MYTH: Sweat Suits, The Diet Pill and Fad Diets

2007 drastic weight loss (not recommended)

A lot of people have been asking me if it is possible to lose weight specifically 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Is that even possible?


Well I had done that before in 2007. 40 days to be exact. I also lost 48 pounds. But that was a drastic weight lose and I don't even recommend it. I ended up starving myself for 40days. I don't eat breakfast and dinner. I am only eating Skyflakes or Magic Flakes during lunch. So I'm just eating once a day and only three slices of crackers during lunch. Can you do that? I ended up losing a lot of weight that my skin sagged (specifically on my arms and stomach). Turns out that most of the weight that I lost are muscles that have been eaten away by my body due to starvation and that is not really healthy.

First of all, a healthy amount of weight loss is 2 - 3 lbs a week or 1 - 1.5 kg. Some health professionals such as my personal trainers at the gym lean more towards 1-2 lbs a week as a healthy amount of sustainable weight loss. So no, 10 lbs a week is not possible to do it in a healthy manner (unless you are going starve yourself like what I did last 2007). Sure you could do it, but it is all water weight. I remembered just this month I went on a 21 km run from Hougang to Buona Vista, I lost 3-4 kilos in less than two hours (see picture on the right). But I gained it all back as soon as I started eating and re-hydrating (drinking).

SWEAT SUITS


For decades, many people have used sweat suits, garbage bags ir saunas in order to lose weight quickly. I'm also using one as posted on my previous blog. You will lose weight in the form of sweat, which is water and electrolytes, but you will gain it back as soon as you eat again or drink water. This myth seems to have spread through sports like boxing where guys need to lose a few pounds in order to make a weight class. But sweating exessively has no useful purpose in healthy weight loss. The dangers of sweating to lose weight are severe - they may include heatstrike, extreme loss of electrolytes (kidney damage or death) and dehydration. 








THE DIET PILL


The only way to lose weight is to burn fat by reducing caloric intake, exercising more, or a combination of both moderate eating and exercise. There is no pill that can help you burn fat or increase your metabolism while sitting on the couch eating chips and drinking soda. Sure, there are pills than can reduce your appetite, but if you want a healthier version of a natural hunger suppressant, just drink more water.


In fact, your body needs water in order to burn fat. Sweat too much water out and your body will first have to make adjustments for its dehydration by retaining water and fat. 

FAD DIETS


Fad diets are popular because they promise rapid weight loss. However, fad diets or crash diets do not allow the body to burn fat calories as you would think, they actually produce a net loss of lean muscle mass, water and stored energy. Just like I mentioned on the second paragraph of this blog. As a result, most people on such diets become tired and have a hard time finding the energy they need to exercise.


You have to burn calories through cardiovascular activity such as walking, running, biking, swimming or even doing household chores. Lifting weights or doing calisthenics burns calories and spikes your metabolism to build lean muscle and stronger bones. You may not see a weight loss immediately, but you will see inches lost, because muscles takes up less space than fat and weigh more. But, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.