Weve all heard stories about people getting lost in the jungle or wilderness for weeks with no food at all but only with water, or old tales of prisoners in war camps who are confined for years with only pathetic amounts of food. Ever wondered how these people survived?
Firstly, you've got to recognise that your body is an amazing thing. So amazing that sometimes I think we're almost at the point where mankind is ready to evolve to the next level.. but I probably think that because I've watched too much of X-MEN, so let's not take it that far for now.
Your body not only looks good when you're fit, but your body has the amazing ability to ADAPT to the environment. If we're looking from the point of food intake, your body is actually able to slow down its rate of burning calories if it needs to. When you're faced with a situation where food is limited, your body senses this and tells itself -''Hey, we better stop burning all these calories so quickly because it looks like we're having a shortage of calories lately, and this may go on for some time. Let's slow down and start saving more energy so that we can survive longer under these conditions with the little food we're getting''.
As a result, your metabolism slows down too, and your body is no longer at peak performance. This is THE VERY REASON why you can never starve yourself to lose fat. Yes, you'll lose weight dramatically, and some fat together with it, but you'll eventually reach a point where you're getting nowhere, and just be a miniature version of what you previously were... and not a transformed physique. For example, if you're not satisfied with your car right now, let's say you drive a Kelisa... and you wan't a bigger car. What do you get? A BIGGER Kelisa? No.. you get a different car that looks different and gives you what you want, and performs differently. That's what change is all about. You wan't to lose FAT, not 'weight'... not be a bigger or smaller version of yourself.
Okay, so let's say if somehow you manage to starve yourself to a size you want... and now you want to 'resume' your eating habits... well, I've got news for you. You're just gonna pack on the pounds all over again, and gain weight faster than you ever have! Why? simply because you've successfully managed to trick your body into functioning with lesser calories.. and anything more would simply make you gain fat because you're consuming MORE than what your body needs.
The starvation response evolved in humans basically to ensure the survival of the species... not for you to fit into a dress or an outfit. It IS a blessing if youre stranded out in the wilderness with no food, it keeps you alive longer. However, this same life-saving mechanism WILL WORK AGAINST YOU when youre trying to lose fat because your body cant tell the difference between dieting and starving.
Until today, every single person I know who tried to starve themselves to a better physique are either back to the shape they were before, or fatter than before (most of them are fatter now and find it even more difficult to do anything about it). Who is to blame when this happens? What more proof do you need?
I'm actually quite annoyed with people who choose to starve themselves. It's SO SILLY. I've got a friend who just realised she gained 4kgs over 2 months (well.. thats what eating Chicken Crispers at Chilis once a week does to you my dear.. so don't come complaining to me). She's now decided to starve herself. I've talked to her many, many, MANY times before on the right approach to losing fat, but she's never listened to me. So basically, I've given up on giving her advice. I'm just gonna watch her.. and let her be a guinea pig to everything I've told her not to do. She's now on a diet of tea (with milk, sugar), biscuits, 1 or 2 bananas a day, no rice. In other words, she's on an ALL CARB, severely low calorie diet. Oh, the fun I'm gonna have observing her.
To everyone else out there... especially my readers - don't you dare consider starving yourself. I'd get upset too.
Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author's personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness.
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