Do NOT starve yourself; this could be deadly!

Despite the lure of starving (or almost starving) yourself in order to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, this is absolutely not a healthy move in the long run. Such behavior can lead to serious disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa, which, although they are referred to as "eating disorders," are, in fact, emotional disorders. For more details on this topic, consult with your doctor or see the Related Link.

Other answers from WikiAnswers participants

• If you starve yourself, you will be very unhealthy and weak and probably grumpy. And as soon as you start eating again, you will gain back all of the weight -- and probably more. It's better to eat 5-6 healthy light meals a day. And try to stay away from carbonated beverages and other junk foods. It may take a while for you to lose weight; each person is different. But if you are eating healthily, you will lose weight. You will lose even more weight if you exercise along with eating a healthy diet.

• Do not starve yourself. When you skip a meal, your body stores more of the next one, and your metabolism also slows down -- even if just a little. If you make a habit out of starving yourself, you will become anorexic. This is a very unhealthy and unsafe way of trying to lose weight. You become hungry because your body needs food to keep it going. If you starve yourself, you will be killing your body (I'm not talking about skipping a meal here or there). It isn't healthy to not eat. There are many diets and exercise plans out there that you should try looking at. Anorexia is a very serious problem. Don't get yourself mixed up with it.

• I starved myself, lost 30 pounds and gained 35 pounds back. You cannot starve yourself without gaining it all back. I'm sorry to be harsh about it, but it's only because I have gone through so much pain and anger from starving myself.

  I could give you 100 good reasons not to starve yourself. Don't think that it won't happen to you, because it will. I thought that I could go on starving myself forever and never gain a pound. I rolled my eyes when anyone tried to warn me or anyone else. In the end, I got help and I'm much happier.

  Please don't starve yourselves. I came so close to almost killing myself because of everything that I went through -- the dieting and then the binging. You will deprive yourself too much and your body will go crazy and eat everything in your house. Please try to hang in there. I know it's hard, but please just try to get help.

• I think that starving yourself does help. But: you want to lose weight and look good, right? Well, how good will you feel when you are so hungry that the pain in your stomach is almost unbearable. In addition, your family feels helpless because they love you and do not want to see you throw your life away.

  Try the healthy method and eat lots of fruit, drink heaps of water, and stay away from the chocolate. Also, partying on the weekends does not help if you require the usual hangover cure of Macca's the next day. Try eating a Caesar salad; i did that, and it felt great. Just please don't starve. You are beautiful and anyone who doesn't see this has the problem -- not you!

• I agree with the previous answer. Starving seems like a quick and easy way to get the body of your dreams. It might work physically; inside, however, you are slowing -- and sometimes quickly -- just killing yourself. It's so scary! Why do it?
• What we all need is self-driven determination. I know it can be difficult to exercise. I hate saying No to pizza and a cold Pepsi, then choosing grapefruit and water instead. But instead of starvation, why not just eat healthy food, lose weight and exercise like every few days. Even healthy food alone does the trick; this way, your are still giving your body the nutrition and vitamins it needs and you still get to eat tasty food. A few things you can splurge on while eating healthily are slim fast shakes; grapefruit; a few Saltine crackers with cheese. And black coffee and tea are a great metabolism-booster.

  Lastly, water. It's so plain. But on those days where there's nothing to do, go jog or do sit-ups. After that, you will crave craving a tall glass of water and then get full on that. Trust me, it's so much healthier!

  I don't care if you weigh 200 pounds or if you have a big nose or the worst acne. You are all beautiful. Don't change for anybody; if they can't accept you for you, then they are just not accepting of themselves! You are truly beautiful. That's why God made you who you are. :)

• An alternative to actually starving yourself is only eating foods in their natural form. Some examples are: Breakfast -- oatmeal - as much as you want; Lunch -- Caesar salad from McDonald's; Dinner -- vegetables, raw or cooked with no oil.

  You can eat oatmeal anytime you want and as much as you want; it will fill you up and take away the hunger.

