Is it safe to lose weight by not eating if i take multi-vitamins? i am trying to lose weight. if i only don't eat, or only eat one meal a day, will i lose weight and still be healthy? some people say i won't get enough nutrients, so i am taking multi-vita

It : It is not likely that you will have sustained weight loss just from fasting. This is because your body will interpret this as starvation and will "hold on for dear life" to the fat in your body to keep you going. Vitamins are not enough nutrition to prevent this problem. Eating only once a day probably also will not be effective. I have heard that sumo wrestlers actually make themselves gain weight by eating only twice a day, getting hungry between meals. What happens specifically with eating very little (one of the ways the body adapts to calorie restriction) is that your thyroid metabolism changes, so that the T4 made by your thyroid gland converts to reverse T3 (liothyronine) instead of the active T3 (liothyronine) that your body needs to function. This is nature's way of protecting us from starvation. Anything your body interprets as "physiologic stress" will cause this phenomenon, including dieting, depression or illness. This is why an effective diet program must include enough total calories and balanced nutrition (complex carbohydrates, protein and fat) to give your body what it needs while inducing a fat-burning state.

No: You need essential vitamins and minerals and fats that come from eating. If you stop eating your body will go into a catabolic state to preserve calories and when you do start eating you will gain more weight. At minimum the lowest calories you might be able to tolerate is 500 per day. Read dr. Simeon's book called pounds ; inches to learn about the HCG diet. Maybe you can tolerate it?