Why Crash diets and skipping meals don't work!

Permanent weight loss/control will not be accomplished by crash dieting, skipping meals or eating very small skimpy meals. In most cases it has taken a long time to gain weight/fat and so it takes time to lose this weight and ensure that it is a permanent weight loss.

When you start dieting your body will initially slow down its own metabolism as it believes it is being starved and so by reducing your metabolic rate will allow it to save as much fat as possible until the starvation is over. This is made even worse if you are crash dieting, missing meals and eating meals that are so small that they are of no benefit to the body.
Remember the body will burn more calories if your metabolic rate is raised and not lowered/slowed down.

The initial weight loss comes from shedding fluids from the body and not fats, but it isn’t just water that is shed, the fluid also contains the bodies energy source Glycogen. This then in turn depletes the glycogen stores and you will start to feel lethargic and tired and sometimes can lead to becoming depressed. As glycogen helps to control appetite then the depletion of this from the body causes you to become very hungry.
This causes cravings for generally sugary foods that give instant energy for your body and also leads to binge eating and the disease known as Bulimia, as you have the tendency to over-indulge, feel guilty and then force yourself to vomit.

As most crash diets cut out Carbohydrates this leads to sodium levels being depleted and so to try and balance this out the body expels more fluid and not the fats that you are wanting to shed. Many side effects of this type of dieting include dehydration, low blood sugar, fatigue, becoming light headed, nausea, having bad breath and in some severe cases can cause problems with your kidneys, liver and heart.

The main reason why this type of dieting doesn’t allow permanent weight loss and can lead to extra weight to be put on once the dieting is over is down to the fact that your body feels it has been starved and once normal eating is resumed you will put on more weight than you had before because your body is trying to replenish its fat reserves and so will have a higher percentage of body fat than before dieting.