how to maintain at 2,100+ calories!
this question used to constantly lie in the back of my mind because as i scouted through the world of fitness fanatics and food junkies, i was always astonished by the number of calories that they were consuming.
So there are two groups of people that this can apply to:
Okay, first of all, let me just throw this one inevitable fact out there: you are going to gain weight no matter what, and it usually is only up to 5-10 pounds. There are no shortcuts around this one, but I promise you that it is going to be worth it. Consider your two options: would you rather eat a minimal amount of 1200/below calories every single day of your life and only thinking about your next meal, or would you rather eat large amounts, be energetic, and not think about food?
This path is not an easy one because if you are going through EXTREME STARVATION, I am going to give you one big tip: just eat. In my prior posts, I have stated that I have been though a month before where I ate over 5,000 calories for a month straight, so bare with me. Your feelings of guilt may arise, but you have to keep going. Do not stop in the middle, and consider twice.
When you are in extreme starvation, I believe that it is the perfect start for your metabolism to be repaired. Of course eating over 3,000 calories a day for an extended amount of time will definitely boost your metabolism, essentially making it a rocket. In fact, a majority will go through a phase called,
, which basically makes your metabolism like adrenaline. You will feel much hotter, more energetic, and ultimately, very bloated. If you still cannot picture this concept, let's compare a normal, healthy person to someone who has an eating disorder. If the healthy person ate over 5,000 calories a day for a month, he or she will most likely gain an average of pure 10-15 pounds whereas for someone who was in the depths of his or her eating disorder, he or she will gain an average of pure 3-4 pounds. How do I know? Because that was literally how much I gained - insane, right? Overall, your extreme starvation will make sure that your metabolism will get up and running, and though it may be the most annoying & scary process of recovery, it is WORTH it.
However, let's say you are one of the few, lucky ones that does not experience any symptoms of extreme starvation. You do not crave foods nor binge on them. Though you may easily get away with the fact that you now do not have to worry about the hell of going through the starvation part, you have to worry about the fact of how are you going to boost your metabolism. IN short, eat 3,000 calories a day (no exceptions, i do not care about your height or activity levels). i used to think that amount was so so much, but when i look back, it was NECESSARY. You want to boost your metabolism, right? There is no other away around this one.
Once your extreme starvation or your weight gain diet have subsided, you should focus on maintaining at a high calorie diet. It is easy for people with eating disorders, particularly anorexics, to lose weight again. When you are starting to get near a healthy weight target, start doing these basics:
METHOD FOR OTHERS WHO HAVE PLATEAUED AT AMTS. OF 1400-1700
So you are basically stuck at one calorie goal, and you are so sick and tired of focusing on these numbers because you have observed your friends & family eating much, much more but maintaining at reasonable weights. This method is going to be tricky and tedious, but trust me - it is going to be to WORTH it in the long run. You NEED to increase your calories by 100 every week or two weeks, so your body gets used to the amount. Yes, you will gain 2-3 pounds, but in my opinion, it is better being 2-3 lbs heavier but eating way more. This also known as,
and surprisingly many people do not know this method. That is how people maintain at their new weights, BUT of course, your set point can push your body to go back to its original state. You are going to have to do STRENGTH TRAINING in order to change your body composition.
"How come they can maintain at 2,400+, but I only maintain at 1,500?"
Let's be real here: NO one wants to spend the rest of his or her life eating at such a low amount, and no one wants to especially be concerned with every bite he or she eats to see if only it hits his or her calorie goal. You cannot be experiencing life to the fullest if it only revolves around the lowest-calorie meal options and inconsistent cardio workouts. So let's dive in deep:)So there are two groups of people that this can apply to:
- ones who have restrictively ate and only came down to a reasonable amount such as 1,500 or 1,600
- the ones who literally came down to a really low weight by eating amounts of 800 calories or somewhere near that range. Thus, the method will vary between the two groups.
METHOD FOR SEVERELY UNDERWEIGHT & HEAVILY RESTRICTING
If you came across this page, you may either be in recovery or just simply wondering out of curiosity. At this point, your metabolism is probably very slow, and whatever you may be eating may not even get absorbed into your gut. You reached to a point where you just could not handle the strenuous bare arms of your eating disorder, but at the same time, you are concerned about weight gain & its side effects, etc when recovering.Okay, first of all, let me just throw this one inevitable fact out there: you are going to gain weight no matter what, and it usually is only up to 5-10 pounds. There are no shortcuts around this one, but I promise you that it is going to be worth it. Consider your two options: would you rather eat a minimal amount of 1200/below calories every single day of your life and only thinking about your next meal, or would you rather eat large amounts, be energetic, and not think about food?
This path is not an easy one because if you are going through EXTREME STARVATION, I am going to give you one big tip: just eat. In my prior posts, I have stated that I have been though a month before where I ate over 5,000 calories for a month straight, so bare with me. Your feelings of guilt may arise, but you have to keep going. Do not stop in the middle, and consider twice.
