Before you choose weight loss as your goal, you need to make sure you have a healthy metabolism. If your metabolic rate is reasonably high, you’ll have plenty of room to drop calories and will be able to lose weight eating more food. If your metabolism is slow due to a history of crash or repeated dieting, or even as a result of other factors such as genetics or aging, we recommend choosing reverse dieting as your goal rather than weight loss.
So how do you know if your metabolism is healthy enough to diet?
Consider your current situation and ask yourself:
Am I maintaining weight while eating a lot of food?
Has it been awhile since I’ve tried to diet?
Have I been able to lose weight in the past on moderately high calories?
Do I seem to lose weight easily when sticking to a structured program?
If you answered" yes" to several of these questions and want to lose weight, the weight loss goal may be right for you.
* For an objective definition of a healthy metabolism, refer to the following guideline:
For someone of average activity level (think 1 hour of intense activity a day and a relatively sedentary job), a healthy metabolism might mean that you’re eating 18 calories per pound of lean body mass to maintain your current body weight.
*For a 150 lb woman with 25% body fat that is 2,025 calories.
*For a 200 lb man with 15% body fat that is 3,060 calories.
*** Still not sure whether you should choose fat loss as your goal? Take our goal quiz!