At Penn State, spring break is just one short month away. This means that all around me I hear students discussing their plans to drop those last 20 pounds before their trip to Cancun or Florida or wherever. These plans include crazy fad diets, juice cleanses, running 10 miles per day and many more. Unfortunately, from a nutrition perspective, what I hear from these plans are starvation and disordered eating patterns. I cannot emphasize this next thing I say enough – starvation is not the answer to weight loss!
There seems to be this common misconception that weight loss occurs from eating very little – “the less you eat, the more you’ll lose” is the thought process. And for those who are trying to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, subsisting off of dry salads and very few calories seem to be the answer. However, what most people do not realize is that your body needs food – and a lot of it – to function properly. At the baseline, if you were to lay in bed all day and not move at all, your body requires at the very least 1,200 calories just to keep your body functioning properly. Add any amount of movement or physical activity and that calorie requirement goes up. Therefore, when people go on these crazy diets where they are consuming less than 1,000 calories per day – there are many negative effects in the body.
When you starve yourself, your body goes into survival mode. If the body perceives it is being starved and doesn’t have food to turn into energy, it continues to hold onto and store fat, rather than burn it. This is a survival mechanism in case no food becomes available. Eventually, your body may eventually break down muscle for energy leading to a loss in muscle, rather than the fat loss people are hoping for. This starvation state can also significantly impact both mood and performance due to a substantial drop in blood sugar which causes lethargy and irritability. Additionally, any period of starvation – whether it is hours, days, weeks or months – is usually followed by a period of overconsumption and ultimately weight gain.
Instead, the answer to weight loss is the exact opposite of starvation. Eating 4-5 small meals per day is the most effective method for weight loss. One way to do this is to plan meals and practice portion control at each meal to keep your body and metabolism running properly throughout the day. It is so important to follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly in order to lose weight. Weight loss plans must be sustainable if they are going to work – this means it has to be a plan you can follow for the rest of your life and starvation is certainly not sustainable.
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