Eat Less, Weigh More

Yesterday, I saw the above picture in my Instagram post/news feed. I thought, "Finally! Someone gets it!"

The "it" is the world's biggest weight loss misconception: You have to eat less in order to weigh less.

The principle is actually not entirely wrong especially when you consciously make the decision to cut in half a daily consumption of 3,000 calories. What can make it misleading is the word "less".

To understand why "less" can be utterly misleading, you have to first know and accept that there are factors governing a successful weight loss. I'm not a weight loss expert but based on experience and from what I read, among the most important factors are height, weight, level of daily activity (sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, highly active), age, and weekly weight loss goal.

Before I proceed to discussing the factors mentioned, let me make this clear: If you are still not within a regular-normal weight range, the numbers, whether numbers on the scale or elsewhere, DO matter.

Going back to the factors mentioned above, a lot of people think there's a standard number of calories one must consume in order to achieve a huge weight loss, nevermind that this actual weight loss is achieved in such a short period of time that it is nothing short of drastic. I remember watching Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) when Kirstie Alley first appeared on it a few years back. She said part of the reason she joined it was to lose weight. And lose the weight she did. For a while, I thought, wow, she really was burning those pounds away through regular vigorous movements. And then, when I heard she was just consuming 1,200 calories a day, I just had to stop the wow's. Close to the 60s in age and spending hours in rehearsal, like what Instagrammer mandagetsfit said in the caption of her picture above, "she was practically running on an empty tank".

Then there's this person who I used to follow and used to follow me back on my fitness account on Instagram. We're of the same height (5'3) and while I started my weight loss journey at 180 lbs in August of 2012, she started hers months before at over 200+ lbs. In her profile, she indicated that she had already lost over 30 or 40 lbs. Like my wow's for Kirstie, however, those stopped coming out of my mouth when I saw she was consuming no more than 800 calories/day. I must be a decade or so older than her but only 800 calories a day for someone who's probably studying and working at the same time? Only 800 calories for someone like her who's heavier than me? That. Can't. Be. Right.

But I kept my mouth shut about her eating habits. One day she complained of being stuck in that dreaded weight loss plateau. Worse, after a few weeks, she gained weight. A lot of people, myself included, tried to tell her that it couldn't possibly just be muscle weight anymore; that she had to do more cardios than what she had been doing (she said she dislikes it). For the life of me, I still did not mention anything about her eating habits.

Needless to say, my comments to her post got deleted. Either it was an Instagram bug or it was on purpose. For whatever the reason, I also found out she "unfollowed" me. I "unfollowed her back".

Short of making this blog post about her, let me go back once again to what mandagetsfit said about metabolism: Do not inflict undue damage to your metabolism. About.com says metabolism is the chemical process that establishes "the rate at which your body burns calories". So it goes without saying that without the right amount of food to digest and to turn into energy, like a factory, the body shuts down to stock up on whatever amount of energy it still has in order to continue life. This process is what happens when our metabolism slows down, making us plateau or worse, gain weight.

So I urge all of you to know and stick to your true numbers. These are your yardstick to a successful and healthy weight loss. There are a number of smartphone apps and websites online like Livestrong.com, Livestrong My Plate and MyFitnessPal that help determine these numbers.  Use these to your advantage! They're within your fingertips and easily at your disposal.

What's more, do not shock your body. Take it one step at a time. Have you ever heard of the phrase "slowly but surely"? I'm sure you have so do things gradually. Condition your body to slowly cut down the calories. But don't be afraid to eat more! Honestly? I'll be more afraid if I start eating less. My personal threshold is 1,220 calories. At 137.4 lbs now, my calorie counter dictates that if I were sedentary, I should eat 1,199 calories in order to lose a pound a week. But I'm no longer sedentary. I've conditioned my body to move more in order to eat more.

At the end of the day, learn, as well, to listen to your body. Nourish it and let it rest when needed. If you only work around processes that are sustainable, before you know it, you're at your goal!