When you are in extreme starvation, I believe that it is the perfect start for your metabolism to be repaired. Of course eating over 3,000 calories a day for an extended amount of time will definitely boost your metabolism, essentially making it a rocket. In fact, a majority will go through a phase called,
HYPERMETABOLISM
, which basically makes your metabolism like adrenaline. You will feel much hotter, more energetic, and ultimately, very bloated. If you still cannot picture this concept, let's compare a normal, healthy person to someone who has an eating disorder. If the healthy person ate over 5,000 calories a day for a month, he or she will most likely gain an average of pure 10-15 pounds whereas for someone who was in the depths of his or her eating disorder, he or she will gain an average of pure 3-4 pounds. How do I know? Because that was literally how much I gained - insane, right? Overall, your extreme starvation will make sure that your metabolism will get up and running, and though it may be the most annoying & scary process of recovery, it is WORTH it.
However, let's say you are one of the few, lucky ones that does not experience any symptoms of extreme starvation. You do not crave foods nor binge on them. Though you may easily get away with the fact that you now do not have to worry about the hell of going through the starvation part, you have to worry about the fact of how are you going to boost your metabolism. IN short, eat 3,000 calories a day (no exceptions, i do not care about your height or activity levels). i used to think that amount was so so much, but when i look back, it was NECESSARY. You want to boost your metabolism, right? There is no other away around this one.
Once your extreme starvation or your weight gain diet have subsided, you should focus on maintaining at a high calorie diet. It is easy for people with eating disorders, particularly anorexics, to lose weight again. When you are starting to get near a healthy weight target, start doing these basics:
- stop taking those zero-calorie sweeteners/diet drinks/detox cleanse. they only boost your cravings by 1000x, and i, myself, have noticed that because when i took those out of my diet, i felt so much more balanced, and my appetite decreased dramatically.
- take FISH OIL pill supplements! start off with 320 mg and you can boost up to 720 mg if you would like. i had so much improvement with them (experiments have concluded that they really do boost your metabolism by 12%)
- drink over 8 cups of water a day - not only will you be hydrated, but fun fact - it burns 100 more calories by the end of the day.
- your diet plays a large role into this. yes, you can eat 2,400 calories worth of junk food, but most of it will be easily stored as fat since a majority of it has unnecessary fats that our bodies do not need. most importantly, you need nutrients and eating processed foods wont fix your cravings whatsoever.
- addition to diet: eat more PROTEIN. protein needs more energy to be broken down, so your body will actually burn calories in its catabolic phase.
- CAFFEINE can be such a great tool when improving your workout because it can boost your metabolism by 3-4% temporarily. do not rely on diet coke or even pills for this one. just drink herbal green tea/dark coffee, and it should do the trick.
- STRENGTH TRAINING is the ultimate game changer. once you start lifting those weights, your body composition is going to change drastically, and the overall chemical makeup of your body fat percentage will change. this is the key to everything. i will create an additional post specifically for beginner strength training workouts including the hours, meals, and training guides.
METHOD FOR OTHERS WHO HAVE PLATEAUED AT AMTS. OF 1400-1700
So you are basically stuck at one calorie goal, and you are so sick and tired of focusing on these numbers because you have observed your friends & family eating much, much more but maintaining at reasonable weights. This method is going to be tricky and tedious, but trust me - it is going to be to WORTH it in the long run. You NEED to increase your calories by 100 every week or two weeks, so your body gets used to the amount. Yes, you will gain 2-3 pounds, but in my opinion, it is better being 2-3 lbs heavier but eating way more. This also known as,
REVERSE DIETING,
and surprisingly many people do not know this method. That is how people maintain at their new weights, BUT of course, your set point can push your body to go back to its original state. You are going to have to do STRENGTH TRAINING in order to change your body composition.
- stop taking those zero-calorie sweeteners/diet drinks/detox cleanse. they only boost your cravings by 1000x, and i, myself, have noticed that because when i took those out of my diet, i felt so much more balanced, and my appetite decreased dramatically.
- take FISH OIL pill supplements! start off with 320 mg and you can boost up to 720 mg if you would like. i had so much improvement with them (experiments have concluded that they really do boost your metabolism by 12%)
- drink over 8 cups of water a day - not only will you be hydrated, but fun fact - it burns 100 more calories by the end of the day.
- your diet plays a large role into this. yes, you can eat 2,400 calories worth of junk food, but most of it will be easily stored as fat since a majority of it has unnecessary fats that our bodies do not need. most importantly, you need nutrients and eating processed foods wont fix your cravings whatsoever.
- addition to diet: eat more PROTEIN. protein needs more energy to be broken down, so your body will actually burn calories in its catabolic phase.
- CAFFEINE can be such a great tool when improving your workout because it can boost your metabolism by 3-4% temporarily. do not rely on diet coke or even pills for this one. just drink herbal green tea/dark coffee, and it should do the trick.
- STRENGTH TRAINING is the ultimate game changer. once you start lifting those weights, your body composition is going to change drastically, and the overall chemical makeup of your body fat percentage will change. this is the key to everything. i will create an additional post specifically for beginner strength training workouts including the hours, meals, and training guides.
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