not only ineffective, but counterproductive.

“Extreme calorie deficits only work at short notice because it is very stressful for the body,” said Brown.

“If you try to do this for weeks or months, your hunger hormones will go crazy and force you to return all of these calories. If you continue to fight, your body reacts by slowing down his metabolic rate.

“If you continue to eat an extremely low -calorie diet, your body simply burns fewer calories to maintain energy. You will even burn fewer calories when you train. “

Brown also noticed that regular movement suppresses hunger, but overexertion strengthens him. So she recommends that people find a sweet spot between challenge and exhaustion that works for them.

It counts peace and relaxation as an additional prerequisites for weight loss: “Get quality sleep and at the same time cope with stress prevents these sneaky hunger hormones if you don’t notice it.”