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Is it okay to starve myself for the benefit of my aesthetic appearance?

25 Answers
Last Updated: 09/10/2018 at 1:36pm
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Danielle Gonzales, PsyD

Psychologist

Hello! My name is Dani, I am a Psychologist and registered Psych Assistant. I have a passion for helping a different types of clients from all diverse backgrounds!

Top Rated Answers
cashmeredreams
December 16th, 2014 3:47pm
It is never okay to starve yourself. Unfortunately, the response of your body when it thinks that it's in the starving mode would be to try to store up as many nutrients as possible and make you put the weight back on. It would also try to get nutrients more quickly, so in the long run, if you starve yourself and get to your desired aesthetic appearance it would be extremely difficult to keep it up without damaging your body more. There are other ways that could possibly help you on the way to reaching your aesthetic appearance, a little bit slower, but much healthier and you would be able to maintain it.
Faithocchi
December 12th, 2014 7:18am
My dear, there's a better way to lose weight. BETTER AND HEALTHIER. 1. Drink lots of water, one glass as you wake up, one before breakfast, one after, one before lunch, one after, one in the afternoon, one before dinner, and one before going to sleep. It'll detoxifiy your body and keep you hydrated and less cravings. 2. When you crave, just drink water. You're just bored and thirsty. 3. Exercise at least 1-2 hours a day either in the gym or just run / walk around or do some fun sports! 4. Being on a weightloss diet doesn't mean you'll have to eat strictly BUT you need to control your portions. It's okay to eat what you like, but not always, and be sure to control the portions. 5. Lastly, get support from friends. Remember that things may seem impossible at first but look where you started, you're already too far to go back. I've been there. I did crash diets to make myself look beautiful but I ended up getting back to my old shape again, and it wasn't that nice. :) Try this with me. I'm here for you to support and do this with you. Fighting!
Anonymous
December 11th, 2014 3:10am
It is never okay to starve yourself for any reason at all! Eating is what keeps us strong and helps us lead healthy lives! You are beautiful no matter what!
AlwaysUpFromHere
December 12th, 2014 1:00pm
It is never ok to starve yourself! Your body needs sustenance to survive. You wouldn't take away oxygen to your body and you shouldn't take away food. A healthy body is more beautiful than a skinny one.
AstridKingsley
December 13th, 2014 3:34am
While you should never feel guilty or ashamed of an eating disorder, starving yourself is never the answer--you deserve better than being hungry all the time, and it's hard to feel your best if you aren't nourishing yourself properly. Healthy weight loss shouldn't require you to starve yourself. That type of weight loss isn't really sustainable or good for your body, and of course, it's not healthy to diet until your weight is no longer within the healthy range (that sounds obvious but it's worth mentioning). In my personal opinion, people are more attractive when they're near the weight they're meant to be at. Love that body and rock it, it's the only one you're going to get.
Anonymous
December 18th, 2014 2:18am
No. The most important thing is being healthy. Starving isn't healthy. Everyone is beautiful the way they are and learning to love yourself and how you look is a large part of growing up.
Amy10
December 21st, 2014 9:43am
That is completely unhealthy and unfortunately, 95% of the weigh that you lose when you are starving, will be comprised of water weight as your body absorbs the fluids to try to replenish itself. Also, when you do not it, your body starting storing more fat so it can be consumed later, and it can leads you to another health problems like being tired all the time and not being able to do some things. If you want to lose weight, I recommend you to go to the gym and to a nutritionist and do it on a healthy way so it wont affect your healthiness and hobbies and you will be able to achieve your body goal.
Alexanderishere
February 15th, 2016 12:20pm
No, it is most definitely NOT okay. If you starve yourself to be beautiful then beauty is not what you will get, anorexia nervosa kills people I've seen it before and in today's culture it wouldn't surprise me to see it again. Do you know what starving yourself does because anorexia isn't nice enough to just kill you immediately? Before it destroys ANY fat your body is eating your muscles so you will get weak, your teeth become disgusting so forget smiling any time soon, your skin gets yellow, your hair falls out, your nails are disgusting, your bones break easily, you are constantly shaking, and a lot of other terrible symptoms. Sure anorexia may take off a few pounds but it will be at the cost of your health and replaced with horrifying symptoms. And what is so ugly about being fat? A little curves once in a while never harmed anyone. Love your body, because this is the one and only body you will ever have. This is YOUR body. You will never get a chance to have another so love your body. If you want to look beautiful try healthier ways, bike rides, runs, eat a healthier diet. But please, please don't ever starve that beautiful body of yours.
Raspberrycheesecake
September 10th, 2018 1:36pm
It is never okay to starve yourself, not for your aesthetic appearance or for any way in face. The thing with starving yourself is, your body starts to eat any nutrients in your body and then starts to eat away at the fat. So when you start eating again, you would put the weight back on because of all the nutrients entering your body again. So, if you carry on starving yourself it would be hard to keep it up in the long run, so the best thing to do is to keep a healthy and balanced diet with the ideal exercises weekly.
Anonymous
June 23rd, 2016 7:22pm
It's never okay to starve yourself. It may seem like an easy way to get the body you want, but it isn't healthy at all. You'll get malnourished, and you'll have more health problems to deal with before you even started.
ashwarya
March 28th, 2016 7:08pm
NO. NOT AT ALL. That's just disgusting. If you're a bit on the healthier side then you might join a gym or something but that's just for your own good. To get a fit body.
slytherkitty
January 2nd, 2015 11:45pm
