Over the past 2 and half weeks, I’ve heard some amazing things about changes our members have made to their nutrition.  People feeling great, looking great, doing better in workouts; overall the reactions have been extremely positive.   In some cases I have heard some negative things, mostly about drops in strength and overall energy.  I relate this directly to the ideal that some people have adopted, that ideal is “less is better”.  Just because we are eating healthier doesn’t mean that we should be eating less, or not being satiated.  I see this more with the Paleo people, thinking that, “I must eat less in order to weigh less (lean out)” this is simply not the case, its all about choices.  Eating less has a ton of negative effects on us, like feeling lethargic and being weaker.  Beyond that, starving yourself will only lead to gorging after the challenge is over.  This is why people (and we all know a ton) who cut calories and even count calories, drop weight initially and then put it all back on a few months later.  Its why “weight watchers” is so popular, people always need to come back to it every time they want to lose weight.  We are looking for a permanent solution here guys.  I thought this excerpt was applicable to our situation and I wanted to share it with you…

“an animal whose food is restricted tends to reduce its energy expenditure both by being less active and by slowing energy use in cells, thereby limiting weight loss.  It also experiences increased hunger so that once the restriction ends, it will eat more than its prior norm until the earlier weight is attained. “

– What Fuels Fat, 2007, from “Scientific American” as quoted by Gary Taubes “Why We Get Fat” and What To Do About It

Eating less slows down our metabolic rate guys…make sure you’re eating enough of the right foods and you’ll stay on point.