Is Under Eating Sabotaging Your Health? (And what to do about it)

Today I’m answering the question, “Is Under Eating Sabotaging Your Health?” This is one of the most common concerns I address with my clients… find out why it’s so important…

Most of my clients come to me because they’re confused about what to eat.

They know something isn’t working. They may try to do all the right things, but something is preventing them from finding their happy weight, having the most energy they can, and feeling free from restrictions.

After all, nutrition is no small feat. It’s confusing and evolving, and it’s hard to keep up (yes, sometimes even as a dietitian!).

Nutrition changes also take time. That’s why I work with my clients for a minimum of 3 months, typically.

One of the most common changes that I help my clients make – and even experienced myself at one point – is to eat MORE.

Yes, you read that right.

In order to reach your goals – whether it’s having more energy or losing a few pounds – it’s important to give your body the fuel it wants. After all, when we break it down, food is energy for our cells.

You need energy to breathe, sleep, sit, stand, walk, and not to mention get through your Soul Cycle class!

Unfortunately, years of restrictive diets can hurt your metabolism, making it even harder for your body to regulate its weight.

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So today I’m going to break it all down for you, because I’m asked about this all of the time… How do you know if under eating is sabotaging your health?

Let’s take a look…

Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the overarching term for processes that occur in your body to convert the food you eat into energy.

If I think back to my many biochem classes, we learned specifically about fat metabolism, protein metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, vitamin and mineral metabolism, and more. While you don’t need to know the intricacies of flowcharts I learned in school, it’s important to realize that your body works really hard for these processes to take place.

As much as we hear about “superfoods” that manipulate your metabolism (hot chili peppers or green tea, anyone?), it’s not that simple.

Your body tightly regulates your metabolism so you have energy for living – breathing, sleeping, moving, digesting, etc.

There are SO many factors that impact your metabolic rate, including:

• Foods you eat
• Hormones
• Exercise frequency and style
• Age
• Gender
• Genetics
• And more!

The fact that so much goes into regulating your metabolism, you can probably imagine that it’s fairly easy to damage your metabolism.

Here are some of the most common ways to damage your metabolism:

• Under-eating
• Over-exercising
• Fast weight fluctuations
• Food group restriction

As you can see, behaviors that excessively manipulate your body size are often to blame.

That’s why you may be hear about damage to your metabolism from yo-yo dieting and restrictive eating.

When your body feels under-fed, it slows your metabolism to conserve energy so you can maintain essential activities (like breathing).

Our bodies were designed to survive periods of famine, because we were originally hunters and gatherers. Now in a period of abundance, as smart as our bodies are, they don’t know the difference between purposeful under-nourishment (aka dieting) or “starvation mode” as a protective mechanism.

I can’t tell you how many times clients come to me exclaiming, “I was losing weight and all of a sudden it stopped.” Or “This diet worked for me in the past, but now it’s not.”

Fad diets or quick fixes that eliminate entire food groups, restrict calories, or promote excessive levels of exercise will eventually stop working. (That’s usually when someone moves on to the next fad, even further damaging their metabolism!)

But there’s good news – your body is a well-oiled machine and can definitely bounce back!

First, let’s take a look at how you can tell if you’re hurting your metabolism…

Is Under-Eating Sabotaging Your Health?

Use these 3 signs to find out…

 

1. You’re always hungry.

If you’re always hungry, this is a telltale sign you’re likely not eating enough. When you under-nourish your body, you may also be damaging your metabolism.

Studies show that under-eating can rev up your hunger, thanks to reduced levels of appetite-suppressing hormones (IGF-1 and leptin), and increases in hunger hormones (ghrelin).

What to do instead: Get in touch with your body. Listen to when it feels hungry and eat!

2. Your workouts are more important than spending time with friends.

Exercise is important (don’t get me wrong!), but when exercise starts replacing your social plans, it may be an indication that you’re overdoing it.

Over-exercising, like under-eating, can damage your metabolism because your body does not receive the nutrients that it needs.

What to do instead: Move in a way that feels intuitive to you. Don’t force yourself to go to the gym when you feel drained and over-worked. It’s OK to take a rest day… and even may help you push harder on the days you are in the mood to workout.

3. You unnecessarily eliminate an entire food group from your diet.

Many fad diets eliminate entire food groups, like grains, dairy, fruit, meat, etc. If you follow a way of eating to manipulate your body size (not for medical necessity), there’s a possibility you may be damaging your metabolism.

What to do instead: Learn how to balance your plate appropriately by working with a qualified nutrition professional. When a diet plan restricts what you eat or eliminates too many foods, be wary!

If you identify with any of the above, you’re not alone. In fact, I’ve been there before myself.

Luckily, there are ways you can nurture your metabolism to restore your body’s metabolic set point. If you can’t wait, book your FREE initial consultation today to learn more…

Next week, we’re going to discuss how you can learn to nurture your metabolism for repair…