It is only natural that we want to appear slimmer, but it becomes more problematic when you want to achieve remarkable results faster than you change your mind about what clothes to wear. With this goal in mind, you’re presented with a variety of options, such as certain diet plans, detox teas and many other products that promise immediate slimming effects. The question is – is it really possible to rapidly achieve outstanding weight loss effects without compromising your overall health and well-being as a result?
Experts agree that people who lost weight right away were not able to keep off the weight they’ve shed in the first place. In fact, most of them gain back more than what they’ve lost. Rather than being hasty with the process of losing weight, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests a slow yet steady approach. For example, eliminating 1-2 pounds every week should be ideal.
If you cut your daily consumption by 500 calories, you should approximately lose one pound per week. When you lose weight slowly, it indicates that manageable lifestyle modifications are made rather than going through crash diets, which usually have unhealthy repercussions that create more problems.
Here’s how losing weight fast can do more harm than good:
You become more stressed
When you’re eating less than your body requires, you’re inducing the production of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. That stress fuels your cravings and boosts fat storage, particularly in the middle area. So, thanks to the further release of cortisol, your appetite is crazier than ever and you’re more likely to have more belly fat.
Your metabolism becomes slow
When you’re not consuming enough calories because your goal is to lose weight instantly, your body identifies this as a sign of external famine, which makes it switch to its metabolic survival mode. This means your body telling your metabolism to slow down for the purpose of energy conservation. Simply put, your body flips to starvation mode and accumulates more fat, which makes you gain weight instead of the opposite.
Your appetite grows
People who do crash diets are bound to increase their appetite. This is because crash dieting results in your leptin levels, the hormone that controls hunger, dropping substantially. Consequentially, you become even hungrier and are more likely to binge eat.
Your muscle tone suffers
Not eating enough leads your body to use muscle mass for fuel, which means your muscle tone will be seriously compromised. Also, reducing muscle mass also lessens the amount of fat you can burn. Naturally, the less tissue your body has, the harder it will be to lose weight. And as your body makes use of skeletal muscles, the fewer calories you can burn through physical exertions.
You’ll be dehydrated
You should also consider the fact that whatever you think you’ve lost is just water or stool being eradicated from your body. Water weighs roughly eight pounds per gallon and the speedy loss of fluids can result in severe dehydration. The importance of water can’t be stressed enough. It gets rid of toxins, transports nutrients, and assists with digestive processes, among others. So, being dehydrated means experiencing some adverse reactions, such as headaches, low energy levels, constipation, and muscle cramps. Apparently, all these can stop you from your daily functions.
Final Thoughts
When you’re losing weight fast without thinking of how this affects your body and overall health, you can expect your abrupt and unhealthy weight loss means to backfire. It’s true that losing weight isn’t just about improving your appearance; it’s also about improving your health. Thus, you have to lose weight in a way that’ll be safe for your body.
Slowly but surely is the perfect description for this. As mentioned earlier, strive to lose one to two pounds per week. That should be enough and healthy. Generally, it can help if you just forget about the number on the scale. Instead, concentrate on eating well, working out regularly, getting enough sleep, and decreasing stress.
