Why Crash/Quick Diets Suck - Metabolic Damage

OMG It's JUNE
And It's soooooo close to SUMMER TIME
Time to get thin real quick, not eat anything, workout for 10 hours a day, become mooody and weak and tired, YAY!..... uhm.. NO

Trust me.
I've been there.
Always looking for the fastest and quickest way to get slim and lean.

But guess what I was doing to myself and my metabolism?
SELF SABOTAGE - that's what.



Watch these great videos by Layne Norton on METABOLIC DAMAGE
They're a bit lengthy, buttttt they are WORTH it if you want to keep your health, body, and mind in check, AND keep the FAT off, not just "weight" off for good!

And while you're at it, read this BOMBINNNN articles before you read more, so that you understand what I'm babbling about below:

http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2013/01/14/the-minimum-effective-dose-for-fat-loss/
http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2013/03/26/tales-of-the-self-saboteur/
http://www.jencomaskeck.com/2011/01/metabolic-damage.html


BASICALLY

CRASH DIETS SUCK

Crash diet explained by wikipedia:
A crash diet is a diet which is extreme in its nutritional deprivations, typically severely restricting calorie intake. It is meant to achieve rapid weight loss and may differ from outright starvation only slightly. It is not meant to last for long periods of time, at most a few weeks. Importantly, the term specifically implies a lack of concern for proper nutrition. Crash diets are also known as "fad diets" and are often seen as quick fix solutions. Contrary to the belief of many who start this sort of diet, this form of dieting is neither healthy nor largely successful in achieving long term weight loss as it provokes a slow down of the body's basal metabolic rate - the body seeks to conserve every calorie and so weight loss becomes increasingly difficult. While some initial weight is often lost, the weight is usually regained quickly in the weeks that follow, as the individual reverts to their original pre-crash diet. It often becomes a vicious cycle in which the weight that is regained is often more than the starting weight, causing the dieter to revert to the crash diet, lose weight, regain the weight, and so on.

You get the initial:
"YAY I've lost ___ pounds! Let's see how much more I can keep going!"
and then the dreaded
"Oh no, I've plateaued! nothing's changing! Time to decrease cals FURTHER or workout HARDER"
[aka killing your metabolism even MORE]

STOP.
The appropriate way to go about losing FAT and keeping it off is realizing it's for LIFE.
That's right.

No quick fix. No "lose 20 pounds in 1 week" Nothing of that sort.

BECAUSE it'll just lead you back to where you were in the beginning, but now with a slower metabolism, more weight gain than you initially started with, and more fat gain!

The dreaded YOYO diet.

I had this happen to me:

Last summer went from an alright weight, but mostly fat, down to a SCARY weight, :O, now back up PAST the weight I was last May when I first started my lifestyle change, with higher scale numbers, bigger measurements, and higher body fat, and I hate it! I wish I had
DONE IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Slow and steady.


In order to be able to get to your goal weight and keep it is you have to:
 MAINTAIN YOUR GOAL FOR A WHILE.
Get your body used to its new set point.
And do you think that's possible to do on 600 calories a day with cardio for 1-2 hours a day?
I Do NOT think so.
That's why I couldn't maintain mine. How could I expect living like THAT^ the rest of my life?! No way. No way at all AND be happy at the same time.


How do I do it the RIGHT way?

Take it SLOW. Slow and Steady always always wins the LONG TERM RACE.

So DON'T:

• slash calories dangerously low
• workout 2x+ each and every day
• do endless cardio
• be in the gym for 3+hours a day
• overwork/overtrain yourself

Yeah - don't do the above!
Because what happens when you stall? When you plateau? When you no longer see changes to your body?

Only option, to go lower in cals or increase workouts! And by this point, there's just NO WAY doing either of those will be beneficial for your health or sanity or life!
Seriously, 500 calories a day with hours and hours of cardio 7 days a week?
And by this point, your body has probably already ADAPTED to this change.
It's probably saying, "dang, look at how little I'm taking in and how much work I'm putting out, I'm gonna slow down a bit, take it easy" - therefore, slower metabolism.

And you know what else sucks? You're going to have to KEEP DOING THAT, JUST to maintain because your body is so used to it!

Talk about DAMAGEEEEEE.

So what DO I do?

• Remember - take it slow and steady: 
• slow progress for long term is better than short term diets for short term results that end in a rebound of fat and weight gain dont-chya-think? 
• read this article here about how to lower your set point the healthy way
• CHANGE YOUR MINDSET = change your body: accept the fact that it will take a WHILE until you reach your goal! Know that it's not a quick fix, because you want LONG TERM RESULTS. I know I have to remind myself this daily!
• once I start thinking about the "quick fix" - I remind myself that I did that last summer, and look at me now. Heavier, bigger measurements, more fat gain than when I started! :[
• Before you start counting calories, change your diet for the better! Know which foods to eliminate and which foods to add more of! Like delicious lean proteins, fruits and veggies, fats and carbs! YUMM. 
• Slowly start incorporating workouts 3x a week
• Do this for 2 - 4 weeks. KEEP AT IT. The body needs to get USED to this.
• Once you're ready or have plateaued, THEN can you either decrease calories or increase amount of workouts - one or the other for now.
• If you plateau or stall, NOW you can do a mix of cutting calories AND increasing workouts. I recommend switching up workouts, and calories cycling [1500,1700, 1800,1500, etc] or if you wanted to, carb cycling
• If you plateau again, know that you have wiggle room now 
• You're not too dangerously low on the calories and you're not over training yourself in the gym! 
• Remember to eat at LEAST how much you need to survive daily [can be found by online calculators], and have rest days! They make a world of a difference! 
• Rest is crucial to repairing those gorgeous muscles!

If you are in this situation NOW:
Here are some ways to slowly bring your metabolism back, and I repeat, SLOWLY.

If you do it like I did where I just bounced back into it, I've gained all the weight and body fat back, plus some, and now it seems like my body is SET on those new numbers! They won't budge!
But it's ok - with this new outlook I know that slow progress will be best for LONG TERM SUCCESS.

Ok back to what to do now if you're in this situation:

• slowly add MORE calories, yes, MORE. Don't freak out on me, just do it slowly.
• add 100 calories each week until you're around maintenance - if you're afraid of fat gain, just add more of those calories through veggies/fruits/proteins
• decrease amount of workouts slowly 
• if you're doing 7 days a week, implement 1 rest day, then the next week, decrease the length if you're one of those that spends hours on hours in the gym.
• you're probably freaking out now, thinking you'll be gaining EVERYTHING back that you've worked hard for, but TRUST ME. 
• You'll be happier, your BODY will be happier and healthier, and you'll be able to MAINTAIN it - just keep it SLOW.
• So example: if you're eating at 700 cals a day, by week 8, you should be up to 1500 calories a day. Keep it slow and steady and you should minimal fat gain!
• Now I'm not saying you won't gain ANY weight once doing this, likely you will, but you know what? IT'S FOR THE BEST, TRUST ME.
• please please do trust me! When I was at my lowest weight, I "thought" I was happy, but honestly, I was moody, cranky, weak, tired, hard to be around, no social life, I did nothing last summer except exercise, sleep, eat, and do summer classes.
• with a new lifestyle approach, you'll reach your goals, get there EVENTUALLY, and be able to ENJOY LIFE and be ENJOYABLE to be around! Pinky promise :]

Well I hope this helped anyone out there wondering what Metabolic damage was or how to bounce back from it!

That's it for now!

<3 Josie
Vmfitness