People are probably going to argue with me on this, or cite their own successes contrary to what I explain below.
However, I know I am talking directly to those of you that have absolutely had experiences with this. I’m just talking about the other side that’s not as often talked about when we discuss diets.
Shout out to:
Those of you abandoning calorie counting because of the time commitment. Feeling less confident in your abilities to make good choices over time. Being unsatisfied in a diet because you aren’t eating anything you like.
Feeling low energy, more hunger and a damaged metabolic rate. Feeling out of control when around restricted foods. And having to say no to fun activities that might involve food.
I see you.
Sure, you can maintain a calorie deficit and not feel like it’s a big deal. Like it doesn’t take a lot of you time and doesn’t impact your life negatively in any way. And I applaud you! That is great.
And I see you, too.
You absolutely can maintain a calorie deficit. But just know there is a cost. And you have to make the decision on if that cost is worth the payout, or if it’s not.
Here is what the cost of a calorie deficit might look like:
Time. Maintaining a calorie deficit requires time. Time to weigh and measure food, log it into a calorie tracker, and check your daily inputs. Not to mention the time it takes to plan and prepare food to have on hand for easy tracking. Staying in a deficit cannot be guesswork. Plan to spend a minimum of 30+ minutes a day.
Confidence. The more you rely on external markers (a calorie limit) to tell you how much you should be eating each day, the less confident you will become in your abilities to manage your own intake. Expect to feel less confident in your abilities coming out of a deficit as well.
Satisfaction. You are likely to give up foods that satisfy you for lower-calorie alternatives. While this isn’t true in every case, it is overwhelmingly true. Typical things to go would be higher sugar/fat foods causing dissatisfaction with meals and encouraging overeating episodes of those foods.
Metabolic Rate. When you decrease your calorie intake to below maintenance, your body will eventually make physiological adjustments to compensate for the deficit. This is where you’d see a plateau. Your metabolism needs attention to recover, or it can remain slowed causing weight gain post-diet, which is very common.
Control. Many of us diet because we want to exert some sort of control over our lives. Food is one thing that we absolutely have the power to control so we use a diet to do so. Ironically, following diets leads us feeling very out of control around food a lot of the time. Then we cite ‘lack of self-control’ as a means to keep dieting.
Fun. Similar to sacrificing satisfaction, maintaining a calorie deficit can put a wrinkle in fun. Picture stressing out about eating out with friends, being the only one not having birthday cake in the office (if you really want some), not going to a food truck fest, skipping brunch or not taking that cooking class because you can’t account for the calories.
Did I miss any?