Signs you’re eating too little for weight loss
When it comes to eating for weight loss especially if weight loss is your goal, it seems to make sense to cut as many calories from your diet as possible.
I have been there before and know how it feels. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that it’s possible to eat too little, which not only makes it harder for you to achieve a healthy weight, but it can also cause other health problems. Eating below the required amount can bite you in the butt.
Every person has a set number of calories, or energy, they need to simply be alive. Consistently eating less than this can cause your metabolism to slow down and lose muscle tissue. This is why it is important when eating for weight loss, to know the amount of calories that will sustain you.
Hunger and feeling full aren’t the only indicators of whether you’re fueling your body appropriately. Trust me, short and long-term restrictions on weight and the traditional weight-loss methods of calorie cutting and deprivation may be a hindrance to many of your health goals.
Eating for weight loss : What foods?
Beyond calories, I’ve tried all the fad diets. They all worked SHORT TERM. All of these Diets bored me or I got the itch to not follow it anymore and gained the weight back.
Diet culture, in general, does a good job of making us feel like we failed if we don’t have long term success. We often say, ” oh, that didn’t work for me but it’s the diet itself that fails us.”
The restrictions these diets have are naturally just hard to continue because our bodies and minds cannot stick to such strict rules of “don’t eat more than 5% of carbs per day of your calorie intake or else.
Many turn to KETO because it’s fast but first in my experience is not always the best. Especially if you’re a mom who wants/ needs a glass of wine now and then. That wine will take you out of ketosis and you’re gaining the weight BACK.
There is little to no research showing any fad diet results in sustained long-term weight loss. This is one of the things I explain in my group Eat Your Way To Fit, so you don’t feel defeated or ashamed because you did nothing wrong.
When you have a bad day and eat something you shouldn’t, emotions, such as stress, are not the only triggers for emotional eating. Other common triggers that people report for not eating for weight loss include:
- Boredom: Being bored or having nothing to do is a common emotional eating trigger. Many people live very stimulating and active lives, and when they have nothing to do will turn to food to fill that vacuum.
- Habits: These are often driven by nostalgia or things that happened in a person’s childhood. An example might be, having ice cream after a good report card or baking cookies with a grandparent.
- Fatigue: It is easier to overeat or eat mindlessly when fatigued, especially when tired of doing an unpleasant task. Food can seem like the answer to not wanting to do a particular activity anymore.
- Social influences: Everyone has that friend who encourages them to get a pizza after a night out, go out for dinner or drinks after a difficult day, or as a reward for a good day. It can be easy to overeat when with friends or family.
Coping strategies in eating for weight loss
The first step that I always talk about is to recognize how often does this happen. Is it once a week or twice? After you eat that food to help you, how do you feel afterward? Does it make the stress go away or do you now feel guilty about it?
Scanning that food into the App is another way it can help you SEE it. I used to eat a TON of Red Vines, I was obsessed and I am not kidding. Anything that hurts my teeth does the trick but it never did the trick when I weighed in on Friday’s or didn’t see progress.
So, at the end of the day what I learned is that a short moment feels good but in the long term, it didn’t. So now when I want Red Vines, I find it way easier to talk to myself and choose fruit instead.
What does Sugar do to your body and should it be part of eating for weight loss?
”And in its natural form, sugar contains healthy nutrients. Your body needs sugar. But it also craves the sweet stuff, leading most Americans to eat entirely too much sugar.
That increases your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and other diseases.”
Research shows that too much-added sugar can:
Increase kidney disease risk: Having consistently high blood sugar levels can cause damage to the delicate blood vessels in your kidneys. This can lead to an increased risk of kidney disease. Negatively impact dental health: Eating too much sugar can cause cavities.
You deserve better.
Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so be sure to take care of yourself first.
And it’s okay to start small! Here are some ways to begin your journey to a healthier lifestyle.
- Drink more water.
- Take the stairs.
- Get outside and take a walk every single day.
These baby steps lead to giant leaps.
Which one will you start today?
When you’re not hungry and don’t get enough calories?
You must have heard before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ve also heard that intermittent fasting is the way to go. You might have been so confused that you just don’t know what is the best thing to do anymore.
Personally, I cannot fast. I’ve tried but have not been able to just have black coffee. I like my coffee fake and sweet or have a Coffee protein shake. Oh ya. The best of both worlds.
When you join my Eat Your Way To Fit Group, you’ve probably been on some other way of eating and have tried other diets before and none of them compare to mine.
I’ve also tried everything under and when I started to eat this way, I too was shocked and challenged.
So the 1st thing I had to accept is that I wanted to be REALLY fit and eat even when not hungry because all the calories need to be consumed to build muscle and they had to be the right food.
To get fit, we have to lift weights to build muscle & then feed the body nutrients that build that muscle. Food is required to do that.
We want to focus on getting enough protein, carbs, and healthy fat, and eat less sugar, less processed foods.
We follow a lighter bodybuilding diet. To see a change in the body, the mind has to work on change.
Why do you want to change? What do you want to change about your body? Write it down. This is very helpful With the mind. The only way this worked for me is to have everything written down. It’s like a To-Do list, I cannot survive without having stuff written down on paper. If it’s not written, it does not get done. If the paper is not in my face, I am not doing it.
So let’s start with baby steps. If you are not eating breakfast, then try this coffee protein shake.
Morning Coffee Protein Shake
- 1 serving of protein powder, chocolate or vanilla flavor
- 1 tablespoon almond or peanut butter
- ½ cup of cold brew coffee ( or 2 tablespoons instant coffee)
- 1 teaspoon flax seed
- 1 banana
- 1 cup of almond milk (any unsweetened milk variety works)
- 4-6 ice cubes
- 220 calories, fat 7g, sodium 9, Carbs 13g, Fiber 8g, Sugar 11g, Protein 33g