I’ll just starve myself to lose weight!You may be thinking if you get fat from eating too much in the first place that if you just starve yourself by going on a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) that you can lose weight. Before explaining why this is a bad idea, Remember this before you try any kind of VLCD: If you eat too much you’ll get fat &... |
During a VLCD your body will try to hold onto to as much body fat as possible by breaking down some muscle along with body fat for energy. Since body fat contains a lot of energy (1 lb. has 3500 calories) your body will try to hold onto and store as much body fat as it can for an emergency source of energy during your VLCD.
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"Ah, come on. You got to eat something. If you don’t eat you’ll just get fatter as you try to lose weight!"
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Once your body goes into survival mode your metabolism will slow down (partly due to muscle loss) making it easier for you to store fat.
A 150lb. lazy person's metabolism may now start burning 1450 calories to keep their bodies functioning properly while on a VLCD instead of the 1950 calories they normally burn on a daily basis to keep their bodies functioning properly.
Your body will try to burn only a minimal amount of calories to survive. As a result of this and the fact you’re not eating as much, you will start to feel weaker and tired more often while on VLCD.
A 150lb. lazy person will now start to store fat (exactly 1lb a week) even if they eat their original amount of calories they need (1950) to maintain their bodyweight.
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1950 calories needed by a 150lb. lazy person to maintain their weight before going on VLCD |
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1450 calories needed by a 150lb. lazy person while on a VLCD Because of a slower metabolism |
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500 extra calories eaten daily |
Lets look it this way. What if the 150lb lazy person loses 10lbs in 2 weeks on their VLCD? Well they would obviously weight 140lbs and according to the weight loss center they would need 1820 calories to maintain their new bodyweight.
The only problem is that their metabolism is still slower because of the VLCD (burning only 1450 calories). They would start to gain about ¾ pound a week (1lb every 9 days) even while off the diet if they eat the recommend amount of calories for their bodyweight (1820).
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Recommended 1820 calories needed to maintain weight of 140lbs |
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1450 calories now needed each day due to slower metabolism via VLCD |
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370 extra calories or 1lb of fat gained every 9 days |
Not only do you begin to put on fat as you lose weight while you're on VLCD you also put yourself in an easier position to put on fat after you finish the VLCD.
Survival mode is sort of like almost going bankrupt. During your financial struggles in order for you to "survive" financially you will sell off your assets (cars, big screen TV’s, VCRs, etc.) for some extra cash. You will try to hold onto and save as much of the cash you had before your financial struggles and the cash you made by selling your assets to help you survive financially.
In survival mode your body treats muscle as you treat assets and it treats body fat the same way you treat cash. You may spend some cash during your financial struggles but you will limit your spending habits to help you survive financially.
You may start to lose body fat while on a VLCD, but not as much as you'd think since your body slows down your metabolism to store body fat.
Your body will burn as much muscle as it possibly can for energy in order to save body fat for emergency energy. For every 10lbs you lose while on VLCD about 4-6 lbs (40-60%) may be muscle.
Unless you are some prehistoric caveman who goes for days without killing
a dinosaur for food there’s really no need for you to go into survival mode.
Our prehistoric ancestors relied heavily on survival mode to help get them through rough periods where food was scarce because of their dying crops or their hunting efforts failed. The longer a caveman could hold onto and store body fat during survival mode the longer they could survive. |
Many people come off VLCD diets with the same results. A larger percentage of the weight they lose from VLCD is mainly water and muscle with very little fat loss. You may start out as an overweight person at the beginning of these diets but you end up being a skinner fat person.
Along with the various health implications and the fact that you don’t lose that much body fat you should never starve yourself or go on a VLCD. One way to lose weight safely is knowing the right of amount of calories you can cut each day from your diet without going into survival mode.