The consequences of a low calorie diet are automatic and unavoidable.
The responses are metabolic, hormonal, and psychological in nature, and include: Decreased metabolism, loss of muscle, increased activity of fat-storing enzymes and hormones, decreased activity of fat-burning enzymes and hormones, decreased thyroid output, increased appetite, increased chance of regaining weight, and decreased energy and work capacity. Let’s take a quick look at each.
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1. A Low Calorie Diet Slows Down Your Metabolic Rate
The first thing that occurs during a severe calorie shortage is a decrease in your metabolic rate. The lower your calories, the slower your metabolism becomes. Simply put; when you eat less, your body burns less. When you eat more, your body burns more. In the book, “Everything you need to know about fat loss,” Bodybuilding nutritionist Chris Aceto uses a great analogy to describe the way this mechanism works: He wrote,
"If you’re earning £4000 a month, but your boss suddenly cuts your pay to £2500 a month, you will try to live the same lifestyle on £2500 a month as you did on £4000 a month. After a while, you have to adjust and save money, and change your lifestyle. The same is true with a calorie intake that is simply too low. When calories are cut below basal metabolic needs, the body will accommodate and slow its metabolism, so it becomes difficult to lose fat even on low calories.”
This metabolic slowdown is well documented. When calories are restricted, your metabolism decreases by at least 20-30%. With severe calorie restriction, some studies have shown that resting metabolism can become depressed by as much as 45%! That’s the equivalent of having your daily energy expenditure drop from 3000 calories per day to only 1650 calories per day! This is why, after prolonged low calorie dieting, you can eat very little food and still not lose weight. This also explains why it is so difficult to lose those last 10 or 20 pounds. Now you should be starting to see why a low calorie diet is bad.
2. A Low Calorie Diet Makes You Lose Muscle
The most devastating effect of a low calorie diet is the loss of muscle tissue. Once the starvation alarm is triggered, your body begins looking for ways to conserve energy. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. Getting rid of it is the body’s way of decreasing energy expenditure. It’s easy for your body to use muscle for energy. This process is known Gluconeogenesis – converting muscle into glucose. This includes skeletal muscles, and internal organs, even your heart muscle! Study after study has shown that a low calorie diet without exercise will always cause 40 - 50% of the weight loss to come from lean tissue.
Many diets, especially those that are low in carbohydrates, cause large losses in water weight. Between the loss of water, glycogen and muscle, fully 75% of the weight you lose on such plans is not fat! The initial weight loss on most diets is very deceiving, giving you only the illusion of success. Even with exercise, if a diet is too restrictive, much of the weight loss will still be lean tissue. A low calorie diet can devastate muscle.
3. A Low Calorie Diet Increases Activity of Fat-Storing Enzymes and Decrease the Activity of Fat Burning Enzymes
The chief fat storing enzyme is called Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL). When you drop your calories too low, your body will produce more LPL and less fat burning enzymes. In other words, when you don’t eat enough, your body changes its chemistry to make it easier to store fat in the future.
4. A Low Calorie Diet Decreases Output of Thyroid Hormone
The Thyroid gland is largely responsible for the regulation of your basal metabolicrate (the rate at which you burn calories at rest). When your body senses a severe reduction in calories, there is a corresponding reduction in the output of active thyroid hormone (T3). The result is a decrease in your metabolic rate and fewer calories burned.
5. A Low Calorie Diet Increases the Chance of Rebound Weight Gain
Almost everyone loses weight initially on a low calorie diet, but it never takes long before the body catches on and starts conserving energy. That’s when you hit a plateau. Once you hit the plateau, it becomes much harder to keep losing weight even if your calories are extremely low. This lack of continued results, combined with gnawing hunger pangs and insatiable craving, usually causes people to give up out of sheer frustration. They go off their diet, the weight creeps back on and their body fat ends up back where they started - only now they have less muscle and a slower metabolism. With a slower metabolism, what used to be a maintenance level now becomes a surplus, and the weight comes right back on.
Most people gain back all the weight they lost– and some gain back even more, leaving them fatter than when they started. This up and down pattern of weight loss and weight re-gain is commonly known as the “yo-yo cycle”, and it often continues for years or even for an entire lifetime. With each repeated bout of dieting, your metabolism becomes less and less efficient and you can actually become progressively fatter while eating less food.
