"I lost 5 kg in 7 days and earned gastritis" - personal experience of not loving your body

model, blogger, vegetarian

“Since I was 13 years old, I was very interested in different methods of weight control. I wanted to achieve not just a slim, but a lean body. I experimented with different diets and even tried starving myself for a few days, giving up food and water. Sometimes my food routine included only buckwheat. I consumed 100g of chocolate a day along with green tea for five days and kept track of calories. I also tried many different diets and joined weight loss groups.”

When I was young, I accidentally came across an interesting nutritional methodology and decided to try it. At that time my weight was 51 kg with a height of 168 cm.

The main concept of this diet is to limit food intake to liquids, excluding solid food. For a week I ate only water, coffee, green tea, slightly diluting the diet with milkshakes, fresh juice and soup broth.

It wasn’t easy. First, my parents didn’t approve of this kind of health experimentation, and I was forced to keep my new diet a secret and pretend to eat normally. Secondly, during those days I felt bad. There was weakness, I fainted several times, but it did not bother me much, as I had previous experience with diets. So I continued to stick to the chosen diet.

Every day my weight decreased, I began to notice protruding bones and visible body contours. Every morning I impatiently got on the scale, hoping to see the cherished figure. In my dreams my ideal weight was 42 kg.

Very often I wanted to break down and go to eat some forbidden food, but I held on with all my might.

And after seven days the figure on the scale reached 46 kg. I lost 5 kg in seven days and was extremely happy with it! Then I slowly began to get out of the hard diet, began to eat soft, pureed food.

Gradually returned to the usual light and solid and dairy food. I planned the next diet and found like-minded women, so often we lost weight together to stay alert and support each other.

But later I discovered the other side of the coin, which was not happy. For such an experiment I paid for my health – physical and mental. My gastrointestinal (GI) problems worsened, and a week later I was in the hospital with acute gastritis.

My mental health also took a hit. When I returned to my usual diet, my weight was also restored, it was hard for me to see the increasing numbers on the scale, and inside I felt guilty for every bite I ate.

Now I realize that such experiments are dangerous for a teenager’s unstable psyche. They lead to serious consequences in the form of unhealthy self-esteem, self-beating, to a constant feeling of guilt for eating. It takes a lot of effort and time to get rid of it completely.

Since then, I was careful about choosing diets, and soon I gave up the idea of losing weight, but it was not easy for me. It was very difficult to return to a healthy relationship with food after a strict diet. It was only recently that I was able to fully let go of the guilt I felt about the food I ate.

It was a special phase that taught me something important. I am now 24 years old, vegetarian, eat delicious and healthy food, weigh 52 kg, and am very happy with my health and body!

Arsti arvamus

Toitumisspetsialist, gastroenteroloog, arstiteaduste kandidaat, kliiniline farmakoloog

“Starvation itself is not the cause of the development of gastritis. However, with prolonged malnutrition, the body can be stressed, which can cause an increase in the acidity of the stomach contents. This can lead to irritation of the organ’s mucosa and the formation of ulcers.”

Thus, starvation may be one of the factors leading to an exacerbation of gastritis in people already suffering from the disease.

It is important to note that there is a difference between long-term malnutrition and controlled week-long fasting for the purpose of cleansing the body or dieting. In such cases, if the recommendations of specialists and a moderate approach are followed, dietary restrictions can be not only safe, but also beneficial for the body. But only under the supervision of a specialist.

It can be concluded that starvation itself is not the cause of the development of gastritis. But you should not experiment with it on your own. Even for the sake of losing weight.