Often times you may hear the suggestion that changing your calorie
consumption will be the answer to all your fitness and dieting frustrations.
This is usually summed up as some version of "calories in" vs. "calories
out" being the only explanation of how you need to change your diet. There
is some truth to this, and you do have to burn more than you take in, but
unfortunately not all calories were "created equal." However, with respect
to calorie control, it is most important to examine the demands being
created by you to determine how many calories are needed on a regular basis.
For example, it only makes sense that Lance Armstrong needs more calories on
a daily basis than you or I do, and it makes sense that he needs these
calories to provide energy for the muscles to push pedals hundreds of miles
a day for high performance. But lets be honest, none of us train that hard
even at our most intense times.
Think about the exercise you do on a daily basis, and what your goals are in
your workout program. Are you training for performance, or for shape, and
more importantly are you satisfied with the direction you are headed? If
your answer is no, or, if you have hit a plateau and are consistent in your
daily nutrition program (and assuming your carb/protein/fat ratios are in
balance), you may want to consider either a slight increase or decrease in
your daily calorie consumption. The downside is that you are going to have
to actually take the time to count calories to see where you are on a daily
basis. You cannot just arbitrarily increase or decrease caloric intake and
hope to get the result you want. It is vitally important to increase or
decrease these levels gradually though, so as not to cause your body to
respond by defending itself and shutting down its ability to utilize these
changes effectively. Too many new calories will cause an increase in fat
storage and more fatigue. Too few calories will cause your body to shut down
its ability to perform at its peak and store fat for emergency, thus
eliminating access to your most abundant and longest-lasting energy source.
A safe adjustment to calories should be done only after increasing your
workload to test if you are not working hard enough. After this change, and
as a final effort, try adjusting your calories by 10 percent up or down
depending on your goal. After a period of about two weeks revaluate your
progress to see if you have achieved any positive changes. If no
improvements have been made, then you may safely make the adjustment again
by the same original 10 percent amount in either direction. If after a month
no positive changes have been made, it may be a good idea to consult the
help of a personal trainer to help you identify where your problems exist.
Finally, a little known fact about calorie control is that your body will
respond more favorably when receiving an amount consistently. So even if you
know you are going to take the day off from training, try to follow your
regularly scheduled program, and your metabolism, energy, hormone levels,
mood, and significant other will all thank you.
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