I thought this was wrong??

Sheila00000

I have always read and heard that no one should EVER eat below 1,200 calories a day. I just read that Penn Jillette lost 105 pounds ONLY eating 1,000 calories for three months. Um, what?

"In a matter of months, from December through March, Jillette consumed only about 1,000 calories daily and was able to lose an average of .9 pound a day, he tells People."

He did it healthy, he at a lot of salads, fruit and veggies. "Now he isn't on a calorie-restrictive diet, but consumes no animal products, no processed grains, and no added sugar or salt. "I eat unbelievable amounts of food but just very, very, very healthy food."

So what do you think? Can we set any calorie amount we want or is there really a healthy minimum we should never go under (which I thought was 1,200). I'm completely and totally confused now. I mean, honestly he sounds like he did a healthy thing.

I'm happy he lost weight but now I'm discouraged and wondering if I should do a major calorie drop. I want to lose a pound a day! I have lost three pounds this week but I could be doing more if I cut back to close to 1,000?

melaniecheeks

I don't think a pound a day is a healthy goal.

I also don't think there's a "never ever" about 1200 - it's a good guideline, though.

tracie_minus100

Just because a celebrity did it, doesn't mean it should be done. Of course you will lose weight eating that little, but you aren't giving your body the fuel it needs, especially a large guy like Penn. I doubt it would be sustainable long term for most people.
Unless you are very short and petite, you shouldn't eat that little.

Sheila00000

But what would make a pound a day not a healthy goal? What does losing fast do to your body bad if you are eating healthy? Does anyone know?

Sheila00000

Yes Amy I'm having a hard time keeping at my 1,600 to be honest. I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol issues and I need to lose close to 55 pounds.

MFP has me losing .5 a week where I'm at, but I was thinking about lowering it to do more. But you are right, this is comfortable for me now. Anything less might tip more over what I can do at this point, willpower or not.

ana3067

Losing 1lb/day =/= healthy just because the diet consists of higher nutrient food.

jkal1979

I believe the recommended minimum for men is 1500.

Don't let his loss discourage you or feel like you are doing something wrong, especially if you are losing at a good rate which you are doing. Comparison is the thief of joy.

Sheila00000

amyrebeccah wrote: »

Also, as to whether a pound a day weight loss is feasible to you, that will also depend on metabolism. Are you a 6'7" man?

No I'm a female, 5"2. But what ana said, that he was eating a higher nutrient food diet, wouldn't that eliminate any causes of him weakening his muscle mass even those he lost a pound a day? He exercised too, so his muscles were being used causing them to not get any weaker.

Sarasmaintaining

Sheila00000 wrote: »

I have always read and heard that no one should EVER eat below 1,200 calories a day. I just read that Penn Jillette lost 105 pounds ONLY eating 1,000 calories for three months. Um, what?

"In a matter of months, from December through March, Jillette consumed only about 1,000 calories daily and was able to lose an average of .9 pound a day, he tells People."

He did it healthy, he at a lot of salads, fruit and veggies. "Now he isn't on a calorie-restrictive diet, but consumes no animal products, no processed grains, and no added sugar or salt. "I eat unbelievable amounts of food but just very, very, very healthy food."

So what do you think? Can we set any calorie amount we want or is there really a healthy minimum we should never go under (which I thought was 1,200). I'm completely and totally confused now. I mean, honestly he sounds like he did a healthy thing.

I'm happy he lost weight but now I'm discouraged and wondering if I should do a major calorie drop. I want to lose a pound a day! I have lost three pounds this week but I could be doing more if I cut back to close to 1,000?

From my understanding, reading the article, he was under a doctor's supervision during this time and he was morbidly obese (or close to it). That's going to be much different than say someone trying to lose 50lbs.

Sheila00000

jkal1979 wrote: »

I believe the recommended minimum for men is 1500.

Don't let his loss discourage you or feel like you are doing something wrong, especially if you are losing at a good rate which you are doing. Comparison is the thief of joy.

omg I love this "comparison is the thief of joy" you are so right. But goodness turning on the Internet there is so much of that, so easy to get discouraged, skinny celebrities, etc, thanks.

SergeantSausage

1200 is a guideline.

If you're heavy enough, you could go, literally months on ZERO calories consumed (doctor supervised, of course) with no long term ill health effects.

It's a guideline. It ain't like 1200 is AOK and 1199 will kill you instantly, right?

FYI: An apple a day doesn't really keep the doctor away either.

emdeesea

Have you seen what he looks like now? I know there aren't many photos but the ones I've seen - he looks terrible.

And I bet that as he was under a doctor's supervision, he had some chemical help, even if no one is readily admitting to it.

crazyjerseygirl

I have my doubts about this story. Penn Jillette is pretty well known in the skeptic circles and I've been wondering if this short timeline is him pulling our leg a bit!

That said, never say never and don't try to mimic celebrity diets unless you too have a kitchen staff, personal trainer and personal physician.

Sheila00000

emdeesea wrote: »

Have you seen what he looks like now? I know there aren't many photos but the ones I've seen - he looks terrible.

And I bet that as he was under a doctor's supervision, there had some chemical help, even if no one is readily admitting to it.

You know my husband loves Penn and I showed him this morning the after pictures of him now and he said, "Wow, he looks awful" I didn't really notice at first because I was so obsessed with the weight loss, but I do notice it a bit in his skin texture. Yeah I was thinking there could be some chemical help too. Just don't know.

@sergeant: yes I eat lots of apples and had to see the doctor this week for a sinus infection, no fair! ha ha!

