Part 2: Many think starving is an express way of losing weight

Please note that the information in this blog are from reading numerous fitness magazines and other fitness sources and taught by fitness instructors. The diet and fitness methods that I mention work really well for me. Therefore, please do not feel offended if your knowledge varies or contradict my knowledge since many nutritionist and fitness instructors give different diet advise.


When you put on weight is because you eat too much and so many think by skipping meals (starving themselves) will help and speed up the process of losing weight.
I've got a friend that used to starve himself (don't know if he still do) until it was time for his dinner, and sometimes he would skip that too! He said he lost weight very quick that way. I thought he was crazy to have done that because I could never do that as I love food too much.

Yes it does work, but it is not healthy at all! It can cause some serious damage to your health and even permanent ones! Side effects include head ache, weakness, women having irregular period, damages to your muscles in your heart area (cardiac muscles) and brain. There may be only two organs that is affected (i'm sure other organs are affected) but the brain and the heart are major parts of our body and of course without them we won't be alive. Also, we all know it could lead to anorexic if you starve yourself for too long.  

Let me explain how starving causes damage to your health.

In my previous blog, I mentioned that skipping breakfast will affect your activity during the day. Not even that if you skip all other meals you would be even more tired because you have not absorbed any energy into your body. The body gets tired because our body have switched the metabolism down to save the remaining energy in order to survive. Due to lack of energy, our body will transform the sugar that is stored in our body into glucose to use as extra energy. Once that is used up, our body will move on to the protein in our muscles for survival (Hence, why you see those anorexics being extremely skinny and bony); using the protein to support out breathing, heart pumping and other basic activities. If our brain lacks sugar for a long period of time, it would cause permanent damages to the cerebrum- the larger and upper part of the brain. If you try to eat normal again to repair those damages to the brain, it won't help much because those damages are PERMANENT. So it's best NOT to starve yourself in the first place.

How can you loose weight without skipping meals?

In my previous blog, I said that it's not good to have a massive meal after starving yourself. In general you should eat until you're content NOT until you're full. Also, don't wait till your hungry to eat, you should try to have a set time for each meal.

So if you're on a diet, still have breakfast, lunch and dinner. But reduce the size of the meals. Also, split 3 meals into 5-6 SMALL meals a day, I know it doesn't sound like a diet plan sounds more like the opposite. But I did say SMALL meals. If you eat more often, your body won't feel hungry and so you won't have the urge to have a massive meal. See the example below:

9am Breakfast: Porridge* with a banana./ weetabix with tbs of honey (they really fill you up and are high in fibre)
11am Snack**: apple, banana, glass of water- the water will fill you up. ( a tip from my boyfriend)
12pm Lunch: Nando's (1/4 chicken with salad)
2-3pm Snack: a sandwich (wholemeal bread)
6pm Dinner: Something high in protein and fibre e.g. fish, vegetables.
8pm Snack: If you do get hungry have fruits and water.

The food are just suggestions but your meal schedule should be similar to that. Eat every 3 hours to stop yourself from being hungry.
Some nutritionist say that you shouldn't in between your 3 meals because you should give your body time to digest the food, burn the fat etc. To be honest, both method works but if you're the kind of person that gets hungry quick then its best to do the one I mentioned. I get hungry very often so I got to eat all the time lol!

* Recently, I've been making my own smoothie/cold porridge. I blend some oat (about half a cup), a banana, 5 strawberries, a little bit of milk (about half a glass), 3-4 tbs of natural yoghurt and 1 tbs of honey together. All that makes 2.5 cups of smoothie. I have all of it as breakfast and it really fills me up. If you want to do this, at first you would get hungry like in 30 mins but just ignore it because your body is probably used to taking solid food rather than liquid food. If you heat the mixture may last you longer because the mixture is thicker. I'm used to it now and it lasts me a good while unless I go gym.

** I love snacking on nuts sometimes. Almond, peanut, pistachio (they also contain healthy fat that you need for your body)

That's it for now, I've spoken about the schedule of your meals. So in my next blog I will talk about what you should eat and what you should avoid eating when you're on a diet.