“Here’s How I Eat More To Lose Weight – Don’t Eat Less, Just Eat Right” – Monica May

 

I am into fitness and nutrition for almost  10 years now.

However, it was a bumpy ride indeed.

The truth is, for most of those years I was struggling to lose weight and get fit, before I finally learned how to do it right.

This was mainly due to the misleading info I was getting about how to do it right.

In fact, “eat less – exercise more” is the worst piece of advice I got and today I’m going to show you why.

I am tired of girls being misled into eating less to lose weight, and it just has to stop.

I learned it the hard way so you don’t have to.

Let’s jump right into it and learn how to eat more to lose weight!

How I Eat More To Lose Weight


Why You Don’t Have To Eat Less

In theory, eating less calories than you burn will lead to weight loss.

And that’s a common sense right?

Of course burning more calories than you consume will result in weight loss and I am not arguing with that.

However, the trouble is #1 staying healthy throughout this process and #2 keeping it long term.

And let me break this down for you real quick:

Eating less has a short-term results, and it simply doesn’t work when it comes to long-term weight loss.

Thing are much more complex than a calorie number, and the effects of what foods we eat are far more important, than how much of it we consume.

The perception that losing weight is all about eating less is so far from the truth and can have many adverse side effects.

Not only it won’t help you lose weight but it can cause weight gain, and a series of other things.

We’ll jump into them right now!

eat more to lose weight - don't eat less

#1: Eating Less Will Slow Down Your Metabolism

It really seems like common sense that if we eat less we lose weight, but that’s really not the case.

I explained this process a while ago in my article Why Diets Don’t Work? and today I’m breaking it down for you again.

If we malnourish the body and stop providing it with the fuel needed to function well, we do not create the need for it to burn body fat.

Instead, we create a need for our body to hold onto fat.

Yes, you heard it right.

Instead of losing fat, we cause gaining fat since our body will turn into a “survival mode” and will start storing everything.

You see, when you eat less than your body needs, you tell your body to slow everything down and start storing for “bad days”.

And the first thing your body does when you stop providing enough food, it starts lowering your metabolism, stimulating brain chemicals to make you think about food, holding onto fat, and shutting down non-essential systems (to survival).

One example of that is with the reproductive systems, which is why many women who are under-eating end up losing their monthly menstrual cycle.

The body starts holding onto its fat stores and starts lowering the metabolism, which is the complete opposite of what should happen in a perfectly healthy body.

#2: You’ll Probably Gain More Weight

As I mentioned before, if you eat less it may result in short-term weight loss, however it doesn’t work long term.

Looking it from a long term perspective, you’ll gain back the weight once you resume eating regularly again.

And usually you’ll gain even more weight than you used to.

Here’s how…

As soon as we stop eating less and we get back to our old eating habits, we have all the calories we used to have but need less of them.

This is thanks to our slowed-down metabolism we just caused by eating less.

With a slower metabolism, consuming what used to be a normal amount for us is now feeling like overeating to the body.

And that’s why we gain more weight after eating less for a while.

I’m sorry to break this down for you, but in most cases eating less is worse than doing nothing.

The well-known “yo-yo” effect many women experience with most of the diets is not a myth.

Luckily there’s always something you can do about it. We’ll get there in a while.

#3: Eating Less Doesn’t Equal Eating Right

Oh no, it doesn’t!

Just because something has less calories, or is a smaller amount, doesn’t mean it’s healthier for you.

Looking back, I can see how I always chose foods that lacked nutrients just because they were low in calories.

And what I often forgot when I counted calories is that food isn’t made up of calories alone.

eat more to lose weight - don't eat less just eat right

And while I’ll get only simple processed carbohydrates, saturated fat, and sodium out of the French fries, the salad will provide me protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamin and minerals that my body needs to feel energized and stay healthy.

These nutrients help with body processes from building muscle to improving energy to boosting the immune system to speeding up metabolism and a whole lot of other benefits.

They also help me stay satisfied and full for longer.

So, instead of watching our calorie intake, we should focus on eating healthy, raw foods, loaded with nutrients.

At the end of the day, it’s our health that matters the most.

#4: It Isn’t Sustainable

I just can’t imagine myself eating less than I crave for the rest of my life.

And the truth is it’s not a sustainable solution for a number of reasons.

I remember living my life to reach certain goal, just to take that break from the diet afterwards.

It was as my reward for eating less was to eat more at the end of it.

And with every break I took, I was gaining my weight back even faster than before.

And then it hit me.

If I wanted to stay fit long term, I needed a long term solution.

I needed something that wouldn’t feel like a restriction.

And after going through lots of researches and data about calories and healthy food, I started realizing it.

I forgot about eating whole, fresh, real foods and most importantly, I forgot how to be happy around food.

And no one should feel like that. No one. 

That’s when I started making my changes…

 

What To Do Instead


First thing’s first, start eating more.

You shouldn’t feel hungry after finishing a meal – you should feel full.

Here’s how to eat more to lose weight.

#1: Focus On Healthy Food

Healthy food is the key to losing weight and getting healthy.

Cleaning up your diet is the #1 thing you should do.

With my new understanding of nutrition, I was finally able to lose all those pounds I struggled with for years.

Now how do we put the focus on healthy food?

First, include a bunch of healthy and raw foods in your diet: veggies, beans, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds and unprocessed carbohydrates such as whole grains and root vegetables.

As long as it’s healthy and clean, you won’t need to worry about the numbers.

Check out:

 

#2: Avoid Unhealthy Foods

I know this one is probably obvious, but I have to say it.

You shouldn’t only eat healthy foods, but you should also avoid foods that are unhealthy.

And what was happening to me was a pattern:

I would eat healthy all day, but since it wasn’t enough food for me I was left hungry all day.
Then I’d go out for a coffee and I’d have an ice cream, or I’ll eat a bag of chips while watching Netflix, or I’ll steal a chicken wing from my boyfriend’s plate or all of those things together.

And it’s okay to do these things intentionally, and to do them every now and then.

However, if your goal is to lose weight, you should know that you are what you eat on a daily basis, and if you do this every day, then you should be aware that maybe the food you eat isn’t enough.

So, lower the amount of highly processed foods to a minimum, highly processed carbohydrates, sugars, saturated fats and junk foods.

As long as you make healthy food choices, you don’t have to worry about eating less, just eating right.

#3: Play With Volume

Our bodies don’t just have a calorie counter, in terms of how many calories your body needs to stay healthy or lose weight, but they also have a “volume counter”.

This means that to get full you have to fill certain volume in your stomach.

This explains why we can never get full if we eat a handful of almonds, even though it’s around 300 kcal.

And perfect volume foods are foods that are actually lower in calories, but bigger in volume, such as broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant, salads, etc.

Make sure to include these foods in your diet to fulfil the volume part.

eat more not less

#4: You have To Love The Food You Eat

The importance of eating food you enjoy is maybe one of the most important things I came to realize during this process.

You can never fall in love with healthy food if you are not excited about your meals, and if you don’t get your dopamine levels up.

If you eat the same meal every day, you will get bored and won’t keep up with your plan.

So, make sure to eat healthy by trying out different recipes, and experimenting with the foods you like.

You can also check out my BBB Meal Plan for recipes and healthy ideas.

Also, check out my “What I Eat In A Day Guide”

 

Till next time babe!
xoxo

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