When starting a new workout routine or diet, it is important to remember that your body needs a certain amount of calories each day just to breathe, for your heart to beat, your brain to function, for you simply to wake up and exist.

Sure, one may have “plenty of fat” to burn as fuel, but if you aren’t careful, you could burn through your muscle by sending your body into “starvation mode”. Starvation mode is a name given to your body’s ability to hang onto and store fat, in preparation of inadequate intake. This may allow you to lose some weight, and you might be encouraged at first…that what you are doing is really working. If you inadequately nourish your body, any weight loss that occurs, may leave you unable to achieve the lean body you are hoping for.

Effects of under eating will slow your metabolism and because muscle burns far more calories at rest than fat, you could be sabotaging all your hard work. Meeting your goal will be better achieved by providing your body with whole, clean, nutritious foods, that your body can use as fuel.

Calories in, Calories out as the old saying says.

Counting calories, at least at the beginning of your journey, is the best way to accurately judge foods and the calories they hold, as well as how they nourish our body. You will find that journaling your food will allow you to see patterns in your diet, what foods energize with fewer calories? What have I eaten that is making me feel weighed down vs what makes me feel satisfied and healthy?

Once you visualize how you are spending your calories, you can assess whether you should eat more food to sustain the activity level you want to keep, or if it makes more sense to workout less. If your goal is to eat between 1200 to 1500 calories a day and you end up burning above a thousand, your body will be trying to thrive on less than 500 calories a day…which is unrealistic. Maybe do about an hour of exercise instead, burn approximately 500 calories and maybe eat an extra snack. Or, maybe you want to stick to your higher burns, eat a few extra snacks and a little more at each meal to ensure you fuel your workouts well. Do not try to make your body do more with less!

Give your body the fuel it needs and it will thank you in the end, by getting you to the results you wanted to see all along.