7 Pitfalls Of Extreme Caloric Restriction To Tone Arms
August 3, 2009 by Katherine Crawford, M.S.
Filed under Weight Loss
Many women want to tone arms. And they want to tone them NOW, not later. After all, we do live in a society that expects rapid results. We are busier than ever and simply don’t have the time to wait around for things to happen.
The sad truth is that many women have fallen under the false belief that extreme caloric restriction produces the fastest results. Perhaps you ‘re considering going on a very low calorie diet because you’re fed up with having flabby arms. But before you do, consider the following 7 pitfalls of extreme caloric restriction to tone arms:
1. Not enough nutrients. In our society it’s hard to get enough nutrients even with a surplus of calories. So a massive decrease in calories can put you at risk for being malnourished.
2. Decreased bone density. Because of fluctuating levels of estrogen (among many other things) women have to be especially vigilant of their bone density. Hence the popularity of the calcium supplement viactiv. Restrict calories too much and your bones can become less dense.
3. Metabolism dips. A decrease in metabolism is the main reason why women on ultra low calorie diets reach a point when they can no longer lose weight. The amount of muscle mass loss associated with crash dieting will make it extremely hard to get toned arms.
4. No more hormones. Arm-fat burning hormones are powerful, very powerful. There’s a reason why so many professional athletes take heavy doses of hormones: because they work. And if you cut out too many calories, your body’s NATURAL hormonal output will shutdown.
5. More sickness. Being sick is not fun. Being sick will set back your sexy arm mission by leaps and bounds. And to fight off sickness, your immune system needs a bare minimum amount of calories. My worst cases of flu and fever came when I was dieting too hard.
6. Reproductive system shutdown. It’s quite common for gymnasts to lose their period. Why? Because they don’t eat enough (to make weight) and they exercise a lot. Without enough calories coming in, the female body will shut down its reproductive organs.
7. Risk of depression. Your body and mind needs calories and carbs to make serotonin, the main feel-good hormone. Study after study have shown that restrictive diets increase the frequency of depression. Simply cut out all carbs for one day and see how cranky you’ll get!
Crash dieting is simply not worth it. There are too many risks associated with excessive caloric restriction. Furthermore, you’re more likely to gain all the weight back once you start eating normal again. If you want to tone arms, do it the right way not the quick and unhealthy way.
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