Dieting & Metabolism

So what is the connection between dieting and metabolism? The truth is that, unfortunately, if you don't make sure your dieting is controlled, your metabolism will slow down. This means your body will burn less calories per day. Hence the pounds you hope to lose by consuming fewer calories may not fall off you as you're now not burning up as many calories as you used to.

The reason for this self-defeating link between dieting and metabolism is quite simple. When our bodies are suddenly deprived of food, they go into what is known as starvation mode. In other words, they have a defensive response, which means that you start storing fat and burning muscle instead. This is very useful if you're facing a famine but rather frustrating if you're trying to lose weight. The problem is made worse by the fact that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. So on an extreme diet where your intake of calories is suddenly vastly reduced, you may indeed experience short-term weight loss. Yet once you give up the diet and your calorie intake returns to normal, you will put back on the weight. Only this time as fat rather than muscle. The muscle you lost during your diet means your metabolic rate is now slower so that it will be harder for you to lose weight in the future. The answer to all this is to avoid extreme dieting, particularly of the yoyo or starvation kind, which is not sustainable. It's far better to have a healthy balanced diet with controlled calorie intake. Also exercise is the key to building muscle and thus increasing your metabolic rate. The result on the scales may not be instantly dramatic but as you slowly turn fat into muscle, you will feel and look much leaner and healthier.