Fast Weight Loss - Why It’s a Bad Idea

If you're thinking of losing weight it may be tempting to want to see results as quick as possible. However losing weight too quickly, through crash dieting or binge exercising, is unlikely to help you to maintain a healthy weight in the long term.

What are the health risks of quick weight loss?

Fast weight loss carries with it a range of health risks and most of the weight you lose will be mainly excess water and not excess fat. This loss can cause you to become dehydrated, as well as cause you to quickly regain any lost weight.

Crash dieting and fast weight loss can also cause you to suffer from diarrhea, causing dehydration, which can in turn cause you to become constipated. Starving your body of calories and vital nutrients through fast weight loss puts you at risk of malnutrition and causes fatigue. Fast weight loss can also cause your energy levels to drop, as well as your stamina. Fast weight loss will cause a decrease in your body's sodium and potassium levels, putting you at risk of suffering from painful cramps as well as general feelings of illness.

Finally, crash dieting, binge exercising and fast weight loss can cause your skin to become flaky and dry, you hair to become dry and lack luster and your nails to become weak. Your mood is also likely to suffer from the ill effects of unhealthy dieting and you will be at increased risk of experiencing anxiety, depression and irritability.

What are crash and fad diets?

There are a multitude of crash diets or fad diets which have become famous, especially when a celebrity is said to have followed the diet and has lost weight. Some of the most famous fad diets have been; the cabbage soup diet, the maple syrup diet, the baby food diet, the low-carb diet. Following these types of diets starves your body of vitamins, minerals and nutrients due to the elimination of entire food groups.

Though they cause fast weight loss, it's unlikely they will help you to maintain a healthy weight. Instead you should focus on eating a healthy calorie controlled diet and exercising regularly to help you lose weight slowly, safely and sensibly, and maintain your weight loss.

What happens to the body on a crash or fad diet?

You're body is designed to stop itself from losing too much weight too quickly. If you try to lose more than the advised amount of one to two pounds per week, your body will start using up its muscle stores rather than fat stores for energy. This reduction in lean muscle mass actually detracts from the effort of you trying to lose weight, as muscle is what gives your body a toned physique.

A higher percentage of muscle mass also increases your physical performance when you exercise, which allows you to burn more calories. And having a higher muscle mass increases your metabolism, meaning that your body uses up more calories even when you're asleep. To prevent your body from using its stores of muscle mass for energy, you should always consume at least 1,200 calories every day while you are trying to lose weight.

Starvation mode

When you don't feed your body enough calories, it will go into 'starvation mode'. Your metabolism is purposely slowed by your body to avoid using up valuable energy. Your body will hold onto any calories you consume because it doesn't know when more calories will enter the body, preventing you from losing weight. If you make a habit of crash dieting, it can cause an adverse long term effect on the natural functioning of your metabolism, making it harder to control your weight in the future.

What is yo-yo dieting?

Often when people try to lose weight on a crash diet, it signals the beginning of a vicious cycle, where their weight ends up yo-yoing up and down. This is where a crash diet is followed by binge eating and the re-gaining any weight that was lost. In many cases people gain more weight than they lost following the crash or fad diet, causing the person to suffer from guilt as a result.

How can I lose weight healthily?

You should focus on eating a healthy calorie controlled diet and exercising regularly to help you lose weight slowly, safely and sensibly, which in turn will help you to maintain your weight loss. You should aim to reduce your daily calorie intake by 300-500 calories through a combination of making improvements to your diet, and burning off calories through exercise. If you maintain this daily you should lose between one to two pounds per week, which is the recommended amount level of health weight loss.

If you are already trying this, but aren't getting the results, then you might qualify for a prescription weight loss treatment.