Once again, I abandoned my blog. I’m going to be honest, the only reason I haven’t been writing is because I haven’t been keeping up with my healthy eating habits. It’s a little hypocritical of me to blog while I’ve been eating sweet bread for the past NINE days. My grandfather passed away last week and in my culture, after a loved one passes away, a rosary is done for nine straight days. I’m sure a lot of you know what I’m talking about. The rosary part was great but the hot chocolate with a conchita/empanada was not. Now that the rosary is over, I think it’s a great time to write about a common mistake some extreme dieters make.
CALORIE INTAKE:
This morning, a friend of mine on FB wrote “I’m determined to lose weight. I’m only eating 500 calories a day from now on.” DON’T DO THAT! Yes, the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you will lose. But the weight you lose will come back and sometimes it’s even double the weight you lost in the first place. A lot of people (I was one of them) take their calorie intake to another level. Of course, if you consume few calories, you will lose weight but make sure you don’t put your body into starvation mode.
Starvation mode is something I never understood before my pregnancy. I always thought the way to lose weight was consuming 1,000 calories a day. Most nutrition experts recommend never going below 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day. Now I know that’s not the way our bodies work and thats probably the reason why I wasn't losing any weight.
The last month of my pregnancy was the hardest for me. Not only because I was anxious to meet my little guy but because I was at my biggest EVER. Gaining 53 pounds in 7 months (I didn’t gain anything the first two months) was definitely not my plan. I thought the most I’d gain would be 30 pounds. But sadly, I almost doubled that number. The first step I did to get my body back was do a bunch of RESEARCH. I’m talking hours of research. I know that sounds funny but that is exactly what I did. I was nine months pregnant, 53 pounds heavier, doing a bunch of research on weight loss. I was determined to wear my favorite pair of jeans and feel fabulous in them. But most important, I was determined to do it the healthy way.
While researching, I came across a BUNCH of diets; tons of them. Some I can’t believe people put their bodies through. The words “starvation mode” came up a lot. Putting your body on starvation mode slows down your metabolism. While it will burn fat, it will also start burning lean muscle mass, which will slow down your metabolism even further. People on starvation diets always find that they regain all the weight they’ve lost (and then some) very quickly as soon as they start eating again.
How to avoid starvation mode & determining how many calories I should consume daily to lose weight/ maintain weight?
Everyone’s daily calorie intake is obviously different. It depends on your weight, age, sex and your goal weight. The amount of physical activity also plays a role. Tracking the calories you’re eating also teaches you how to make healthier choices. It’s like Weight Watchers, (which I did for a month but that’s a whole new post). I know some of you don’t pay attention to the nutrition facts (I didn’t before) but you HAVE TO. Not reading the nutrition facts is probably the reason why you’re not losing weight or gaining weight. Knowing how many calories the piece of brownie you’re about to eat makes you think twice; 400 for two bites? Is it worth it? I hope your answer is no.
Once you reach your goal weight, you can add a few calories to maintain the weight. That’s what I am currently doing. I don’t want to lose any weight anymore. I want to maintain & tone up for the Summer. To figure out my healthy daily calorie intake, I used the Calorie Calculator. I’ll share the link with you guys so you can figure yours out too. While dieting, I used the MyFitnessPal app on my iphone to keep track of how many calories my meals were. I kept track of everything I ate, and whenever I lost a pound it would encourage me to lose more. I promise you, if you keep track of how many calories you’re feeding your body, you will lose the weight. DON’T STARVE YOURSELF. That will only give you short-term results you’re aiming for a HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE. Also, take it one pound at a time, don’t expect ten pounds a week. One to three pounds a week is a healthy pace.
Here's the link to determine how many calories you should be consuming to maintain/lose weight.
MyFitnessPal.
"Don't workout because you hate your body,
work out because you love it"
oxox,
Dani
