Although losing weight is important, it is important to make sure that you are not losing weight too rapidly. There are many dangers that can come with rapid weight loss, and while some may not be health threatening, they can impact your overall self image, and your mental state. Let’s take a look at why slow and gradual weight loss may be better for you over the long term.
1. Your skin needs time to adjust.
This is one of the biggest problems facing those who have weight loss surgery. They rapidly drop weight, and as a result, their skin does not have the time to shrink along with the rest of them. The result is a lot of excess skin that isn’t going to go anywhere. This typically requires tucking procedures, and there are real risks that come with any type of surgery.
Your skin does lose elasticity as you age, and there is no guarantee that you won’t end up with at least some loose skin after losing weight. However, rapid weight loss does lead to excess skin and those with this condition often feel unattractive and they cannot enjoy the changes in their body.
When you lose weight gradually, you are giving your skin time to get use to the changes and contract naturally. While there is no magic pill that can guarantee your skin will spring back to its original shape pre-weight gain, gradual weight loss greatly reduces the risk of having this problem occur.
2. An imbalance in your body.
This is actually quite common, particularly with those that rely on liquid diets to shed weight quickly. Your body needs a set amount of potassium and sodium to function properly. If you are losing weight at an unsafe pace, these levels may be affected. This can lead to numerous problems, such as heart failure and other unpleasant side effects.
Dehydration is another common issue with weight loss, particularly with fad diets. Many of these are designed to help you lose water weight, and this can be an almost instant change of more than eight pounds. However, your body needs a lot of that water – and when it’s suddenly taken away, you can become dehydrated. Couple this with the displacement of nutrients and you’ve got a real problem on your hands.
Last but not least, rapid weight loss can wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels, and this may have lasting effects. Your body and your brain need blood sugar in order to keep functioning. If you have too little, you can have a dangerous reaction that has the potential of leaving you in a coma.
3. Excessive fatigue.
Fad diets that promote rapid weight loss usually leave you feeling fatigued, and worn out. This is mainly due to the imbalance in your body’s normal levels, as mentioned above. You do need food to survive, even if you think you could live off your own fat for a few months.
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Originally posted 2009-01-06 05:50:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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4 comments ↓
The big problem with rapid weight loss, aside from what you point out above, is that it rarely works in the long term. Any study I’ve seen shows that after a year, most people regain the weight and more after going on a fad diet.
- Dave
I completely agree that rapid weight-loss never works and unfortunately most people either gain it all back or gain even more weight! I whole-heartedly feel that healthy eating and regular exercise is the key to a healthy lifestyle and weight loss program. I’ve always been into sports and exercise, and always looking for the next best thing in fitness which is why I love reading your blog! I actually just started a new fitness program that incorporates cardio every other day and then I just joined STATION Fitness, which is a studio in Manhattan that only has Power Plate machines…It’s incredible and I’ve already seen a difference in my body and level of energy. It’s literally a large plate, big enough to stand and sit on, in order to do squats, crunches, lunges, yoga and pilates. I was doing some research on it and it’s pretty popular in Europe and STATION is the only studio in Manhattan (which is where I live) to offer classes. If you’re ever in NYC you definitely have to try it out! Check it out on http://www.stationfitness.com Thanks for all your health and fitness updates..it definitely helps!
Rapid weight loss or “fad” diets not only don’t work, but more importantly are extremely dangerous. We work very hard to teach our clients proper diet and exercise, focusing on the marathon, not the sprint! Be careful folks….. It is supposed to be a healthy endeavor!
When I used to own a workout studio, a woman came in who had rapidly lost a huge amount of weight and now wanted to exercise away the unbelievable amount of hanging skin she had. She actually had to stuff it into her pants! I had to tell her that, at that point, exercise was not going to help her skin. She should have lost weight slowly and exercised throughout the process.
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