Is It Bad to Lose Weight Too Quickly?

Rapid weight loss is not defined by a certain threshold. How you interpret the phrase depends on your weight, age, and degree of activity.

The number of pounds you should (or shouldn't) drop is not something you should focus on too much. Instead, consider your weight-loss diet strategy.

Usually, "rapid weight loss" refers to extreme diets that make bold claims, such as loss of over two pounds of weight per week.

• Avoid extremely stringent diet programs because they are challenging to follow over the long term. The diet is a “quick weight loss plan” if you can't follow it for several months or even several years. Moreover, such diets and tricks don't result in long-term, healthy weight loss.
• In the long run, it is usually more beneficial to set a moderate target of losing one to two pounds every week.

Rapid weight loss puts strain on the body, which possibly leads to severe dangers, such as:

• Gallstones: About 12 to 25 percent of individuals who experience significant weight loss over several months may experience gallstones.
  • Gallstones, which are solid cholesterol deposits that grow in the gallbladder, are a frequent adverse effect of rapid weight loss.
  • Gallstones can be asymptomatic, but many people who have them develop severe abdominal discomfort and nausea to the point that the gallbladder may need to be removed.
• Inadequate nutrients: To function properly, your body needs a specific amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Additionally, it requires various vitamins and minerals.
  • When you restrict calories or omit entire food groups, such as carbohydrates or dairy, you encounter the following risks:
    • Loss of bone strength and density
    • Constipation
    • Loss of energy
    • Low resistance to diseases
    • Loss of muscle mass
  • If you consume a variety of nutrient-rich foods, decreasing calories is not inherently bad. You must include a wide variety of whole and healthy foods in your diet. Try not to reduce your daily calorie intake by more than 500 calories.
• Hair loss: Although we normally lose between 50 and 100 hair strands per day, the American Academy of Dermatology warns that rapid weight loss may result in severe hair shedding.
  • Be aware that hair shedding and hair loss are not the same things; hair loss occurs when anything prevents hair from growing. 
  • Hair shedding may occur if your diet lacks specific foods and nutrients, such as iron, zinc, and protein.
  • Because your body is functioning on "the minimum," it must disperse the remaining energy and nutrients, which means your hair simply doesn't fit the bill. Therefore, extremely low-calorie diets generally induce hair loss.
• Loss of muscle mass: You can see a sharp loss in weight when you drastically reduce your calorie intake. However, you are not only losing fat but also losing muscle.
  • Lack of muscle mass makes it more difficult to lose weight because muscles burn a lot of calories.
  • However, slower weight loss paired with exercise provides your body with time to burn fat while maintaining your muscle mass. Additionally, you maintain the capacity of your muscles to burn calories.
• Slow metabolism: Your body burns calories through your metabolism. Therefore, a slow metabolic rate can impair your body's capacity to maintain weight loss. Your body slows down the process of burning calories when you lose weight too quickly. That is your body's attempt to prevent starvation.
  • Although you may drop a significant amount of weight immediately, your metabolism quickly switches to survival mode.
  • People who have tried quick weight-loss strategies frequently gain weight back due to changes in their metabolism. When you resume eating a typical diet, your metabolism is not accustomed to handling that many calories, which causes the pounds to return.
• The possible abandoning of your diet: When you aim for rapid weight loss, you might discover that maintaining weight loss becomes more difficult rather than simpler. After a few weeks, you will probably feel hungry always.
  • Reduced calorie intake soon causes hormonal changes that make you feel hungry. It can be challenging for anyone, no matter how dedicated they are, to overcome those hunger hormones.
  • You become ravenous due to these quick hormonal fluctuations, which makes your diets fail.