Why Fasting is a Bad Idea for Weight Loss

To lose weight you have to burn more calories then your body takes in. This is one of the most basic aspects of weight loss. Fasting is going without food (typically without solid foods and sometimes without water as well) for a long period of time. Fasting is usually associated and practiced in a religious fashion, but has been an on again and off again weight loss tactic. So, if the basic tenent of weight loss is eating less then you burn, is fasting a good method of weight loss? The answer is simply no.

When your body is not taking in food, it reacts. First and foremost, your metabolism slows down. Your body believes famine must have struck and goes into crisis mode. It wants to ensure your survival, so it will burn energy slower. It means the longer you fast, the less calories you burn, and when you do return to eating, your metabolism is still slow and everything you eat afterwards will become fat. Eating builds metabolism, it's why eating breakfast is such a good idea. Look at the word it is a combination of the phrase "breaking the fast", it is literally breaking the pattern of no eating you did while sleeping. Once you eat breakfast, your digestion system wakes up and your metabolism kicks in. Digesting burns calories. You need to eat!

No food equals no nutrients. Your body needs food. It turns food into nutrients, which in turn gives your body energy to be active, being active burns calories, which can lead to weight loss. If you fast, your body isn't building any nutrients. It will instead burn through the storage in your body, not only does it eat up your stored fat, but it also takes in your muscles. Deflated muscles are hard to rebuild, and when you do return to eating, it will be the fat that returns, not the muscles. And if you think it's not to bad if you lose a bit of muscle in your arms, or legs, remember your heart is a muscle, you breath using muscles, these can be effected too.

Short term fasting can lead to weight gain. All the facts before hand have mentioned that fasting can effect fat, but guess what, right away it will likely lead to you gaining weight. All the food that is still in your system, will start getting stored, and turned into fat. This goes back to how your body reacts without food, your body wants to survive, and it will store every last bit it has. Which means instead of losing weight with a short few day fast, you will put on weight in addition to slowing your metabolism as already mentioned.

Fasting is never a good idea when it comes to trying to lose weight, to properly lose weight you need to eat. Your body must be healthy and given nutrients to help build muscle and burn fat. Watching what you eat and drink and working out is much better then fasting ever will be.