Is eating under 600 calories good for you?

barkleyjeffl

I have had a few friends tell me that they are only eating 600 calories a day. I want to lose weight but not at the risk of my body failing. So, does anyone know is this ok to do?

samgamgee

No, it is not. The rough rule of thumb to go by is not to eat under 1200 for women and 1500 for men.

janejellyroll

Not unless you're doing it under the advice of a doctor (who is monitoring you for health issues).

GsKiki

Definetely not. Your body will be malnourished and barely surviving.
Diets like this are only done under medical supervision in extreme cases.

MelaniaTrump

I would start looking at my cats as food if I had to eat under 1,200 a day. And I'm a short female.

missblondi2u

I don't think your friends really know how many calories they're eating.

snowflake930

No.

Therealobi1

a definate no here
i mean when i think about it some meals i eat total that or more.

cmjohnson53

No.

sanfromny

http://www.webmd.com/diet/low-calorie-diets?page=1

williams969

That is the opposite of good. I eat triple that to lose, and I'm a relatively slim woman. In your friends' cases, I really hope they're grossly underestimating their intake, and are really eating much more than that. Malnutrition has some horrid, long lasting effects on bodies.

Pawsforme

No, it's not good for you. A day of low calories now and then (like when you're sick) isn't a problem at all. Doing it for longer periods of time is. I too wonder if your friends really know how much they're eating. It would be extremely difficult for almost anyone to sustain that low of an intake for very long.

shabaity

As part of a say a fast diet like 5:2 or every other day the low days aren't that bad once you're used to em. As an everyday thing NO its bad unless it's supervised by a doctor.

ilex70

Are these friends doing a 5:2 diet? There are a lot of people doing that now. My husband has done it and his best friend.

Basically you eat normally 5 days of the week, but only 600 calories on two non-consecutive days, usually weekdays if you are off on the weekend.

And, no, not good for you on a daily basis. I've done a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) supervised by a doctor, and the lowest is 800 calories a day, mostly protein.

dbanks80

This thread will be closed 5,4,3,2....1

emmycantbemeeko

No, absolutely terrible for you. In addition to making you sluggish and miserable, it will cause your metabolism to slow and your body to break down muscle as well as fat for energy, causing long term problems. It's also very easy to miss key micronutrients when eating that little, causing nutritional deficiencies. Even if someone could sustain if for long enough to see weight loss, as soon as they started eating more (which they would have to, or die) they would gain that weight back faster than before due to the slowed metabolism and lowered muscle mass, and find it harder to lose it in future.

For purposes of comparison, 600 calories is the physician-ordered amount in one meal for an average-size diabetic when bed-bound (so doing practically no exercise) in the hospital. It is absolutely not enough to sustain an active person for an entire day, and trying to do so will cause serious health problems.

jemhh

JanetYellen wrote: »

I would start looking at my cats as food if I had to eat under 1,200 a day. And I'm a short female.

Ha!

600 meals is a meal, not a day's worth of food.

dbanks80

Considering you've had 2 heart attacks, eating 600 calories and under is extremely dangerous for you! DO NOT DO THAT!

CooCooPuff

No. I'd recommend trying to get medical help for that friend if they genuinely think consistently eating that little is healthy.

Unless you're very sick or doing some form of IF, where the low calorie day is offset by much higher days, it is NOT a good idea.

MelaniaTrump

@dbanks80 catching the 2 heart attacks pretty much closed this discussion. Well done.
Eat healthy. No more games with your life.

cwolfman13

Really?