Sudden weight loss might seem enticing but sticking with the lost weight isn’t easy at all.
If you wanna know how to starve yourself, do consider first that without food one can’t function for long. It can be safely done only by following a weight loss regime suggested by a nutritionist or dietician after considering your current body type, the desired weight goal and any medical conditions you’re suffering from— else you’ll most likely regain that lost fat caused by binge eating later.
This article would guide you about losing weight without starving oneself to death with various methods and associated health risks. So, how to starve yourself? Let’s begin with the basics:
Starving VS Fasting:
Starving implies stopping eating at all for several days in a row or eating minimal, low-calorie food for over three weeks. In contrast, fasting involves no food intake for a maximum of 2 days or having low calories for a week or so.
The core difference between fasting and starving is the time span and the kind of calories consumed. Starving for longer spans can have long-lasting, harmful effects on the body. Starving does more harm to the body than good. While fasting has a whole lot of benefits. So if you’re wondering, should I starve myself or not, first understand its associated consequences.
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Benefits of Fasting
Fasting is great for weight loss as it boosts the body’s metabolism. When digestive system isn’t constantly functioning, the other vital body functions predominate particularly fast metabolism.
It detoxifies the body by lowering insulin levels and is great for diabetics.
Fasting also strengthens the immune system.
It improves the overall skin texture and clears it. Due to the lesser intake of carbohydrates, sugar and fats during fasting, sebum production is also reduced which causes acne.
Fasting is proven to promote brain functioning by increasing the levels of a protein (brain-derived neurotrophic factor also called abrineurin). It sharpens learning and memory by promoting the conversion of stem cells to neurons. It thus prevents dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Types of Fasting
Starvation has a lot of health risks. Fasting is something that’s considered relatively safe. Intermittent fasting has gained immense acknowledgment recently due to its great results with little to no side effects. It refers to continuous switching between eating and fasting== on regular intervals. If you’ve made up your mind of starving but are confused about the method for how to starve myself to be skinny, then the following listed types might help you. Following are the various ways of performing intermittent fasting:
16/8 Method includes eating 8 hours per day while fasting for the rest 16 hours.
Eat-Stop-Eat Method involves giving 24 hours fasting gap in between eating— one or two times per week.
In 5:2 Method, there’s fasting for 2 days (non-consecutive) — with normal eating for the rest 5-week days.
OMAD: It is characterized by one meal a day. This includes having one meal by eating for 1 hour followed by the fasting period for the rest 23 hours.
Customize Your Own Diet Plan: If you think your body can’t adapt to any of the above-mentioned fasting methods, make your plan by considering your body type, desired weight and any diseases you suffer from.
Side Effects Associated with Starvation
Nowadays, many people tend to reduce food intake or stop eating completely at times— as an alternative to exercising. It isn’t healthy at all and you’ll face side effects instead of benefits.
You’ll be deprived of energy:
The decision of how to starve yourself should be made after great consideration as you’ll be left with no energy for even everyday tasks.
Loss of bone strength could be the result of decreased bone mineral density with osteoclast activity in response to calories cut off for longer times.
Reduction of muscle mass:
In response to extreme starvation, the body starts utilizing muscle proteins as an energy source that results in small-sized muscles.
Nutritional deficiencies:
Some nutritional requirements can’t be fulfilled by supplements and strict starvation can lead to various diseases associated with malnutrition.
Might cause eating disorders:
Starvation can be the primary cause of lethal disorders like anorexia which involves fear of rising weight followed by complete starvation and resultantly abnormally low weight.
Affects brain functioning:
Starvation for longer spans would consume all glucose required for neural responses. So if you’re still confused is starving yourself bad for you or not, this might’ve given you the answer.
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Can Starving Yourself Cause Hair Loss?
One of the most asked questions by those who’ve decided to follow any diet plan is can starving yourself cause hair loss? The answer is yes! The reason behind this is due to prolonged starvation, many vital, essential nutrients are removed from the scalp. No mineral, nutritional protein and fatty acids consumption by food can cause hair color changes or hair fall.
Chronic starvation leads to zinc, selenium, protein, iron and fatty acids deficiencies which are the root cause of hair fall. So now you know how to starve yourself— without compromising on daily dietary supplements.
What Does Starving Do To Metabolism?
Before you get into how to starve yourself, understand first how metabolism functions and how is this related to weight loss. Metabolism is something that determines the conversion of food into energy by the body – that is needed for the functioning of body.
Slow metabolism is associated with less burning of calories which leads to the storage of these calories in the form of fat. It would in turn lead to weight gain.
