While it can be tempting to lose weight as quickly as possible, this is often unhealthy, and dieters can struggle to maintain the results.
A dietitian discussed the cons of losing weight fast and why avoiding extreme restrictions can help you burn fat more easily.
Speedy fat loss can actually leave you feeling hungrier long-term, meaning it is difficult to manage the results, dietitian at Food Label Maker Maria AbiHanna explained.
She said: "It disrupts temperature regulation. Losing weight too quickly may reduce brown fat activity.
Restrictive diets can be difficult to maintain
GETTY"This is a type of fat that helps keep your body warm and burns calories. This can leave you feeling cold, fatigued, and even hungrier."
Similarly, it may encourage the metabolism to slow down. This is responsible for how quickly the body burns fat, so it could therefore limit how many calories you burn.
Maria added: "When calorie intake drops suddenly, the brain’s energy regulator responds by lowering metabolism and increasing hunger signals.
"This often happens before any real weight loss begins, making long-term progress almost impossible. Extreme diets dull your natural cues for hunger and fullness.
"When you ignore these signals over time by eating too little or following strict rules, you may lose the ability to tell when you’re actually hungry."
So what can you do instead? The health expert suggested: "Focus on gradual, steady fat loss. Staying active and avoiding extreme restrictions helps preserve brown fat function and keeps your metabolism working."
Another hack is to follow "structured eating that allows for flexibility". The pro added: " Eat at regular intervals and focus on how different foods make you feel, not just how many calories they contain."
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The expert suggested calorie cycling
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Drastically reducing calories will lead to quick weight loss, but Maria offered another way to enter a calorie deficit without damaging the metabolism.
She explained: "Try calorie cycling – eating slightly more on active days and less on rest days. This can help maintain metabolic balance and prevent your body from shifting into energy-conservation mode.
“Most quick-fix diets fail not because people lack discipline, but because they ignore basic physiology.
“People blame willpower when they can’t stick with a diet. The truth is that your body is built to resist rapid fat loss. So, the key is working with your biology, not against it.”
