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What Happens To Your Muscles When You Don't Eat Enough Calories (Health Digest)

Posted: Nov 12, 2023 in

This article originally appeared in Health Digest on November 12, 2023.

 

What Happens To Your Muscles When You Don't Eat Enough Calories

By Beth Bradford

The basics of weight loss are simple on the surface. You burn off more calories than you consume. That might mean skipping that post-lunch brownie and hitting the treadmill for about 30 minutes after work. You'll need a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose a pound of fat. Although everyone's bodies are different, you could lose up to a pound a week if you create a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day.

Say you want to lose that weight more quickly. You might be tempted to cut up to 1,000 calories a day, or cut 500 calories and do a hard spin class every day. Or you might be tempted to try some types of intermittent fasting that restrict you to 500 daily calories a few days a week. But your body is much smarter than you think.

According to the American Council on Exercise, your body needs a certain amount of energy from calories to sustain functions such as digestion and circulation. If you don't eat enough calories to sustain these functions, your body looks elsewhere for energy. Sure, it will draw some fat, but it will also pull apart some of your muscle that helps boost your metabolism.

...Read the full article: https://www.healthdigest.com/1443273/calorie-mistake-prevent-fast-muscle-gain/