How Do You Know When You're Eating Enough?

I come across this all the time, particularly in my female clients. Our logical, rational minds say "if I don't eat much, then I'll have to lose weight." That's just not true. Our bodies are amazing survivors, and if you're taking in too few calories, your body will go into what's called starvation mode. In that mode, your body's metabolism is in low, low, low gear. Anything at all that you take into your body, your body will hang onto for dear life. It's not about to give up anything that is stored, because it's gotten the message, "I don't know when I'm going to get more nutrition, so I'm going to hang onto whatever I get when I get it." I know that's very hard to understand from a logical, rational point of view. You're thinking, "I'm only taking in 1000 calories; how can I not be losing weight." Well, that's why. Your body will not allow you to lose weight if you aren't taking in enough calories.

So, what is enough calories? For the most part, if you are taking in somewhere between 1800 and 2300 calories a day, you are in the ballpark. If you are really a tiny, small-statured person, you may only want to take in somewhere between 1300 to 1800, but that would be someone who is quite small and petite. The average person out there needs somewhere between 1800 and 2300 calories per day. For someone who has been dieting a lot, that sounds like a huge amount of food, but it's not ... not if it's the right food and it's the healthy food. The choices that you make mean everything. I'm going to walk you through a typical day that would give your body excellent nutrition.

Breakfast. You get up, and the first thing you're going to do is drink a 10 ounce glass of water, because you've been asleep for anywhere from 7 to 10 hours, and your body is dehydrated. So, drink a nice large glass of water first thing when you get up. When you're ready for your breakfast, somewhere between 6 and 8 a.m., you need to take in a protein, a good complex carbohydrate and some healthy fat. So, a typical breakfast I would recommend would be of a cantaloupe, cut up, a cup of low-fat cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons of no-fat vanilla yogurt mixed up in a bowl. Your cottage cheese and your yogurt are both excellent sources of protein. There are some excellent complex carbohydrates in the cantaloupe and you're getting decent fat with your low-fat cottage cheese and no-fat yogurt.

Midmorning Snack. About 9:30 to 10:00 in the morning, you want to eat a snack. Maybe have a small carton of fat-free yogurt, a handful of almonds, possibly a mozzarella cheese stick or a piece of fruit. All of these are good choices.

Lunch. Your lunch needs to consist of a large amount of vegetables, whether it be a nice mixed green salad or some steamed vegetables or raw vegetables. Then, your protein, either tuna, chicken or some lean protein. You are recommended to have somewhere between 3 and 5 ounces of protein at lunch. Again, you want to have another large glass of water, and it would have been a good idea to have another one with your midmorning snack or sip water throughout the morning if you are able to do that.

Midafternoon Snack. Around 3:30 or 4:00, you want to have a piece of fruit, carrot sticks, another mozzarella cheese stick, something that's going to give you good energy. Low in fat and complex carbs or protein are great choices.

Dinner. Again, you want to have a load of vegetables, a couple of cups of vegetables and 4-6 ounces of lean protein. Also, here you might want to have a piece of very hearty grained bread or half a sweet potato, a small serving of brown rice. Another large glass of water would be recommended.

Evening Snack. You could have a snack before bed, but I would make it something light. Good choice is, say, a 6-ounce of skim milk.

If you've been dieting, you hear that day's food plan and you think, "that's just a huge amount of food." But, if you will commit to eating like that for 2 weeks, your body will then have gotten the message that more food is coming. Every 2-3 hours your body is being nourished, so suddenly, and even often before the 2 weeks is up, your body begins to drop stored fat, you begin to lose weight. I have seen this so much, where people just are not eating enough food for the body to let go of what it's storing.

Another issue is the amount of fiber you are getting in your diet. It is very, very important that you have 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, as well as hearty grains. These are very important for slowing down digestion and allowing your body to absorb out of your food the nutrition that it needs. Without enough fiber present, your food passes through you so quickly, you are always feeling that you want something else. Typically, these cravings cause us to overeat on things that aren't good choices.

If you will commit to eating like this for a couple of weeks, you are going to see a tremendous change in your body. It will begin to let go of stored fat, and you will begin to lean out.

Now, this is in conjunction, of course, with an exercise program of at least 180 minutes of cardio a week and at least 2 hours of weight training. The more, the better. You can overdo it on your weight training, and you definitely want to have a day of rest in between your weight training sessions. Your cardio work you can do every day if you'd like. I do recommend a day or two off a week.

Between eating enough and getting your cardio exercise especially, because your cardio exercise is your aerobic activity which burns fat, and plenty of water, you will definitely see your body letting go of stored fat.

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