While you might be looking for ways to shed some extra pounds, your body is actually storing fat.
That’s right! Cutting calories is the first and foremost thing that anyone on a weight loss journey considers.
But have you experienced slow metabolism symptoms when on a low-calorie diet?
Slow down of metabolism during weight loss happens because your body is trying to conserve energy and keep functioning at the same time on low calories.
The energy is conserved in the form of fat just in case you go into starvation mode which takes place in case of an extremely low-calorie diet.
Though this metabolic adaptation during weight loss is a natural process, it actually makes it harder to achieve the body’s goals.
Therefore, the best way to lose weight is by preventing a massive slowdown of metabolism by getting enough calories. So for this, you need to know how to cut calories without slowing metabolism for weight loss.
Important Points:
- Metabolism naturally slows down when you’re trying to lose weight
- It’s crucial to consider your daily calorie expenditure, lifestyle habits, and physical activity when trying to figure out a calorie-deficit diet plan.
- Overcutting calories can lead to health side effects including fatigue and mood swings.
Let’s explore how you need to be cutting calories from your diet so that you get all the desired results without risking metabolic issues and adverse health effects.
How To Cut Calories Without Slowing Metabolism? 5 Best Ways
There are only a few people who probably understand the importance of calories, metabolism, and weight loss and how they are connected.
Indeed you need to cut calories to reduce weight, but too much calorie reduction is only going to be a hindrance in your weight loss results. Resorting to crash dieting makes the weight loss process stagnant due to slow metabolism.
Now the reason why metabolism needs to be robust at all times is because the body needs energy to perform all body functions. Be it cell growth, fat burn, digestion, or something as simple as breathing.
Therefore, if your metabolism is slow, weight loss which is the result of several bodily functions, gets stuck. And that’s why you need to learn how to reduce calories without slowing your metabolism.
If you’re worried about the slackening metabolism, here are a few ways to cut calories and lose weight without slowing down your metabolism.
#1. Focus on Low-Energy Dense Foods
Macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and protein) in your meals influence appetite, energy compensation, and weight control. Therefore, go for low-energy-dense foods.
This includes food high in protein and water but low in fat and calories. These foods help maintain the energy intake but maintain any weight loss.
Adding to it, lower energy-density foods also increase satiety and there are plenty of studies to support this.
A report by Physiology & Behavior suggests that consuming foods of lower energy density, lower % fat, and lower % protein are responsible for most differences in the ability to induce satiety.
The low-energy-dense foods include vegetables like watercress, cucumber, lettuce, zucchini, swiss chard, and green peppers.
Fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, chives, and butternut squash are great low-energy-dense food.
However, if you’re looking for animal-based low-energy-density foods, go for egg whites, oysters, crab, crayfish, and halibut.
#2. BMR and Severe Calorie Restriction
You might be wondering how BMR (basal metabolic rate), calories, and weight loss are related.
Well, BMR is responsible for more than 60% of your daily energy expense and also measures the calories your body needs to carry basic functions.
So, what is a good BMR? 1500 BMR for women and 2000 BMR for men is considered standard.
However, a lot of factors affect it including hormones, gender, height, weight, age, and activity levels.
Along with BMR, Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is something you need to consider for weight loss. This is the number of calories your body uses for performing different activities that are included in BMR.
To know how to lose weight without slowing metabolism, once you are aware of your BMR, increase your physical activity to reach the total daily energy expenditure, followed by a calorie-deficit diet for healthy weight loss.
TDEE = BMR X activity number
Activity numbers can be 1.2, 1.375, 1.55, 1.725, or 1.9, depending on how active you are.
Moreover, to create a calorie deficit, you need to consume around 500 fewer calories than your TDEE each day to lose about one pound in a week.
#3. Extended Fasting
Prolonged fasting is one of the fasting diet types with the most extreme calorie-restriction diet.
Although the idea is only to fast for 2-5 days, some take the extreme road and stretch it to 2 weeks on only water, coffee, and tea.
While it is quite famous and, in fact, leads to weight loss as well. It is also undeniable that skipping meals in the long term can lower the metabolic rate in order to save energy.
