Many of us have probably gained 2-3kgs in the last few weeks of festivals and feasting.

As our lives go back to the quiet routine many are depressed with feeling heavy and the immediate reaction is, let me just starve for a few days, let me try one of those diets that will help me lose 5kgs in a week Gm diet, Cabbage soup etc. Others decide to do a fast for 2 days every week till new years and some decide to either skip breakfast or dinner for the next one month. Surely all of you will lose weight but the sad part is that you do some profound damage to your body by all these methods.

Whenever you skip a balanced meal, when ever you do just soups, salads, fruits at a meal, whenever your total calorie intake for a day goes below 1000 cals, you send a very dangerous message to your body. The message is there is some crisis in his/her life and food supply shortage, she is facing famine or drought and she may die. Intake is less so cut down expenditure. The biggest part of our calorie expenditure for a day is on basal metabolic rate or the ticking of all the cells, tissues and organs of your body.

Whenever the food intake suddenly drops drastically the body slows the BMR or the ticking. This is very dangerous as your calorie burning capacity is going down. i.e. earlier you were eating 2000 cals and burning 2000 cals a day and maintaining weight. After a fast you will be burning only 1000 cals a day since the BMR has slowed down. So when you fast and skip meals you will lose your 2-3 kgs weight but in the future when ever you eat more than 1000 cals you will be gaining weight. The BMR goes down, which can happen in a short period of fasting or skipping meals and then you are predisposing your self to a future of rapid weight gain. It takes months to build up ones BMR. This is why you see the yoyo effect in your body. Rapid losses and rapid gains.

Another terrible irreparable damage happens with bad dieting and fasting and that is the loss of not only fat tissue but also muscle. Every day one requires a good supply of protein through the diet for tissue building and repair and maintenance of the body. On an average an adult requires about 60-70gm protein daily distributed in 3 meals, that is 20+20+20gms. Protein comes from dhals/pulses, milk/curds, egg white, fish and poultry. (soya, nuts and meats are best avoided as they give protein along with a lot of fat)

When you skip a meal one portion of protein for that day is lost. When you fast and starve eating only soup or fruit or veggies for a whole day, almost all the protein required for that day is not supplied. The body has to manufacture, hair, skin, muscle everyday so when there is a marked deficiency of protein in the diet the body breaks down existing muscle tissue and supplies it for the days need. The end result is you will have lost some kgs on your scale but also find the skin on your face wrinkling and the rest of your body sagging and an aged look appearing which can never be rectified. So how ever desperate you feel don’t resort to skipping meals and fasting after feasting. Learn to eat regular balanced meals, drinking 2-3 liters of water, eat plenty of raw salads and fruits and make sure you walk 20-30minutes daily and you will be back in shape by the New Year. Walk, Water, Diet (Healthy Eating) is the Miracle Formula to be Fit and Beautiful.

To be continued...