Hello gg,
Without attempting to appear blunt, I think you’ve slightly misinterpreted the article.
Georgie is right in her assessment that metabolism doesn’t slow as weight is lost, it simply re-adjusts to the corresponding level of weight loss. If you weigh less, your resting BMR is going to be lower, as your body needs fewer calories to maintain your existence (remember what I’d said about re-calculating BMR and TDEE as weight reduces).
In the second paragraph of her article, she also warns against a severe calorie restriction, stating that consumption of insufficient calories will eventually leave the body without the energy to execute everyday tasks, suggesting that a moderate reduction in calorific intake is more beneficial to maintaining energy levels, re-iterating the point again in the final sentence of the third paragraph.
In a nutshell, whilst not wholly stating the importance of obtaining both your BMR and TDEE, she’s essentially advocating the same as I’d advised, gg.
As you’ve quite rightly stated, your current calorie restriction is working, since your body is able to utilise the energy stored in body fat to fuel your daily endeavour. However, that energy exchange won’t continue indefinitely, as your body will eventually grow wise to the fact it’s receiving insufficient calories whilst also recognising its energy reserves are dwindling; a term referred to as plateau.
Concerning your comments surrounding anorexia, the vast majority of those with the condition don’t even consume close to 1200Kcal each day. As such, over an extended period, body tissues (fat & muscle) of anorexia sufferers are repeatedly broken down, through a process known as catabolism, to provide the calories needed to maintain existence, eventually leading to a state of emaciation (skin and bone).
Although we may reside in the 21st Century, what hasn’t changed is that the human body is just an organism, requiring a certain amount of energy to fuel its endeavour, whether that endeavour be to simply exist, increase levels of fitness, to improve levels of weight loss.
However, in order to achieve such aims, the body must be provided with sufficient energy in which to do so.
I wholly appreciate the reasons behind why you’re seeking to make positive changes, gg. It’s also great that you display the motivation and determination to succeed. However, upon your journey towards success, you need to develop a sense of perspective, in the sense of understanding that your excess wasn’t gained overnight, so it’s not going to be lost overnight either.
I understand that you wish to see instant results from your endeavour and, thus far, you have.
However, the key to maintaining that level of progress is to ensure that your energy exchange (calories consumed/calories expended) remains balanced. By doing so, it’ll be easier to maintain your goal weight once it’s reached.
Although it’s great that you accept calorie consumption will need to increase upon the undertaking of exercise, regular exercise cannot be repeatedly sustained upon 1100Kcal, given that the activity burns calories.
By repeatedly proceeding to do so (on 1100Kcal), your performance will soon become impaired, ultimately leaving you tired and frustrated. There’s also a considerable chance that you’ll begin to place your body into a state of catabolism, leading to a reduction in existing levels of muscular strength and endurance.
For the record, consumption of protein simply repairs damaged muscle fibres, it doesn’t immediately replace depleted glycogen reserves (needed by the muscles to repeatedly fuel cardiovascular exercise). In order to replace depleted glycogen, carbohydrate must be consumed.
Forget what you may see upon the Bigger Loser, where the contestants are placed upon 1500Kcal diets, since they possess huge amounts of excess energy (body fat), allowing such a deficit to be maintained over a longer period.
Despite what you may think to the contrary, your current body weight doesn’t allow such luxury, not least when it comes to incorporating exercise into your weight loss schedule. You weigh less than I do, gg, yet I’ll consume around 2350Kcal to maintain energy levels that support me in my training goals.
On an intake of 2350Kcal I don’t gain weight, nor do I lose it. However, I’m more than satisfied with my composition, not least its level of muscular mass and low level of body fat, that routinely allows me perform HIIT workouts whilst ensuring that my muscle mass remains.
What you don’t see, or perhaps consider, upon the Biggest Loser (assuming that you watch it) is how dietary intake is revised, dependent upon individuals’ levels of weight loss.
Contestants who weigh 400lbs at the start of the contest, for example, invariably possess less body fat by the end of it, meaning that their dietary intake will have been adjusted accordingly throughout, in order to ensure that they continue to lose weight,
Regardless of whether they make it to the final, increased levels of fat loss encourage increased levels of fitness and muscular strength. As such, dietary intake will be adjusted to ensure that those gains continue.
Moreover, all contestants possess the benefit of being surrounded by fitness trainers, doctors and nutrition experts throughout their journey.
I’m not necessarily saying that the show presents a false representation of weight loss, what I’m simply attempting to demonstrate is that through increased levels of weight loss/improvement in body composition, daily calorific intake needs to be re-examined (increased where necessary), in order to support and maintain the level of endeavour.
