Low-calorie diets reduce the amount of food a dieter consumes, but might also reduce the amount of calories she needs each day. Maintaining energy levels and health while dieting is a concern, and both suffer when strict diets cut back on calories too severely. Popular diets that advocate one or two miracle-type foods that boost metabolism or burn fat sound attractive, but they usually fail to deliver on promises in the long run.
Metabolism Function
Metabolism is the process in which a body accesses the nutrients in food and converts them into energy. The body depends on a steady source of available energy in order to carry out basic functions, such as breathing and blood circulation, as well as movement and exercise. The number of calories needed each day depends on your the gender, age, weight and activity level.
Calories
Calories are measurements of energy that the body ingests in the form of food to fuel metabolism. Excess calories are those not burned off by the body through basic bodily functions and exercise. The body stores excess calories as fat, and you gain weight from the stored fat tissue.
Approximately 3,500 calories equal the equivalent of 1 lb. of excess weight, as stored in body fat. Cutting back 500 calories per day from the number of calories you need leads to a weight loss of about 1 lb. per week.
Low Calories Effect
Slight reductions in calorie counts result in slow steady weight loss. Exercise that increases calorie needs results in greater weight loss and better health. Drastically reduced calories send signals to your body that there is not enough food available. Radical diets might result in initial weight loss, but the body soon adapts to the sharp reduction in fuel by shutting down and putting itself in protection mode. Metabolism and energy levels drop and calorie needs drop further. The body further responds by slowing down metabolism and storing any extra calories as fat.
Prevention/Solution
Only reduce calorie intake by about 500 calories per day, and increase activity level to offset the smaller calorie reduction. Different exercises burn calories at varying rates depending on the intensity levels. A 160-lb. person, running at 5 mph, burns 584 calories per hour. Lap swimming at a moderate pace burns 511 calories per hour. Slight reductions in calorie counts, combined with aerobic and weight-lifting exercise, results in steady and lasting weight loss.
Considerations
Exercising when the body does not have enough nourishment in the form of calories or food only hurts health. The body must break down muscle tissue in order to keep up with the demands placed on it. Breakdown of lean muscle mass is both inefficient as fuel and harmful to overall metabolism.
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