Why starving yourself isn’t the right way to shed weight

When trying to lose weight, it is always stressed to burn more calories than you consume.

So, if you eat less and work out more to torch calories, logically you should achieve your weight loss goal faster. Seems fair, right? That is where most people make mistakes.

Depriving yourself of food won’t help you achieve your goal any faster. On the contrary, it will shun your progress and make you more prone to health issues.

When it comes to dropping kilos, eating and exercising go hand in hand. Both should balance each other. Excess of anything can disrupt your workout routine.

How starving is different from intermittent fasting?
There is also a misconception among weight watchers that starving is equivalent to intermittent fasting and would give a similar result. In reality, Intermittent fasting is a calculated eating pattern in which you consume all the calories in a fixed time frame. You do not deprive your body of food to shed kilos.

Starving yourself means going without food or limited food intake for an extended period. This leads to a huge calorie deficit in the body, which might be unhealthy.

Here are four ways starving can disrupt your weight loss plan.

1. Slow metabolism
When you deprive yourself of the minimum amount of food required by the body to function, it starts to use fat stored in it for producing energy. It also begins to use skeletal tissue and muscle as a secondary source of energy. If you follow the pattern then your body starts to respond to calorie deprivation by reducing your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and you might eventually find it hard to shed kilos over time.

2. It may lead to chronic fatigue
Lack of nutrients may also lead to chronic fatigue. You may constantly feel weak and tired even after resting all night peacefully. That would increase the risk of injury while exercising or you might not even have the strength to workout.

3. Other body functions will decrease
Depending on how long you are starving yourself, it may start to affect other bodily functions. Brittle nails, low immunity, change in the menstrual cycle, skin paleness are some common problems that may emerge due to the lack of proper nutrients. In severe cases, even the breathing and heart rate slows down.

4. It may start affecting your mental health
Food not only helps to keep us healthy physically but also promotes our mental well-being. Deprived eating makes you more prone to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder. Besides, it also makes you more prone to mental health issues like depression and stress.