When I was asked to write about ‘crash dieting’ and its negative effects on our health I cringed and was totally uninspired. Are we all still starving ourselves? Why? The answer came through an interview with Jennifer Lawrence on the red carpet; “I’m freaking starving”. Why was she starving? She said offhand ‘I had no time to eat’, however that gorgeous, figure-hugging Dior number suggests otherwise.
By Anthia Koullouros
Why else would you deprive yourself of nutrients and drag yourself about with fatigue and a grumpy mood?
Rapid weight loss. Attaining the physique of a lithe ballerina or supermodel for a wedding, a date, or an upcoming event.
I am all for a lean body but it must be accompanied by health and strength that can be sustained for life.
Extreme nutritional deprivation and severe caloric restriction for short or long periods of time can lead us into dangerous health territory: weight gain, inflammation, hormonal imbalance and stress.
Ever heard of the yoyo diet?
When you restrict calorie intake the body enters survival mode, reducing the calories it burns during normal daily activity. When eventually you start eating normally, it is very easy to add the weight back on since your body is now burning less calories than it used to, prior to the crash diet. Eventually you will end up on a weight loss plateau that no crash diet will budge, with nutritional deficiencies to boot.
5 simple tips for healthy fat loss:
1. Reduce your carbohydrates: Insulin is a storage hormone, evolved to put aside excess carbohydrate calories in the form of fat in case of future famine. So the insulin that’s stimulated by excess carbohydrates aggressively promotes the accumulation of body fat.
2. Eat fat: Studies have shown eating 2 tablespoons medium-chain fatty acids (the kind found in organic cold pressed unrefined coconut oil) with a meal caused body temperature to rise after the meal. This means that coconut oil can boost metabolism, helping you to avoid the slowdown in metabolism that often occurs during dieting. Ref: https://www.eatfatlosefat.com/research.php
3. Don’t stress out: Cortisol has been termed the “stress hormone” because excess is secreted during times of physical or psychological stress. This disruption of cortisol secretion may not only promote weight gain, but it can also affect where you put on the weight. Some studies have shown that stress and elevated cortisol tend to cause fat deposition in the abdominal area rather than in the hips.
4. Tone digestion, absorption and create healthy bowel patterns with the support of digestive herbs such as gentian and dandelion root and chew your food until liquid. A healthy digestive system supports metabolism.
5. Move your body to build muscle mass (active metabolic tissue) and induce thermogenesis in order to stimulate fat burning. Instead of riding the weighty roller coaster, why not implement a sensible, sustainable and healthful plan to see you attain your perfect physique for life? Feeling sick, miserable and starving for one night in a Dior dress? I’d take health & happiness any day!
By Anthia Koullouros
