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Calorie restriction is often associated with weight loss. However, what if we told you that another way to lose weight is to eat more?
There is such a thing as lowering too many calories and damaging your weight loss attempts. In some situations, you may need to consume more to lose weight and keep your body functioning effectively while doing so.
Make sensible meal choices (low-calorie, high-volume foods) and do more exercise to achieve this. We'll go through this method in greater depth further down!
Can Increasing Calories Aid Weight Loss?
It may seem paradoxical to increase your calorie intake in order to lose weight, but it is doable.
In some situations, rather than excessively reducing your calories, it can actually assist you accomplish your weight loss goal.
Eating too few calories to maintain your caloric maintenance level can cause your body to consuming very little, causing you to burn less calories over time, especially if you’ve been cutting for a long time. If this is the case, increasing your calorie intake may help you lose weight.
Why Should You Eat More to Lose Weight?
There are three reasons to eat more in order to lose weight:
• Minimize Or Prevent Binge Eating Episodes
• Prevent muscle catabolism
• Increase enjoyment/freedom
Reduce or Prevent Binge Eating Episodes
There is a limit to how much willpower you have. If you drastically restrict your calorie intake, you will only be able to avoid consuming items with a higher calorie count for a short period of time until you reach a breaking point and begin binge eating.
You can lessen, if not completely avoid, binge eating episodes by allowing yourself to eat more calories and not having any foods that are completely off-limits on your completely off-limits list.
Prevent Muscle Catabolism
Your body will burn muscle if you severely reduce calories and eat significantly fewer calories than your body need to maintain weight.
While this will occur when you reduce calories in any way, doing it at a rapid rate may hasten muscle catabolism.
This, in turn, will have an impact on your size.
But isn't that what you're looking for? Do you want to slim down? Yes, I'm overweight.
Muscle catabolism, on the other hand, means you'll lose muscle mass, which is what gives us our toned appearance. So, if that's your goal, you'll need to consume more in order to lose weight (but still within your calorie deficit).
More Enjoyment/Freedom
You'll have more freedom and flexibility with your everyday food selections if you can eat more and still lose weight.
It means you'll have more freedom in terms of what and how much you eat. It will make losing weight less of a chore, which will benefit your mental health.
Why You Should Stop Eating Too Little
Going too hard can lead to a horrible experience, a lack of success, and a winning cycle of eating too little and then eating too much.
It's vital to emphasize that the definition of 'too little' is subjective. If you're wondering if you're reducing too many calories to lose weight, here are some indicators that you should eat more:
Always Tired
Tiredness makes you hungry. It is not acceptable to be exhausted for an extended period of time. It could indicate that you're lacking in energy as a result of a lack of food and nutrition, or that you're not providing your body with adequate fuel.
Constantly Hungry
When trying to lose weight, hunger is unavoidable. After all, you're intentionally depriving your body of the nourishment it requires to maintain its current size. If, on the other hand, you're frequently hungry and thinking about food, you might be cutting too much and/or choosing the wrong meal choices.
It's possible that you'll need to beef up your meals and make healthier eating choices.
Hanger
“Hanger” is when you’re angry because you’re hungry. Consider how irritable you'd be if you were continuously hungry. More mood swings, less patience, and shorter tempers will be the result. If you eat more in order to lose weight, your body (and everyone else) will appreciate you.
Poor Gym Performance
If your gym performance is consistently poor—we're not talking about a one-off bad day, which happens to everyone—and you're unable to lift as much as you used to or your endurance has suffered, you may need to eat more to gain energy.
Dizziness
If your body is running low on fuel, don't be shocked if you're experiencing frequent dizzy spells or shakiness. It's your body's way of informing you that you need to eat more.
Other Health Problems
Your body will find other ways to alert you that you're underfeeding it and that you need to eat more food and nutrients aside from dizzy spells. These signs can take many forms, including:
•hair thinning
• brittle fingernails
• lack of menstrual period in women
What to Consider
Here are three points to consider if you want to eat more and lose weight:
Calorie Deficit
You must be in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. This entails consuming less calories than your body need to stay at its current weight.
To sustain a negative energy balance, aim for roughly 200-500 calories less. If your daily calorie intake is 2000, a fair shortfall would be 1500-1800 calories.
Focus on the Macros
While a calorie deficit is essential for weight loss, what you eat can have a big impact. Make sure to include a variety of macronutrients in your meals, such as protein, carbs, and healthy fats.
It's critical to obtain each one because they all play a crucial part in the body. Protein is the building block of muscle, and it's critical to consume enough of it, even if you're attempting to lose weight, to reduce muscle catabolism as much as possible.
Not to mention that, according to this paper, it aids with satiety and bone mineral maintenance. Furthermore, if you combine this with weight training, you will require more protein than if you were sedentary.
Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy in your body. You can also acquire your dietary fiber, which is required to control bowel motions and blood sugar levels, by choosing the correct carb sources. Not to mention that, when combined with healthy fats, it boosts satiety, allowing you to feel satisfied for longer.
Don’t Neglect Your Micronutrients
Micronutrients are extremely important for your overall health. Whether you want to lose weight or not, you must prioritize your nutrients and minerals and make sure you get all your body requires to function effectively. They are necessary for bone health, immune system function, and growth.
How to Eat More and Still Lose Weight with a Calorie Deficit
So, now that you know you can eat more to lose weight, what are your options? We recognize that believing that this is possible can be intimidating, so here are some pointers on how to get started:
High-Volume, Low-Calorie
Your new best buddy is going to be volume eating.
You probably already know that fruits and vegetables are good for your health and include all of the micronutrients you require, but if you're attempting to lose weight, they'll be your greatest friend.
They are foods that don't have a lot of calories, so you can stuff your plate with them. In other words, if you eat fewer calories, you'll feel fuller. Make the most of these foods by include a significant piece of them in each of your meals.
This could mean having a delicious lunch with a large side salad, which will provide you with greater volume without adding a lot of calories. It could also mean having watermelon or a large bowl of mixed berries as a snack with your lunch or dinner.
By including these foods in your diet, you can eat more while still sticking to your weight-loss goals.
Move More!
If you want to eat more, you must move more. This does not imply that you should do two workouts each day instead of one, or that you should double the length of your training session.
Increasing your non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is a simple yet effective approach to do this.
This entails making modest adjustments throughout the day that can add up to large results. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or the escalator, walk or cycle instead of driving, and set a goal to walk 10,000 steps per day. Cooking, cleaning, and even fidgeting are all activities that add to your NEAT.
Don’t Drink Your Calories
If you want to be able to eat more while still losing weight, budget your calories wisely and save them for food rather than liquids.
You'll be fuller and have less hunger if you spend your calories on food. Not to mention that some beverages are high in calories, so you'll be saving a lot of money.
Decide which drinks are worth giving up and replacing with zero-sugar options, such as replacing cream in coffee with a lower-calorie alternative or simply drinking plain water.
Final Thoughts
You must cut your calorie intake in order to lose weight. But be careful not to cut too many. If this describes you, you'll discover that you need to consume more to lose weight so that your body can function properly while still achieving your weight loss target. You may lose weight without cutting too many calories out of your diet by adopting better dietary choices, such as consuming low-calorie but high-volume items and improving your NEAT.