The effects of severe calorie restriction for a prolonged period were dramatically demonstrated on a reality TV show “The Biggest Loser”.
At the end of 30 weeks of competition and 6 years later, participants regained 31.3 kg of lost weight. Their metabolic rate also remained 500 calories lower than what is expected for their body size.
It is, therefore, recommended to go for short-term fasts. In fact, a study done on 11 healthy men on a 4-day fast resulted in an increase in resting energy expenditure during early starvation.
There was also an increase in plasma norepinephrine, which is a hormone that promotes fat burning.
#4. Make Necessary Dietary Modification
If you have followed some famous diets and want to fix your metabolism after dieting for a prolonged period, make dietary modifications.
For this, you need to look for swaps to cut calories without overwhelming your metabolism. Some of the dietary changes that can show changes in your metabolism, and weight loss are:
- Choosing more green and leafy vegetables because they are low in calories and fat per serving. A high-protein low-calorie diet accompanied by spinach, kale, broccoli, and collards can help you cut calories without slowing metabolism. Prioritizing a high-protein diet promotes satiety and also improves mindless eating habits.
- You can also avoid using excess oil for cooking and this way you’ll easily cut 200-300 calories daily. Most cooking oils like olive, avocado, and canola oil are rich in polyunsaturated fats that are rich in calories.
- Eliminate sweetened beverages that add additional calories to your diet. Instead opt for water, fresh unsweetened fruit juices, and smoothies to stay hydrated.
- Don’t fall for low-fat foods. Most of the ready-made food products that say “low-fat”, make you eat even more. This is called the “halo effect.” People usually eat 50% more while consuming low-fat foods. Also, the low-fat versions contain more sugar than the usual ones.
These practical strategies will help cut calories without slowing metabolism.
#5. Practice More Physical Exercise
You need to include more physical movement in order to cut calories without damaging your metabolism. In fact, doing regular exercise can assist in boosting the metabolism.
This helps control your basal metabolic rate and your total daily energy expenditure.
For this, you can opt for 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercises like brisk walking, swimming, aerobic dancing, running, and cycling.
Along with this, do strength training of the major muscle groups at least two times a week. Plus, find out how and what to eat after you are done strength training. Include bodyweight training, heavy machine weight training, and resistance paddling in water. Activities like rock climbing can also help.
However, make sure you’re not exercising excessively. Exercise for 3-4 days a week and include 5-6 exercises per workout of 10-12 hard sets with a rest period of 1-3 minutes.
Not to mention, keep making modifications in your workout to avoid a weight loss plateau.
If you’re unsure of how to cut calories without slowing metabolism start with simply consuming a low-calorie and high-protein diet followed by a proper workout.
Along with this, you can include supplements that induce the metabolism safely.
How Many Calories to Cut to Lose Weight?
While focusing on cutting calories to lose weight, don’t forget that you must not reach the “starvation mode” because it’ll slow down the metabolism.
So, how many calories do you need to cut to lose weight?
To support the basic metabolic needs, the human body requires around 1200-1400 calories every day. If your daily calorie consumption is at least 1200, you can for weight loss.
As per the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, women can opt for a weight loss diet with 1200-1500 calories. Whereas, men can go for 1500-1800 calories consumption for weight loss.
For 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week, a 500-100 calorie deficit per day is required. It however suggested avoiding reducing the daily calorie intake below 1200.
This was about how to increase metabolism, cut calories, and lose weight all at the same time. If you want to lose weight, do it in a way that supports your overall health.
Concluding Thoughts
Weight loss is a goal of many people; however, cutting calories extremely is the first and most common mistake people usually make.
This attempt to make body transformation is only effective in the short term. Studies suggest an extreme calorie deficit diet can make you gain weight in the long run.
Therefore, strategies on how to cut calories without slowing metabolism for weight loss include more low-energy-dense foods, high protein intake, achieving your total daily energy expenditure, making dietary modifications, and staying active.
In case you’re having health issues and don’t know where to start, consult a professional dietician for further guidance to plan better.