When Fast Weight Loss Becomes Unhealthy

You’ve made the decision to lose weight as quickly as possible.
You have your diet in place and you expect to follow it
religiously. At this point, you may be wondering how much weight
you can lose in a given week and whether fast weight loss can be
dangerous for your body.

There are a number of things that can affect your weight loss.
For instance, family history, or genetics, can play a
significant role. Also, your weight loss may depend upon how
much exercise you’re engaging in, as well as how much stress you
are under. Your metabolism, or how quickly you burn calories,
can also have a major effect.

Theoretically, you could lose as much as 20 pounds a week.
However, much of that weight could be water weight. That means
that, once you go off your diet, you are likely to gain much of
that weight back. Also, unless you engage in strength training,
you will be losing muscle as well as fat, since about ¼ of the
body’s weight consists of muscle. It is interesting to note
that, at most, you can probably lose four pounds of fat in a
given week.

Nature has a way of protecting the body against excessive
weight loss. If, for instance, your calorie count suddenly
drops, your body will compensate for the fact by reducing your
metabolic rate. As a result, you’ll need fewer calories to
maintain your weight. This explains why some people lose weight
up to a point and then cannot lose any additional weight, no
matter how hard they try.

If you lose weight quickly, there’s a good chance that your
health will be jeopardized. For instance, fast weight loss has
been linked to the appearance of gall stones. Also, you may
experience loose skin as your weight goes into free fall.
Perhaps most distressing of all, if you experience rapid weight
loss, there’s a good chance that you will gain the weight back
again. This is because it is very difficult to maintain a
healthy diet regimen. You may find yourself falling back into
your bad eating habits after a period of deprivation.

Fast weight loss also places you at greater risk for an eating
disorder. You may be tempted to starve yourself, leading to
anorexia. Or, because your food cravings are so great, you may
want to binge and purge, leading to a case of bulimia. This is
why it is so critically important to lose weight under a
physician’s care. Otherwise, you could be doing more harm to
your body than good.

Although the body has the capability of shedding a great deal
of weight over a period of time, most medical experts agree that
one should not expect to lose more than one or two pounds a week
in order to remain healthy. This can be disappointing to a
dieter, especially one that needs to lose about 50 pounds.
However, doctors believe that the go-slow approach is best for
long-term weight loss. Otherwise, you could end up with a number
of health problems you weren’t anticipating.

There are a number of approaches you can use to lose weight.
For instance, you might follow the Atkins plan, the Zone, or the
diabetic diet. You might try Sugar Busters or the Carb Addict’s
prescription for losing weight. However, it is vitally important
that you accompany your diet plan with an effective exercise
routine. One of the best exercises you can do, in fact, is the
easiest–walking. It has been said that you can lose as many as
two pounds a week, just by walking alone.

As has been demonstrated here, rapid weight loss should be
approached with caution. It is far better to lose a few pounds
each week and maintain that weight loss over the long term. In
essence, all good things take time, and that is particularly
true when it comes to weight loss. Perhaps the best advice is to
be patient. Follow a reasonable diet, get plenty of exercise,
and drink a good amount of water. That way, you should be able
to slowly lose weight–without jeopardizing your health in the
process.

1. Prev:Learning to Say No–The Secret to Weight Loss
2. Next:The Federal Government’s Take on Weight Loss