Ecksarmy11

A friend has just joined the gym and is trying to lose weight. He is doing regular cardio and has lost nearly 2 stone in less than 4 weeks ! He is currently about 14-15 stone.
When I asked him about the remarkable 2 stone weight loss he told me it was all down to the cardio and diet - just like I had previously told him.
The problem is it turns out he is not eating regular small meals at all. He is literally starving himself and fighting off hunger pains most of the day.

Does anyone have a link to any articles or detail of how bad this is for the body / consequences of losing weight by not eating etc?
I need to send it to him in black & white.

Lost Soul

Initially the body will be able to deal with this. Physiologically and psychologically it will soon become unsustainable. That alone should be enough for him to address his approach to dieting. Work will suffer, energy levels, sex drive and will to live will drain out of him and the saying 'oh i will be fine' shall soon be stated less.

The body will go from:

fasting
hibernation
starvation

This will see the metabolic rate of the gent slow, susbtartes used by the body will switch away from fat burning and become very catabolic and weight loss will slow.
Most people can get away with what he has done but now is the time to diet in a sensible manner.

People dont have to eat like bodybuilders to lose weight. High protein diets are not required, all the rules us guys use need not apply but a staedy flow of nutrients is and a calorie deficit is also a must. This deficit should not be massive and should be in a form where the dieter can handle it long term (or however long they wish to diet for)

Quality food is needed, smaller portions than the western world suggest will also help and unprocessed slow digesting food will aid his cause

At the end of the day you cant tell people, you can just offer support and answer questions if asked.
Dont force him, offer support and information if required

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Reesy

I've had a similar problem with one of my mates. He dropped by about 2 stone in a month or two by going to the gym and running/jogging/walking on the treadmill for 2 hours a day. He ate like 1000 calories a day of crap food and never ate breakfast and had an apple and some peanuts for lunch.

I guess its just a phase some people go through. Once your mate reaches his 'goal' weight i'm sure he will slowly up the calories and eat right. You can't really tell them because 'they know best'.

Articles may help, it just depends how stubborn the person is i guess.

Beklet

One of my mates does this too - eats only one meal a day, is starving the rest of the day and tells me it's great he's lost nearly 2 stone in as many months - he then goes on to tell me that Atkins (obviously the ONLY low carb diet in existence ) is bad for you and makes you too tired to function, as we need loads of carbs for energy......

UNfortunately he's a tattooist so I'll be steering clear till he's back on the food!