- Sun Aug 14, 2011 4:30 am
#16112
Have you heard about calorie confusion? It's a great defense against plateau-ing, which is something most of us will face at one time or another.
If you've ever followed a weight loss plan to the letter and had everything going great--you were dropping pounds and inches and feeling better-- and then suddenly all your progress just stops even though you're working at it as hard as ever, you know the feeling of hitting that plateau.
Well, that's because the human body is a miracle, and it can adapt to just about anything, including a low calorie, lots of exercise lifestyle.
After you've been doing that for awhile, your body finds little ways to expend less energy and lower your BMR (basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn when you aren't doing much at all) In fact, losing weight means that your BMR will go down, because it takes less work to haul less weight around all day long!
So what can you do to stop it?
Well, calorie confusion is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than eating the same number of calories every day, you switch it up, so your body doesn't have a chance to adjust to a lower caloric intake. Some people alternate weight loss and maintenance days, while some people create more of a calorie deficit on some days than others. Example (just an example and NOT to be taken as medical advice by any individual!):
Jenn's BMR is 1900 calories a day. In order to lose one pound a week, Jenn needs to cut 3500 calories a week from that 1900/day number. Traditionally, someone like Jenn might cut 500 calories a day and eat 1400 calories a day. If Jenn wants to take advantage of calorie confusion, though, she might cut 600 calories on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, (eating 1300 calories on those days) and cut around 360 calories on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (eating about 1540 calories on those days) giving her a total weekly calorie deficit of around 3480 calories. She'll be getting around the same number of calories per week, but her body won't have a chance to adjust to a constant low level of calories, so she won't plateau.
Another advantage of this plan is that it's easier to accommodate things like business lunch meetings where you can't avoid eating at a restaurant, or a friend's birthday party where you know you're likely to give in a have a slice of cake. Simply plan it into your higher calorie days!
If you've ever followed a weight loss plan to the letter and had everything going great--you were dropping pounds and inches and feeling better-- and then suddenly all your progress just stops even though you're working at it as hard as ever, you know the feeling of hitting that plateau.
Well, that's because the human body is a miracle, and it can adapt to just about anything, including a low calorie, lots of exercise lifestyle.
After you've been doing that for awhile, your body finds little ways to expend less energy and lower your BMR (basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn when you aren't doing much at all) In fact, losing weight means that your BMR will go down, because it takes less work to haul less weight around all day long!
So what can you do to stop it?
Well, calorie confusion is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than eating the same number of calories every day, you switch it up, so your body doesn't have a chance to adjust to a lower caloric intake. Some people alternate weight loss and maintenance days, while some people create more of a calorie deficit on some days than others. Example (just an example and NOT to be taken as medical advice by any individual!):
Jenn's BMR is 1900 calories a day. In order to lose one pound a week, Jenn needs to cut 3500 calories a week from that 1900/day number. Traditionally, someone like Jenn might cut 500 calories a day and eat 1400 calories a day. If Jenn wants to take advantage of calorie confusion, though, she might cut 600 calories on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, (eating 1300 calories on those days) and cut around 360 calories on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (eating about 1540 calories on those days) giving her a total weekly calorie deficit of around 3480 calories. She'll be getting around the same number of calories per week, but her body won't have a chance to adjust to a constant low level of calories, so she won't plateau.
Another advantage of this plan is that it's easier to accommodate things like business lunch meetings where you can't avoid eating at a restaurant, or a friend's birthday party where you know you're likely to give in a have a slice of cake. Simply plan it into your higher calorie days!