Fast metabolism leads to the quick breaking down of food into energy. That means less fat accumulation in the body. The body’s metabolic rate is directly related to lean body mass. It is the fat mass excluded from the whole-body mass. Increased rate of burning of calories is due to greater muscle mass.
You might’ve heard some elder people around you talking about their slowed metabolic rate with age. The reason is that muscle mass is gradually lost from the body over time. Lesser muscle movements are another core reason. So for faster metabolism and quick weight loss, indulge in different physical activities like exercises.
Effects on Metabolism
Starving for longer spans would get your body in starvation mode. It entirely damages the metabolism. In this mode, the body tries to conserve some energy for survival by lowering the calorie expenditure. Starvation mode is the body’s defense mechanism against longer calorie cut-offs. Next the question is why is starving yourself bad for you? The answer lies in how weight loss and metabolism are affected by starvation.
Now due to the entire cutting off on calories, the body won’t be able to produce energy –resultantly the metabolism would be slowed down for the leftover energy conservation in the body. The excess calories or fat won’t be burned down. This is entirely different from what you would like to achieve, right?
Whether weight gain is associated with starvation mode or not? The body isn’t able to adapt to such extreme changes and gets confused in the process. Starvation mode can make you very hungry and it would in turn lead to you more eating than usual.
How To Starve Yourself Safely?
Following steps might lead you towards a safe weight loss journey:
Stay consistent and patient:
How to starve myself thin? For this first, you need to understand that there isn’t anything like overnight weight loss. Achieving your desired weight is gonna take some time. As you gained those extra calories in a while, burning them off would also happen little by little.
Just try to be consistent with whatever weight loss regime you’re following and patiently wait for the results without hastily looking for some prompt magic.
Closely look into your eating patterns:
Examine your entire eating patterns before figuring out is starving yourself good for you or not. Explore your patterns for at least a week. Check the amount of calories you’re taking currently with the percentage of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your daily diet. So that particular amount is for your current weight, right?
Next, consider your goal weight and make a proper plan involving how many calories you need to cut off. What protein percentage you’re gonna intake per day?
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Make your diet plan:
Considering all the minute details about your current diet and the one you’re going to consume while starving for weight loss, devise a proper diet plan for yourself. You should also consider the kind of food items you’ll consume, as they should be nutritious and healthy— not to mention without costing you a fortune.
Contact a nutritionist for the plan if you’re worried is starving yourself bad for you. But dieting can be done without any professional assistance too if you can’t afford it – especially if you’re well aware of your metabolism and in general the entire body.
Reduce your daily calorie intake:
Once you’ve figured out how to starve myself thin, now start limiting your daily calories – compared to the ones you used to consume for your current weight. Start by reducing merely 5% of your current calories. At first, take this process slow and then gradually upgrade it. It would help your body get used to it and this way, you’ll be able to slowly lose weight and then maintain it over time, without facing the side effects.
Go for Intermittent Fasting:
If you’re searching for answers should I starve myself or not, we’ll recommend you to try intermittent fasting instead of completely starving. It involves patterns of fasting and eating. In this kinda fasting, you don’t stop eating completely, rather you skip some particular meals and eat after some particular long fasting period.
Complete starvation would not only make you feel sluggish, tired and hungry but it also would have long-term effects on your body.
Start exercising
When you think you’ve got a bit close to the desired weight goal you have set for yourself, take the next step and add some physical activities to your routine. Start with less hectic exercises like cycling and running and then move towards heavy workouts that would help you get rid of the last stubborn, extra fat left on your body.
Besides, listen to music while exercising. It would distract your mind and you will end up working out for more time than usual, without even realizing it.
Increase protein intake:
Starving for longer spans leads to muscle loss. It would cause fat accumulation in adipose tissues. The result would be lots of stubborn fat with weakness.
While protein causes muscle strengthening. So if you’re struggling to find out is starving yourself good for you, here’s the answer. It can be less harmful if accompanied by proteins, minerals and supplements, at times.
Consume citric acid in your diet:
It shrinks the stomach with lowering the appetite.
It boosts metabolism as citric acid is rich in antioxidants and would help in weight loss. Thus citric acid is one of the key ingredients if you want to know how to starve yourself.
As this acid is naturally found in citrus fruits so it’s recommended to start your day with water having one squeezed lemon, grapefruit or orange.
Ensure high vegetable consumption:
All vegetables particularly green ones are ideal for weight loss. It’s due to they have rich fiber and water content that would help fill the stomach fast. In addition, veggies have quite low calories.
So having vegetables would reduce the urge to constantly eat and snack. It’s best to add maximum green veggies to the salad. This way, you’ll know is starving yourself good for you, without any intense consequences on your body.
