"Don't compare your body with others"- explaining metabolism

The reason I started this blog is to teach my younger self

She was insecure about her body

She wondered how people eat a lot yet stay lean

 

When you are young and ignorant, all you do is copy others

Copy them because I wasn't aware of what to do

Copy them because they looked the way I wanted to look

I read dozens of magazines about celebs' diet and exercise without realizing that their lifestyle and body is very different than mine. They have registered dieticians and trainers who give them guidelines they need to follow customized to their bodies.

Why am I talking about metabolism now?

Metabolism is all the chemical reaction that occurs within the body that keeps you moving, helps digest the food, and (basically) keeps you alive.

I have lost weight drastically (obviously through unhealthy practices) and gained the same or even more quickly.

If only I had known metabolism plays a crucial role in my weight, I would not have gone extreme.

 

Imagine your body is like a machine. The machine requires burning fuel to run. Similarly, our body also burns energy to keep us alive. This energy expenditure is called Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)

 

Don't get intimidated by these terms. I will try to explain them as simply as possible.

 

BMR (Basic metabolic rate)

It is energy burned to keep you alive, like circulating blood, respiration, and energy spent to keep your body warm. So even on a day you decide to sleep all day, you still burn calories.

PA( Physical activity)

It is energy burnt doing any (kind of) exercise like running, weight lifting, pilates, etc.

NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis)

It is energy burnt from performing activities other than PA, like moving your hands while talking, bathing, cooking, standing, etc.

Even if you scroll through the blog, it comes under NEAT. So scroll till the end of the blog to "burn" calories😏.

TEF(Thermic effect of food)

It is energy burned to digest food. 

So what I thought,

Calories out> calories in 

BOOM!

You lose weight

But I didn't realize our body is a lot smarter than I could ever imagine

So I thought I should eat less to lose weight

But what happens when you eat fewer calories(say 1200 calories)?

The body reduces the usage of energy and uses energy only for survival. 

At that time, I felt weak, tired, and irritated all the time. 

 I thought weight loss should be like this. I should "suffer" to get results.

 

Why did I feel tired?

Initially, when I was decreasing my calories, I lost some weight. I was so happy. I thought I was doing the right thing.

Then I assumed that if I continued like this, I would get to my ideal weight. 

You can guess what happened after

Yes, my plan didn't happen

 

Since my body was in a reduced weight than before, what happened is:

 

BMR (↓ ) because now I needed less energy to survive since I am a lighter weight

 

NEAT (↓ ) because my body has less fuel now. So I felt exhausted/tired that I preferred to sit rather than stand and took the lift rather than the stairs.

 

PA(↓ ) Since there is less energy in the body, my performance doing the physical activity reduced even though I was trying hard. 

 

I got exhausted quickly. I have worked out the same amount of time (say 1 hr), but still, my performance reduced because I took a lot of breaks and was not efficient as before

 

TEF (↓ ) Since I was eating less food. My body used less energy to digest it.

 

So overall, my body was trying hard to lose weight any further. It was also storing fat because my body assumed the body was in starvation mode. It saves fat and uses it as energy. In case I don't get any from food.

 

So what to do?

 

The simple answer is eating more food. But it is not simple as it sounds

First, for a person like me who was obsessed with losing weight, eating more food was a nightmare because I thought I would gain weight again and all my hard work would be lost

But what I wanted to educate my younger self is,

 eating more food= more energy

 

So what happens now?

 

TEF (↑) since eating more food it would need more energy to digest that food

 

PS. eating more foods doesn't mean eating anything

If you eat unprocessed food, it takes a lot of food to feel satiated. So you might say more food=more energy, but it doesn't work like that

Why?

1. Unprocessed food doesn't get digested properly, and it remains as toxins in the body

2. Unprocessed food is empty calories. That means you can eat it, but it doesn't provide you with energy. You instead feel tired and sleepy.

 

On the other hand, whole foods take longer to digest. Thereby, TEF also increases by increasing food intake.

Increasing food intake ≠ overeating

 

 NEAT(↑) since you have more energy to move around. You are more motivated to be active(apart from your physical activity)

 

PA(↑) now you gained weight(not necessarily through fat). Muscle burns more calories than fat. So focus on building muscle. Focus on weight training. 

If you don't like weight lifting, no problem, do any physical activity (dancing, sports, athletics) which you enjoy doing. You will eventually lose fat.

Losing fat is a long-term game. If you want happiness and health, focus on losing fat in the long term. You don't want to lose fat in the short run and gain it again very quickly. Don't forget to enjoy the process.

I have talked about why losing weight need not be so hard 

 

BMR(↑) since you have gained weight (it need not be fat, it can be muscle too), you need more energy to survive

 

Thus you can stay lean(or not, you don't need to be any particular body type) even after eating more food). You have to trust your body. Your body knows how much food you need. 

Listening to your body cues is very important.

 

I want younger Mridula to listen to this, 

" So next time you see someone eat more and yet stay lean. Don't reduce your food intake. You are already eating like a rabbit."

Only if I knew the science behind my body, I wouldn't have gone too extreme.