Starvation Diets and Fasting the Body
By Matthew Johnson
Have you ever wondered why most diets fail to maintain long term weight loss?
It's sad, but the majority of dieters gain back the weight they have lost within a couple of months.
Unfortunately, weight rebound is a common ingredient in the commercial weight loss program.
The reason is because commercial diets are often so low in calories, that your body goes into a starvation mode and begins shedding muscle.
This loss of muscle is the true cause and culprit behind weight rebound.
One pound of body fat stores up to 3500 calories. In a hypothetical
case, you are metabolizing 2000 calories, if you stopped eating
you could lose roughly a pound of weight in two days. The
reason why you cannot simply terminate calorie intake must be considered,
the body's actual functions are far more complex than most dieters
recognize. The human body will shed a pound of muscle at the
same rate for every pound of body fat. The reason behind this
dates back to our ancient ancestors, hunters and gatherers.
The human body is designed to lose muscle mass in an event of starvation.
This is an internal safety mechanism that increases the human life
span in case of famine. The genetic goal of the human body
is to burn less calories, own less muscle mass, and have more body
fat in case of famine. This is the way we have survived for
thousands of years.
So now your wondering how do you avoid weight rebound? In
order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume.
Yet, if you don't consume enough calories you know that you will
lose muscle and increase you chances of future weight rebound.
According to research, the key to limiting loss of muscle is to
put your body in the correct calorie deficit. First find the
amount of calories you burn daily using the maintenance method.
This method is done by logging your activities and all calories
eaten for two weeks. At the end of two weeks and only if your
weight has remained the same (maintenance), you have a good idea
of the calories you are burning daily. This is the amount
of calories you need to maintain your current weight. To lose
weight you should lower your calories 250-1000 below your maintenance
level. If you drop your calories lower than 1000 you are at
a high likely hood of losing lean body mass (muscle).
Current research also suggests that a healthy way to maintain a
reasonable weight (and this varies per person), is a the combination
of a healthy diet with a fitness program. Diet is a popular
method, as discussed above, and there are many programs to choose
from. While diet (restricting intake) is one method, it should
be used in conjunction with physical activities. Activities
such as running, walking, lifting weights, swimming, are some of
the more common methods people use. Rather than rely on crash
dieting, fad dieting, and over-zealous fitness programs, a person
would be wise to follow a moderate program that they maintain over
time. Remember, the longer you can maintain your fitness program
the longer you can maintain your new health.
Click here for our free tool that
calculates daily calorie requirements:
daily
calorie requirements
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Matthew Johnson is a personal trainer
and an on-line fitness consultant at Changing Shape. |
References
Nutrition Concepts and Controversies. West Publishing Company: New York, 1978.
Mattfeldt-Beman, Mildred. Corrigan, Sheila A. Stevens, Victor J. Sugars, Carolyn
P. Dalcin, Arlene T. Givi, M. John. Copeland, Karen C. Journal of the American Dietetic Association Jan. 1999: v99 il p66(6).
"The Secret of High-protein diets; what you need to know before you give up pasta (includes evaluations of popular high-protein diets)." Prevention June 1997: v49 n6 p85(7).
Whitney, Eleanor Noss., III, et al, Understanding Normal and Clinical
Nutrition. New York: West Publishing Company 1991.
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