Q. I'm eating fewer calories according to the calculator, so why am I not losing weight and just feeling exhausted?

Many people experience a plateau and fatigue when obsessing over strict calorie counting and restrictive diets. From a modern medical perspective, extreme low-calorie intake pushes the body into 'starvation mode,' significantly lowering the basal metabolic rate to survive, which ultimately makes it easier to gain weight even with small amounts of food. In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), this state is often identified as Spleen Deficiency (Bi-Heo, 脾虛). The Spleen is responsible for the transformation and transportation of nutrients into energy; when its function is weakened, the efficiency of converting food into usable energy drops sharply. Imagine a car that cannot move because the engine (the Spleen) is broken, regardless of how much fuel is provided. Furthermore, if metabolic waste such as Phlegm-Fluid (Dam-Eum, 痰飮) or blood stasis (Eo-Hyeol, 瘀血) has accumulated, blood circulation slows down, further depressing your metabolic capacity. Therefore, the priority should be creating a 'body that burns well' rather than simply 'eating less.' Instead of fasting, you must reactivate your body's metabolic switch. If you are feeling severely depleted, it is time to examine the state of your internal 'engine' to restore your vitality.