Eat Less and Lose Weight Myth

'Eat Less and Lose Weight' Myth

Dr. Eric Berg DC

The 'eat less and lose weight' idea is a myth.

1. You’ll slow down your metabolism.

First, it has been totally proven that this idea does not work. What happens is when you reduce your calories, your body will automatically compensate by slowing the metabolism down.  It may work the first time you do it, but the more you do it over and over again, it works less and less until finally you hit the point where it won’t work at all. You’ll shut down the set point.

Let’s say your weight is at 185 and plateaued. You won’t be able to get your weight lower than this weight. If you try to go lower than that, your body starts craving foods, as if you’re really hungry. And then you slow the metabolism even more.

Dieting generally slows down the metabolism.
 

 

2. Weight loss vs. Fat loss

Sometimes, you’ll read books that say you can lose 15 pounds of actual fat in two weeks. That is a lie. It’s impossible to lose more than two pounds fat per week.  If anyone says you can lose more than that, they are lying to you. You can’t. It’s two pounds. But if you’re interested in water weight, you can lose 10 pounds in a week of water weight. But not more than 2 pounds a week on the fat.

It’s easy to lose water weight. Just cut out the carbs and eat high potassium foods. You’ll lose water weight but if you’re interested in fat loss, it’s a whole different thing.

Losing two pounds a week maximally is what can occur with a healthy metabolism. If you have an unhealthy metabolism, and you’re losing one pound of fat per week, that’s not bad.  So if you understand this, at least you won’t be so frustrated going into this. If you can lose one pound of actual fat per week, I think you should be happy with that especially if it’s consistent and you can stay at that level over time.

3. There really are bad foods.

There are things you read on the Internet such as the statement, “There’s no such thing as bad food. It’s just calories.”  There are such things as bad foods. Probably, the people who are telling you this are the people that are making sodas and donuts. “There’s no such thing as bad junk food. Just eat foods in moderation” is another myth. There are bad foods.

What Matters Most is What’s Happening at the Fat Cell

Now, if you want to lose fat, study the fat cell itself. If you cut calories, it would not have a dramatic effect on the fat cell. If you cut sugar, you’ll cut Fat Storing Hormone and this will have an effect on the fat cell. The fat cell is regulated by Fat Storing Hormone. If you lower Fat Storing Hormone by cutting sugar out, you will lose weight. Starve your body not of calories, but of sugar to drop the Fat Storing Hormone levels, which forces your body to burn fat.

There are other data on fat metabolism from my other videos but the point is that if you eat less, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose weight in the long term.

To summarize, you need to lower Fat Storing Hormone by lowering sugar to be able to really tap into the fat. There’s a lot more information on the fat cell, what to do, and how to lose more fat in my Membership Site. Check it out and I will see you on the site!