21YO Girl Who Lost 30KG Over 3 Years With ‘Extreme Diet’ Ended Up Damaging Her Brain

Are you unhappy with how “fat” you are? Is losing weight one of your new year resolution? If it is, I don’t blame you.

After all, we’re bombarded with images like these every single day.

Along with the message that this is what you’re supposed to look like. Or, I should say, this is what beauty is supposed to be like.

So you have people dieting, exercising and counting their calories.

Which are all good things, considering that the average person doesn’t care about their diet or work out enough.

Unfortunately, there are many in this world who tried to lose weight with extreme methods. Leading to serious consequences.

21 Year Old Girl Lost 30 KG Within 3 Years

Within 3 years, Xiao Qian from Heilongjiang, China, lost 30kg. Sounds par for the course, right? I mean, we’ve all seen transformation videos.

Except she was 55 KG when the entire thing started.

She started her extreme diet with an offhand comment from one of her dormitory counsellers, telling her she seemed to be gaining weight.

And with that, Xiao Qian was determined to lose weight.

She started consuming weight loss products and meal replacement drinks in an effort to get quick results.

Other than that, she restricted her daily meal intake to one per day.

When she saw results, she was ecstatic and determined to lose even more weight. She started feeling reluctant to eat. And on times when she ate, she’ll grab a skipping rope and jump her calories away.

Her Condition Started Deteriorating

Soon, due to weight, Xiao Qian started experiencing problems.

She developed rashes on her body, started having difficulties in walking and bruises easily on her ankle and body.

When Xiao Qian’s mother saw her daughter, she was shocked to see how bad she was. Because she was too weak to go to the hospital, she took photos and sent it to a doctor.

Upon seeing the pictures, the doctor asked Xiao Qian to go to the hospital immediately.

After her consultation, she was diagnosed with severe malnutrition and anorexia. In addition, it was found that her organs were not functioning well.

A Fall at a Hospital Leading To 40-Day Coma

When Xiao Qian was at the hospital, she fell down and suffered a cerebral haemorrhage. The doctor said that because she only took in 450 calories, less than one-third a normal person’s daily intake per day, her brain tissue has degraded.

While she’s 21 years old, her brain age is akin to a 60-year-old person’s.

The damage to her brain caused Xiao Qian to go into a 40-day coma. When she woke up, it was reported that she forgot the past three years of her life.

When the doctor visited her again on 15 Aug, he was happy to find that she has gained 10 KG, and is excited to gain more until her target weight of 60 KG.

She was lucky to be alive.

Looking at how the entire incident has unfolded, you’ve got to admit that she is lucky to be alive.

Like what we’ve said in the beginning, she’s not the only one to take the extreme way when it comes to losing weight.

But like the saying goes, too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

It’s one thing to want to look beautiful, but it’s another thing to almost kill yourself just to get that.

Losing Weight Based on Science

Technically speaking, she is losing weight the right way: having less calories than what your body needs on a daily basis is a healthy and recommended way to lose weight. A 7,000 caloric deficit can lead to about 1 kg of weight loss.

However, hers is way too extreme. There must always be moderation: to be safe, it’s suggested that a woman should have at least 1,200 calories a day and a man to have at least 1,800 calories a day. Going all the way down to 450 calories a day isn’t just unhealthy, but dangerous as well.

Either that, or aim for a weight loss of just 0.5 kg or 1 kg loss per week: that’s like 3,500 caloric to 7,000 caloric deficit per week. And to be safe, always consult a doctor.