Increasing calories Archives - Page 4 of 6

Is EM2WL an excuse for gluttony? (battling muscle loss with age)

by EM2WL | Nov 5, 2012 | Building Muscle, Increasing calories, Q & A

Q: Why do you want be able to eat so much? Why would a woman purposely go through “bulking phases” trying to gain weight for the sake of adding muscle? I mean, you are a woman, why do you want to eat like a man and look like one too? Just sounds like gluttony to me. I’m completely content eating less than my husband, and having less muscle.

A: I’m sorry that you see it that way, or that I come across as a muscle-bound “glutton” to you. It’s not just to be gluttonous …OK, maybe a little, lol…but more so because I know how much our metabolism slows with age. Weight goes up, muscle and bone mass decrease, and we have to eat LESS just to accomplish the same results. Everything that I do, is to DEFY that trend. So my aim is build as much muscle, and eat as much food as I can now. Then, when I get to the age where my peers are hardly eating, getting “softer,” and at higher risk for bone/muscle loss – I can still enjoy my life and have enough bone/muscle/brain strength to have as much independence as possible. This is very important to me, as I watch my own grandparents age and lose all independence. I am a very “future” focused person, in case that isn’t obvious.

I just grew up originally thinking (as did my grandparents) that the changes we deal with as we age are inevitable. While some of them may be – and we will never be immortal – studies are proving that much of what we’ve attributed to “the effects of aging” over the years, are simply the effects of being sedentary. I WISH my grandparents only had known that they needed only to eat a bit more, move a bit more, and lift a little weights. Heck, I wish they’d even try a little now. I watched them give up at the first sign of “aging” almost 20yrs ago! My grandpa plopped on the couch in his late 50s and basically said “that’s a wrap, I’m too old.”

Unfortunately, he has stayed there WELL into his 70s.

Grandma has followed his lead and she’s still in her 60s. It makes me so sad. I don’t expect them to be flipping cartwheels or anything, but they’ve incurred more muscle/bone loss since they STOPPED moving/eating, than they had up until that point. I didn’t think they had a choice, but now that I devour studies on aging, I hurt knowing what they don’t. It’s tough to know, yet not be able to say anything out of fear of being disrespectful. But all of the kids/grand-kids talk. They talk to one another about how much it hurts to see Papa just decide that he’s “done” and constantly reference his mortality when we are with him. Its very depressing. I mean, if you still have to be here, why not try to make your life the best it can be?

I’m not afraid to leave this earth, but I don’t want my grand-kids to watch me “give up” on life 20, 30, 50 years before my time.

But, that being said, I do know that a lot of people believe that if they are comfortable with their calorie intake/level of muscle now then why bother? On some level, I get that. Without the long term aspect in mind, it does kinda seem pointless to some people to raise their calories/build muscle if they feel “satisfied” now. My issue with that standpoint is that what satisfies me now, may be too much 10 years from now. So if I’m already eating a miniscule amount, it will need to be decreased even further. The muscle that I have now, if left as is, will be but a fraction of the current amount, when I need it most. So, for me, it all comes down to being safe rather than sorry, and getting those calories and muscle mass to a decent level…now.

MRI cross-section of a male thigh – notice how the muscle/fat ratio changes as the decades pass? Males carry MUCH more muscle than women.

How about you? Do you feel that EM2WL is just an excuse for gluttony? Is it greed to want to eat more, when your body has adapted to a smaller amount of food? Should women leave the “muscle building phases” to the men?

Guest Post: How I made the EM2WL lifestyle work for me

by EM2WL | Sep 3, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset

EM2WL is a lifestyle, not a “one-size-fit-all” set of rules. We often leave many areas “gray” when discussing the process (Paleo? Gluten free? Vegan? Intermittent Fasting? etc), because we want to encourage everyone, as individuals, to seek how to make the journey “theirs.” Recently, we received a Journey testimonial, that we felt was a perfect example of this. In fact, we loved Krystal’s story so much that we’ve invited her back to discuss how she — determined to fix her own metabolism — adapted EM2WL to her lifestyle, with great success.

EM2WL – How I Made It Work For Me

Krystal Kretschmer

We are all different and we all need different things. But we all try the same approach to weight loss: eat less, exercise more, lose weight.

Fail.

