How Under Eating and Stress Effect Weight Loss | Part 1

If burning more calories then you consume is the key to weight loss; wouldn't it then make sense that consuming fewer calories would then result in greater weight loss?  And then it would also seem to hold true that once one is no longer constantly hungry, one would be able to consume even fewer calories and then even greater weight loss would be the result.  Mathematically it makes complete sense but that's not how this works.

As you consume fewer and fewer calories, your body will go into 'starvation mode'; your body's response to starvation where your metabolism slows to conserve calories.  The longer your body is in 'starvation mode' the slower your metabolism and we all know, the slower your metabolism the harder it is to lose weight.  

This is an obstacle that I dealt with first hand during my weight loss journey.  It's was a very, very hard idea to grasp because after all it was eating that got me fat, right?  Well, kind of.  It was crap like: frozen pizza, macaroni and cheese, heavily buttered popcorn, fast food and high daily alcohol consumption that got me fat.  

Weight loss isn't a diet, it's a life style change!  What we should be doing is trading our "crap" in for nutrient dense foods.  Here is a fantastic way of thinking about it: If it grows on a plant, eat it.  If it was made in a plant, leave it.  The closer to raw your food is, the better it is for you.  

Now for the tricky business; figuring out our calorie deficit and the number of calories we should be consuming.  Since everybody and every body is different, every calorie deficit is different.  In studies it has been proven that your body can extract 31.4 calories per pound of body fat daily for energy.  After that your body will begin to burn lean muscle mass as fuel (this is how you get skinny fat!).  So your calorie deficit each day will be 31.4 cal./lb of body fat.  

Calculating Your Calorie Deficit = 31.4 calories / lb of body fat

(your weight x % of body fat = pounds of body fat)   |   (lbs of body x 31.4 = calorie deficit)

example: 185 x .14 = 25.9   |   25.9 x 31.4 = 813 (my calorie deficit)

Now that we've figured our calorie deficit we need to figure how many calorie we are burning each day.  Step one is to calculate our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  Our BMR is the number of calories we burn daily by simply being alive.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Equation

Female: 655 + (4.35 x weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years) = BMR

Male: 65 + (6.23 x wight in lbs) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years) = BMR

example: 65 + (6.23 x 185) + (12.7 x 65) - (6.8 x 33) = 1837 (my Basal Metabolic Rate)

Step two is taking our activity factor and multiplying it by our BMR.

Activity Factors

1.2  Sedentary (Little or no exercise and a desk job)

1.375  Lightly Active (Little exercise, 1-3 days / week)

1.55  Moderately Active (Moderate exercise, 3-5 days / week)

1.725  Very Active (Hard exercise, 6-7 days / week)

1.9  Extremely Active (Daily exercise and a demanding job)

example: 1837 BMR x 1.725 = 3168 (total number of calories I burn daily)

Now that we have figured our calorie deficit (calories burnt from our body fat per day) and our total number of calories burnt daily, we can figure how many calories we should be consuming to meet our energy demands. 

Calories Needed to Meet Energy Demands

Calories Burnt per Day - Calorie Deficit = Calories Needed

example: 3168 - 813 = 2310 (calories I need to consume)

One thing I really want to drive home: weight loss is a lifestyle change and not a diet.  The weight you are trying to lose was not gained in days or a few months, so you should not expect to lose this weight in days or a few months.  You will have set backs.  You will have days where you just don't feel like exercising.  You will have days where it is impossible to stay on track nutritionally.  You must accept that as a part of life and remember they are set backs, not failures.  If life was perfect and easy, no one would be over weight and we'd all have six packs.  

Keys to success:  eat nutritionally dense foods, follow a sleep schedule, limit stress, exercise regularly, exercise with a purpose, lift weights, do what you love, smile, laugh and high five.  -jason b.