Diet fads come and go; some are variations on a theme, and others prove to be dangerous and get shot down after fatalities have already happened. There is one strategy that probably every woman has turned to who has ever tried to lose weight – the “Crash Diet”.
If we really understood our bodies properly, we would never think that “crashing” is a good idea. Believing that by not eating, we stop putting calories into our body, which means we should lose weight, is wrong thinking. Crash dieting can make you feel weak and tired because you are not putting in the right amount of calories your body needs to do its fabulous thing. The pounds may drop off, but they will not stay off.
The bottom line is this: crash diets never work!!
And there are very good physiological reasons why not.
We may think we can fool our bodies, but we can’t. Millennia of physiological evolution mean that the human body has well-honed strategies for coping with “crash dieting”, or, in other words, starvation.
1. When we starve ourselves, the body becomes much more efficient at laying down fat as a defence mechanism.
2. When you lose weight rapidly, the body responds by tightly conserving the few calories that are provided.
3. During starvation, our metabolism slows progressively, conserving energy.
4. When we return to eating normally, the body continues to conserve energy and efficiently store fat. The result: our weight returns to its previous level and then some.
Losing weight too quickly can cause many medical problems, such as a weakening of the heart muscle and irregular heartbeats. If you want to lose weight, you are better off exercising and eating a healthier and balanced diet.
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