I did this and it destroyed my health (little by little so I was relatively unaware as time went on and it worsened), and not only that, it made it harder for me after the fact, to be healthy and not gain back tons of fat.

This goes out to anyone who has done restricted calorie diets, high calorie deficits and effectively ruined their metabolism. The idea that “People who have been obese in their life, will need to live on a permanently calorie restricted diet in order to not gain back fat,” is NOT TRUE and doesn’t need to be preached. It is upsetting, defeating and it’s an unhealthy principle that does not need to be adhered to!

The more you eat, the healthier you are, simply because:

more food = more nutrients

I’m am not saying ‘eat more calories’ necessarily (but I am, just not to excess). More so, I am trying to say, ‘eat more nutrients’ and ‘eat more quality food’ to be healthy. Eat as much as you can and still remain true to your goals.

When I realized that I was living on 1600 calories and burning 3200 calories every day, for months and years (I never thought I burned that much so I thought my deficit was much smaller), I realized that that was just incredibly wrong. That was not healthy. I was suffering, unaware. I had adapted to the side effects that crept on over the years (bad moods, losing energy, poor workouts and an inability to progress) and just wasn’t aware of how much my health was being affected. I knew then that I needed to eat more. I was scared because if I was eating this little and not gaining or losing (and I was still trying to lose, for years, with no success – I couldn’t eat less, I lived with a permanent plateau) then surely if I consumed more calories I would gain weight, no?

NO! I believe that I avoided fat building by building muscle instead which has the added effect of increasing your metabolism with the more muscle mass you build. Eating more calories also means an increase in metabolic activity. I felt all of this as weeks passed and I began to feel better and better, and then just absolutely great!

When I decided to start eating more, I had to console the part of my brain that truly believed that eating with a deficit was the only way (the part of me that had lived like that for years and years and years). I really just wanted to repair my metabolism and everything I read suggested eating more. To me, it seemed logical that if I had adapted to fewer calories, that more calories WOULD turn into fat and I obviously didn’t want that. Many other articles suggested that the second best way to increase your metabolism was to increase your muscle mass. So, those two principles in hand seemed a fitting pair! Also, everything I read said that it is next to impossible to put on muscle with a calorie debt. So, I decided I needed to change my focus from losing weight, to eating more and building muscle.

I researched body building and learned a few key things, for example:

EAT MORE PROTEIN Most sources suggest eating about 0.5g of protein per pound of body weight. I eat between 0.5 and 0.75g per pound. Don’t limit your (healthy) carbs, and I say this ONLY because eating that much protein means you are naturally going to cut your carbs anyway or else you would eat far too many calories. Initially, I went protein crazy and was eating too much protein and not enough complex carbs and I got, um, backed up, if you know what I mean. This may not ring true for everyone. I needed to increase my carb intake a bit and stuck strictly with complex carbs for ‘bowel regularity’, lol. Fibre keeps the system running efficiently and we want that for sure!

ZIGZAG YOUR CALORIES Every day eat a different amount of NET calories. And I have higher calorie days on my harder workout days. Also, I try to eat the majority of my calories before and after my workout. Before, so you can fuel an awesome, intense workout, and after to help repair and build muscle. Try to eat protein and complex carbs within 30 minutes of a good muscle-burning workout. When I say zigzag, I love this philosophy because plateaus are all about our body ADAPTING to our lifestyle. We need to keep it guessing. I ate a constant 1600 every day for ages and my body knew it and worked according to that. Increasing my calories and eating, say, 3000 one day, 2700 the next, 3200 the day after, 3000 the next, 2600 the day after, etc.. And TIMING those calories so my body has more calories to fuel workouts and become stronger, means that I am now telling MY BODY what I want it to do with those calories, and that is not to store them for later!

The key with zigzagging is accuracy with numbers. I have a Body Media Fit armband which measures my caloric burn (95% accurately which is good enough for me) down to the minute. Most people use estimations to calculate their burns, or notoriously inflated machines that over-estimate your burns by hundreds of calories or more (I’ve seen this first hand, not once has a cardio machine ever underestimated my burns). For many, it would be far easier to stick with a static calorie goal every day rather than jump around, and if this works for you, then by all means, stick with what works for you! The concept of zigzagging is a valid philosophy, but again, honesty and accuracy are required.

