3 ms·
I've read that there is a huge difference between not eating anything at all and eating just a little. The former leading to rapid loss of weight while function
by bitL 4y ago
I've read that there is a huge difference between not eating anything at all and eating just a little. The former leading to rapid loss of weight while functioning somewhat normally, the latter to body shutting down and entering starvation mode. In other words, the stored body fat is not utilized unless there are no other options and if there are, body prefers to shut down instead of taping into reserves. The exception would be HIIT and similar training regimes that seem to lead to weight loss based on fat but those are typically out of reach of a regular obese person (but would work for athletes that bulked up).
- tekla 4y agoSure, there probably is an element of that. I'm sure that people who have survived sieges and famines would have loved it if their body could magically get body fat to use to survive, but they don't. Starvation mode is not some magical state. Your metabolism drops. You will still lose weight if you eat less than maintenance.
- bitL 4y agoYes, though not eating at all seems to be much more pleasurable when trying to lose weight than just eating ~500kcal and feeling absolutely miserable due to one's body shutting down. Though I would skip water fasting and replace it with vitamin/electrolyte water fasting instead as one has only about a week of B1/B3 reserves and when those are gone, people might get into states resembling multiple sclerosis or schizophrenia, which doesn't sound like fun.