6. A Low Calorie Diet Increases Appetite and Cravings
When your body goes into starvation mode, this triggers increased appetite and cravings in an attempt to get you to eat more food. The hunger and cravings can be so strong that you become ravenous. It’s virtually impossible stay on a diet when you are voraciously hungry and all you can think about is food. Few people have that much willpower. A low calorie diet is bad.
7. A Low Calorie Diet Decreases Your Energy and Work Capacity
A Low calorie diet leaves you tired, lethargic and unable to sustain high levels of activity or intense workouts. Dr. Lawrence Lamb, author of “The Weighting Game: The truth about weight control” points out that
“The first sign of under nutrition is the loss of energy and the inability to sustain prolonged physical work. There is a direct relationship between calories consumed and the physical work a person can do.”
If you have no energy to work out, you’re going to feel lousy and seriously compromise your results. The ability to train hard aerobically and with weights is critical for your long-term success at fat loss.
Conclusion
You need to remember these 7 points so you can accurately avoid a low calorie diet whenever you wish to lose weight. Then, you will have a much higher success of getting rid of the unwanted fat. All you need to remember is that a low calorie diet is bad. Avoid low calorie intake. Good luck.
'On The Run' Summary
This is a broken down version of the above article. The 'On The Run' Summary is here to provide you with basic headers and points about the article so you can get the 'idea'.
Click on the different headers to jump to the full article piece.
1. Slows Down Your Metabolic Rate
- The first thing that occurs during a severe calorie shortage is a decrease in your metabolic rate. The lower your calories, the slower your metabolism becomes. Simply put; when you eat less, your body burns less. When you eat more, your body burns more.
2. Makes You Lose Muscle
- The most devastating effect of a low calorie diet is the loss of muscle tissue. Once the starvation alarm is triggered, your body begins looking for ways to conserve energy. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. Getting rid of it is the body’s way of decreasing energy expenditure. It’s easy for your body to use muscle for energy.
3. Increases Activity of Fat-Storing Enzymes and Decrease the Activity of Fat Burning Enzymes
- The chief fat storing enzyme is called Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL). When you drop your calories too low, your body will produce more LPL and less fat burning enzymes. In other words, when you don’t eat enough, your body changes its chemistry to make it easier to store fat in the future.
4. Decreases Output of Thyroid Hormone
- The Thyroid gland is largely responsible for the regulation of your basal metabolicrate (the rate at which you burn calories at rest). When your body senses a severe reduction in calories, there is a corresponding reduction in the output of active thyroid hormone (T3). The result is a decrease in your metabolic rate and fewer calories burned
5. Increases the Chance of Rebound Weight Gain
- Almost everyone loses weight initially on a low calorie diet, but it never takes long before the body catches on and starts conserving energy. That’s when you hit a plateau. Once you hit the plateau, it becomes much harder to keep losing weight even if your calories are extremely low. This lack of continued results, combined with gnawing hunger pangs and insatiable craving, usually causes people to give up out of sheer frustration.
6. Increases Appetite and Cravings
- When your body goes into starvation mode, this triggers increased appetite and cravings in an attempt to get you to eat more food. The hunger and cravings can be so strong that you become ravenous.
7. Decreases Your Energy and Work Capacity
- A Low calorie diet leaves you tired, lethargic and unable to sustain high levels of activity or intense workouts.
Conclusion
- You need to remember these 7 points so you can accurately avoid a low calorie diet whenever you wish to lose weight. Then, you will have a much higher success of getting rid of the unwanted fat.
Craig is a 21-year-old student currently studying psychology at Bournemouth University. He runs a self-improvement site filled with free summaries and articles created from his own self improvement path. He has worked extensively in areas such as dating, health and fitness, social interaction, psychology and computer skills to improve himself, as well as to spread the knowledge to others through his website, Enlightr.
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The main key is exercising and staying active. Most people will say I am unhealthy for consuming so few calories, but the only real difference I made in my food habits was to stop drinking soda pop. I drink nothing but water now(save the ocassional nights out at the pub) and havent really changed the amount of food I eat, only the types of food. If anything, I eat more food now. People tend to assume that consuming less calories is due to eating less food, which is simply not true in all cases.