SLEEP ENOUGH This is the predominant time that our body uses to build muscle. Make sure it has that chance

QUALITY AND QUANTITY With increased calorie output, our need for nutrients (the building blocks for creating new cells, i.e. muscle fibre) also increases. If you suspect at all, that you are not getting enough nutrients (and this can be possible with even the best of diets, because of day-to-day differences) then maybe consider a multivitamin. Take half in the morning, half at night because we can only use about that much at a time and after about 12 hours we’ve used up all that half-pill has to offer. If we’re going to build, we need the tools to do it, not just the energy.

If you are coming out of a high calorie deficit, implement your changes/increases slowly. I increased my calories by about 400 every couple of weeks and took a full 6 weeks to get up to my maintenance eating levels (around 3000 in and out per day, less on rest days but still aiming for balance with calories in, calories out). Zigzagging all the way!

You can’t change one single aspect of your lifestyle without compensating elsewhere. If you keep burning calories the same way throughout your day, you keep exercising the same and eating the same (just more), then your body is going to think “Everything’s the same, and I have more calories! Great! Let’s store these for later!” Boom, FAT.

If you outsmart your body and tell it you want to build muscle, not fat, and you feed it calories in order to work harder at the gym, and feed it after to repair and build the tissue it just micro-tore to pieces, the your body thinks “Oh, we are doing things differently. We need to be stronger so the next time we do this I don’t get so broken.” And boom, MUSCLE.

I wanted reassurance from my body that I was building muscle and not fat. Initially, I gained a couple of pounds, which I expected but didn’t like. I stuck with it. The reassurance came from a few feelings:

DOMS Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is a good pain we feel 24-48 hours after a good workout. It will be felt in the muscles that got worked the most and that is exactly where you will build more tissue. When we work our muscles hard, we tear them up a bit (in a microscopic way) and when we rebuild them, they get built back strong and a bit bigger. Over time, this effect exponentially increases our muscle mass and we grow.

ENERGY I felt I had more energy to put into workouts. I could work harder and longer. This was something that declined for me with a low-calorie diet and my workouts suffered and plateaued. My progress in the gym halted.

POST WORKOUT With a calorie deficit, I began to get very, very grumpy after workouts for about half an hour. I was so irritable and angry, even during my workouts. When I increased my calorie, this feeling subsided completely and I left the gym with a smile on my face again.

PROGRESS A few weeks into increasing my calories, I FINALLY was able to increase my weights at the gym, for the first time in months, even years. I am currently lifting more than I ever have. A couple of weeks later, I was able to increase again. Obviously, I was building muscle and getting stronger. This was one of the greatest reassurances I have had.

Measure your success with feelings as much as possible. Numbers are not going to tell you most of what you want to know, especially short term. In 45 days, it looks like I lost about 10 or 15 pounds, but I gained 0.88 pounds realistically, by building muscle and losing fat. My measurements didn’t change either. A photograph was all it took to make my hard work and success glaringly obvious. But still, during those 45 days, I stuck with my plan because I was feeling better, stronger and progressing.

And vice versa, if you feel worse, you feel you have no energy, you feel cranky after or during workouts, you feel like you’re not progressing at the gym… If you feel poorly about any aspect of your lifestyle, try to find another way to your goals. There is always more than one road to success, though they are all paved with failures. We learn from our mistakes. Embrace them. As long as you stay the course, you will get there eventually. Keep your health and well-being at the front of it all and you will find health and happiness now and at the end, and you will enjoy your life now and now ‘when you get there. A quick, unhealthy fix to your weight issues will abandon you in the end and your hard work will have damaged you in the process, mentally and physically. I was there, and I’m never going back. Aim for a sustainable change, live the way you want to live the rest of your life and who wants to live with less than they should forever?

