Can Losing Weight Too Fast Make You Fatter?

Out of Control Weight Gain As a Result of Losing Too Much Too Soon

Quick answer: Yes

The experts agree. Losing more than a pound or two a week is a quick fix…not a permanent solution. And the rub is studies have shown that people who listen to the false promises and drop those pounds too rapidly, quickly return to their original weight… and more.  Here are more reasons than you’ll need in order to take a sensible approach to weight loss:

• Rapid weight loss is mostly water. Your body is 70% water, so it’s easy to lose weight quickly if you deprive your body of the nourishment it needs.  Any diet that dehydrates you will create quick, dramatic weight loss…but not for long!
• Lose weight too fast and you slow your metabolism. When you skip meals or crash diet, your body is programmed to think it’s starving and slows your metabolism to conserve energy. After all, our bodies are designed to help us survive when it thinks it’s being starved.
• Lose weight fast and you’ll lose muscle. The fact is if you lose weight too quickly, you lose muscle mass along with fat.  Less muscle.  More fat.  Not a pretty picture!
• Muscle burns more calories than fat. Which means that the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, even when you’re not exercising.  Fast weight loss plays a trick on you by limiting your body’s ability to burn calories.
• Crash dieting is dangerous to your health. Eat too little or eliminate a food group or two and you’re playing with fire. Here are just 3 of the reasons why:

1. Loose Skin. If you shed weight too quickly, your skin does not have time to shrink to your new body dimensions. The only effective treatment for loose skin is surgery.
2. Gallstones. Studies have shown that people who lose weight quickly, have a greater risk of developing gallstones.
3. Lack of energy and illness.  Depending on the crash diet there are a host of other complications including lack of energy and nausea for those who cut out carbs and a general feeling of ill health and lack of energy as you deprive your body of good nutrition.

This is what your doctor would tell you. Think long-term and you can be slim for a lifetime. Consider this: if you only lost 2 pounds a week, you could be 20 pounds thinner in less than 3 months.   40+ pounds in 6 months.  Don’t take chances with your health and don’t, for goodness sakes, kid yourself that you can fight nature, beat the odds, and do what the body was not designed to do.