• What are you doing to yourselves? I've suffered from Anorexia for 11 years now (I was born into a family where such behavior and habits were normal). I subsisted on milk and sandwiches as a child. And now, at 17, I can hardly bring myself to have food touch my lips without hesitation.
• Starving yourself is not the answer: you're hurting your brain, your muscle mass, the strength of your bones, your vital organs. If you want to lose weight, and keep it off, wouldn't you want to do the best and healthiest thing for your body to ensure that you look slim and slender -- and stay that way too? My fear of gaining weight, and body fat in general, increases every day of my life. Not a second goes by without thinking about it... Is that what you really want?
• Starving yourself -- Anorexia, Bulimia -- these aren't ways of life, no matter how many pro-anorexics claim it to be; no matter how many nearly emaciated celebrities you see on TV. These women are sick. They are unhealthy, and in their future, they are looking for a slew of medical problems with the way they are dieting. Take advice from someone who has been to the very bottom, weighing 85 pounds at age 15, 5' 3", and still on a rocky recovery to a normal body weight. I know there is no hope for me of returning to a "regular diet," but please -- especially the women out there -- do not put yourselves in such a situation! Eat healthily, and exercise. Think positively of yourselves, and take time out every day to relieve stress. I promise you, the healthier way is a much, much better alternative than a slow and painful path to death....

• Do you people notice how you have to KEEP starving yourselves for those few days? It's because, despite the rapid weight loss, it comes back. The only way to get rid of that weight is to either become anorexic/bulimic, or eat healthily and do exercise. Take it from a person who's contemplated starving herself many times, who HAS tried it before. Sure, guess what, I did lose some weight. But my stomach also started to eat itself and then I got a stomach ulcer. When someone even HUGGED me, I got a horrible, stabbing pain in my upper and lower abdomen. And then I had to force myself to eat when I thought I wasn't hungry , because your body doesn't send you the impulses like it usually does. Now, I still eat when I'm not hungry and I ended up GAINING weight!

  I know it's hard. I hate exercising and getting sweaty, and I still wonder if I should just try skipping meals again. But I know what the consequences will be. I don't want to look like some skinny model; I just don't want a fat stomach. But by starving yourself, and then eating normally, over and over again; or by purging, or constantly starving yourself, you're going to ruin your body even though it'll get thin. I'd rather be a little overweight than lose my entire life to an eating disorder.

• I found out how to make your metabolism faster: cardio exercise. Anything that gets your heart a-pumping, such as biking, walking at a good pace, jogging, etc. Your metabolism skyrockets and you can eat more and not put on weight. Or you can EAT THE SAME AMOUNT AND LOSE WEIGHT!

  In addition, Pilates is excellent for losing weight. You can learn some of the exercises from their infomercials.

  And I don't have to tell you how good it feels to eat! I went on a crash diet. It sucked at first, and my stupid stomach wouldn't shut up! I was tired and hungry and I just wanted my favorite foods! But then I got used to it. I held my head higher every day. I was proud of myself for controlling my eating. I got better and better at it. And I got skinnier. You could see it in my face and everywhere else, although it wasn't THAT fast. But, one morning I woke up sick. I panicked. I vomited water. IT WAS AWFUL. But I KEPT GOING. I "stayed strong," and didn't "let myself go." Or so I told myself.

  I found ways of not letting people know that I wasn't eating, such as making the dinner while my mum was on her walk and telling her I had already eaten; or dirtying plates to make it look like I had eaten. You get the idea. I kept on and on, until I started to lose less weight than before, but I kept going.

  Then, I started to die. Seriously, die. My brain didn't work as well as it used to. I began to get weaker and weaker. I damaged my liver, my kidneys and my heart (emotionally as well as physically). I had been known for my quick wit and imagination. Then I was dying. I put my weight above EVERYTHING. Now I was dying. I couldn't be ME. I COULDN'T BE ME ANYMORE. I was sick and I needed help.

  I began to eat. At first, I couldn't. I vomited it. I wanted to eat good food (junk food) but I managed to be strong and only eat fruit, vegetables and grains. I drank soy milk (no lactose). I began to come back to life. I still hated myself for eating at that stage. I thought to myself: "How weak. All that time, wasted. You stupid fat pig." But I began to pray. Although this might sound stupid to some of you, please hear me out.

  I prayed: "What the hell am I doing. There ain't anyone listening. Are you going crazy, you...?" But I kept praying, what the hell? And my prayers got answered. I didn't know that would happen. I just didn't know what to do, so I simply prayed. And I got better. I figured how to be how I wanted. And I shared some of that with you before. And I found out that God actually exists. I thought he didn't, but he is there, so there! I am happy now! And I have someone who loves me! He always has, he said, and he always will -- even if I do something really bad. And he told me that it doesn't matter if I am the fattest girl in the UNIVERSE, he still loves me! This blew me away!

