Posted on 04/21/2023 11:29:22 AM PDT by nickcarraway
[i]Severely restricting your calories can decrease your metabolism and cause you to lose muscle mass. This makes it more difficult to maintain your weight loss in the long term.[/i]
Nope, that is a total myth. The human body has developed strategies for conserving calories, and burning muscle mass in lieu of fat stores isn’t one of them. Muscle mass is fine, unless one is literally starving to death.
The problem with “500 calories less” rule of thumb you cite, is they are too vague about this, is they don’t do a good job of explaining basal metabolic rate to begin with. People are led to believe that simply cutting back 500 calories, they will lose a pound a week or whatever. Not hardly, not when they are stuffing their face with 4000 calories a day or whatever.
500 calories *below* their basal metabolic rate + their activity rate, now you’re talkin’. They don’t mention this, because this means about 1000 calories (or less). Nobody wants to do that.
“People are led to believe that simply cutting back 500 calories, they will lose a pound a week or whatever.”
“500 calories *below* their basal metabolic rate + their activity rate, now you’re talkin’. They don’t mention this, because this means about 1000 calories (or less).”
And that’s exactly what I said in post 38 from Dr. Hughes, ”…she recommended going no more than 500 calories off the WEIGHT MAINTAINING LEVEL of calorie intake for dietary purposes. The way to determine that weight maintaining level is to plug in the numbers in the Harris Benedict Formula and find that maintaining level of calories your body uses. Then drop 500 calories off that. But, be warned that in some cases the amount of calorie intake may increase the dietary amount that may have been insufficient like what Happened to the Doctor friend. He was on a diet like the Atkins and it was taking too many calories out in normal use so his body went into muscle failure. He was so exhausted in his run he had to get a ride back to the office because he couldn’t even walk it.
“Severely restricting your calories can decrease your metabolism and cause you to lose muscle mass. This makes it more difficult to maintain your weight loss in the long term.”
“The human body has developed strategies for conserving calories, and burning muscle mass in lieu of fat stores isn’t one of them.
Catabolysis is a biological process in which the body breaks down fat and muscle tissue in order to stay alive. Catabolysis occurs only when there is no longer any source of protein, carbohydrate, or vitamin nourishment feeding all body systems or the available fat cannot be used due to storage due to insulin resistance. It is the most severe type of malnutrition. People with insulin resistance are prime candidates for this as the body is already hording fuel and will not give it up soring it mainly in the body trunk.
Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissue that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents into the blood. These substances are harmful to the kidney and often cause kidney damage. Severe exertion, easily reached during over dieting and changes with the exertion versus available fuel, are one of the major causes.
A crash diet won’t help you. This is about changing your approach to food. Go slowly and build new habits that can become permanent.
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/diabetes-insulin-resistance-diet
The original post on this thread was about premature deaths to type II diabetics. Not normal people. But the problems you wish to discuss are not always related to specific health issues like insulin resistance or type II diabetes. Thank you for your imputs.
Wy69.
“A crash diet won’t help you. This is about changing your approach to food. Go slowly and build new habits that can become permanent.”
A crash diet being defined as what? The only “approach to food” that leads to fat loss is a caloric deficit, there is no way around this. Nobody wants to do this, nobody wants to explain what is involved, nobody wants to discuss how much food is actually required, and then repeating nonsense about “metabolism slowing down” or losing muscle mass.
The “expert” advice that floods the airwaves so to speak, is not helpful at all in this regard, in my opinion, there are so many myths propagated on this subject that many people simply quit before they even begin. Ridiculous low fat regimine of tasteless foods not ordinarily eaten, “eat 6 small meals a day to keep your energy up”. Some people even sign up for paid subscription services to lose weight, “special” meals. PT Barnum was right, eh?
There is no doubt that lifelong strategies need to be taken, a “diet” is not a temporary thing.
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