Well, it’s that time of year again! It’s time for good food, good friends, and spending time with family. Unfortunately, for many of us, it is also the time of year to pack on a few extra pounds. However, we are here to help. With a few adjustments, you can enjoy all of the things that there are to have over the holidays without having to pull your bigger jeans out of storage after Christmas.
You may have already overdone it this Thanksgiving, but it is not too late. Having a day or two of overeating can actually prepare your body for losing weight. When our bodies are in the losing phase, we are restricting calories to only the amount that we need for energy and survival. This can help you to get rid of extra pounds, but there is a downside.
Many people don’t realize that eating too few calories can actually put your cells into starvation mode, where they realize that you are not giving them all that they need. The body is very good at adjusting to its environment. Cells will hold onto fat for dear life thinking that they will definitely need it in the future. They become very efficient at storing fat, turning things into fat, and reserving as much of their energy as possible. This can mean that you get run down, tired, stuck on a plateau, or even start gaining weight again.
Luckily, the holidays offer a solution. Eating holiday foods that are high in calories and fat can jumpstart your system into losing weight once again. It is often recommended that you give your body a break from dieting about once or twice a week. The goal is to avoid letting your cells get used to the restricted calorie plan.
As you lose weight, your calorie requirements will be reduced because your body has less mass to support. This is why it is important to start dieting at the highest level of calories that your body can handle and still lose weight. You may have heard that losing weight slowly, at the rate of about a pound a week, is the best way to strive for long-term weight loss. However, we are impatient and generally go for whatever works the fastest.
So, let’s just try to think long-term here. You can start out making sure that you don’t go over the recommended 2,000 calories per day. Most people that are overweight actually have a higher calorie requirement and will lose weight for quite some time at 2,000 calories a day. Keep in mind that most people cannot use more than 500 calories in a three hour period, so any excess calories during that time frame will end up being stored as fat. If you can eat three, 500 calorie meals a day, it still leaves you room for two snacks equaling 250 calories each.
If you stop losing weight, cut your calories back to 1,900 per day. Try to lose weight at the next level down for as long as possible. When you plateau, you’ll still have room to go. If you crash diet and start out low, like around 1,200 calories a day, your body will soon realize what is going on and put you into starvation mode where you can’t lose anything. Taking your caloric intake down by 100 calories and keeping it there for as long as possible will help you to avoid this metabolic switch. Most people cannot go below 1,200-1,400 calories per day and keep losing. Don’t start out too low, or you’ll have nowhere to go when the plateau hits.
In “Part 2” of the series “How to Lose Weight Using Holiday Foods”, we will discuss how to eat what you like during the holidays to speed up fat loss. You’ll also learn how to turn your body into a fat burning engine by using discount vitamins and supplements, like the best vitamin c powder, to flush out toxins an improve cell function.
About the Author: Phil Le Breton is owner at Wholesale Nutrition. He has a strong interest in helping people achieve greater brain and body health with vitamins and supplements. Wholesale Nutrition has provided the world with discount vitamins and the best vitamin C since 1970. Visit http://www.nutri.com to buy high-quality, low-cost wholesale vitamins today!
