Hey loves,

Today’s blog post goes over how Undereating Is the Fastest Way to Kill Your Gains. This topic is important because we, as women, have been indoctrinated with the message that we should eat less calories to remain beautiful or even worthy (through ads or society).

We don’t talk about this enough but we have to unlearn this belief once we start lifting heavy enough weights.

We have to learn to start eating according to our goals rather than what society tries to tell us is desirable or even a worthy endeavor.

The belief is also that eating less means having a leaner body. A lean body is a result of lifting weights and being at a calorie deficit but there on should be an emphasis on eating enough protein and calories to sustain the gain in muscles.

The result of eating less is often in creating softer physiques. Those same women, if they train hard end up looking the same year after year.

Because their bodies aren’t recovering or growing adequately, they end up looking underfed and under recovered.

Undereating doesn’t make the body smaller, it makes it resistant to change. You won’t end up making those lean gains shown here if you don’t eat correctly.

This is essentially comes down to biology and not discipline.

The Body Cannot Build on a Deficit

Simply put, adaptation requires surplus signals. You must therefore prioritize eating at least 250-500 calories in excess per week in order to put on a pound of muscle.

Muscle is not a survival priority, it therefore needs to be trained and fed. The body will always choose efficiency over aesthetics. This means that whatever process or input you add to the equation will equal its output.

Strength stalls when calories are low. One will not put on as much muscle or any at all if the calories consumed are too little.

Maintenance more often than not ends up being a calorie deficit. The distinction is therefore clear that fat loss and tissue building cannot happen under the same conditions.

Why Undereating Makes You Look Softer, Not Leaner

Less food does not necessarily mean a tighter body, it often leads to the skinny fat look or an otherwise soft and slim body.

One of the biggest misconceptions in fitness is that eating less automatically leads to a leaner physique. In reality, chronic undereating often produces the opposite effect.

When calories are too low, the body adapts by reducing energy expenditure. Metabolism slows, non-essential processes are downregulated, and muscle tissue: being metabolically expensive, is gradually broken down.

The result is a physique with less muscle tone, poorer muscle fullness, and a higher relative body fat percentage, even if the scale goes down.

This is why many women who undereat describe themselves as feeling “skinny-fat” or “soft.” Without sufficient calories, the muscles lose glycogen and volume, posture deteriorates, and the skin appears less tight over the frame.

Leanness is not defined by weight alone; it is defined by the ratio of muscle to fat. Undereating worsens that ratio.

Fat loss requires a signal that the body is safe enough to let go of stored energy. Severe or prolonged restriction sends the opposite message.

Hormones: The Invisible Cost of Chronic Restriction

Hormones are not optional accessories to physique development, they are the system running the entire operation.

Undereating disrupts key hormones involved in body composition:

• Leptin drops, increasing hunger and reducing metabolic rate
• Thyroid hormones decrease, slowing energy expenditure
• Cortisol rises, promoting muscle breakdown and fat retention
• Estrogen and progesterone can become dysregulated, affecting recovery, mood, and fat distribution

In women especially, low energy availability signals the body to conserve resources. This can manifest as stalled fat loss, water retention, poor sleep, missed periods, and impaired recovery.

None of these states are conducive to building a lean, athletic physique.

You cannot out-train a hormonal environment that is designed to protect you from perceived famine.

Progressive Overload Cannot Exist Without Fuel

Progressive overload, the gradual increase of training demands, is the foundation of muscle growth. But overload is not purely mechanical; it is biological.

Lifting heavier weights, performing more volume, or increasing intensity all require:

• adequate glycogen stores
• sufficient recovery capacity
• a positive or neutral energy balance

When calories are too low, performance stagnates. Loads stop increasing, reps regress, and sessions feel disproportionately taxing.

The nervous system becomes fatigued, joints ache, and motivation drops. Without progression, muscle has no reason to stay.

Training hard in a chronically underfed state does not make you disciplined, it makes your training ineffective.

Protein Alone Is Not Enough

Protein is necessary for muscle repair, but it is not sufficient on its own.

Muscle protein synthesis is an energetically expensive process. If total caloric intake is too low, protein will be diverted toward basic survival needs rather than tissue building.

In other words, even a “high-protein” diet can fail if overall energy intake is inadequate.

Carbohydrates play a critical role here by:

• replenishing glycogen
• reducing cortisol
• allowing protein to be used for repair instead of fuel

Fats support hormonal health, nutrient absorption, and cellular integrity. Removing them in the pursuit of leanness often backfires long-term.

Muscle is built in a fed state, not a desperate one.

The Psychology of Undereating and Control

Undereating often masquerades as discipline, but psychologically it creates fragility.

Chronic restriction narrows focus, increases food preoccupation, and erodes trust in hunger cues. Training becomes punitive rather than progressive. Missed sessions feel catastrophic, and small deviations provoke guilt.

This mental state is incompatible with long-term physique development. Sustainable progress requires consistency, patience, and a sense of safety around food.

A body that feels constantly threatened will not adapt optimally: physically or mentally.

Strength is not just the ability to lift more weight. It is the ability to nourish yourself without fear.

A Few Hard Truths Worth Accepting

• You cannot diet your way into a muscular physique
• Feeling lighter does not mean you are leaner
• Hunger is not a moral failure, it is a biological signal
• Muscle is earned through training and eating

Undereating may produce short-term scale changes, but it is one of the fastest ways to stall progress, blunt muscle development, and disconnect from your body.

If the goal is strength, shape, and longevity, the path forward is not less, it is enough.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this blog post on how Undereating Is the Fastest Way to Kill Your Gains, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!