Would you drop to 900 calories per day at your doctors advice?

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Did no one else read OP's update?
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Did no one else read OP's update?
    I saw. She improved her accuracy on intake and lost half as much now as she has in six months.
    My comment goes to people thinking anyone is going to need 900 calories to create a deficit.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    whatatime2befit wrote: »
    Just wanted to post an update to this thread, and say thank you again to all who posted and offered advice. While it's only been one week, I tried calorie cycling as suggested by @besee_2000 . I also ensured I weighed everything and tracked everything that I ate. While my tracking had been good, I realized a few small things that I hadn't tracked consistently (like the milk in my coffee) .

    With everything I did this week, I saw the scale drop 2.4 lbs....which is almost half what I had lost in the 6 months before this. So thank you all for the advice. Hopefully i'll continue to see the scale move in the right direction (maybe just not at that rate though :smile: )

    Fantastic news! Thanks for the update!

    To everyone else? STOP RECOMMENDING SHE EAT LESS.

  • DaveAkeman
    DaveAkeman Posts: 296 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    I think it is worth mentioning this:
    http://examine.com/faq/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people
    One study[1] noted that one standard deviation of variance for resting metabolic rate (how many calories are burnt by living) was 5-8%; meaning 1 standard deviation of the population (68%) was within 6-8% of the average metabolic rate. Extending this, 2 standard deviations of the population (96%) was within 10-16% of the population average.[1]

    Extending this into practical terms and assuming an average expenditure of 2000kcal a day, 68% of the population falls into the range of 1840-2160kcal daily while 96% of the population is in the range of 1680-2320kcal daily. Comparing somebody at or below the 5th percentile with somebody at or above the 95th percentile would yield a difference of possibly 600kcal daily, and the chance of this occurring (comparing the self to a friend) is 0.50%, assuming two completely random persons.

    To give a sense of calories, 200kcal (the difference in metabolic rate in approximately half the population) is approximately equivalent to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, a single poptart (a package of two is 400kcal) or half of a large slice of pizza. An oreo is about 70kcal, and a chocolate bar in the range of 150-270kcal depending on brand.

    Metabolic rate does vary, and technically there could be large variance. However, statistically speaking it is unlikely the variance would apply to you. The majority of the population exists in a range of 200-300kcal from each other and do not possess hugely different metabolic rates.

    Generally speaking, no, regardless of height, almost no adult (if anyone) is going to vary so much to be at maintenance or surplus on 1200 calories, short of living a comatose life style (and rare even then). Occam's razor says, by far, the best explanation is errors in counting intake.

    Anyone who cites Occam's Razor gets a thumbs up in my book! desismileys_4547.gif
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    hell to the no I would not. I would go see a nutritionist instead and get another opinion.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    whatatime2befit wrote: »
    Just wanted to post an update to this thread, and say thank you again to all who posted and offered advice. While it's only been one week, I tried calorie cycling as suggested by @besee_2000 . I also ensured I weighed everything and tracked everything that I ate. While my tracking had been good, I realized a few small things that I hadn't tracked consistently (like the milk in my coffee) .

    With everything I did this week, I saw the scale drop 2.4 lbs....which is almost half what I had lost in the 6 months before this. So thank you all for the advice. Hopefully i'll continue to see the scale move in the right direction (maybe just not at that rate though :smile: )

    Fantastic news! Thanks for the update!

    To everyone else? STOP RECOMMENDING SHE EAT LESS.

    I think that's a lot of people's point though, is that she did need to eat less, by logging more accurately.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited June 2015
    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    There is something that people on this site don't seem to understand. If you ARE eating 1200, and NOT losing, they only way to lose is to eat less...

    No.

    If you are not losing at 1200, there is something wrong with your logging.

    It is an *extremely* small number of people who have a size and metabolism that puts their TDEE at 1200ish. By "extremely" I mean, like, 5 people in the entire MFP userbase of millions.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    ASKyle wrote: »
    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    whatatime2befit wrote: »
    Just wanted to post an update to this thread, and say thank you again to all who posted and offered advice. While it's only been one week, I tried calorie cycling as suggested by @besee_2000 . I also ensured I weighed everything and tracked everything that I ate. While my tracking had been good, I realized a few small things that I hadn't tracked consistently (like the milk in my coffee) .

    With everything I did this week, I saw the scale drop 2.4 lbs....which is almost half what I had lost in the 6 months before this. So thank you all for the advice. Hopefully i'll continue to see the scale move in the right direction (maybe just not at that rate though :smile: )

    Fantastic news! Thanks for the update!

    To everyone else? STOP RECOMMENDING SHE EAT LESS.

    I think that's a lot of people's point though, is that she did need to eat less, by logging more accurately.

    I meant the actually eating 900 calories. Could you imagine if she had followed that advice AND the advice to start logging accurately?

    She was not under doctor's supervision. She is not obese. She did not fit any criteria at all to lose weight on that kind of calorie intake. There are very limited circumstances where it's okay to do that.

  • blwasson73
    blwasson73 Posts: 92 Member
    Most medical doctors have very little nutritional training while in med school. Perhaps talk to a registered dietician or get a second opinion..
  • _sacar
    _sacar Posts: 80 Member
    DaveAkeman wrote: »
    Unless there is somebody on here with a medical license, I would listen to your doctor. Or get a second opinion (from a doctor . . . not from the internet).

    QFT. Definitely the only way to come to a sound decision.

  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    _ssperber wrote: »
    DaveAkeman wrote: »
    Unless there is somebody on here with a medical license, I would listen to your doctor. Or get a second opinion (from a doctor . . . not from the internet).

    QFT. Definitely the only way to come to a sound decision.
    Or...you could just read the rest of the thread to see how that advice played out.
  • _sacar
    _sacar Posts: 80 Member
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    _ssperber wrote: »
    DaveAkeman wrote: »
    Unless there is somebody on here with a medical license, I would listen to your doctor. Or get a second opinion (from a doctor . . . not from the internet).

    QFT. Definitely the only way to come to a sound decision.
    Or...you could just read the rest of the thread to see how that advice played out.

    Erm...sorry. I figured it was relevant to anyone asking for medical advice on a forum. Similar to senecarr above.
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