Magazines make them look so appealing. The media lavishes them with attention. Uber-thin girls with their Pixy Stix legs and Barbie-thin waists have been hitting the runways and saturating fashion publications long enough that our perspective on what is beautiful has been skewed.
Our marketers and media-savvy gurus have managed to program our impressionable young children and adults into believing the waifs and anorexics are the epitome of perfection and if we ever want to go on a date, or get married, or have a life – we’d better look like them - no matter what it takes - even if we have to starve ourselves thin.
Why is it that vulnerable girls desire to be skinnier than a fasting praying mantis? A resounding number of dieters think the body frame of the typical model is the ultimate goal. Feeling destitute, some dieters will go through extreme methods of trying to obtain this look our society deems “beautiful.” After fruitless attempts at losing the weight, some resort to a dieting tactic they feel is the only surefire route to achieving weight loss - starvation. Refraining from food or burning up more calories than consumed on a daily basis ensures that the body will eventually sabotage your weight loss goals.
There’s no harm in dieting, but first we must tweak our views on what beauty is, and understand that being too thin is dangerous. A plan to get to a ‘healthy’ weight is what our goals should entail. To diet right, and keep the weight off - you still need to bring something to the table. Food is sustenance. Food is good. Food helps nourish and, if eaten properly, can also aid in the weight loss process. Starving does not provide healthful benefits. In fact, depriving your body of food to speed up your weight loss results only manages to slow down your metabolism.
Your body sees starvation as a red flag, and once it’s been depleted of life-sustaining nutrients, it goes into crisis mode. Like a squirrel preparing for the long winter ahead by stockpiling its meals until the return of spring, the body reacts in the same way by ‘storing’ the next meal you eat. It responds in this fashion because it is now expecting to be put through the distress of starvation again somewhere down the road.
The term ‘starvation mode’ is rather a state where your body is more inclined to store calories consumed in lieu of using them for energy. Eating a very low amount of calories will result in weight loss (which is simply a function of burning more calories than the calories one consumes).
When you deprive you body of sustenance, it opts to use its own fat and muscle for nutrients. Working every muscle group in your body helps to reduce the excess fat. But, if you are not exercising every major muscle group, your body will use a combination of fat AND muscle to sustain itself. This will make you feel extremely tired and slow. Eventually, your weight loss will begin to taper as your metabolism adjusts to not getting enough food. Eating a healthy diet high in proteins and consuming the right amount of calories for your body type for a lifetime is the proper plan for everyone wishing to lose weight and keep it off.
Energy levels will be higher also, if you space out the 800-1,000 calories vs. eating them in 1 or 2 sittings. Eat meals no more than four hours apart and see a physician or dietician to get you on a plan that’s right for your body type.
To find out how to eat to lose weight appropriately, contact a professional weight loss clinician or specialist. The Cleveland Clinic is an excellent resource for accessing the right treatment plan for your body type. To learn more, contact: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/bariatric_surgery/medical_weight_loss_program.aspx .
Starving may contribute to short-term dieting gains now – but you’ll end up losing the weight game in the end.
Comments