I have been on this lifestyle journey for 11 years now. I have tried high-calorie deficit diets twice and yes, I did lose weight. But, I also plateaued far above my goal each time and struggled, basically for 11 years, to get to the physical, mental and healthy state that I want to be in. More importantly, high calorie deficits work short term for weight loss, but they are not the only (or necessary) way. Nor are they the healthiest option. My health declined while living this way, I regained weight when I ‘returned to life’ and I never achieved what I set out to achieve in the first place. High calorie deficits failed me. Realizing that there is a healthy way to tone and sculpt this body, lose fat and feel great is something I wish I had known 11 years ago, but it’s never to late and this journey will never end. I truly love this lifestyle, it’s not restrictive, it’s liberating. To feel normal, to eat normally, for the first time in my entire life, is absolutely gripping and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

I cannot say this enough: We are all different. Our individual body is a composition of millions of different variables that all work together to create the human being that you are. What works for one person will likely never be the exact formula for someone else. Over the last 11 years, no one ever helped me or coached me. I searched for information and kept learning so I could understand the human body and dieting and lifestyles. I compiled knowledge, tried different things, I stuck with what worked and tried something new when results wore thin. If anything, I hope to bestow some information on someone that unlocks the next step to success, because that’s all I ever wanted for myself. When the pieces came together in just the right way, all the mistakes and struggles became worth it.

Coach your body and support it as though it is someone else with a mind of its own. It has good intentions for you, but there’s a disconnect between our wants and its wants. Work with it, not against it, find the balance and you will find your success!

Thanks SO much for sharing the key elements in your success, Krystal! We look forward to hearing more as your journey progresses!

We hope that this encourages everyone to do the research and spend this time on your journey learning as much as you can about your body. That’s what the process is all about. When you become the expert of YOU, there’s no stopping you! How have you made EM2WL work for you?

How to Deal with Bloating During Your Metabolism Reset

by EM2WL | Jul 14, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset

Expecting? Nope, Kiki’s just bloated again

Making the decision to do a metabolism rest is no small matter. The mental transition just to decide to “eat more” is already hard enough when coming from a lifestyle of severe calorie restriction. Most are already scared out of their mind at the thought of blowing up from the extra cals, and typically can’t imagine eating that much food without wanting to puke.

Others may not have those thoughts upfront. They are ecstatic at the thought of more food, and begin salivating right away what items will be added back that they’ve been denying themselves up until this point. They immediately have visions of bread and ice cream, and living happily ever after.

Regardless of how one arrives at the point of beginning their reset, once they dive in and get a few days or weeks in, the question inevitably pops up:

Why am I so bloated?

Sometimes it’s more like, “OMG!! I hate you! I knew this would happen! I can’t believe I fell for this crap! EM2WL is a crock! I can’t button my pants! This sucks! I’m up 17lbs from last week! You better hope we don’t meet in a dark alley, I’m gonna $%&*%$#@@$%^&*(*&%$#@##$^&&%!”…

You get the point. The dreaded bloat/”gain” arrives, and we freak.

When we drastically increase cals, we have to realize that we are asking our bodies to work overtime processing more food that it has in who knows how long. We are also possibly re-introducing foods that we had given up and could have become allergic/sensitive to because of eliminating them from our diet (whether born out of necessity or fad). Increasing our intake of known bloat offenders, only exacerbates this problem, making us think that “it’s not working!” or one of the other lines quoted above.

Lucia enjoying some creamy goodness

The biggest plus of the EM2WL lifestyle is the time factor. You have it, and lots of it. We encourage members to take this time to become in tuned with your body. Learning how your body reacts to different foods, exercises, etc., is one of the most valuable tools that you will have on your journey. Use this time to log your food, as well as the different things that are happening in your body each day. Begin to connect the dots with days/times that the bloating seems overwhelming and what you ate the day/meal prior. This does not always mean that you will have to omit the item from your diet, rather that you will want to take your time increasing that particular item until your body has fully stabilized. Of course, if you notice a reaction so severe (i.e. allergic) that you feel is not worth the risk, then you can feel free to remove the offender from your diet. But you will likely find that given enough time, and with a few simple tweaks, your body can and will adapt to most food items again.

If you are dealing with the “Reset Bloat” or want to prevent it, here are a few tips that can help:

Add carbs slowly. Regardless of if you’ve just come off Atkins or were already pretty carb heavy, carbs, in general are prone to bloating when eaten in excess, and when calories are almost doubling (in most cases), your body sees it as excess (at first). So take it slow.

Add dairy products slowly, for the same reasons as the carbs, this includes protein powders.

Begin with a bit higher protein ratio, protein makes the body to secrete water, thus controlling bloating. Each time you take the carbs up a notch, you can lower the protein a bit more. Continue in this manner until stabilized.

