Why fasting Yourself is Bad for Weight Loss ,The paths to lower weight and less excess fat are many and varied. Some of them more effective and reasonable, and others – not so reasonable and effective only in the short term. In this article we will look at one of the unreasonable ways – starvation.
Table of Contents
What is fasting as a way to lose weight?
Let’s first make sure that we are all on the same page and look at the concept of “starvation” in the same way. Definitions of the term “starvation” can be found very much, but in general, starvation is a condition in which a person does not manage to get enough nutrients and energy for a long period of time.
Although not specifically referred to as starvation, very low calorie diets (VLCD or very low calorie diets) can be considered in the scientific literature as a starvation method for weight loss. In studies of this type, the diet to which the participants were subjected was most often in liquid form and had a caloric value of the order of 800 kcal / day. For women, sometimes lower – about 500-600 kcal / day.
If we have to give a real example outside of science labs, then this type of diet would include all those who make you eat super weird things and promise you super fast results. Something like “breakfast in the morning with plenty of water with lemon, at noon drink a smoothie of cucumbers, parsley and pepper, and for dinner a handful of goji berries, but only at full moon. You will lose X kilograms in just 10 days! ” In the context of this material, we will look at fasting in this way – following a diet that aims to lose weight and delivers extremely few calories and energy.
In theory, any weight loss process is achieved through starvation. Whether the calorie / energy deficit we are exposed to is 5% or 50%, our body is starving in both cases. In the first case less, in the second – much more. Of course, our body is designed so that when it lacks energy, it draws from its reserves. This reserve energy can come from several places, but the largest and main reserve is subcutaneous fat and to a lesser extent – visceral (those around and between organs).
If fasting is 5% calorie deficit, the body will draw slowly, less reserves, while at 50% it will draw much more and much faster. The theory of weight loss is based on this very, very general principle – make your body draw from energy reserves. Viewed in this way, it is normal for many people to ask themselves, “Then why don’t I just stop eating or start eating very little food until I reach my goals (lower weight, less excess fat) and then I’ll fill my fridge (and stomach) again. What can happen in 2-3 months of “controlled” starvation? “.Why fasting Yourself is Bad for Weight Loss
It is this idea and this way of thinking that we will pay more attention to, as there are many reasons to choose the detour. Here are some of the more important ones.
Extremely difficult to maintain
One of the major disadvantages of VLCD is that you have to have an extremely strong will to stick to the regimen in the long run. If the diet is one of the “magic” ones on the Internet, they are short-term by default. Not only because quick and easy results sell more and faster, but probably the authors themselves know that a normal person cannot follow such madness for a long time. Everyone can endure a few days on a little food, but spending months on 500-800 kcal / day is something that few people could do.
Most often there is a moment when a person can not stand, the will collapses and the combination of mental and physical stress leads to abandonment of the regime and uncontrollable eating for days. In the end, all the burned fat goes back, everything returns to the starting position, but this time one is extremely demotivated to start again. You may know this phenomenon as a yo-yo effect.
He does not learn good eating habits With VLCD, the energy deficit is so great that really anything you eat will work. Not that you can afford much, but you should not skip 500-800 kcal. Having a result sounds good, but it’s definitely not and is a serious problem. Proper and good eating habits are needed for long-term success, and in most cases it is their lack that has led to the need to lose weight in the first place.
While with a slower approach you have enough calories, you can afford a lot more food and this allows you to learn to build your daily menu well, then on a starvation diet you simply do not have any opportunity to do so. As much as you want to add this or that so that the menu can become varied and rich in nutrients, 500-800 kcal do not allow.
Serious danger of micronutrient deficiency
Even if we assume that you manage to stick to a starvation regime, because the food you can afford is extremely small, there is a really high risk of deficiency of a vitamin or mineral. Not everyone pays attention when reading scientific studies with people subjected to 800 kcal per day, that to the liquid formulas the researchers add a serious complex of all necessary vitamins and minerals.
Of course, this can easily be done by anyone else on this type of diet through a dietary supplement, but there are people who miss this “small” detail and it leads to unpleasant consequences.
