There are a few obstacles/hurdles that must be faced when going about a new diet protocol. Ongoing hunger is one of those and a slowed metabolism (hitting the dreaded “weight-loss plateau) is another.
Let’s look at hunger first. While some hunger is normal incredibly strong hunger that won’t let up is not. If you constantly feel hungry after eating, there are few things you need to do.
Begin by checking that your calorie intake is sufficient enough for you and that you are not using too large a deficit for your current activity level.
If your calorie intake checks out, the next thing that needs consideration is your actual food intake.
Are you eating foods that naturally reduce hunger or are you focused on foods that have a tendency to increase hunger? Proteins for example help to suppress hunger (they take a long time to break down in the body and digest) so if you are not eating your fair share of protein, you’ll likely feel ravenous all day long. Protein will also help speed up your metabolic rate because for every 100 calories or pure protein you consume, you’ll burn off about 25 of those calories.
Make sure to include protein rich foods at each meal, snacks included. Choose the leanest meat sources available along with plenty of seafood and low fat dairy products such as eggs and protein powder. Be sure to change things up to include a wide variety of different sources of protein so that you get a good blend of amino acids and nutrients in your diet plan. Making simple changes to your diet like adding quality protein into every diet should eliminate the problem of constant hunger.
Moving on to metabolism. Dieting is a sort of two edged sword because your body views your diet activity as a possible famine and begins its defense against this supposed “starvation” so even though you are sticking to your diet and working hard at it, your metabolism slows to keep pace with your lower calorie intake and eventually all your fat loss efforts come to a standstill. Can we say “weight-loss plateau?”
In order to get your metabolic engine running properly again you’ll need to discover a way to outsmart your body.
You’ll need to implement what many call a “refeed” day (also referred to as “cheat day” …although each of these is actually slightly different.) Cheat day refers to eating whatever you want without too many guidelines in place. While refeed day’s primary aim is restoring and revving up your metabolism not just giving you a break from saying no to foods you want to eat.
The idea behind “refeed” day is to bring your calorie intake up to maintenance mode or slightly higher. This indicates to the body that the period of starvation has ended which allows it to speed up its metabolism again.
You accomplish this by taking your dietary fat down very low and boosting your carbohydrate intake considerably.
Since you’ll still need sufficient protein every day, your protein intake should stay relatively constant, however, your fat intake drops to make room for more carbs.
This is your day to enjoy pasta, bagels, breads, cereals, oatmeal and other carb centered foods.
For most people, just one “refeed” day is sufficient to kick the metabolism back in, however those of you that have been dieting long and hard using an aggressive calorie deficit may need to go slightly longer extending the “refeed” day to two or three days at maintenance level before reducing calories again.
Eating a higher calorie intake for a few days may actually cause you to gain a pound or two of water weight, but once you move back to your diet, your progress will move along much faster.
Recommendation: If you have more than ten pounds to lose employ your “refeed” tactic once every two weeks. If you have less than ten pounds to lose, once a week should be sufficient to get the job done.
Isn’t it time to throw away all the false statements you’ve accepted about dieting and exercise and learn what it really takes to take weight off and keep it off for good…
“Rebound Free Weight-Loss” can help you do just that…
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