On the road to pursuing health and an ideal body shape, “thinness” has become a goal for many. However, there are two common ways to achieve thinning: starving to lose weight and exercising to lose weight. Although both can result in weight loss, there are significant differences between them in essence. Here, Today Hydrogens will introduce the differences between the two.
1. Different Principles
Starving to lose weight, as the name suggests, involves limiting food intake to put the body in a state of insufficient energy intake, thereby forcing the body to consume stored fat and muscle for energy, achieving weight loss. This method often leads to a slowdown in the body’s metabolism because the body thinks it is in a “famine” state and enters energy-saving mode.
Exercising to lose weight, on the other hand, achieves weight loss by increasing energy expenditure and promoting fat burning. Exercise can improve cardiovascular function, increase muscle strength, and speed up metabolism, allowing the body to burn more calories even at rest.
2. Impact on the Body
Long-term starving to lose weight may trigger a series of health problems. The body lacks essential nutrients, leading to decreased immunity and increased susceptibility to illness. Moreover, due to muscle loss, the basal metabolic rate further drops, making it easy to rebound in weight once normal eating resumes.
Exercising to lose weight not only reduces fat but also shapes a good body figure, enhances bone density, and improves the body’s flexibility and coordination. Exercise can also promote the secretion of dopamine, improve mood, and enhance overall health.
3. Sustainability
Starving to lose weight is usually difficult to sustain in the long term because excessive hunger causes great suffering and stress.
Exercising to lose weight is easier to maintain. Once the habit of exercising is developed, it becomes part of life, which not only helps maintain weight but also brings joy and satisfaction to both the body and mind.
4. Risk of Rebound
As mentioned earlier, the rebound risk after starving to lose weight is extremely high. This is because the body makes adaptive adjustments during the process of starving; once energy intake increases, it will quickly store it.
Exercising to lose weight raises the basal metabolic rate, making it less likely to experience a significant rebound in weight even with some dietary relaxation.
5. Psychological State
During the process of starving to lose weight, the extreme desire for food and restrictions can easily lead to negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.
Exercising to lose weight allows individuals to gain a sense of achievement and confidence through self-challenge and goal attainment.
It can be seen that while both starving and exercising can lead to short-term weight loss, in the long term, exercising to lose weight has obvious advantages in terms of physical health, body shaping, and psychological effects. In the pursuit of thinness, we should choose a more scientific, healthy, and sustainable method of exercising to achieve beauty and health together.
