One of the mistakes I’ve made in the past, which I will never repeat and which I urge you not to make, is to go on a low calorie diet for too long. You can lose weight in many other ways, and cutting calories is arguably the easiest and most effective way in the long run, especially if you are doing it for the first time. You’re overweight, you’ve never been on a diet and start cutting calories – well, you have to lose weight. The first time . And you should keep the weight achieved by defending it tooth and nail, but if you are included in the 90% of people who can’t, the low-calorie diet has already given you its boomerang effect: the longer you followed it, the more your metabolism has slowed down. As soon as you return to eating for your weight (shape), or you go on a maintenance diet, you will realize that it is very difficult not to gain a few pounds easily. Here’s everything you need to know about calorie-restricted diet and metabolism, and my solution to the problem.
HYPOCALORIC DIET: WHAT HAPPENS TO METABOLISM
1) HOW MUCH (LITTLE) WOMEN EAT:If we consider the Harris & Benedict formula for calculating the basal and total metabolic rate, a sedentary woman must consume no less than 1800 calories to keep fit. Hands up for thin or normal weight women who eat 1800 calories a day. Most women cut calories to make the weight loss diet their current normal diet, eating 1300 to 1600 calories, then succumb to restrictive diets of 1000 or 800 calories in a desperate attempt to lose weight. Which will not happen. And what happens if we give our body the 1800/2000 calories it needs?
2) HOW MUCH (BETTER) MEN EAT:men, benefited by genetic and biological factors, have a higher metabolism than women, but they are not as attached to the balance as women are. With the logical consequence, that generally a man sacrifices himself less with diets that reduce calories in a restrictive way. I know guys (even nutritionists! Good!) Who eat 1600 calories, but thank goodness they are a minority. A man achieves his body weight and target weight goals better than a woman because he doesn’t stress his metabolism with crash diets, generally speaking.

3) METABOLIC ADAPTATION:When we eat less, our metabolism tends to adapt, slowing down. This generally happens more or less over a time range of twenty to forty days. The problem is that the metabolic adaptation works better in defect: the body tends to survive, therefore it tends to decrease the metabolism more easily when we eat little, than to go back high when we eat more . This is the classic thing nobody thinks about. In some studies that have done on very restrictive diets, a metabolic adaptation when you went back to eating more happened after about a year. This is why many people experience weight gain on maintenance diets. And often maintenance diets don’t exceed 1500 calories, so they continue to be starvation diets.
4) SLOW METABOLISM AND HYPOTHYROIDISM FROM DIET AND EXERCISE : the metabolism has the final blow when we combine the low-calorie diet extended over a few months with physical exercise such as cardio. For example, people who eat little and go for a run every day, who do not lose weight and take kilos very easily with the first bite of pizza. Meanwhile, health is falling apart. Despite physical activity, the muscles are poorly defined, one is tired and irritable most of the time, the belly is swollen and the abdominal line is “soft”, the period in women has disappeared. In athletes, those who follow a restrictive diet have a higher percentage of body fat than those who eat satisfactorily for their training needs.

The solution?In order not to worsen one’s health and metabolism, the solution that comes to my mind is simple but requires perseverance and at least a year of sacrifice. The solution is to eat, starting to add calories a little at a time, and reaching the caloric optimum for your body weight within a couple of months. Surely, or almost, you will be able to gain some initial weight. Subsequently it is important to eat in a varied way, keeping the caloric ceiling sufficient for our total needs for at least ten months. We will be so sure that the metabolism has adjusted to our new intake, moreover many symptoms of malaise will have disappeared. For a year we can also say goodbye to the scales. Then we can do a training program 3-4 times a week, not just cardio and continue like this for 3-4 months. Then cut the calories a little. A maximum of 200-250 calories per day until the desired weight is reached.