By Chris Tedesco

One of the hardest things to do is to lose weight. Not all of us are gifted with a lean body and if you are not taking care of your health and body, losing weight will be a big challenge to face and conquer. It doesn’t help that we get a lot of false information on how we can lose weight and keep off the calories for good. What’s more, because of false information, our health suffers and we don’t really achieve our goal of losing weight.

Nowadays, people resort to easy and quick weight loss schemes that only work for a very short period of time. There are even companies out there that offer products that claim to help lose weight fast even without us needing to work for it.

Starvation Diets Don’t Work

For those who are desperate to lose weight, drastic measures, such as starving themselves, seem to be the answer. However, starving yourself to achieve weight loss does more harm than good. Yes, it may give you initial and drastic weight loss but what most people don’t know is that the weight will eventually come back. Starvation can actually be harmful to your health.

Here are the reasons why starving yourself to lose weight is not an ideal solution:

First of all, if you starve yourself it may become a habit, and before you know it, it can already become a form of addiction. This may lead to bigger problems like anorexia.

Starvation will slow down metabolism. When your metabolism slows down, the body will use muscle for energy, hence muscle is lost, and not fat. This will also make the body store more fat than burning it.

If you starve yourself, you may end up consuming more food later on. Your hunger will lead you to overeat, which will then lead to weight gain. This may become an unhealthy cycle.

It will also affect your overall performance. Since your body does not get the proper nutrients it needs to function well, your work and daily activities will suffer. Even simple decision-making will be difficult for you. Plus it will also take a toll on your emotional state. Hunger makes people angry and irrational most of the time. Your mood swings may even be worse than that of a pregnant woman.

If your body does not get the nutrition it needs, you will not have enough energy to perform your daily exercise that will keep your bones and muscles strong.
Starvation also affects your immune system. If your immune system is down, you are more prone to sickness.

Dehydration is another reason why you shouldn’t starve yourself to lose weight. When you are dehydrated you will feel weak and nauseated. This can also lead to heart failure as well as kidney failure.

The Better Way to Lose Weight
If you really want to lose weight, do it the right way – no shortcuts. According to experts, the most effective way of losing weight and keeping it off for a long time is a combination of a healthy lifestyle – meaning eating nutritious food and exercising on a regular basis.