We’ve seen it all: from Atkins to the South Beach Diet, from calorie counting gadgets to eating nothing but a grapefruit a day. What is it about fad diets that make us yo-yo like Oprah?
Don’t worry about counting calories
Counting every little calorie you consume is tedious, inhumane and definitely not long term. When trying to determine how many calories to consume each day, many of us fail to calculate that it takes around 2000 calories/day for us to just be alive. A whopping 50-70% of all calories we consume is used to generate the heat and life energy to keep our cells turned on- not cleaning the house or chasing after our dog, just alive. Another 5-15% of our caloric intake is needed for digestion and elimination. You also need to consider your daily activities and your physical job duties.
We therefore, all need to eat healthy in small increments throughout the day but not sit there writing down the calories of each fruit we consume. If we eat a healthy amount of food, we’ll convert food into energy more efficiently. Like a car cannot function and expend energy without gas, we cannot burn energy if there is nothing to work with. This means we’ll expend or dissipate more energy we take on board, leaving less to store as fat. If we follow fad diets and eat too little, our blood sugar balance will be disrupted, energy production will become inefficient and our cells must slow down because the meal is causing stress on our body instead of aiding in smooth operations.
We should never feel hunger. Graze on small portions of food throughout the day and calorie counting is out the door! It’s that simple.
What calorie restricting diets do to our body
Skipping just one meal can result in changes that make it more difficult for the body to lose fat. Initially, the response to a skipped meal is an elevation of our stress hormones. The body then responds to the stress signal by releasing stored glycogen from the liver into the blood to raise the blood sugar. After all, our body thinks we’re in a life-threatening situation. Repeated bouts of stress result in a yo-yoing between high and low blood sugar, creating yet another major stressor on our body. An overstressed body will not function at an optimal level.
Skipping meals or not eating enough of the right foods also keeps insulin levels high because the body thinks we’re in a famine, and its forced to store energy whenever its supplied. If we are active, insulin will store sugar in the muscles. But if muscles are not being used, or if the muscle cells are full, extra calories will wind up in the fat cells. Exercising muscles keeps them sensitive to insulin, since an active muscle wants to take in sugar for energy. Inactive muscles become insulin resistant and shuttle more and more calories to fat cells.
The entire process of dieting, constantly being in a flight/fight state with elevated sympathetic nervous system activity and eating incorrectly will leave you mentally and physically exhausted and also make you fat in the long run. Stay active and change your attitude: Make nutrition a lifestyle and not a daily, dreading task. Now Oprah understands that concept too!
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