The pitfalls of eating too few calories
WHY TOO FEW CALORIES SHOULDN'T BE A RECIPE FOR WEIGHT LOSS
As a registered dietitian, I've been doing this for a long time ... counseling clients in their nutrition planning and weight loss efforts.
And one of my pet peeves, when clients indicate the amount of calories they consume, is some arbitrary caloric intake they've chosen, well, "just because."
Typically, I hear 1200, 1500, or some other extremely low number.
You might automatically think that the lower the number of calories consumed the better your shot at losing weight. Not so fast. There are some issues with randomly choosing a number that may be too low.
IT COULD SLOW YOUR METABOLISM
Does anyone want their metabolism to SLOW? I'm pretty sure most of us are trying to get it to either maintain or increase.
But here's the deal. We each need to consume a minimum amount of energy to sustain a healthy functioning body. If we don't reach this minimum it can actually slow our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
For example, if I have a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) of 2700 calories, which includes BMR, Exercise, Thermic Effect of Food (energy needed for digestion), and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (any other daily moving; known as NEAT), and I reduce my daily caloric intake to 1700 calories, I'm not going to have enough energy to support everything I do. Therefore, the metabolism will begin slowing to conserve energy to ensure the most vital functions can work properly.
IT COULD LEAD TO LESS ACTIVITY
Put simply, eating too few calories typically leads to less NEAT.
Why? Because we will naturally and subconsciously decrease any organic daily movement (i.e. taking the stairs, etc.).
As we all know, for most of us, less activity does not help with weight loss.
IT COULD DECREASE SKELETAL MUSCLE MASS
Muscle mass it a hot topic these days ... as it should be!
One of the major drivers of it is the total amount of energy we consume, not just the amount of protein intake.
Without enough calories, even with a high protein content, skeletal muscle becomes very difficult to maintain, much less grow new muscle.
And as a side note to this, being in an extreme caloric deficit, makes it nearly impossible to actually reach the appropriate level of protein.
DETERMINE YOUR PERSONAL CALORIC NEEDS FOR WEIGHT LOSS (OR MAINTENANCE, OR GROWTH)
There's no doubt, if you want to lose weight, you must reach an energy deficit (through a combination of caloric intake and activity).
However, we have to balance this line between reaching a deficit and providing the body with enough of what it needs to function at a high level, while still having the ability to drop weight.
The bottom line?
Don't choose a random daily caloric number to follow, especially one that might be too low (or high if you’re trying to gain weight).
KNOW your personal number. A general range can be determined through some important facts about yourself and a few formulas/calculations. It's different with everyone.
If you would like help determining your range and putting a specific caloric plan together, let me know. As a registered dietitian, it's what I do!
Eat with a purpose...Be well!
Jaime Rothermich RD CSSD LD PPSCxKB CSCS
@functionalelements
If you need a kickstart to get your fitness, nutrition and recovery program properly synched, we can help. It's what we do. Check out our 14-day 360° to get you motivated, educated and aligned with the very best Functional Elements has to offer over a period of just 14 days.
