Microblog: Proper Metabolism – Caloric Needs of the Body

A body isn’t forgiving when nutrient status is depleted.

🙅🏻‍♀️I’m not a fan of calorie counting long-term. Yes, when we first start carnivore, we should track for a week or two to get a sense of what eating sufficiently looks like but long term, calorie counting is not ideal.

💡Our body is not a calculator. We are a collection of complicated chemical processes that are so heavily reliant and affected by hormones. No amount of calorie tweaking is going to change this.

🥴You may find a sweet spot for a while, but over time, that sweet spot will turn sour. (e.g., hormone and thyroid imbalances)

🧘🏻‍♀️We want to heal from metabolic disease. Give it time.

🥀We want to lose weight but when we take shortcuts by undereating, we can cause eating disorders to grow rampant and other health imbalances.

🤕When we consume very few calories in a day, our bodies will rebel. It will show up as an inability to stick to a diet. It will show up as bingeing and sometimes compensatory behavior. It’s not a lack of willpower, our bodies are screaming for nutrients.

Some of the rebellion will show up as the following:
❓Do you feel cold all the time?
❓Dizzy when you stand up from being seated?
❓Consistent leg cramps at night?
❓Hair thinning or falling out?
❓Skin, not so bright?
❓Amenorrhea (inconsistent and loss of menstruation)?
❓Need to always wear sunglasses when going outside?
❓Are you moody (see below)?
❓Can’t fall asleep or stay asleep?
❓Chronic constipation?

⛈ You may be undereating. You may have adrenal imbalances. Adrenals are part of the endocrine system that include the thyroid, pituitary, and sex hormones.

💡If the adrenals are imbalanced, then the other areas are usually imbalanced too.

☁️Yes, these symptoms can be a different illness but these are the body’s warning signs: the calm before the storm.

📚The MN starvation study shared that prolonged restriction of food negatively impacts mood. Restriction and weight loss can lead to an increase in anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Add coffee to restrict hunger, and we’re creating an emotional, anxious cycle.

⛑Take it one meal, one day at a time because consistency matters. Healing IS possible but it takes time.