No, it is never okay to starve yourself. There are healthy ways to lose weight, but simply starving is not a reasonable option. Your body needs nutrients and food to survive. It will negatively impact you mentally as well as physically if you starve yourself. You can benefit your appearance in other, healthier ways that won't harm you.
KaytheBirdd
January 2nd, 2015 7:17am
It may seem okay to you at the time. You may feel like this is your only option. Maybe you're desperately pining to achieve a certain you, and this is your most comfortable approach. Whatever the reason, ultimately, there are consequences to going about things by starving yourself. Losing weight in general is a delicate process. It's hard, it can be grueling and frustrating and a roller coaster of the worst kind of feelings. Sometimes no matter how hard you try it always feels like you're not getting there fast enough, if at all. But there's a process to losing weight the right way that ensures the weight stays off. Starving yourself, aside from being harmful, is a very poor way to maintain a healthy appearance. It slows your metabolism, and makes your body even more vulnerable to weight gain. So while it may seem like you lose weight at first, oftentimes you gain weight twice as fast in the long run. It's also damaging to your mental health. Starving yourself starves not just your stomach, but your brain, your blood -- your whole body begins to crawl with starvation. You need nutrients to survive, but without them, there are consequences. You become more susceptible to things, you're dizzy a lot, you get blurred vision, it's a task just to stand (this is from personal experience). You also forget things a lot, you can't focus, etc etc. These are a lot of negatives, and they're not intended to echo back to you what you probably already know, or lecture and berate you. Maybe it's okay to you to starve yourself. But it's probably not as easy as you think it's going to be. Maybe if you tried looking in to safer dietary methods. With determination, you can achieve that aesthetic in no time.
Anonymous
August 18th, 2015 2:56am
It is not okay to starve yourself for any reason! There's not actually any benefit at all to it, including aesthetic appearance. Maybe you'll get skinny (if you're very lucky--that's not even a guarantee) but you'll also ruin your skin, watch your hair fall out, grow fur all over your body, end up covered in bruises, have purple or blue nails...not to mention the possibility of dying from organ failure or, most commonly, cardiac arrest. It's not worth it, not when there are healthier--and more effective--ways to loose weight that don't come with such awful side effects.
Anonymous
September 28th, 2015 7:26am
No. Your health is much more important than what you look like. And what you look like doesn't matter. It's what you are like that's important.
Anonymous
June 29th, 2015 11:30am
Personally, I would say NO. I would look my natural self and be healthy , than look pretty on a hospital bed . As long as am healthy, am independent and that for me is of utmost importance.
Anonymous
February 16th, 2016 4:26am
It's never okay to torture yourself in the name of beauty. It's only going to destroy your health mentally and physically. There's no point in being thin if your mind still tells you that you're fat. There's no point in starving, if you still hate yourself afterwards. Healthy and Happy is the most beautiful thing you can be. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
rubya24
June 10th, 2015 6:04am
There are a lot better ways to lose weight, or learning to love yourself better. Starving yourself is truly not the answer.
MaryammArif
June 20th, 2016 1:27pm
No, my dear. Food and nutrition is very important for you. And physical appearance is not of equal importance. Beauty is a socially constructed idea. You are your own definition of beautiful and worthwhile.
Anonymous
June 21st, 2016 3:58pm
no. absolutely not. i know it's so hard to not feel proud of your body and then you try to starve yourself. i know how it feels to look at your body and wish they could change. but still eating is the most important thing. starving yourself wont make you pretty or satisfied, trust me.
KeepLiving
July 18th, 2016 5:40am
No. My dear, i can feel your situation right now. You wanted to loose weight fast. But i am telling you, skipping meals wont help. beSt thing to do is still eat 3 times a day but only small portions of food especially fruits and vegetables..
AmandaAbroad
September 13th, 2016 10:46am
What aesthetic benefits do you think you will gain from starving? The body becomes distorted and skeletal, hair both falls out and begins growing thicker on the body as a result of hormonal imbalance, your systems begin to shut down and your skin may become jaundiced. You have talents that you will not have the muscular or mental energy to fully use because your body will be trying to consume itself to keep you alive at the barest minimum. You are lovely and worthy no matter what shape or size society tells you you're "supposed" to be, and your body deserves to be fed with the nutrients it needs.
TajwarhQ
September 16th, 2016 10:10pm
It is never, under any circumstance, okay to starve yourself. I speak from personal experience, not just my own, but the people I love around me. Not only is it ineffective,but it's also damaging physically and psychologically. Your body is incredibly fragile without your support. You need to feed it, and your body will not look any better without any food, rather worse. It may seem to look appealing at first, but you will quickly learn that, in the long run, you will damage your body to the point where return is incredibly difficult. There are so many better, healthier alternatives to make your body look better, and none of them need to involve eating less. Changing the food you eat, drinking more water, and doing more exercise are all much better alternatives. Your body needs at least 2000 calories a day to function healthily. If you work out, even more. Never neglect it. The way you worded the question sounds like it may be personal. I'd advise you to get help as soon as possible, and I hope that you stay safe. There are a bunch of online services which can help you with this, all anonymous. Please stay safe.
Anonymous
April 25th, 2017 2:06pm
Starving yourself is never a good idea. Your health is way more important than what you look like. I've had anorexia so I know what it's like but it's not worth it, trust me.
Anonymous
November 7th, 2017 2:17am
Absolutely not. You body needs nutrition for you to function normally. When you get the right nutrition, you'll reach your aesthetic goals anyways.