Signs that you need to eat more to lose weight

We all know that just like saving money, losing weight isn’t much different. While saving money requires spending less, losing weight requires consuming fewer calories. However what most people don’t realize is that cutting out too many calories can actually decrease your weight loss ability. This is due to the fact that food sparks your metabolism, and restricting calories may lead to the body going into ‘starvation mode’ leading to breakdown of muscle and reserving of energy stores (fat). Here are a few signs that you might be restricting calories too much:

1. You think about food all the time: reaching for a healthy snack in between meals may help maintain blood sugar levels and cravings and get your focus back onto work and not food.
2. You’re cutting out meals and all your snacks: weight loss will not be achieved by starving yourself until lunch. You definitely need to watch calories to lose weight, but feeling constant deprived makes you more likely to binge or break the diet later on. Try to aim for 3 meals and 2 healthy snacks per day.
3. You get horrible headaches- your brain’s preferred fuel source is glucose, and if you are starving yourself your brain isn’t getting the fuel it needs leading to symptoms such as shakiness, dizzy spells and feeling light headed or often headaches. This may also be due to the blood sugar levels dropping too low due to starvation.
4. You are too tired to exercise- if you are starving yourself you will feel tired all the time, making it almost impossible to exercise. This is a viscous cycle as exercise actually increases energy, but a starvation diet decreases energy levels thereby decreasing exercise and thereby further decreasing energy levels even more.
5. You feel super irritable- everybody’s heard of feeling “hangry”, in fact research suggests acts of self control (like adhering to a strict diet) are associated with angrier behavior. If you want to lose weight, limit your calories just enough to slim down, but not too much that may lead to mod changes.

Don’t know how many calories to consume and where calories come from. Consult with your dietician for the best advice on how to cut the calories in a safe and enjoyable way to decrease your weight, have more energy and feel happy at the same time!

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