The shifting calories theory is a relatively new theory in dieting. Just as the name shifting calories implies, this method has you shift or vary the number of calories that you eat each day which in turn promotes weight loss. Let's take a look at why this idea works.
Our metabolisms adjust to the number of calories that we have been eating and develop a sort of "memory". They expect us to keep eating the same way we have been for at least the past few days. So if you have eaten 2000 calories per day for the past week, your metabolism is going to expect you to eat 2000 tomorrow.
Now, let's say that suddenly tomorrow you cut your calories to 1200 calories. Well, your metabolism expects you to eat 2000, so it will keep running at a rate to use 2000 calories instead of just the 1200 that you consume.
That's great, except that after a few days at 1200 calories your metabolism catches up and starts expecting you to just eat 1200 calories each day. If you try to go back up to 2000 calories per day your metabolism will now be expecting just 1200, which means it won't be efficient enough to burn off all 2000 of those calories.
That's one of the reasons that starvation diets fail so miserable and why people hit weight loss plateaus even when they are depriving themselves of enough calories each day.
First, your body adjusts to expect fewer calories so your metabolism drops way down and it becomes more difficult to lose weight.
Second, because your metabolism has adjusted to using fewer calories, the minute you go off the "starvation" diet and start eating normally again you are going to be consuming way more calories than your body is used to which will be stored away as extra weight.
That means that you gain the weight that you had lost back again. If you've been stuck in the endless loop of dieting and gaining it back you know exactly what I mean.
The shifting calories theory is unique because it constantly adjusts the number of calories you are eating so your metabolism doesn't have time to adjust and slow down. Make sense?
When you read that it may seem like you just need to eat a lot of calories one day and a few the next, alternating day. Unfortunately, though, it is a bit more complex than that. You need to eat the right number of calories each day - not too many or too few - for your body weight.
Additionally, you need to mix up the intervals at which you eat as well as the types of foods that you eat. When done correctly the shifting calorie theory can provide very fast, long term weight loss. One of the best things about shifting calories is that it is easy to stick with because unlike most other diets, with shifting calories you are constantly eating so there is not time to feel deprived.
You may be thinking that shifting calories sounds too hard to incorporate into your life. Fortunately, there is a diet program available called Fat Loss 4 Idiots that takes all the guess work out of the equation for you.
They have an online diet generator that can calculate the exact foods, calories and intervals at which you should eat to maximize your weight loss so you don't have to calculate anything or try to wade through piles of research to find the answers yourself.
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Our metabolisms adjust to the number of calories that we have been eating and develop a sort of "memory". They expect us to keep eating the same way we have been for at least the past few days. So if you have eaten 2000 calories per day for the past week, your metabolism is going to expect you to eat 2000 tomorrow.
Now, let's say that suddenly tomorrow you cut your calories to 1200 calories. Well, your metabolism expects you to eat 2000, so it will keep running at a rate to use 2000 calories instead of just the 1200 that you consume.
That's great, except that after a few days at 1200 calories your metabolism catches up and starts expecting you to just eat 1200 calories each day. If you try to go back up to 2000 calories per day your metabolism will now be expecting just 1200, which means it won't be efficient enough to burn off all 2000 of those calories.
That's one of the reasons that starvation diets fail so miserable and why people hit weight loss plateaus even when they are depriving themselves of enough calories each day.
First, your body adjusts to expect fewer calories so your metabolism drops way down and it becomes more difficult to lose weight.
Second, because your metabolism has adjusted to using fewer calories, the minute you go off the "starvation" diet and start eating normally again you are going to be consuming way more calories than your body is used to which will be stored away as extra weight.
That means that you gain the weight that you had lost back again. If you've been stuck in the endless loop of dieting and gaining it back you know exactly what I mean.
The shifting calories theory is unique because it constantly adjusts the number of calories you are eating so your metabolism doesn't have time to adjust and slow down. Make sense?
When you read that it may seem like you just need to eat a lot of calories one day and a few the next, alternating day. Unfortunately, though, it is a bit more complex than that. You need to eat the right number of calories each day - not too many or too few - for your body weight.
Additionally, you need to mix up the intervals at which you eat as well as the types of foods that you eat. When done correctly the shifting calorie theory can provide very fast, long term weight loss. One of the best things about shifting calories is that it is easy to stick with because unlike most other diets, with shifting calories you are constantly eating so there is not time to feel deprived.
You may be thinking that shifting calories sounds too hard to incorporate into your life. Fortunately, there is a diet program available called Fat Loss 4 Idiots that takes all the guess work out of the equation for you.
They have an online diet generator that can calculate the exact foods, calories and intervals at which you should eat to maximize your weight loss so you don't have to calculate anything or try to wade through piles of research to find the answers yourself.
Article Source