Loss of muscle mass and other organ tissue
In general, loss of lean mass and muscle mass is very rare, and when it occurs it is very small in people who are overweight or obese, even if they are starving. In these cases, the body has enough energy reserves and this helps a lot. Even if there is a loss of net weight, it is in the range of 5-10% of the total weight lost, which is negligible.
The problem is that people with not so much excess fat who want to get rid of 4-5 kg fall into the trap of starvation regimes, because they do not see the bottom row of tiles. In them, the loss of muscle and other organ tissue can be much more serious, for example 30-40 or even 50%, if care is not taken and the necessary measures are not taken to prevent or at least minimize this.
If you think “Very important! I don’t need those muscles anyway. I will not compete. ” – think again. First of all, muscles expend 3 times more energy than adipose tissue, and other organs even more – between 50 and 100 times more. In other words, the more muscle and other energy-intensive tissue you lose, the more you reduce the amount of food you can afford in the future, and this is a great way to enhance the yo-yo effect.
And when it comes to the future, not everyone likes to think about what will happen in 30-40-50 years, but let’s mention sarcopenia very briefly. This is a condition in which there is a natural loss of muscle tissue with age. This of course leads to a number of problems, mostly impairing the quality of life, but also increasing the risk of health problems. Some of the causes of sarcopenia are known, others are not, but the best thing you can do in the first place is to keep as many muscles as possible and erase the words “I don’t need them anyway.”
Low energy levels and depression
Anyone who has tried to follow VLCD for more than a few weeks knows what it is all about. Even just a week or two is needed to make you feel terrible, without a gram of energy to do anything and with a sense of apathy towards everything that is happening around. During such a regime, in order to survive, your body makes you want only one thing – to lie down and stare (and eat, of course, but that goes without saying). Your social life begins to suffer, you can’t do your job properly and the slightest thing can get you off track.
We all have bad days, but following VLCD is not days, but months.
Why fasting Yourself is Bad for Weight Loss ? – Fasting is not a long-term solution The last point we will consider is the result of all the others and is perhaps the most important. It is very important to understand that this type of starvation regimens are not a long-term solution to the problem of excess weight. Even if you achieve results, and there will no doubt be, almost everything will collapse very quickly after that. Let’s assume that by some miracle you managed to stick to VLCD for a few months and lost 10-20% of your weight.
At this point you: you feel
- brutally hungry every day and constantly think about food;
- still does not have good eating habits;
- you may have lost some muscle mass;
- and yet the satisfaction of what has been achieved, there are even more beginnings of depression and unhappiness.
And the moment you say to yourself “Great! The scale shows X kg, I’m done with the diet! ”, The boomerang returns and stains you right across the forehead. Since you have no idea how you should eat, and in reality so far you have not wondered what happens after the final day of the diet, you start eating as before losing weight, forgetting that this is the way of eating is was a problem.
After months of photosynthesis, hunger cannot be ignored, and one usually feels hungry for weeks, even if one gets enough food. Accordingly, everything you eat, you eat more than before and, of course, add something as a bonus. However, you do not take into account that at 10-20% lower weight, you can afford less food, and the daily ration is further reduced by the muscles that you have probably lost.
All this, along with some other small details, at best leads to a really fast return of all the weight lost, and more often it leads to a worse situation – to gain a few extra pounds on top.
What is the right approach?
Having so diligently condemned starvation and VLCD, it is still worth mentioning how it is better to approach it. Since the answer to the question in this subheading cannot be summed up in just a few lines, we will look at the right approaches and tips in future materials, and until then you can look at the ones available in the relevant sections. You will certainly find a lot of useful information.
It is important to note that there is no one right way to lose weight and get rid of excess fat and weight. It’s just that some approaches are much more acceptable, easier to follow and with fewer “side effects”. In practice, whether you will starve at 500-800 kcal per day and lose weight quickly and quickly or follow a slow and smooth process with a longer duration, it does not matter as far as the number of scales. But while the “shortcut” will make you feel like hell and in almost all cases will only give you short-term results, the slightly longer path has the potential to bring you long-term success.
Don’t get the wrong impression. Both paths have their obstacles and will require dedication and patience on your part, but as already mentioned, it is important to look not only in the short term but also in the long term. , now you know Why fasting Yourself is Bad for Weight Loss.
