[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
To a certain extent maybe… but in reality as long as you are trying to stay just under maintenance (500 cals or less) and not starving yourself your body will adjust to compensate for the lower intake regardless of fat loss. In fact as you lose fat and weigh less you maintenance should go down appropriately. Also meal frequency is key. Muscle gain is another story. I think that increases hunger.
Jury is still out on leptin as far as I’m concerned.[/quote]
There is little in the leptin literature I’ve read that can be APPLIED to the bodybuilder’s body comp goals. The research is aimed at understanding obesity, not how to achieve low bodyfat and high muscle mass.
Actually, not much of the literature can be applied to obesity, either, except to give the pharmaceutical researchers mechanisms to target. The most promising is a drug that would allow someone to keep the weight off after dieting by keeping leptin levels optimal.
However, it is clear when the anti-starvation mechanism is kicking in, and this mechanism is fairly well understood. 500 cals is not some magic number. Leptin and other hormone levels react to a change in bodyfat levels, regardless of calorie deficit/surplus or where the levels were initially.
What you said is true in some circumstances – but ONLY for people whose hormones and metabolisms are in decent shape.
RAVENOUS hunger is a symptom that hormones (leptin and others) are not optimal. When I have reached this state, I’ve done a day-long refeed resulting in no fat gain whatsoever. (And BTW, sarah, this refeed was pizza, Haagen-Dazs, and mocha frappucinos. No fat gain from it.)
Ignoring the hunger, though, and continuing with strict diet, fat loss would stop altogether. However, metabolisms vary.
Also, ravenous hunger should not be experienced when eating to gain muscle mass. In another thread, sarah said her current goal is gaining mass. So she should not be ravenous.