I made this mistake for almost 8 years. And I am sure I am not alone with it.

When I was in college I became very aware of “counting calories.” Now, this practice isn’t a terrible one to have. But we often get into it for the wrong reasons. 

It inevitably brought more mindfulness and attention to my eating habits. As I logged my food consistently, I became much more aware of what I was putting into my body. This was a good aspect that came from it. 

However, there was also bad. I was eating approximately 1200 calories a day, as an active adult. No one could tell me otherwise. I would roll my eyes and insist that it was working for me and I definitely should not be consuming more than that! 

Well, it did work for me. Just  as any “diet” will work for someone who is overweight- for a time. (This is a huge reason I despise diets. It’s about lifestyle change, not quick fixes!)

If you restrict your calories (like I did) and workout, of course you’ll lose weight. We all know that. But if your body isn’t being fueled correctly, and not getting enough fuel at that, you are doing more harm than good. 

Some outcomes from this issue are: 

Plateauing

Damaging your metabolism

Messing with your sympathetic system (fight or flight mode)

While I lost weight in the beginning of this calorie restriction, it didn’t take long for that to stop. I was still in a calorie deficit between what little I was eating and how active I was, but the scale wasn’t changing. I had plateaued. 

By doing this restriction on a constant basis, I was also damaging my metabolism. I wasn’t supplying my body with enough fuel for the activity I demanded, and therefore not allowing it the proper recovery either. So, again and again, I taught my body that I wouldn’t give it what it needed and abused my metabolism to try and keep up. 

Did I realize I was doing this? Absolutely not. 

Ohhh and guess what?! When you don’t eat enough you put your body into starvation mode. It holds onto everything you eat, and what it can’t get from there, it takes from your physical body (i.e.- fat storage). This also engages the sympathetic nervous system (aka fight or flight mode). This system is not meant to be engaged for prolonged states of time. It was designed to get you out of danger, not to stay in it. So when you are in it consistently, it messes with your hormones, body, mind, etc! Kind of a big deal. 

So how do you fix this? We have to figure out what’s right for your body. We need to get you eating enough. And eating nutritionally-dense foods. 

If you feel like this is you- reach out. I am currently taking client for a program where we include yoga and nutrition. Bringing mindfulness full spectrum!