Explaining why you should eat more, not less, when exercising frequently

[Georg]

This isn't for my understanding, but for a few of the ladies at my work. Everyone here seems collectively super knowledgeable so I figured you guys could probably help me put this more into 'simple terms'.

 

A couple of the women at work have been doing boot camps for a while and have started strength training once a week etc, as well as their 2 boot camps. The problem is- a lot of the time they will only eat ONE meal during a work day (8-9 hrs) before they go and absolutely wreck themselves at boot camp. They are stuck in that mind set of, 'if I eat less I'll lose more weight.'

 

I know you need to eat for fuel, muscle repair and growth, just general life haha but how would you word it to people who don't particularly follow fitness/nutrition and spend lots of time reading about it? Almost a 'for dummies' version..?

[maccaz]

more food = perform better at boot camp, build or retain more muscle

that way tackling body fat % from 2 directions,

 

1. With slight muscle gain, or at least retaining muscle, your ratio of lean to fat mass will improve. (in dumb terms look more "toned")

2. Will still lose fat while eating more than 1 meal a day, so ratio of lean to fat will improve here also  (in dumb terms look more "toned")

 

if they continue the way they are, they will burn muscle and fat, meaning they may end up smaller but just as soft/fat

 

[maccaz]

thats not scientific at all thats just the way i see it.

i wish i had eaten more and lifted more when i started, then wouldnt have ended up 75kg frail beta

[HarryB]

Not bad maccaz. Pretty much the simplest way to put it to them. It's something I am dealing a fair bit at the moment because my Mrs is doing this 8 week challenge at her gym and she's killing it so everyone is asking her and she's asking me... the biggest issue is they usually start out with zero idea of how much they eat or even what. But I focus on getting them to eat for performance. As maccaz said if they're tired then they will train shit they'll lose muscle and ... and this is one that usually works... after they've done the challenge if they've starved themselves on one meal a day... they'll get fatter on two meals a day :) 

 

Most people have an idea about protein being good and carbs being bad so I work with that. Clean protein and fibrous carbs. With fruit pre workout or directly post workout. I mean you're not going to talk them into 5 meals a day but you might be able to talk them into 3. Just stick with shit you know they'll buy. No starchy carbs at night. Eat carbs around training blah blah blah... in the industry people might think that's not optimal but it's a whole lot better than one meal of soup a day. 

 

 

[muscle99]

If you don't eat enough you are more likely to be more irritable and hungry you will be more likely to end up binge eating which will slow your fat loss progress if it gets too out of control. Also hunger or lack of energy can effect your sleep and into lead to increase hunger so u are more likely to eat more. Also lack of sleep may cause your workouts to suffer leading to less calories burnt so slowing your weight loss. Also cutting calories too low may result you to try get the fat loss over and done with too fast because you dont feel the best and may lead to feeling diacouraged and going way off track with your diet causing weight gain if u dont regain control over your eating again. Some say cutting calories too low will increase the risk of muscle loss which will in turn result in your body using less energy as the more muscle u have the more energy your body uses furthermore the smaller your muscles the more fat you may need to lose to reach your desired look resulting in a longer time frame for your fat loss journey. Some people may experience reduced motivation causing you to exercise and move less resulting in less calories used leading to a longer fat loss journey. Everyone is different so you will have to diet and find out what side effects you experience if any. Plan your caloric intake with refeed days and eat clean foods you enjoy and this may reduce the risk of going well and truly off your diet. 

[Pseudonym]

Good answers, guys. And good question, Georg! I just think of it like this:

 

The less you eat, the more your body slows down its metabolism to keep pace. The slower your metabolism, the harder it is to keep losing fat, and the less you can eat without putting on fat. That means eventually you find yourself nibbling half a lettuce leaf and calling it a meal.

 

Plus, eating less is no fun, and makes you feel like shit.

[maccaz]

9 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Good answers, guys. And good question, Georg! I just think of it like this:

 

The less you eat, the more your body slows down its metabolism to keep pace. The slower your metabolism, the harder it is to keep losing fat, and the less you can eat without putting on fat. That means eventually you find yourself nibbling half a lettuce leaf and calling it a meal.

 

Plus, eating less is no fun, and makes you feel like shit.

 

not often i see you swearing pseudo!

agree on this, from experience gets to a point where you can just keep dropping cals lower and lower and the plateau doesnt break as well.. few years back i had no clue what i was doing and did extended periods (5 days or so ) at <1500cal trying to break scale weight plateaus lol. refeed and then 2000cal would have done the job better