Purchase small-sized clothes:
You’ll get great motivation for weight loss once you buy the clothes you wanna fit in. Try them after every few days as soon as you start seeing progress in your weight. This would boost you up if you’re worried about how to starve myself to be skinny.
Manifest and visualize your ideal body:
if you wanna achieve your desired goal weight fast, start visualizing and picturing yourself in your ideal body type. Strictly follow your devised diet plan and then reach your target weight, without starving oneself to death.
Take 6 hours daily sleep: If you stay awake for long at night, you’ll get hungry and feel the urge to eat after some time.
Consume dietary supplements regularly:
Now if you’ve decided how to starve myself to be skinny, don’t forget to take supplements. Take a multivitamin pill per day to reach up to your required daily vitamin percentage. Calcium and iron are the vital minerals that keep you going. Calcium is needed for bone and teeth strengthening. While iron is essential for strong immunity and proper brain functioning. Hence, take these supplements – else you would miss out on all the essential minerals or vitamins.
Brush your teeth after regular intervals:
it’s one of the best tips you’ll get if you are considering how to starve yourself. When you’ll brush, you’ll unintentionally won’t eat afterward and this would lead to weight loss in the long run.
Brush your teeth after regular intervals:
it’s one of the best tips you’ll get if you are considering how to starve yourself. When you’ll brush, you’ll unintentionally won’t eat afterward and this would lead to weight loss in the long run.
Increase water intake:
Try to fill the maximum part of your stomach with water or some healthy drinks like fruit juices. Then you won’t feel much need of eating afterward. It’s the best way if you’re finding how to starve myself thin.
Avoid Starving If:
Hunger is the first effect of starving. It would make you feel inactive and deprived. Fasting or starving for a while is fine unless you’re healthy. Check why is starving yourself bad for you by taking into account your current medical conditions. Before following any strict weight loss plan, starving or fasting, you should make sure that your body would cope with this diet change and most importantly, you don’t suffer from any medical condition.
Reconsider your decision of starving if you have:
- Complications with regulating blood sugar levels like diabetes
- If you’re suffering from PCOS or any other hormonal disorders, particularly amenorrhea
- Are already weak, malnourished or underweight
- Suffer from low blood pressure
- For pregnant women or the ones who breastfeed
- For ladies who are trynna conceive
- Are on strict medications for any certain disease
- Face any eating disorder
All In by Teddi
ALL IN by Teddi has been the talk of the town lately. It’s a program designed for weight loss by the former TV star and current influencer Teddi Mellencamp. This program involves daily intense workouts with extremely less calorie, diet plans. Besides, it offers clients coaches that aren’t professional nutritionists either.
Teddi Mellencamp diet plan comprises four steps. First is the introductory two-week jumpstart program that includes exercises for 60 minutes followed by strict calorie restrictions. Teddi Mellencamp young offers a monthly program next. It’s particularly dairy-free with similar workout requirements as in jumpstart. It includes personal trainers as well.
Then you’re meant to enroll for the next program i.e. Weight and Workout when you finish the initial 6 weeks of the first two plans of ALL IN by Teddi. This consists of daily accountability and check of your workouts and weight progress by the trainers. Then comes the final step in Teddi Mellencamp diet plan i.e. maintenance. After you achieve your goal weight, the occasional monitoring is done by the coaches.
In short, Teddi Mellencamp’s ALL IN by Teddi is great for rapid weight loss because of its intense workouts and calorie restriction but its main disadvantages are exorbitant prices with unqualified trainers. You might regain weight after some time due to unhealthy and extreme calorie restrictions.
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How To Starve A Narcissist?
Starving is not only related to refraining from eating only. It involves cutting off supplies to anybody craving them and misusing them later. Narcissism involves extreme self-admiration, importance and involvement. Narcissists constantly need attention and ignore the emotions of people around them as they suffer from NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder).
Narcissistic supply is continuously offering excess importance, approval and applause to the narcissists by other people. Now it’s important to understand why and how to starve a narcissist. It can be done by narcissistic supply withdrawal which is basically in the form of attention, emotional availability and reactions. Thus emotionally disengaged contact with narcissists can make you come out of the toxic connection.
What happens when you cut off narcissistic supply? He behaves like a psychotic drug addict and feels left out, abandoned and ultimately goes towards self-destruction. Narcissist using death for attention is even common as they can go to any extreme by gaslighting, denial and manipulation but narcissistic supply withdrawal is necessary for your peace of mind.
Summing Up:
It’s imperative to plan your weight loss journey by consulting with a registered nutritionist or dietitian for healthy and sustainable weight loss. Short-term, quick weight loss particularly by starving isn’t healthy at all!
FAQs
The nutritionists suggest not taking less than 1000 to 1200 calories per day to ensure the body doesn’t switch to starvation mode.