Have you ever been guilty of under eating, and doing excessive cardio to lose weight? Be honest!

If I had a pound for every time I hear these scenarios I would be one rich Gaynor.

I can see the temptation BUT in the long term it will slow down your fat loss and have a negative impact on your overall body composition.

Here’s why…

Slower Metabolism 

Your metabolism is affected by the amount of calories you consume each day, it adapts to this and responds accordingly.

If you drastically drop your calories for too long you will lose weight, but you will be causing your metabolism to slow down too quickly.

You will eventually hit a plateau and struggle to progress. You see by this point there are fewer calories left in your diet to remove and let’s face it there’s only so much cardio you can do. In other words, you’ve maxed out your options too soon.

The best way to lose fat is slow and steady by gradually feeding and allowing your body to utilise fat stores whilst feeding it correctly to protect your metabolic rate. Believe me, you do not want to mess up your metabolism from doing things extreme. Not only is it unhealthy but it also messes up your hormones which can be very tricky to correct.

Less Lean Muscle  

Another common knock on effect of under eating is a loss of lean muscle. Muscle will be catabolised very quickly if you’re not consuming enough calories and amino acids from quality food sources.

A loss of muscle stalls your metabolism and affects the look of your physique. Nice lean muscle gives tone, definition and curves ladies so do not be afraid of it.

Also, muscle is metabolically active tissue, therefore, the less you have the fewer calories you burn. The more you have the more calories you burn.

Poor Performance 

The less muscle you have the poorer your performance will be when exercising. You’ll be weaker as you’re trying to run your body on a low tank of fuel.

The knock-on effect of poor performance is you’ll struggle to stimulate the muscle properly to burn off calories and every workout will become harder. It’s a vicious circle.

All of these negatives can be avoided and managed, just by eating sensibly, ensuring you’re not under eating and allowing gradual positive changes to take place.

Like with many things patience is key. You will get there I promise.

Love Gaynor x