Drink enough water. Bloat is one of those times you have to fight fire with fire. The more water you retain, the more you need to drink. Eating foods with diuretic properties can also help (i.e. asparagus, green beans, green tea, etc)

Reduce your cardio. Where does this one fit in the middle of all of this food talk? Believe it or not, excessive cardio is actually a main contributing factor to poor digestion, as it reduces the acid in the stomach that breaks down food, as well as naturally forming digestive enzymes. When the stomach cannot digest properly, larger food particles are left in lower in the digestive tract = BLOATING. It’s time to cut back, peeps.

Replace heavy cardio sessions with exercise that will stimulate and retrain your nervous system (thus restoring what digestive functions that the intense/excessive cardio has torn down). Do light stretching, or try a restorative yoga class or DVD. This is not the time for power yoga, but a light relaxing session or even a tranquil walk outdoors. Continue (or begin) weight training, but keep the durations shorter, with longer rests (not circuits). The routines provided in New Rules of Lifting for Women are fine.

If you’ve been on a very low fat diet, you will want to introduce some essential fats into your diet as well (i.e. salmon, flaxseed, olive oil, etc).

You’ll want to get some good supplements in your arsenal as you assist your body on this road to recovery, such digestive enzymes, probiotics, etc., as well as specific vitamins to help repair the digestive functions. These will greatly decrease the bloat factor. If you are at a loss for what supplements to use, feel free to check out our Amazon Store, for the supps that we recommend.

As usual, this is not an all inclusive list, but some very general guidelines that should help you make it through your reset without wanting to shoot yourself…or us.

How to Pick a Personal Trainer

by EM2WL | Jun 30, 2012 | Building Muscle, Fitness Cycles (Periodization), Increasing calories, Strength Training

How to Pick a Personal Trainer…

I’ve noticed a trend…

Many people make the decision to follow the EM2WL lifestyle, and then head out to seek a local Certified Personal Trainer to assist them on their journey. However, merely days into the training (sometimes even after the first session) they will come back to us in a state of confusion, because they have received conflicting information and don’t know which to follow. As a trainer, I’ve made a couple of observations of how some (including myself) do things differently from most. Knowing the different schools of thought can help you to interview & pick the personal trainer that is best for you.

Work Harder

Most trainers know that they have a limited amount of time to make an impact. The client needs to see results, and they need to see them fast, or else they are quickly moving on. Most of the “stay the course,” “be consistent,” “trust the process” lines that we throw out there are not often used in mainstream training, because, quite frankly, clients don’t want to hear it. A personal trainer that wants a client to keep coming back for more has to achieve a LOT in a small amount of time, or at least enough to make an impact. So one way to do this is to work you very hard within the first few sessions, so that you can see that you work much harder with them, than you did before they came into the picture. Often, a bit more cardio than necessary may be thrown in for good measure, to make sure that you feel “worked.”

Eat Less

Another way a personal trainer can make that impact, is by telling you that your current cal intake (whatever it may be) is too high. This lowering of cals is almost a guaranteed drop in lbs within the first week or so, simply because the cals were high(er), and now they’re not. Having such a significant drop in lbs within the first week or so will buy the trainer MUCH more time with that client, because they have earned their trust. If they can quickly get you to drop weight, then long after you’ve stopped going to them, and gained the weight back, (because you’ve gone back to eating normal, and working out in your regular manner) you’ll always remember how you had “better” results when you worked with them. You’ll go back (at your higher cal intake) they will have you drop calories (again), while kicking your butt with the workouts. So as long as you stay with them, and dependent on them, you both “win.”

Business is business

I can’t knock the trainers that use these methods, because, quite honestly, they are very lucrative. But, ethically, I just can’t do it. I don’t mind showing a person that they can work harder than they have been, but I’d never recommend more exercise, or less food, than is necessary. My goal as a trainer (and the type of trainer I suggest you look for when interviewing) is to allow a person to develop a plan of attack that will fit into their lives, and that will apply long after our session is over. A client needs to become self-sufficient, and know what to do when the trainer is no longer around. I have no desire to become a persons fad diet.

The true cost

Although it’s harder to look a client in the eye and tell them to do the opposite of everything that they’ve read, and that they shouldn’t expect any results from working with me for at least the first month, it sets the standard for our relationship right off the bat. I let them know that I will not withhold any “secrets” from them in what they need to reach their goals, my tactics are simple: fuel your body, work hard, and stay consistent.

