Although the saying has some truth to it, it falls short of properly describing the best strategies for long-term, sustained weight loss.
If you are overweight and want to tone your body, losing weight is crucial. We need to lose the extra weight on our bodies if we want to be healthy and fit. But starving yourself and remaining hungry is not the proper way to lose weight. It's important to realize that starving yourself and losing weight are two entirely different things. By abusing our bodies, we embrace an unhealthy lifestyle by starving ourselves.
What happens when people starve themselves in the name of dieting:
Your body requires to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight, which may be achieved by either taking fewer calories from food or burning more calories through activity.
A greater calorie deficit, however, does not always imply that you will lose weight and maintain it. Even if you might lose a lot of weight at first, it might be tough for you to keep it off in the long run. It's not healthy or sustainable to starve oneself to lose weight. As a result, people abuse their bodies by mistaking starvation for dieting.
- Your body starts to use its stored fat as its major energy source under continuous calorie restriction, and muscle and skeletal tissue as its backup energy sources. Your body uses less energy to burn calories as a result of an effort to conserve as much energy as possible. A slower metabolic rate may also make you more quickly tired. Your body employs this strategic move to stop you from using excessive amounts of energy. To encourage you to eat, your body also releases more hunger hormones.
- Your body may start to prioritize vital internal processes, such as breathing and heart rate, and slow down digestion, depending on the extent of starvation, the number of calories restricted, and the length of time. Your nails and hair may start to break off. Your immune system can have a more difficult time fending off disease and infection. You could have irregular or increased hunger, persistent bloating, or upset stomach. Your menstrual cycle might cease or vary. Your bones can begin to weaken.
- Mental health can suffer from starvation and other unhealthy dietary habits. Starvation diets can cause the emergence of disordered eating habits such as food restriction, fear of making poor food choices, etc. Prolonged fasting can, in extreme situations, lead to the onset of an eating problem like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder.
Relationship between Diet and Exercise:
The secret to effective weight loss is creating a diet and exercise routine. Diet and exercise may not be terms you enjoy hearing. But don't let them bother you. Eating nutritious, lower-calorie meals is all that a diet involves. Being more physically active is exercise.
Being active is a crucial part of a weight-loss regimen, even though people often focus on a diet while trying to lose weight. Your body requires energy (calories) to move when you're active, which aids in burning the calories you consume from food.
But not everything is either/or. In my opinion, there should be a 1:1 ratio between diet and activity. For your benefit, you need to get along well with both of these.
Why should you workout:
- Strength training assists in maintaining and increasing muscle mass, which over time can raise your metabolic rate and cause your body to burn more calories even when at rest. One strength training session can also raise your metabolic rate and keep it there for up to 72 hours.
- Walking, jogging, or cycling, especially at a low to moderate pace for at least 30 minutes, can assist create a calorie deficit by burning a considerable amount of calories in a single session. Choose a regular physical activity and commit to it. Aim for 75 minutes per week of severe aerobic exercise or at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, ideally spread out over the course of the week. Be aware that you could require more exercise to lose weight and keep it off.
- By controlling your hunger hormones, regular exercise may also help you control your hunger. By doing this, you might avoid overeating and frequent snacking. However, excessive activity might increase appetite and the danger of injury, so it's preferable to exercise moderately. Regular physical activity increases metabolic rate and burns additional calories, allowing you to be more flexible with your diet and making weight loss more pleasurable and less restrictive.
- People who exercise frequently usually do so because it makes them feel incredibly good. They enjoy better sleep at night, feel more relaxed and optimistic about themselves and their life, and have more energy throughout the day. Additionally, it is a potent treatment for many typical mental health issues. For people with depression, anxiety, and ADHD, regular exercise can be quite beneficial. Additionally, it lowers stress, raises mood generally, and helps with memory and sleep.
- Regular exercise has numerous immediate advantages, but it can also help you prevent chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease in the long run. Exercise lowers your risk of developing significant medical conditions, especially heart-related ones, and raises your "good" cholesterol.
The Bottom Line:
Although you might be inclined to prioritize one over the other, exercise and diet complement each other, and doing both will improve your health and quality of life.
Maintaining health, losing weight, and maintaining a sense of happiness are the main goals of exercise. Therefore, the exercise by itself won't help you develop an elegant physique and youthful appearance. To maintain a balance between the number of calories you consume and the number of calories you burn overall, you must alter both your lifestyle and food preferences. When it is in harmony, you will not only achieve a fantastic physique but also maintain your fitness, appear younger, and experience happiness.
Disclaimer: The information on this site is provided solely for educational reasons and is not intended to replace the medical treatment provided by a healthcare professional. Because each person's needs are different, the reader should check with their doctor to see if the information is appropriate for them.
