Eating More Calories to Lose Weight

Most people equate eating fewer calories with weight loss, but the more we learn about the body’s fat-burning process, the more we realize how important it is to avoid triggering a starvation response – and one way to do that is by eating more calories, not less.

When you don’t ingest enough calories, your body will not only start burning stored fat for fuel, but will also start metabolizing lean muscle mass. That’s why “starvation diets” ultimately make you look so skinny – your body is forced to consume its own muscle mass to sustain vital processes like brain, heart, lung and other organ functions.

Beyond this “wasting” effect, there’s another important reason to eat more calories rather than less: your fat-burning metabolism slows down if you don’t eat enough, so you end up burning fat at a much slower rate, and consequently lose weight more slowly too.

Before you think that all of this gives you a license to overeat mindlessly, remember that there is a fine line between eating enough and eating too much. How much you, personally, need to eat will depend on a few different factors:

- How much you weigh now

The more you weigh, the more calories your body needs each day.

- How active you are

The more active you are, the more calories your body needs to sustain itself and keep fat burning at an optimal level.

- Your desired rate of weight loss

Experts agree that slow and steady weight loss is best for your health and well-being, but it is also possible to lose weight at a faster pace, as long as it’s done safely with a doctor’s supervision.

A basic rule of thumb for caloric intake is:

- Multiply your current weight by 10. That is how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight (i.e. A 200 pound woman would require 2000 calories daily to remain at 200 pounds).

- Reducing your daily caloric intake by 500 calories should result in a one-pound weight loss each week. If you also exercise vigorously, you may also burn up to 500 calories a day, resulting in a two-pound average weight loss each week.

Remember that there are other factors that come into play, like water retained, medication you may be taking, sodium consumption, hormonal fluctuations – so you may not lose EXACTLY that much weight each and every week, but it should average out to that over the course of a month.

Overall, for healthy weight loss, the goal should not be to cut calories dramatically, but rather to eat as many calories as your body needs to maintain healthy function AND burn calories with exercise so that you create a calorie “deficit”. This will help keep your fat-burning mechanism running strong and encourage steady, healthy weight loss.

Final note: Remember that not all calories are created equal. Eating more calories in the form of junk food won’t be beneficial. Opt for nutritionally dense foods instead of highly refined and processed foods that retain little nutritional value.

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