Basal Metabolism & Diet

The more fat free mass you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the amount of calories you burn while resting. And, overly restrictive diets, while helping you drop weight in the short term, will also lower your fat-free mass, which will lower your BMR in the long run, making you gain more weight (fat) after you stop dieting.

Here are some tips, diet wise, to keep the fat off and stay toned by raising your BMR:

1. Do not restrict your daily calorie intake below 400 calorie deficit from your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). For example, if your TDEE is 3000 calories, do not consume below 2600 calories. Your body will lower your BMR if you’re too restrictive.
2. Do not overly restrict one or more mactronutrients. For example, restricting carbs as in ketogenic diets, or restricting fats as in no-fat or low fat diets, or inadvertently restricting proteins as in veganism is dangerous and not feasible in the long run, and causes dangerous hormonal imbalances and BMR reduction in the long run.
3. Track your calories and macronutrients periodically to spot and correct your diet imbalances, but try not to obsess/worry over a number. For example, you might be eating 90% carbs at half your TDEE, and tracking your calories will show you where you need to improve, and it becomes innate and effortless after certain amount of practice to keep your diet balanced and adequate.
4. Eat micronutrient rich, whole foods every day—eat your veggies. They have all the vitamins and minerals needed for optimal function, and they have fiber which raises BMR by having high thermic effect of food (TEF). TEF corresponds to the calories burned to extract energy from a given food item. Simply speaking, the more processed the food, the less TEF it has, and whole foods like veggies will raise your BMR because they are harder to process inside your body.
5. Cut down your daily simple sugar consumption which causes insulin spikes that will make you gain fat and inhibit all the other anabolic hormones, which will lower your BMR and prolong your time to recover. Simple sugars also cause lot of inflammation and damage to the microvasculature and tissues if your pancreas is lagging or you are insulin insensitive.
6. If you have a sweet tooth, simply consume the simple carb laden foods or beverages immediately prior to, while, or right after your intense work outs. This is because intense workouts release growth hormone, cortisol and adrenaline, which will inhibit the release and effect of insulin, which means you won’t feel that sugar crash afterword like if you ate sugars at any other time, and your sugars will readily be utilized in the work out or to replenish the muscle glycogen. This will also speed your recovery and raise your BMR by fueling a more intense workout.
7. Make it a habit to hydrate before you’re thirsty and before/during your workout. Your body is 70% H2O and lean mass holds and utilizes water lot more than fat mass. So, you’ll have to hydrate adequately for to function as your BMR will suffer even if you lose 1% of your total body H2O.
8. Get adequate, uninterrupted sleep every night because you’ll make poor diet choices due to drained will power/executive faculties. And, poor sleep also directly raises your stress hormones and lowers your anabolic hormones that will make you gain fat more easily and lose lean mass, so in the long run, chronically inadequate sleep will lower your BMR as well and will age you even if you do everything else right.