Can you gain weight starving yourself

Of course you are not looking to do this forever and for a dramatic weight loss, but you admit starving to shed a few pounds sounds like a great idea.

Well, maybe you should think again. Related: Why you aren't losing weight? When cutting calories and exercising is not working. First, lets look at the science behind weight, weight loss and how starvation affects your body. With one-third of Americans today being diagnosed with obesity it is no wonder that there is so much talk about dieting. These diets should be based on healthy eating and exercising, but for a majority they run the gamut from fads and diet pills, to cutting out food groups to starvation.

Sadly in a society where everyone wants a quick fix, starvation as a form of dieting has grown in popularity. Before one can understand dieting, it is important to understand the concepts of weight and weight loss.

Fat stores actually serve as a way for our body to store extra energy that is not being used, based on its caloric needs and our activity level. When eating certain amounts of calories, some is used up and the rest gets stored as fat. For many people long periods of time go by, with the same bad eating habits and limited exercise. Thus, the amount of fat storage and weight gain continues to rise. Look in the mirror. What do you see? Do you see stomach fat? Maybe some love handles?

In order to understand why starving yourself is bad for weight loss, you must understand how body fat works. Body fat is quite simply stored energy. When you eat food, your body will burn some of the kilojoules but it stores whatever is left over in the form of body fat. To lose this excess body fat, you need to give your body a reason to lose it.

The biggest mistake many people make is not eating while working out like crazy. But when you starve yourself a few things happen to your body. First, when you stop eating or eat very little, your body goes into starvation mode. Your metabolism slows down and your body starts to preserve body fat. Your body goes into survival mode. Secondly, most people crack. You get hungry and just want to eat. Since your metabolism has slowed down, your body will store it instead of using it.

So, it other words, you end up gaining more body fat. A better way to lose body fat is eating more meals throughout the day. No carbs, no fat burn. The general rule of thumb is to cut about 25 percent of your baseline RMR—so calories per day from a calorie diet. This is generally enough to get weight loss going, but not too much to set off the starvation alarm bells, he adds.

The exception to all of this? Want to know more about weight loss?