Celebrities have copped to using drastic measures and fasting to lose weight for, or from, certain on-screen roles. But fasting for weight loss may not be the best choice, since it offers only a temporary solution to a growing problem. While fasting can help you drop pounds quickly, it can also put your body in a less-healthy state that makes quick weight gain more likely. Think twice before you consider fasting as a viable way to lose weight; consult your doctor before adopting any new diet or weight-loss plan.
Features
The feature of a fasting diet includes eating little or nothing at all for a day or more at a time to see a drastic drop in weight. Proponents of fasting as a means to weight loss claim that fasting can help cleanse your body and digestive system, but it's a dangerous way to approach weight loss and fitness.
Benefits
The benefits of fasting for weight loss are few and far between. Fasting can indeed bring you quick weight loss, and fasting while doing an internal cleanse could help you see a temporary decrease in bloating so you appear to be slimmer. It may serve as a short-term solution to look slimmer for a big event, but it's an unhealthy way to manage your weight --- and is not generally recommended by doctors or nutritionists.
Disadvantages
When you fast, you tell your body that you're starving. Your body then goes into starvation mode and does what it can to conserve energy. This, in turn, slows your metabolism as your body does what it can to conserve and store fat and calories for future energy. While you may look slimmer initially, you'll gain back all of the weight and more when you begin eating properly again because of your new, slower metabolism, concluded a study performed at Cornell University whose results were published in a 2010 issue of the journal "Physiology & Behavior."
Safety
Fasting for long periods of time can leave you feeling weak, tired and unhealthy. If you plan to fast, do so while drinking water and fruit juice at the very least to avoid a dangerous drop in blood sugar, warns "Health" magazine. What's more, fasting to lose weight could be gateway behavior to a much more serious fascination with other modes of weight loss, including eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia.
Alternatives
Instead of fasting to lose weight, focus on healthy eating with fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains, nutritionist Anne Collins advises on her website, adding that you should perform some type of daily physical activity. Instead of relying on fad diets and panic attempts to lose weight, try a healthier lifestyle that allows you to stay slim and healthy, rather than hungry and overweight.
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