Starvation: A good thing when concerning the Obese.

Nurses General Nursing

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After doing some research, I have yet to see a reason why an obese person would not want to just fast their way down to a healthy body fat percentage. If anyone can raise some legitimate points for debate that'd be great as I need some more views on this so I can do further research. Feel free to be as technical as you like in reasons for or against said topic. Please include sources for referenced information. Feel free to through up cliches so they can be shown as inaccurate or proven either way. :)

If you are very overweight, you will have larger weight losses in the beginning. In order to maintain the proper amount of nutrients needed to keep your body healthy, you will have to eat a certain amount of calories each day. I believe for an average woman, just the work of metabolism required about 1000 a day, then you have to have extra calories for "work", moving about, doing your daily tasks. According to the dietician, a weight loss diet should NEVER go below 1200 calories a day.

There are tables and charts that give you examples of what a healthy weight would be for some one your height. Then you could figure how many calories it would take to maintain THAT weight, probably between 1500- 2000 a day. An estimate only.

I can't emphasize enough how important I think it is to seek a consultation with a nutritionist or dietician. This is not only about pounds - it's about keeping yourself healthy, safe and emotionally balanced.

You are not alone. Many of us fight this battle every day. The best thing I ever did was take that nutrition class in college. It filled in all the gaps about why we need to eat 3-5 meals a day, why we lose weight slowly, and how important those nutrients really are.

Best of luck!

why we need to eat 3-5 meals a day

Why do we? I always assumed people said 3 - 5 meals per day to keep the digestive system going and thereby increasing metabolism.

If anyone has any personal experienes to share or can suggest any good sources of information on starvation including websites, books, or anything I would much appreciate it :) For now I am off to class.

xt1,

I have some experience. From experience, I use to fast for about a week. I developed a bad case of gastroenteritis. I started spitting up blood. Furthermore, I lost maybe 2 pounds, then my body started holding on the the weight. I couldn't make it to see if it would actually help me to lose weight because the psychological aspect, as I stated before, began to kick in and I would binge at the end of that week. I'm sorry but in my case and opinion it truly does not work.

http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/goldhamer_fasting.htm

Here's an article with a postive spin on fasting.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/goldhamer_fasting.htm

Here's an article with a postive spin on fasting.

In the article, #3 it does state it's not recommended as the primary source for weight loss. It's just a pleasant side effect.

There are many advocates of fasting for detox and spritiual quests. I have a couple of books about it myself. As I said I can't get past the emotional aspect as I get way too aggitated, probably hypoglycemia or something like that.

Why do we? I always assumed people said 3 - 5 meals per day to keep the digestive system going and thereby increasing metabolism.

My understanding is that we need to eat 3-5 meals a day to maintain our blood sugar levels. A dropping blood sugar may trigger hunger, so some people find that they are better able to keep their hunger at bay if they eat more smaller calorie meals a day.

I find that I do better if I eat something every three hours. I try to eat small, less caloric snacks like Smart Pop pop corn, the small Dannon yogurts (45 calories), or a fruit. Then I drink lots of water. Allowing myself to get really hungry is a mistake for me; I'll overeat for sure.

But everyone is different, and weight loss/healthy eating is so very individualized.

Specializes in floor to ICU.

something about using "starvation" and "good" in the same sentence that gives me an uneasy feeling... To me good starvation is an oxymoron. Pictures of starving, bloated people pop up in my head. Nothing good about that. Perhaps it is the wording that bothers me.

Kris

Specializes in ER, critical care.

I don't know that I have anything to add, except to add my thoughts that starvation seems unnecessary for weight loss. It also seems incredibly extreme and non-sustainable.

I have been overweight most of my adult life. I have tried more ways to lose weight than I can even remember. Most of them didn't work for very long. I had the least sustainable success with severe caloric intake limitations. Not only did I gain the weight right back with a few extra pounds for some sort of cosmic punishment, but I felt like crap and had zero in the energy department.

My most recent attempt has been with a low carb diet. Kind of a merge between atkins, south beach, and the zone. Of course, it isn't a fast as the books claim it could be, but I'm not starving, I feel good, and I don't have those exceptional hungry times during the day. Over the last 6 months I have lost 45 pounds and have become a believer in the control of insulin secretion as a weight loss method.

I still eat cake on birthdays and once per week my husband and I go out to eat (at which time I eat a reasonable quantity of whatever sounds good to me). But for the most part it is about protein, getting good nutritional value from the carbs I eat (green vegetables mostly) and the fight to keep enough fiber in the system (can you say supplement). Avoiding simple sugars and foods that contain rapidly digested carbohydrates that convert easily into sugar keeps blood sugar steady and avoids that times of extreme hunger.

Not saying this would work for anyone else, but it has been working well for me.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Eating small "meals" throughout the day does these two things: it enhances metabolism and reduces the chances of insulin resistance (leading, potentially, to diabetes later). Therefore, by virtues of these alone, eating several small healthy snacks a day is a very, very much better idea than fasting OR eating the traditional "3 squares a day".

Fasting incorrectly and without supervision can lead to organ and tissue, as well as bone damage (sometimes irreversible) and it may destroy one's metabolism!

Make sense?

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

We are all not addressing the mental health issues regarding obesity. I still maintain, no diet, exercise, pill, fast, or other thing will bring the lasting and enduring healthy results if we do not address the EMOTIONAL and MENTAL issues that go with and yes, I will say it, abusing food. It IS abuse when we use it for other reasons than to nourish ourselves, or the occasional treat. And it's a huge epidemic, as anyone can see. If you want to be healthy for life (and sustain that large weight loss) you have to be mentally-fit, as well!

Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.

There is a lot of research being done with regards to malnourishment in post-op Roux-en-Y (bariatric surgery) patients. I did some research while doing clinicals on a surgical floor this summer.

Many of these patients are at risk for protein-energy malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. They can also become dehydrated quite quickly because it is difficult for them to consume an adequate amount of liquids, especially initially. The infection risk in this population is high because their diets are often protein-deficient.

A quick Medline search will pull up more information than you could ever want to know...

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