Don’t be afraid to EAT. Recently, I started reverse dieting and increasing my calories. I have a lot of muscle mass and I felt that I had been in a deficit for far too long. I know better, but most people don’t.
They start a diet or cut calories and then after months and months, they stop progressing in their weight loss journey. They’ve stayed in the deficit for too long and their metabolism starts to slow down. They start losing muscle because they aren’t feeding them enough to maintain or increase their mass.
And guess what, lean muscle mass burns more calories when at rest. It’s why you should lift and not be afraid to lift heavy. You’re not going to be bulky. You’re not going to look like a man. But you will burn more calories with more muscle.
When you’ve stayed in a deficit for too long, you’re body starts losing muscle mass, but you might find that you are keeping on the fat that you were trying to lose in the first place.
Well... this is where I was. I had spent too much time sitting around 1800 calories which is pretty low for a woman my size and height. So for about three weeks, I’ve been climbing back up. I’m currently eating 2100 with a 30C/30P/40F split on my macros. My goal is to get back to a maintenance around 2400-2600 calories.
Have you been eating in a deficit for a long period of time? Have you stopped making progress? If so, the answer is NOT to cut more calories. It probably means you need to work back up to a maintenance so you can fuel your body and get your metabolism burning again.
My point, I was sitting at 1800 calories and 195lb. Three weeks later, I’m at 2100 calories and 188. Still eating whole food and pretty much dairy and gluten free 80% of the time. Still intermittent fasting and carb cycling. Still lifting heavy 4-5 days and doing metabolic conditioning 3-4 days a week. So what’s changed? MORE FOOD.
So next time you find yourself in a plateau- think outside the box. Everyone will tell you to cut more calories, but maybe you need to increase your metabolism by eating more and getting out of a deficit for awhile! Don’t be afraid to eat more. 🥑
Outfit: fleo