Sheila00000

crazyjerseygirl wrote: »

I have my doubts about this story. Penn Jillette is pretty well known in the skeptic circles and I've been wondering if this short timeline is him pulling our leg a bit!

That said, never say never and don't try to mimic celebrity diets unless you too have a kitchen staff, personal trainer and personal physician.

Yes it could of been a bet/stunt aimed at the dieting world or something. You never know. And true he has enough money to hire lots of people to help him.

pollypocket1021

Sheila00000 wrote: »

amyrebeccah wrote: »

Also, as to whether a pound a day weight loss is feasible to you, that will also depend on metabolism. Are you a 6'7" man?

No I'm a female, 5"2. But what ana said, that he was eating a higher nutrient food diet, wouldn't that eliminate any causes of him weakening his muscle mass even those he lost a pound a day? He exercised too, so his muscles were being used causing them to not get any weaker.

I interpreted Ana's comment differently. That losing 1lb/day is NOT healthy despite eating nutritionally dense food. And I would agree, I don't think 1000 kcal/day is a good goal for a large man. Ih he was on an exercise program and there is nothing to indicate he eat back exercise kcals. The way I read it 1000kcal was gross intake, not net, and that sounds awful.

crazyjerseygirl

Sheila00000 wrote: »

crazyjerseygirl wrote: »

I have my doubts about this story. Penn Jillette is pretty well known in the skeptic circles and I've been wondering if this short timeline is him pulling our leg a bit!

That said, never say never and don't try to mimic celebrity diets unless you too have a kitchen staff, personal trainer and personal physician.

Yes it could of been a bet/stunt aimed at the dieting world or something. You never know. And true he has enough money to hire lots of people to help him.

Yeah, I'm holding out for a bit to see how it plays out. He's obviously lost weight, I'm just skeptical of the timeline is all!
But hey, it it's true, that's pretty awesome esp for those who need fast weight loss!

PAV8888

1200 non doctor supervised minimiums were invented so that impatient people have a chance to not succeed in destroying their health!

When you lose weight you are losing water, muscle, and fat. Most people are only interested in losing the fat and would prefer to keep their muscles intact. Weight loss of more than 1% a week increases the chances that what you will lose is not fat.

Faster weight loss also sets you up with unsustainable habits. What happens when you are no longer on your "fast weight loss" plan? Did you change anything in your life or are you going back to your previous habits and weight?

I am not 100% clear as to what exactly happens with your body as you push down harder on the calories, someone with more knowledge may be able to clear things up. However things such as metabolic adaptation where your body learns to operate sustainably at a lower caloric level comes to mind.

I don't know about you; but, I actually enjoy eating, maybe too much so!

In any case, I plan to continue eating as much as my body allows me to in as "healthy" a manner as I can.

My goal is not to train my body to survive on the least amount of food possible.

My goal is to train ME to recognize when I am over-eating and how to make better trade-offs that maximize my eating satisfaction without leading to fat accumulation. And maybe move a bit more.

Last thought and you even alluded to it yourself (which makes me wonder why you even posted, what would you think would be better for me?

(change the numbers so that they are appropriate to you)

Would it have been better to go a three month diet at 1000 calories a day and lose up to 50lbs of weight while feeling h(a)ngry and lightheaded all the time, or to change my daily and eating habits over a 12 month period while eating an average of 2300 calories and lose almost 80lbs of fat?

It is not a sprint to the finish.

MamaRiss

To me, hey whatever, good for him. I know it is not a realistic goal for most people, and he was likely monitored by his doctor. The thing that worries me is how some people may react to the story, just assuming that they can do that too, and possibly causing harm to themselves, or at the very least becoming discouraged when they don't see themselves losing a pound a day and just giving up completely. I would have liked to see a quote from him discouraging people from blindly copying him, and encouraging them to seek quidance from a doctor

williams969

There's a very important contextual point missing here. I looked this up, and it seems that he was on 6 (SIX!!!) heart medications and obese. The benefits exceed the risks in this case (or so it seems, and I do believe that he'd be doctor monitored/approved for the drastic diet).

Simplistically speaking, it's a matter of the distinct possibility of death in a year's time (or less), or lose the weight and be malnourished/muscle depleted for a while (but still alive, with hopefully improved heart health).

lynn_glenmont

Sheila00000 wrote: »

amyrebeccah wrote: »

Also, as to whether a pound a day weight loss is feasible to you, that will also depend on metabolism. Are you a 6'7" man?

No I'm a female, 5"2. But what ana said, that he was eating a higher nutrient food diet, wouldn't that eliminate any causes of him weakening his muscle mass even those he lost a pound a day? He exercised too, so his muscles were being used causing them to not get any weaker.

No, the loss of muscle mass is because there is a limit to the amount of energy your body can recover from a given amount of fat during a given period of time (I believe it's 30 calories a day per pound of fat, but I'm pulling that out of my memory, so if it matters to you, double check with a reliable source)--think of it as a factory with a finite set of inputs, limiting production.

If your deficit exceeds the amount of energy you can recover from the fat in your body, you have to get it from somewhere, and "somewhere" includes muscle, and muscle includes your heart muscle. And as the poster above said, you can't control which muscle your body is going to tear down to get the energy it needs. (Actually, my understanding is that even at smaller daily energy deficits that are within the theoretical limits that your body fat could supply, you will still likely be losing at least some lean body mass to make up the deficit--i.e., that your body doesn't strictly get the energy it needs from the various possible sources according to some prioritized list, exhausting all the potential of one source before moving on to the next--but once you hit that theoretical limit, everything beyond that will have to come from non-fat sources.)