JJ Virgin explains why cutting calories backfires: your body burns 5-8% less energy at rest and you naturally move less, making weight loss harder. Without deliberate changes like increasing daily activity, the metabolic slowdown can sabotage your efforts.
When you start to reduce calories, our body starts to conserve energy and move less. There was a study called the CALERIE study, the Comprehensive Assessment of the Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy. And what this showed is when you eat less, your body tries to save energy by making you less active. Your body actually adjusts to how much energy it uses. So it's doing more than what you would expect from just losing weight. What they found when they did this study is when people slept, their bodies used 5 to 8% less energy when they were in caloric restriction. And then during regular activities, they used even less energy. So if they were a fidgeter, they fidgeted less, they tend to sit more, etc. Suggests that when you change, you've got to change how you act. Otherwise, your body is going to conserve energy. So as you do caloric restriction, if you don't adjust, your body's going to downshift. And the more you cut calories, the more your body will do this.
