Are You Eating Enough?
By Sara Butler
Everyone knows that if you eat too much, you gain weight. It's that whole calories in, calories out equation that works to help you maintain a healthy weight. But what many people don't think about is how eating too little can slow your metabolism dramatically, leading to weight gain too. Eating too little also has some serious consequences of your overall health and wellness. Here are a few signs that you're simply not getting enough to eat each day.
You've Stalled
If you're trying to reach a healthy weight and have hit a roadblock, then it may be because you're not eating enough. While there are a lot of different reasons people hit a plateau, being too strict with your food intake is one of them.
When you don't eat enough, it impacts your hormones, including thyroid hormones that impact your hunger. This can slow down your metabolism. Try to find more balance and ensure you're getting enough to eat.
You Feel Weak and Sluggish
Your muscles fuel themselves with glycogen and you need carbohydrates in order for your body to produce glycogen. When you don't eat enough, especially complex carbs, then your body uses the glycogen stored in your muscles for fuel and that leaves you feeling slow and weak.
This is essentially when your body goes into starvation mode, cannibalizing itself in order to keep things working. It can't keep this up for long and you will start to notice a difference in the way you feel.
You Get Hangry
You know that feeling you have when you snap at people and just can't seem to control your emotions when you're hungry? That's become known as being "hangry" and it's an apt description. It happens because your blood sugar levels may be too erratic. That's why you need to eat enough for your blood sugar to maintain a constant level. If you notice you get hangry a lot, it's probably because you're not eating enough.
You Have Dry, Flaky Skin
Yes, your skin can suffer if you don't eat enough. When you don't eat enough calories from fat, your skin can't maintain its lipid levels and it tends to dry out and become flaky as a result. That's why you need to make sure you're getting enough calories from fat in your diet, specifically healthy fat found in foods such as olive oil and avocados.
If you're not eating enough, then figure out how much you should be eating and make sure to get enough each day! Otherwise, you'll sabotage your health and wellness goals.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Long Beach, Calif.