Fast for Weight Loss

Fasting for weight loss is touted as a quick way to lose weight. Most people who lose weight through fasting, however, put it right back on. This is because healthy weight loss involves more than just short-term dietary changes. Addressing lifestyle choices and emotional issues is also necessary to achieve sustainable weight loss. Weight loss fasts can be helpful if done correctly; a break in your old routine is often an effective way to start a new one. Consult a doctor before opting to fast for weight loss.

Fasting Facts

Fasting can involve anything from consuming nothing but raw fruits and vegetables to subsisting on water alone. Juice fasts are popular among adherents of a natural lifestyle, though claims of toxins being forcibly flushed from your body remain unproven. Common sense dictates that a day or two of not eating foods high in chemicals and empty calories is better than continuing bad habits, though you should not expect dramatic weight loss results. When fasting, it is important to take in enough calories to nourish your body while also staying hydrated and getting plenty of rest.

Weight Loss Facts

One pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. Therefore, to lose 1 lb. of fat in a week, you must take in fewer than 3,500 calories in a week than you normally do, or burn that amount off. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends decreasing your daily caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day to achieve a loss of 1 to 2 lbs. per week. Making every calorie count by structuring your diet around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats ensures that you don't sacrifice nutrition by cutting calories.

Benefits of Fasting

Occasional fasts of water or fruit and vegetable juices lasting no more than one to three days are unlikely to cause a healthy person any harm, and may actually help jump start a weight loss plan. Fresh fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories and sodium and packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Preliminary research, like that published in 2010 in "Nutrition Journal," suggests that moderate alternate day fasting -- or AMDF -- can help speed weight loss. More research is needed, but the March 2010 issue of "The Cornell Chronicle" also reports that a weekly fast may have benefit people stay on a weight loss plan. Your doctor can help you decide if you would benefit from fasting.

Dangers of Fasting

Starving your body of appropriate nutrients forces it to seek them within itself. This means it will not only use fat, but muscle tissue, weakening your body and possibly damaging your heart. Your body possesses very sophisticated mechanisms to stave off starvation, according to Fort Valley College. In the continued absence of adequate nutrition, your metabolism will slow down, meaning that your weight loss will also slow.