If your goal is to lose weight, one of the worst things you can do to your body is skip meals. Now that isn’t to say that a person can’t diet, but dieting does not mean starving yourself. As a matter of fact, the word “diet” implies a short-lived food pattern. That’s important if you’re cutting weight for a sports event and you’re required to “make weight” in order to compete. Wrestling, boxing, and horse racing are three sports that require it’s participants to weigh in at a designated weight. During the off season, however, most athletes weigh more than the weight at which they compete. Again reinforcing that “cutting weight” is only temporary. For the average person, simply learning to “eat healthy” is a much better approach because it represents a permanent pattern towards weight loss. If you’re currently eating poorly and you’re striving to change your diet for the better, that’s what healthy eating is really all about—a lifestyle change.
The “starvation diet” is definitely worth addressing for those of you who are trying to lose fat. By that I mean if you are not an athlete trying to cut weight, then you are probably an average person who desires to lose fat. Many people out there, especially women, think that the best approach to quick weight loss is simply not eating, or skipping meals. While initially you may see a dip in the scale, most of the change is due to water weight and is only temporary. To truly burn fat you need to create a gradual caloric deficit through eating less (not starving yourself) or exercising more. Your body has a natural set point where it prefers to remain, so when weight is dropped rapidly, you can almost be assured that it will return because you haven’t lost the weight in a healthy way.
Losing weight in a healthy way usually means dropping a half pound to a pound and a half per week. Now this may not happen right away, but if you are causing a calorie deficit either by eating less, exercising more, or hopefully doing both, you will eventually see progress. However, if you make the mistake of starving yourself, not only will your weight most likely return, but you will lose muscle in the process, ultimately resulting in your body’s metabolism dropping. At the same time, simply not eating enough (starving yourself or skipping meals) also causes your body to go into starvation mode so that it hangs onto calories rather than expend them for energy, and will ultimately store them as fat. Let me also add that over time this starvation cycle may ultimately lead to you screwing up you metabolism to such a degree that you actually start to gain weight, or store body fat, on the same number of calories per day that you used to simply maintain your weight.
So as you can see, it’s simply not worth screwing up your body, your metabolism, and ultimately your health, for rapid weight loss. Do it the proper way, and you’ll be much happier with achieving permanent weight loss, or should I say fat loss. If you need help, many professional organizations can lend you a hand in helping you achieve a balanced diet and exercise program.
Melissa Allen, BS, CPT, CES is a certified personal trainer, corrective exercise specialist and Medifast health coach, is the owner of the Optimum Condition Corrective Exercise & Performance Center, located in El Cajon, in the East County of San Diego. We specialize in customized fitness training and corrective exercise for both recreational athletes and post-rehab clients, as well as guaranteed weight loss programs or your money back. You can schedule a free consultation to help you get started. Please visit her website at OptimumCondition.org.