The client needs to be committed to a lifestyle, not just trying to fit into their skinny jeans by next Friday.

There are enough trainers out there that can help them accomplish that, but I am trying to help them fit into their skinny jeans for the rest of their lives. They will leave our sessions armed with info to help themselves and others around them. I may lose a bit more peeps that way, who aren’t willing to wait, but that is fine, because I need to see that the person wants what I’m trying to give, with the same passion that I give it.

Find a personal trainer that empowers you to make your own decisions in due time, and has former clients that have had long-term results, not just *fast* results….. unless that is what YOU want.

Increasing Calorie Intake: some pointers….

by EM2WL | May 11, 2012 | Consistency, Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset

Q: I’m increasing my cals like you said, but I gained weight this week! I thought the point of finding my TDEE is so that I can get back on the losing track? I feel like I’m going backwards. I feel stuffed and miserable. I haven’t even hit my TDEE yet, because there’s just no way I can fit all this food into my day. Am I doing something wrong? Do you have any suggestions on how I go about increasing calorie intake?

A: Just a few pointers on increasing calorie intake, while minimizing fluctuations. You probably know most of these things, and this is not a completely exhaustive list/explanation. I’m just mentioning as many as I can think of, glean what/if you can, toss the rest, lol.

Always think of your metabolism as a fire. A calorie is a unit of heat (literally, that’s the definition). In order to increase the metabolism, you want to keep that fire constant. This means everything about it should be as consistent as possible, so that the fire does not die. There has been some controversy over whether or not the “thermogenic effect” of food is real or not, but that is not the main concern here. More than anything, it is helpful in the beginning, when consistency is most important, to follow some of these tips until your body gets used to higher cals again. Once your body is used to the proper cal levels, you will not need to follow these guidelines, as your body will want to be fed, and you will no longer feel stuffed eating such small amounts of food. When you get to this point, you can set up your eating habits in a way that is pertinent to your personal lifestyle.

Eat as soon as possible when you wake up. Start the fire, whatever you need to do, I’ve found that for me, and most people I know, this is what gets it revved.. Plus, if you are having a hard time fitting your cals in by the end of the day, then getting that first meal in nice and early really helps.

As soon as you finish that meal, set a timer for 2-3 hours. This is when you will add another log to the fire. Do this after every meal, for as long as you are awake (even if you stay up late!). For most people, it only takes a week or less of doing this, before you will notice that your body will BEG you for food by the “appointed time”, and you will no longer need the timer. This is GOOD. This means that it is working. Your body now knows/is confident in the fact that it can let go of that meal quickly, because the next one is just around the corner. The opposite is also true. When you miss meals (especially when first upping cals!), no matter how healthy you’re eating, you’re body doesn’t know when it will eat again, so it doesn’t want to let go of any of it.

Add the extra cals slowly, and spread out over those meals. Like an extra 25-50 cals per meal, instead of one huge extra meal. Stay at that level for a while, and if all is well, add more…

Take advantage of macro-nutrient timing. If you enjoy carbs, eat them early on in the day while your body needs them. It’s ok to have a (complex) carb heavy breakfast and a (simple) carb heavy after workout snack.

Immediately following your workout is the *best* time to add extra calories (really helpful if you haven’t figured out a way to spread them out). This is especially true if you’ve been setting your timer and eating at regular intervals. The last meal before your workout, be sure to have had some complex carbs and protein. IMMEDIATELY After your workout have some protein and carbs (this is your time to take advantage of a simple carb if you wanted to), this can be your post workout shake w/some fruit, or chocolate milk, or fruity yogurt, or whatever. Pick something that’s easily digested, and scarf it (before you even shower). If timed properly, by the time you get out of the shower, blow dry your hair, fix your make-up, what have you, (approx 30-60 min) you should be STARVING. Even if you’re not, eat again (yes, this is breaking the 2-3 hour rule, but this is the perfect time to do so, and you shouldn’t have eaten anything that made you too full to eat again). The meal after shower should be a real meal (back to the healthy stuff) good protein, good fats, good carbs (preferably veggies) if it’s later in the day. Then set your timer, and resume the regular 2-3 hour eating schedule.

