The science on rapid weight loss is still a matter of debate. The pace of weight loss doesn’t necessarily have an impact on body composition or metabolic changes, but most weight loss experts are still hesitant to recommend crash diets.
If you’re losing more than a couple of pounds per week, you’re at a higher risk of not having enough vitamins and minerals in your diet, says Greaves. That’s not because fast weight loss itself deprives the body of nutrients. Rather, when you cut calories to the point of rapid weight loss, your overall food (and therefore nutrient) intake can be unhealthily low.
Anyone maintaining a large caloric deficit, no matter their weight loss strategy, should work with a clinician or nutritionist to make sure that they are meeting their nutrient goals. Even with a conservative deficit of a few hundred calories per day, if you are drastically reducing processed foods or carbohydrates, you may quickly lose water weight, Greaves says.
And in the end, the most significant factor for weight loss success may not be the size of your caloric deficit but the quality of your diet.
It’s easier to stick with a wholesome diet that you enjoy, rather than a crash diet you can’t wait to give up, even if it means your weight loss will be more gradual.
For the same reasons, weight loss experts are typically mistrustful of fad diets that promise extreme, rapid weight loss or exclude entire food groups.
“You can lose weight eating 1,200 calories of anything; but in order to be healthy, the kinds of calories you eat matter,” says Dr. Foster, who advises choosing more foods that are high in protein, unsaturated fats, and fiber and fewer that contain lots of saturated fat and added sugars.
Depending on the weight loss approach you take, your food choices will look different. A registered dietitian-nutritionist can help you build your plate in a way that supports nutrition and your weight loss goal.
Read the full article here
