I've read several threads asking about stalled
weight loss due to lack of food intake. Here's the facts,
The body has been designed over the centuries to hold onto weight
temporarily during time frames of starvation or fasting. It's pretty simple really. Our metabolisms slow down when the body senses that it's being denied the food it needs to function so it burns less fuel. Now notice I said
temporarily. The reason I point this out is because the body WILL do what it needs to do to survive and YES the body will use the fat as fuel to survive. It must, and that's pretty easy to understand. The body will first use any stored glycogen (short term energy stores) then it will burn stored fat as fuel. Fasting and Starvation however is a lousy way to
lose weight and ultimately will always backfire. Once a person starts eating again the hormones kick in, the metabolism speeds up and gorging/binging occurs. Ultimately the weight lost during a fast is usually regained and then some.
So, is it true that
weight loss on the FTS program can stall due to lack of food? If you follow the guidelines for portion control outlined here-
http://www.fattoskinny.net/index.php?topic=233.0 the answer is NO. The metabolism "slow down kick in key" comes in the form of zero food intake, not well balanced controlled portion intake. It's important to point this out because I don't want you to use it as an excuse to load up your plates. "I'm not dropping weight so I need more food" is a fallacy IF you're following the program properly. Trust me, starving peoples in third world countries are not fat.
Eating a lack of dense protein is usually the culprit when someone feels their
weight loss has been stalled by lack of food. Dense protein helps to speed up the metabolism naturally simply because the body needs to rev up the engine to digest and metabolize it. Smaller portions (6oz) per serving is generally enough to fill your needs and you should never exceed 8oz at a sitting. Heck that's a half pound of meat, fish, or poultry or soy! Making certain dense protein is part of your daily intake will help insure that your protein food needs are met and will keep the metabolism in check.
Next on the list are healthy fats. Once again the body needs to work hard to metabolize fats. Make certain to take in a portion of fats during the day. Most of us achieve this through cheeses, olive oil, animal fats and nuts/seeds.
For all you salad eaters out there who believe big salads are the key to
weight loss....think again. Sugar and carbs add up quickly in your salad bowl, the body metabolizes the food quickly leaving you hungry again and you don't fill your nutrition needs.
Conversely TO MUCH FOOD will stall your
weight loss. If you find yourself at a stall AND your food intake is well balanced as prescribed within FTS then eat only when you're hungry, look at the portions on your plate, cut them back and follow the 15 minute rule.
To
lose weight you must eat less than your body needs for fuel daily. This is the key to forcing the body to use stored FAT as fuel.
