Fasting And Weight Loss – Does It Work And Is It Good?

The notion of fasting to lose weight is an appealing one – it involves little thought, little decisions, little room for error, and quick results.

However, for a number of reasons, physicians continue to advice against fasting for weight loss.

One of the main reasons why fasting is not necessarily the best approach to weight loss is that it is often very hard for individuals to sustain. Often, periods of prolonged deprivation result in binges – the consumption of a very excessive amount of calories.

Moreover, because the weight lost during a fast is primarily water weight, those who fast only to consume excessive calories have not only failed to lose substantial weight, but they may be at risk for weight gain. Simply put, when the body fails to receive the calories it “expects”, it enters a different metabolic state that changes the way calories are absorbed – this is why weight loss experts commonly point out that starvation is antithetical to weight loss, and that eating many small, healthy meals is much preferable to other methods.

Another issue with fasting and weight loss is that it perpetuates the ideas in our society that have led to the obesity epidemic. There is a notion in the media and in the population in general that one must follow a “diet” to lose weight or maintain a normal weight – when in fact, what one should do is aim to eat healthy all the time. The idea of following a diet (or a fast, as it were) reinforces the psychological barrier to lasting weight loss that says “if I eat healthy, or not at all, for a short time period, I can lose weight and then I will be ‘off the diet’ and return to my poor eating habits.” Needless to say, one cannot fast for extended time periods, so individuals who choose this method of weight loss face an even higher risk of eventual weight gain and poor health.

What one should really aim for when trying to lose weight is making small changes – it isn’t necessary (or sustainable) to not eat at all, but it is necessary to make better choices. Try veggies and salsa instead of chips and salsa, or water with lemon instead of soda. Learning to modify one’s unhealthy habits and how to make healthy choices is as important to weight loss as the weight loss itself, and when fasting, one misses out on learning how to integrate weight loss / weight management into their life and eating patterns.

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