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2008/10/07, 03:56 PM
hey i got a quick question that i dont really know the answer to, i read online that counting calories is a bad way to diet coz eventually your metabolism will take notice of the low calorie intake and adjust itself to only burn that many calories.....but this WAS written on an advertisement website for some sort of other commercial diet. so is it true? or is it just bolony to get people to buy their diet plans?
i've started eating right 10 days ago eating almost nothing but fruits and a salad for dinner, i say almost coz sometimes i get bored and i eat sandwich here or a grilled burger patty there....but always taking into consideration how many calories i eat.....
it's usually less than 1000, i know it's too low....but i did lose 12 pounds in teh first week, i also ran 4 times that week.
so what do you guys think should i keep going on that calorie counting diet and eventually i will lose the weight or am i doing this all wrong and should consider working a pre made plan or at least thing of a better one.
i forgot to mention that my goal is not to build muscle, i just want to lose fat. want to become as skinny as can be....this probably contradicts alot of people's goals here but that's my own goal...
i'm not that fat....just slightly overweight...i'm 6 foot tall 22 years old and when i started i was 198 pounds, now i'm 187. i used to have a body mass index of 27% or maybe it was body fat i don't know the diff if there is any.
i'd really love to hear any feedback on this please.
thank you
fayek
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2008/10/07, 04:42 PM
You are thinking correctly. Metabolism cannot and does not change on a dime, but most systems do decrease when you restrict calories, just as they tend to increase when you increase calories.
Believe me, there is much more to this answer than you want to hear, or I have the time to discuss.
Then there is the issue of hormonal responses. Such as hormonal status in terms of thyroid level, cortisol levels, GH and testosterone. And then genetics come into play.
Getting a bit over the top here, but necessary to point out as to what may be percieved as metabolism slowdown and hormonal inbalance.
This typically happens sooner the leaner you are, and later the 'heavier' you are.
That is a 'heavy' person will lose more fat and a leaner person will lose more muscle.
Anyway, hope you can makes some sense out of this.
Then there are significant differences in folks who are naturally lean and those who have dieted down to be there.
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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2008/10/07, 05:11 PM
uhhm....that was a bit over my head, but i still understood, thanks.
so what you're trying to say is that if i'm overweight, by lowering my calories down that far, i'll lose more fat than muscle coz i got more to spare?
i guess i was looking for a simpler answer to all of this....something along the lines of: what you're doing is good keep at it, or bad, totally rethink it, or pretty good but adjust a couple of things....i know it's extremely variable and everyone's got their own variables going on, but i guess i'm wondering among other things:
will a low calorie diet actually backstab me and make my body not give up the fat as they say or not?
it might be a low calorie diet but, i eat every couple of hours something just to keep it going, i readthat eating frequently keeps the metabolic rate up. also i try and exercise everyday....i'm not doing too good on consistancy coz i still got no where to exercise and didn't settle of a set of specific workouts for myself. i just run...i'm also considering jump rope...
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2008/10/08, 10:01 AM
Counting in itself is not a bad thing, it keeps you in line with your goals. 1,000 calories a day isnt' enough for my 100 lb. wife let alone you at 187 pounds.
You lost 12 pounds the first week but your metabolism is going to go down the crapper if you keep that up. You need some protein for dinner, not just fruit and vegetables.
I think you need to up your calories of you'll quit losing fat and when you quit "dieting" you'll gain it all back and more because your metabolism will be shot.
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2008/10/11, 08:43 AM
ecle5c makes excellent points. You have to be smart. While 'starving' yourself will result in weight loss, you will find a quicker rebound, and normally in the end you will be worse (fatter) than before as your body will tend to store fat to guard against what it perceives as being starved.
There is a fascinating study that was done some years back, the Minnesota starvation study if memory serves that bears this out very dramatically.
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Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer
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