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Published on Tuesday, 23 October 2012 21:20
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Written by Tina Goinarov
PICTURE PERFECT?
The Toll that Long Term Dieting and Contest Prep Has on the Body
You have been dieting for weeks, months, years even, and have been following it all to a T. You have made sure to take all of your supplements, drink all the water you possibly can and trained like there is no tomorrow. You even did your cardio twice a day for an hour like you were to do, but why is it that each time you prep for a show, shoot or event, it b
ecomes harder and harder to lose the weight? You know that age does play a factor, the body's ability to become used to how you eat and train (and that is why you are always changing things up with your coach), but for some reason, it is not just the 'normal' factors and issues, but you realize there is something else hindering your progress. You are tired, easily bloated, not hungry between meals, and no matter what you do, change or try differently, nothing seems to be working. You have even added more time to your cardio and nothing. So what is going on?
The human body is an amazing thing. It knows how to regulate and adapt to the surroundings and elements that we as the human put it through. It let's us know when to eat, sleep, sweat, and empty out. But it also seems to have the ability to turn itself off and/or slow down when it feels stressed and survival mode kicks in.
Like all athletes who prepare for a show/competition know, we place A LOT of stress on the body in order for it to become this super lean, tight and ripped package. The body has this amazing ability to work with the insanity we place it under and knows what to do in order for each of us to achieve the best results possible. The body is able to go into itself and use what is stored to feed on and survive in order to carry out the basic functions. But like many things, over time, the body can only do so much and when it has had so much pressure and stress placed upon it, it will in turn stop, slow down and turn on you so t
o speak in order for it to carry out its basic function - keeping you alive.
Now I know that we all know how important it is to give the body a break, so it does not break down on us, but I also know that when things are on a roll and going in a positive direction, we tend to do more than we should. It is always easier said than done, that we will stop when we know our bodies have endured too much. But how many of us actually listen and pay attention to those signs? One of the ways our body shows us that it has had too much is by the way our metabolism functions.
The metabolism is the body's way of regulating - to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Our metabolism speeds up or slows down according to the body's needs, and if placed under too much stress, such as extreme weight loss due to not enough food to fuel the body it slows down to the point of survival. Here, the body will work to the minimum effort in order to preserve what is left in storage and fuel, and enable the body to work to some degree. When the metabolism has been taken down to this low and slow level from extreme dieting and training sometimes it cannot repair itself enough to get back to regular speed and function. When it has gotten to this point, the body most often has entered the state of metabolic damage.
To fully understand metabolic damage, I went to a friend of mine who is a nurse and an expert of sorts in this area. I asked her to explain to me what exactly is metabolic damage. The following is what she
had to say:
"Metabolic damage is general term used to describe a health condition that can occur after the human body is put under stress over a period of time. The human body is a highly tuned intricate system in which it has an ability to self-regulate it's functions and system to remain within a 'normal range, to live,' this is called homeostasis.
Homeostasis is what our finely tuned machine of a body does to function, to LIVE. Biologically, and automatically the human body always fights to survive, and so, when a body is put under the stress of body building, especially with competition diets, the body, thinks it is in 'starvation mode' much like an animal in hibernation, it slows down 'needs' or calories used/burned; so it can 'survive.'
When a person puts it's body through stress, such as in body building, for competition (the low caloric diet, among, which can limit the variety of vitamins and minerals sources, physical training, strain, endurance/muscle repair, mental and emotional stress, and the effects on sleep requirements), over time, your body will think it is being challenged, it fights to survive. This will eventually affect the endocrine system, which the part of your body that regulates the hormones, and, this will affect a person's "homeostasis.'
So, over time (competition prep), the body will preserve it's calories, thinking it is starving, in hibernation, in a time of 'stress' like the people you hear about who survived lost in the woods with no food but drank rain or stream water, or during times of war; because your body is fighting to make sure you survive. Meanwhile it has no idea that you are/were prepping for competition. So this homeostasis is what affects the metabolism. It slows down, you may feel frustrated, you see and feel weight gain, but, your body, biologically is standing proud, because biologically, it is/ was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Fight for you to survive.
This condition was a result of choices, and depending on the amount of time that has passed under these 'stresses', with proper medical, health and fitness consultation, a new balance can be attained for your body over time; but also factor in age, and the aging process of metabolism which eventually begins to slow down. Remember, your body always tries to take care of you. It searches to create homeostasis for you. The human body is a beautiful thing."
Nancy Kwan., R.N., B sc. N. Fitness and Bariatric Specialist
With metabolic damage, your body has hit the absolute bottom and it will not bounce back or regulate until you deal and work with it head on. You will have to reset your body's metabolic rate and this can take time. Sometimes it can take up to a year and until you deal with this, your body will not work with you - it will keep fighting you and therefore, you will not make gains in your weight loss and/or contest journey. The hardest part of metabolic damage repair is the mental aspects. The whole process of weight loss and contest prep is mental. We are constantly fighting with our mind to keep focused on the goal and to stay there. When we hit that wall and the body does not work with us anymore, it takes so much out of us to understand and see what is going on. The weight gain, side effects and the body's natural reaction to metabolic damage will have profound effects on our mental state. Frustration and defeat are common, and so is our natural want to try harder and do more, not wanting to see that this will not help, but do more harm than good.
I know that I have been there - hit the metabolic crash and that it is the worst feeling in the world. I trained with all I had in me, ate my meals perfectly but I was over tired, bloated and instead of dropping weight, I was gaining. I tried longer cardio sessions, ate less at a meal or two and it did nothing. After sitting down with my coach and talking about it, it was decided for me that I needed to take time off and let my body heal. That meant no training, eating off the diet - not going out and cheating at every meal, but adding fruits, different vegetables, allowing the odd treat, and listening to my body. If I needed a week, take it and if I needed more - guess what...take it.
We are not machines that can go on and on forever and with the
push of a button we are fixed if broken. We are complex beings, where all of our parts work together for a purpose and when challenged or pushed to their breaking point, the body has a way of telling you something is wrong and it will not respond and repair itself unless all parts are on the same page and working together.
When it comes to losing weight, we know that many factors need to work together in order for it to be successful and that it takes time, so we also have to realize that if we are putting our bodies through extremes and it is not responding due to that damage, it will also take time for it to heal. Nothing in this sport seems to come easy and that is something that we as humans, athletes and competitors need to step back and understand...our mind and body can only take so much and if we do not treat it will the respect that it deserves and 'listen' to its cues, in the long run it will fight us to the end.
There is the saying that if it was easy, everyone will be doing it, and the more I think about it, the more this rings true. Those of us who do make the choice to
compete and put our bodies through this intense program and regime deal with not only the daily battles but the long term battles and effects that our bodies and mind endures. What we also need to take into account, as hard as it is, listen to your body because it knows better than anyone what is going on.