If none of these things work, after staying consistent for 4-6 weeks, then it’s time to start investigating other aspects of your diet. Maybe your body prefers a certain macronutrient ratio, or you could even be allergic to something that you’re eating regularly. With the rise of gluten/wheat/soy/dairy/etc intolerance these days, it may be a good idea to hook up w/a good Dr and have your thyroid checked, or nutritionist to analyze your diet further…

ETA: This list is not an exclusive/exhausted list, or a be-all-end-all approach. This was not written to address any one person’s specific macro-nutrient ratio, so it is very general in that aspect. As stated in the last italicized line, everyone has their own macro-nutrient specific ideals, depending on various sensitivities, activity levels. If you are insulin sensitive, then your “log” that you’re adding to the fire will obviously not be something that spikes your insulin level to an extreme, etc. As stated in the beginning of the post, you may not use every single tip: take what you can, leave the rest. The point is to not starve ourselves, and then wonder why we don’t see results, and to provide a starting point for those trying to break free of unintentional under-eating. Stay consistent, trust the process, and regain your bodies trust in the meantime.

Fat loss by increasing calories and eating MORE?

by EM2WL | May 10, 2012 | Increasing calories, Metabolism Reset

Q: Fix my metabolism, and lose fat by increasing calories?! I don’t get it. Why in the world would I do that?! I don’t want to risk gaining weight. I want this weight off NOW!!

Move past instant (& fleeting!) gratification. Where do you want to be a year from now? Check out Mo’s story!

A: Increasing calories for fat loss can be scary. When approaching fat loss, we have to look at the big picture. We should not simply focus on losing the weight by fill-in-the-blank-occasion/date. Think of where you want to be when the journey is over. The body has an amazing ability to adapt to whatever stresses you put it through:

When we consistently challenge ourselves in the weight room, our muscles adapt — getting bigger and stronger.
When we consistently challenge ourselves with cardio, our bodies catabolize some muscle tissue to become faster and more efficient at the endurance activity.
When we consistently eat at a caloric deficit, our bodies naturally assume that the deficit is the new maintenance, and lowers your metabolism to meet the demand.

So we must take all the above into consideration when beginning our journey. We must decide where we want to be when it’s over; then set our goals, calories, and workouts in alignment with that plan. Someone who has under-eaten (read: dieted) for extended periods of time, must accept that their body may have adapted to a much lower-than-necessary calorie level. If this calorie level is well below what their body needs to survive, then fat loss may have stalled while the body tends to more important processes. Increasing calories and doing what we refer to a “metabolism reset” allows your body to take a break from the stress of dieting. It allows your body to become accustomed to eating proper amounts of food again, reminding your body of what maintenance level eating really is. When Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) returns to a normal state, a deficit can be reintroduced to resume fat loss goals.

Q: So I think maybe I will take it slowly – increasing calories to see what happens. How long do you suggest I do this for? I’m not scared to do it and really want to figure this out. I’m super dedicated to getting in shape and I will do whatever I have to do to make it work!

A: We suggest that you take your time increasing calories, to minimize shock to the body and give proper time for the mentality shift. There are some who feel that they will chicken out if they take to long — so they prefer to “rip-the-bandaid” and just get started. The choice is personal, as only you know yourself well enough to decide.

Personally, I did it very gradually.

Take the time to set up your true maintenance level and work from there. It really will feel like a guessing game until you do. Trust that it will feel so good to finally be in control. You won’t be starving yourself, only to have your weight shoot back up as soon as you eat normal again. It may seem (upfront) that this means you will take longer to lose the weight than the usual fast track (eat nothing, cardio madness) route, but consider the truth. If you’re at a plateau (now) anyway, how will you ever know if it really took longer? Perhaps (and most likely) you will just stay at or keep hitting the same plateau. You really have nothing to lose, and you don’t want to spend the rest of your life lowering calories.

As women, our metabolism starts decreasing every decade after 30, requiring us to eat lower calories. So you want to make sure that you start out at the highest end of that spectrum NOW. With no plan of action, sure — you may eventually come to the point where you have to eat 1300 calories and workout three hours/day to maintain your physique. Alternatively, you can put it off for a few more decades, or prevent it altogether by adding enough muscle mass and eating enough now.

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