Not Eating to Lose Weight
Can you lose weight by starving yourself? Numerous people wonder exactly the same thing. Why should I workout and eat healthy when I can drop weight by starving myself? And probably a lot of us have observed people who have stopped eating almost entirely and have lost weight. So why would you not do this if it works?
Well, let me say up front that starving yourself does lead to weight reduction. And, it could be quite effective. The reason it’s so effective is because you’re making an enormous calorie deficit between the calories you’re burning every day and the calories you’re eating. You can’t help but drop weight when you do this.
Keep in mind a pound of fat is 3500 calories. So to lose a pound a week, you need to burn 3500 more calories per week than you consume. My required number of calories is about 2700 per day. So, if I had been starving myself by only taking in say 1600 calories per day, I’d be creating an 1100 calorie deficit per day. This would result in a 7700 calorie deficit over seven days. I would burn a bit over two pounds of fat a week at this rate.
Now, you will find two problems with starving your self to lose weight. First, your body will figure out very quickly what you are doing. When it realizes it’s starving, it’ll adjust your hormones that regulate fat cell storage. So your entire body responds by becoming very effective at rationing the calories you give it and also extremely effective at storing fat. This is becuase your body assumes it is starving.
This starving response results in your metabolic rate to slow down and burn as little calories as necessary. Therefore, whenever you start eating normally again, your metabolism has slowed substantially. Hence, you store even more fat than before, making it tougher to shed weight in the future. This impact has been documented in a fairly recent study.
The second reason starving your self isn’t the best weight reduction strategy long term, is the fact that you sacrifice muscle. Your body, when dealing with an calorie shortage, will break up your lean muscle mass and use it as fuel. Obviously, this is a final resort but your body doesn’t understand the distinction between starving and going on a diet. It is trying to protect itself.
It’s also well-documented through study that muscle mass burns more calories. So, when you decrease your muscle mass, you decrease your body’s capability to burn fat, now and in the future. The more muscle mass you’ve got, the more calories you burn up, and therefore the more pounds you shed. You reduce this muscle mass when you starve your self, making it more difficult for your body to burn fat.
So, even though starving yourself may work to lose weight during the short term, you do yourself a tremendous disservice by making it tougher to lose weight within the future. A far safer and more effective method to shed weight is to adhere to a healthy diet that produces a calorie deficit, and an efficient exercise plan.
For additional evidence, take a look at an article about starving your self to lose weight from the American Council on Physical exercise.
This is not intended to help treat or manage disease. Be certain to check with your doctor prior to engaging in any dietary or fitness changes or routines.