Will Eating Less Help Me Lose Body Fat?
You would think that eating less would result in less body fat. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Eating less food than your body needs can lead to starvation of the body. Your body needs a wide variety of nutrients to keep it functioning. Just like your car, if you don’t fill up every once in a while, you won’t be going anywhere. Your body works in a similar manner. If we don’t eat enough, stored fat cannot keep the body functioning. In order to lose weight, you do need to cut calories and/or increase your activity; but it is vital that you continue to eat enough food to support your bodily functions and stay healthy.
Eating less than your body needs causes cortisol levels to rise. This stress hormone causes the body to hold on to every morsel of fuel that comes its way. The best place to store those morsels is in the abdomen. The less you eat, the more your body thinks it’s starving. Your body isn’t going to give up any fat stores until it absolutely has to. That means under-eating isn’t going to eliminate body fat until there isn’t enough muscle to consume.
Undereating actually causes your body to consume muscle tissue in order to provide enough energy to keep the body going. By undereating, you lose muscle and muscle definition due to the muscles being cannibalized.
If your body isn’t getting enough food, you are going to be tired and your stomach growling and cramping may disrupt your sleep. Building and repairing muscle takes place during sleep, which can’t happen when there isn’t enough food to work with. You’re at risk for kidney failure, heart attack and even death. You will also suffer from mood swings and generally not feel well. Eating enough to supply your body with enough fuel will actually help you to lose weight. Adding exercise will help you lose that excess body fat and you’ll feel a lot better too!
Words by My Fitness Hub Instructor Emily Pilat
