It’s the New Year and of course the internet is flooded with 30 Day challenges, Transformation Packages, Skinny Teas, Aloe Detoxes and all that malarky in order to entice you to buy into their shite. Listen, you have the right to spend your hard earned cash on whatever you like but rest assured, do you know what you’re actually buying into?
I’ve said this a million times over on my Facebook page: weight gain does not happen over night so why expect it to drop in such a short time space?
Realistically unless you’re obese, malnourished or an athlete it really shouldn’t matter what number is on the scales. But that’s a topic for another day.
The long story short is that if you lose weight too quickly it can permanently damage your metabolism. I’ll say it again. If you lose weight too quickly it can PERMANENTLY damage your metabolism.
What is your metabolism? It’s basically how fast you can burn calories on a daily basis. It changes and is different for everyone based on your height, sex, weight and age.
Your energy balance for body composition is defined by your metabolism. So in order to lose weight you need to spend more energy (activity and exercise) than energy coming in (food and drink). If your activity and exercise match your food and drink then your weight will stay the same i.e maintenance.  And if you take in more than goes out you will gain weight. It seems very simple, scientifically it is but in reality for some it can be very difficult – again a topic for another day.
There is a minimum amount of food (and drink) we need to consume everyday in order to survive… yes, survive. So that means sleeping, breathing, body functions as well as our day to day activities. In the medium term it can stop weight loss as your body fights to hold onto all that precious energy, short term we can fast and starve and drop the pounds, but it’s not sustainable. I mean, I get REALLY hangry when I’m hungry and as a woman, I know I’m not the only one who can get like this!
But what happens when you drop a load of pounds in a week after jumping onto the next expensive diet plan? You may have heard the word rebound a lot, but it’s true. After depriving yourself of essential energy intake, you body pretty much tells you to go fuck yourself and decides to just hold onto everything that comes in! Which is why a lot of people actually end up heavier than when they started!
But lets get down to some serious business. The Metabolic Armageddon. I’m talking about TV weight loss shows that we all know about. Where they put contestants or participants through grueling exercise regiments and hugely restrictive calorie controlled diets for the public’s entertainment. Yes, entertainment, not inspiration. My full opinion on these types of shows will be published later but in the effort of keeping this brief I’ll just go for the home run.
In The US in 2009, Danny Cahill, The Biggest Loser lost a whopping 17.5 Stone in just 7 months. All the contestants lived on a ranch for 4 months, put through hell and then sent off for another 3 months to put themselves through self induced hell. But hey, he lost 17.5 stone and is a new man, it was all worth it, right?
Unfortunately not. Why don’t we hear very much about these contestants years after the show? Well for Danny, six years later he put back on 7 stone. And it’s not entirely his fault. He had to pay his bills, after he quit his job so he could spend morning noon and night at the gym. He was left so physically exhausted after the post show tour that he was bedridden for a full two weeks. Oh and by the way, his metabolism is now permanently damaged because his energy balance was so extreme during that period it was literally impossible to maintain that routine. In order to maintain his current weight, he now has to eat 800 calories LESS than a man of his height, weight and age who did not go on a restrictive diet. 800 calories less, for a man who is still obese. To be hungry all the time because if you eat to be satisfied (not even full) then you will gain weight. The doctor of the show also said that to maintain his weight he has to exercise for 9 hours per week. And I’m not even going to talk about the excess skin left over from such a rapid drop.
All but one of the contestants that year suffered metabolic damage and gained back half, all or more weight than when they started.
You can read the full article on the story here.
Right so you may not want to lose 17 stone in 7 months, but do know that all diets work until you can no longer maintain it. If you lose weight rapidly it will ruin you for the rest of your life and I for one cannot imagine a life where I would have to be hungry all the time.
If you REALLY need to watch the scales, take it one pound or half pound at a time and go at a pace that is right for YOU. Classic Hare and The Tortoise and the Tortoise can live for 100 years.