One of the biggest problems associated with crash diets is the issue with “skinny fat syndrome”.
Skinny fat syndrome occurs when someone is relatively thin overall but the go this way by burning up lean muscle mass rather than losing body fat. In other words, they have dieted away their lean muscle tissue and have kept fat mass right in place.
For example:
An individual stands at 150 pounds with 45 pounds of body fat. This would mean that they are 30% fat total.
They decide to diet and lose 30 pounds and want to lose weight as fast as humanly possible so they begin cutting calories across the board never paying attention to nutrition.
In the end they lose 30 pounds, however in the process, they’ve actually lost 5 pounds of body fat and 25 pounds of muscle mass. Not exactly the perfect weight loss results, but they’ve lost those 30 pounds and they’re feeling pretty proud of their new lower number on the scale.
If you really examine what is going on you understand that the 5 pounds of body fat they lost still left them with a total of 40 pounds of body fat on their frame (since they had 45 pounds of fat and lost 5 pounds of fat), even though they lost 30 pounds total and are now weighing in at 120: 150-30=120.
This means that they are now 33% body fat. They lost weight but gained in the percentage of body fat.
So now, even though they lost weight they actually have a total percentage of their overall body weight coming from body fat.
This will definitely effect their appearance. They may be lighter in total body weight but they are going to look and feel softer and flabbier than they were before. This is bad news for their health since it was body fat that was the real issue and not excess body weight that was the real concern for optimal health to begin with.
Now, if you compare these numbers with someone who started at the same weight but rather than losing 5 pounds of fat and 25 pounds of muscle, lost 25 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle.
You can imagine the difference in how the body looked. This person would now be sporting a total fat mass of 20 pounds (45-25) and weight in at the same 120 pounds. This puts them at 17% body fat…a far cry from the 33% body fat despite the fact that they both started at exactly the same weight.
It’s the body fat that is the culprit and what must be focused on and not just losing weight.
Crash diets on an ongoing basis will cause you to lose more and more lean muscle mass intensifying the problem.
Another not so nice result of losing muscle mass is the slow down of metabolism. Each time you lost muscle mass after crash dieting and return to normal routines you stand the chance of adding body fat due to a sluggish metabolism.
As you can see, after a few cycles of fad and crash diets, you will not look nor feel your best. The more cycles you repeat, the harder it is to get lean and stay that way.
The best way to avoid the “skinny fat syndrome” and the negative results of crash diets is to recognize the illusion they present from the start and stay far away from them.
It’s time to throw away what you believe you know about losing weight and learn what it really takes to win the fat/weight loss battle.
Let me help you put an end to vicious rebound dieting cycles…“Rebound Free Weight Loss”
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