  So anyway, I'm free, I'm me, I'm happy, I'm not depressed anymore. I am worth something and beautiful to someone, and I think that's all I needed.

• Starving is not the right way to go. It's a very unhealthy thing to do; what you need to do is just eat healthily and do exercise! Another VERY important reason not to starve yourself is because it shuts down a lot of organs in your body because they don't get enough nutrients to keep it working and you can EASILY become infertile! Is it really worth it? Is it worth not having children some day and not being able to share this joy? So, please think about this before you go on starving yourself. Just exercise and you'll lose the same amount of weight.

• Starving yourself to lose weight is the worst possible thing you can do to your body.

• Sure it will work, but it doesn't mean its GOOD for you... By the time you are 20 or 30, you'll end up having heart failure and liver failure and kidney failure and every other organ in your body failing.

• I just want to tell you know that, from starving, I lost a baby after I became pregnant.

• Don't starve yourself to lose weight. Your body will just gain back all the weight you lost. you see when you starve yourself your body needs something to use for energy AKA calories, so it takes what you have stored, which sounds really attractive but once you start eating normally again your body stores the calories again. so the healthiest way to lose weight is exercise regularly and eat a healthy balanced diet.

• If your starve yourself to lose weight, then once you start eating. Start with soups and smoothies and gradually introduce light solids. This should help prevent weight gain. Eat a healthy diet, and exercise is always recommended.

Your body goes into crisis mode Your health is seriously compromised

You may form a habit of using this ill-advised weight-loss method

Doctors and dieticians recommend losing weight gradually, allowing a whole month for every 4 to 8 pounds you want to lose. Do not starve yourself, or skip meals, or try throwing up.
Here's a program for the period in which you want to lose weight:
Try to get plenty of moderate aerobic exercise (intense exercise may damage your joints). It isn't essential to join a gym; you can do sit-ups, pushups, dumbbell-lifting, jumping-jacks, and many other basic exercises at home. Walk as much as possible. Bicycling and swimming are good too. Even for people who are not trying to lose weight, being active helps your digestion, your circulation, and other body processes.

Even more important than exercise, is avoiding junk foods and sweetened drinks such as soda. Try to avoid refined flour and pasta, processed foods, fried foods, and fatty cuts of meat. Preferably consume no added sugar, and as little added salt as possible.

Our great-grandparents didn't have the epidemic of obesity we see today, because they had a less-sedentary lifestyle, a much more natural diet, and they ate reasonably-sized portions.

Eat 3 not-large-portioned meals per day; do not skip breakfast; and avoid sugary snacks. If you want a snack, try (for example) an apple or a handful of unsalted nuts.

Limit your calories (best to consult a doctor or nutritionist concerning the amount), and weigh yourself at the same time each day, 2-3 times per week. If you see your weight diminishing at a safe, reasonable rate (1-2 pounds/week), keep it up.

Once you've reached your goal, increase your calorie intake somewhat, so that you can maintain your present weight. And you can then have small amounts of sweetened foods or junk food on occasion (if at all), along with your regular healthy foods. But keep checking your weight 2-3 times/week.

Avoid crash-diets, fad diets, diet pills, etc. These may be harmful, and need not be considered by people who have adopted an otherwise healthy diet.

More guidelines:
Don't concentrate on specific foods so much as on a balanced, healthy diet plus exercise.

Healthy nutrition means eating what your body needs, while ingesting as few harmful things as possible. It has also been described as getting enough of each of the major food categories, in healthy forms (grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc.; plus plenty of water).

In general, an example of a healthy starting point could be a menu of whole-grain foods and bread, a good amount of vegetables, legumes, some fruits and nuts, fish, lean meats in not-large amounts, and some dairy. However, this may need adjusting according to one's lifestyle, age, health, weight and other factors at the outset; and also later, as one sees what works for him/her in particular.

Also...whenever you feel queasy, nauseous, constipated or otherwise not completely well, try to remember what you've eaten over the last several hours or the last day. This is one factor in adjusting one's food habits.

See also:

Could you describe a balanced diet?

What features would a good weight-loss program have?

Some healthy snacks

Is it possible to slim down in just one area of the body?