This Blogger’s Before And After Pics Are All The Proof You Need That Low Calorie Diets Don’t Work

Calories in and calories out.

It’s that age old formula that says if you want to drop a few pounds all you gotta do is eat less and exercise more. Sounds simple, right? But here’s the thing: after that initial weight loss, what do you do?

Like fitness blogger Madalin Giorgetta it’s likely that you’ll attempt to drop your calories even further in a bid to shift that last stubborn bit of weight, and you might schedule in a few extra workouts too, to create an even bigger calorie deficit and shift those final pounds.

Unfortunately though, as Madalin proves weight loss really doesn’t work that way.

Madalin had started a high intensity exercise program with Kayla Itsines and decided to follow a low carb and low calorie diet at the same time. It wasn’t until she consulted a nutritionist that she realised that this technique was majorly halting her progress.

Why so? It was all because Madalin wasn’t giving her body the proper calories and macronutrients (that’s protein, carbs and fat, FYI) that it needed to function optimally and burn fat.

Let’s just preface this by saying no, I did not have an ED. When I was eating 800 calories a day, I thought I was healthy. I was eating healthy food, but hardly any macronutrients. I was curious to find out what my macros were like before I actually started counting my macros, so I entered my old foods into @myfitnesspal to find out. I was quiet astonished to see how little protein and carbs I was eating. 800 calories seems absurdly low as now I need minimum 1500 calories to be full, but at the time 800 calories was keeping me full because that’s what my body was used to. After a while though, salad simply wasn’t cutting it, and for all the restrictions I was placing on my diet, I simply wasn’t seeing the results I had anticipated. So I got in touch with a PT and nutritional coach and got my macros sorted. When he first told me to eat 50% carbs I nearly died! I was eating about 10% carbs before and could not fathom how 50% carbs would not make me fat. I also freaked out at all the calories. I’ve been keeping an excel spreadsheet and in the first week of being on macros my average calories for the week was a little over 1000. I remember how hard I struggled to actually eat the size of my meals. I would just put my lunch next to my desk and eat it over the course of 3 hours as I couldn’t eat it in one sitting! Now my stomach can take way more and is much happier! In the second week I was averaging 1600 calories a day! It didn’t take long for my body to catch up. A part of me may always have that mindset that relates not eating with weight loss and “being good today”. Sometimes I may forget to eat lunch just because I got busy and for a second I will revert back to old thinking, and think “ohh, I’ve done really well today and haven’t eaten much at all.” That’s why I love tracking my macros. It will tell me “Maddy, you need to eat more. Go eat 3 potatoes”. And I’ll pat myself on the back for being healthy and doing really good today! If you’re under feeding yourself in an effort to lose weight, don’t do what I did for so long. Don’t waste your time eating salad when you could be eating sweet potatoes and banana pancakes. Eat more and get fit. It actually works ??

A photo posted by Madalin Giorgetta (@madalingiorgetta) on Sep 4, 2016 at 9:39pm PDT

In an Instagram post which has been liked over 14,000 times, Madalin explains “When I was eating 800 calories a day, I thought I was healthy. I was eating healthy food, but hardly any macronutrients. I was curious to find out what my macros were like before I actually started counting my macros, so I entered my old foods into @myfitnesspal to find out. I was quiet astonished to see how little protein and carbs I was eating.”

With the help of a PT, Madalin then adjusted her calorie and macro intake, “Now my stomach can take way more and is much happier! In the second week I was averaging 1600 calories a day! It didn’t take long for my body to catch up. A part of me may always have that mindset that relates not eating with weight loss and ‘being good today’. Sometimes I may forget to eat lunch just because I got busy and for a second I will revert back to old thinking, and think ‘ohh, I’ve done really well today and haven’t eaten much at all.”

“That’s why I love tracking my macros,” she adds. “It will tell me ‘Maddy, you need to eat more. Go eat 3 potatoes’.

Judging by Madalin’s progress pics, it’s an approach that’s certainly paying off. Hey, if it means we can eat more food then we’re in.