Expert: Joanne - 6/25/2006

Question
hi i am so sick of being fat i am 170cm tall and 49 kg and i hate it so much it sickens me to look at myself i want to lose weight so bad but nothing seems to work. i have decided to go on a starvation diet consuming only diet coke, chewie and water for 2 weeks and starting on laxatives would i expect to lose any weight by doing this? also i do at least 4 hours of exercise would this add to the weight loss if there is any please tell me the truth as to how much i would expect to lose all i want to lose is around 5 kg to be happy

Answer
As far as your BMI goes, you are underweight for your height!

Yes, you will lose weight doing this, but you will also make yourself ill doing it!  Laxatives are not something that you want to be taking unnecessarily.  Taking them when they are not needed, or taking too many, can actually badly damage your gastrointestinal tract - so are not something to play with!

After this 2 weeks of living on nothing, you will gain back any weight you have lost as your body will need to replenish the fuel stores that it has depleted making sure that you live.  The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to follow a sensible diet.

I am not encouraging this at all.  Messing with your health is just far too dangerous.  I think that if you are very unhappy with the way you look, you should try to get an appointment with a therapist specialising in body image issues, or go to a dietician and get them to work out a diet that you can follow and lose weight safely, but as you are already underweight, I don't imagine that anyone will help you in that quest - sorry!

Please come back if you have any other questions, or just want to talk!
Holly