When you’re desperate to drop extra pounds, you might be willing to try almost anything—even unhealthy ways to lose weight that put your health at risk. In a cruel twist, these weight-loss methods might work at first, but you’ll eventually gain back the weight. If you want to successfully lose weight and keep it off, there’s no avoiding a healthful diet and regular exercise. Getting enough sleep also helps because sleeplessness contributes to weight gain. If you’re obese, counselling and other methods might be necessary.
Fad Diets
These diets with unrealistic promises come and go for a good reason—they do not work over the long term. They’re also dangerous because they usually require you to cut out a certain food group or to eat only a specific food. These approaches prevent you from getting the variety of nutrients your body needs. For instance, a low-carbohydrate diet cuts out foods you need for energy and fiber. Portion control and eating small meals throughout the day are much better for weight loss.
Starvation
When you starve yourself for more than 24 hours, you will lose weight quickly initially. However, as your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows down so that you burn fat slower. You also lose muscle mass, which would otherwise help you lose weight more effectively, and you gain back weight faster once you start eating again. A starvation diet also might increase your risk of heart arrhythmias and gallstones.
Over-exercising
A healthy weight-loss plan includes aerobic exercise at least five days a week and strength training a few times a week. But, if you’re driven to exercise at all hours of the day every day, you might be a compulsive exerciser. In many cases, compulsive exercisers also suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Too much exercise can cause you to become dehydrated, disrupt your menstrual cycle or lead to stress fractures and osteoporosis.
Celebrity Diets
Losing weight like a favorite celebrity is always popular. Consider the success of celebrity diet books such as the bestseller "Best Life Diet" by Oprah’s personal chef, Bob Greene, and the use of celebrities to pitch weight-loss programs such as Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig.
However, in “The Celebrities’ Weird and Unhealthy Ways to Lose Weight,” the TV program "The Insider" points out that many celebrities lie about their weight-loss methods. Some use unhealthy ways to lose weight, such as starving themselves and taking potentially harmful drugs. So although it’s OK to indulge in their latest flick or dance your socks off at their concert, you shouldn’t look to them for weight loss advice.
References
- CDC: Healthy Weight—It’s Not a Diet, It’s a Lifestyle
- University of Iowa’s Hospital & Clinics: Weight Loss that Is Hazardous
- Weight-control Information Network: Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths
- MedlinePlus: Tips for losing weight
- Annals of Internal Medicine: Cardiac effects of starvation and semistarvation diets: safety and mechanisms of action1’2
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