Let's Talk: Metabolic Adaptation
Feb 21, 2022
You’ve got two options: follow your metabolic adaptation or fight it!
If you choose to follow it, you’ll likely have to cut your calories lower and lower, week after week, in an attempt to *finally* lose those last ten pounds.
You’ll be hungry, tired, and pretty miserable. But you WILL reach your goal.
And of course, once you ‘get there’ you will celebrate by eating that piece of caramel cake, a bowl of rocky road ice cream, and juicy hamburger you’ve been absolutely dying to have and likely gain those last ten back within a couple of weeks.
No big deal though, because all you’ve got to do is cut back again and up that exercise. Just like you’ve done every single time before.
If you choose to fight it, however, you will slowly increase your calories (meaning less hanger, more satisfaction), get great sleep (meaning fewer under-eye bags and increased energy), balance your hormones (meaning better metabolism and less PMS), and, in a few months’ time, you’ll lose those last ten pounds and actually keep them off!
You see, when you have metabolic adaptation, sometimes the absolute best thing to do is fight it by feeding it. You have to earn your right to cut calories.
When your metabolism has adapted, cutting and cutting and cutting is not going to, well, cut it anymore.
You’ve got to get yourself back to balance.
This often means a reverse diet and a lengthy maintenance phase.
Repeat after me: You cannot live in a diet.
I’ll be honest, when clients who’ve been eating in a deficit for months, oftentimes years, come to us seeking to drop those last ten pounds, we absolutely will not cut them lower. Instead, we’ll have a lengthy conversation about where they are and show them the benefits of a reverse diet designed for their specific needs.
And we’re not talking about a few days of heavy eating. Emergency milkshakes and fries aren’t the answer either.
This could be months of intentional, guided nutritional repair.
Case in point, getting my metabolism back in balance after extreme metabolic adaptation following my last fitness competition took over 2 months.
It was hard. I felt weird. I sometimes had to ‘eat anyway’ but it worked. I repaired my metabolism, and I am now eating the most I can while maintaining my weight.
That’s what I want for all my clients: To eat the most food possible while making positive progress toward their goals.
Losing fat does not have to be miserable.
This is not the quick-fix, trendy, sexy diet advice you want to hear but it IS the scientifically proven way to get results safely and sustainably.
At G-Transformation we use Macro Nutrition and your own personal biofeedback to determine your nutritional needs. In return, we expect you to adhere to what may seem ‘backward’ and trust the process as we repair your hormones and your relationship with food.
If you’re ready to reach your body composition goals while eating as much food as possible and maintaining your highest-quality health, we can help.
