as much as you might want to start a diet, did you know your body might actually not be ready yet? meaning your body might not be in a place to execute a healthy and effective dieting phase. there are a few reasons for this, but the main one is a slow metabolism. most of the time, those wanting to lose weight have already been yoyo dieting for a bit, chronically eating super low calorie. this causes the metabolism to slow down, leading it to be unresponsive.
don’t worry - there are ways to fix this so that you can eventually have a super successful dieting phase! we’re giving you all the signs to lookout for showing you’re not ready to diet, and what to do about it.
signs you’re not ready to diet yet:
- hunger cues: either extremely intense hunger cues, or total lack of them
- fatigue, low energy or exhaustion even with solid sleep patterns
- trouble falling or staying asleep
- you’re already eating very low-calorie
- poor digestion: chronic bloating or constipation
- you’re very food-focused or always thinking about your next meal
- you’re not confident in your relationship with food
these are all signs your metabolism or hormones are down-regulated. in most cases, people with these symptoms have been eating very low calorie for a while. if this is you, dieting wouldn’t be successful simply because when you diet, you need to slowly decrease calories over time, but if you're already eating low-calorie, there isn’t much to pull from.
so, how do we get the metabolism to speed up and become responsive again? the answer lies in reverse dieting! reverse dieting is the practice of increasing calories slowly over time to upregulate the metabolism. when we reverse diet to a sufficient calorie intake and give the body time to optimize with the fuel it’s been needing, we’ll see other hormones start to improve. with time and consistency, eventually you’ll get to a place where you can diet again and experience great results after taking time to prime your metabolism!
not sure where to start? here are some helpful resources:
- click here to learn about how to track your macros (so you know if you’re under-eating or not) (would link the blog post for this)
- click here to learn more about your metabolism, reverse dieting, and how you can use it to your advantage to lose fat! (would link the blog post for this)
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