how low in calories is unhealthy

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    Zedeff wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    No one should go lower than BMR.

    Nonsense. At 5'10", 151.2 lbs, my BMR comes out at 1648, off of the calculator. You know what happens when I eat at 1648? I maintain. Hell, I've been maintaining this weight at 1650-1700 kcals for well over a month now. I have to cut to at most, 1500 to see any notable loss.

    While I agree that the original advice of not eating below BMR is nonsense, I have to point out that if you are maintaining your weight then you obviously are not eating below your BMR, so your example isn't a good one. All it shows is that the estimate of your BMR or TDEE was not a good one.

    Right, someone who is not bedridden would not maintain at BMR level calories.
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
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    mikebelljr68 wrote: »
    ok, so I'm not going to sugarcoat it i need to lose a whole person, I'm very tall but weigh 436lbs, ikr shocking, so I wanted to be a bit more extreme in losing weight because I have an injury that is keeping me from working out, so I looked at calorie calculator. com to see how many calories to lose weight with very little workouts,2600 was the a recommendation to lose 2lbs a week, so I decided to go lower to 2000 flat.. but I don't want to put my health at risk, how drastic have some of you gone and with what success?

    I would say ..consult your Dr. first..with that out of the way..I'd say 2000 would be fine..short term..you should drop weight fairly quickly. Watch your body for signs that you need more fuel. Irritation, quick to anger, sluggishness, feeling tired...etc

    I weighed 308# on Feb 29th and was pre-diabetic and am 57 years old. I put myself on 1200-1300 calories a day..and added exercise..I did that for perhaps 3 months(I'd have to go look) when your body needs more fuel..it'll tell you..I slowly upped the calories to 1500-1800..and jusy recently have upped them to 1800-2100..but I also have increased exercise.


    I weighed in Monday after 5 months...71 pounds lighter..down to 237.0 My Dr. also gave me a pretty clean bill of health and was amazed at the results. I am on no Meds..for diabetes..My last 2 A1C tests were 5.4 and 5.5
    My Blood Pressure 111/71..

    It all depends on YOUR willpower and desire. Just stay in touch with your Dr. I did and he was very supportive of what I was doing.
  • orangpeel757
    orangpeel757 Posts: 38 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Relating to what BiggDaddy said, another reason to get your Dr. on board is so that you can be monitored periodically as you lose weight and get any medications you're on adjusted as necessary. This is very important if you're taking meds for mood disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes. As you lose weight these numbers will typically improve so you'll need less. Not to mention that the feeling of seeing these numbers drop is amazing.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Zedeff wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    No one should go lower than BMR.

    Nonsense. At 5'10", 151.2 lbs, my BMR comes out at 1648, off of the calculator. You know what happens when I eat at 1648? I maintain. Hell, I've been maintaining this weight at 1650-1700 kcals for well over a month now. I have to cut to at most, 1500 to see any notable loss.

    While I agree that the original advice of not eating below BMR is nonsense, I have to point out that if you are maintaining your weight then you obviously are not eating below your BMR, so your example isn't a good one. All it shows is that the estimate of your BMR or TDEE was not a good one.

    That's actually my point. Every calculator I have come across spits out a number that is much higher for BMR than what I am actually at. When most see "don't eat below BMR", then run a BMR calc, and get a number that's too high, they're going to wonder what the hell is going on, and why aren't they losing weight. We know this. Many do not. I am pretty sure that's part of the reason we keep getting so many "zomg what's wrong with me?" threads over the years.
  • dykask
    dykask Posts: 800 Member
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    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    Zedeff wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    No one should go lower than BMR.

    Nonsense. At 5'10", 151.2 lbs, my BMR comes out at 1648, off of the calculator. You know what happens when I eat at 1648? I maintain. Hell, I've been maintaining this weight at 1650-1700 kcals for well over a month now. I have to cut to at most, 1500 to see any notable loss.

    While I agree that the original advice of not eating below BMR is nonsense, I have to point out that if you are maintaining your weight then you obviously are not eating below your BMR, so your example isn't a good one. All it shows is that the estimate of your BMR or TDEE was not a good one.

    That's actually my point. Every calculator I have come across spits out a number that is much higher for BMR than what I am actually at. When most see "don't eat below BMR", then run a BMR calc, and get a number that's too high, they're going to wonder what the hell is going on, and why aren't they losing weight. We know this. Many do not. I am pretty sure that's part of the reason we keep getting so many "zomg what's wrong with me?" threads over the years.

    That is kind of scares me with the big CICO pushes I see. Cut back too far and one's body just might adjust to the new lower level and kind of get stuck there. My brain likes to think it is a lot easier to lower your BMR than to raise it.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    At your weight, it's possible to get into a medically supervised program that has you eating very low calories while monitoring your health and making sure you get the essential nutrients, which would help you drop the weight fast until your pre-diabetes is under control. After you have lost some weight on such a program, you could increase your calories again for a slower healthier self-monitored loss. You may want to ask your doctor next time and have them refer you to a professional. At your weight it's possible to go low on calories with fewer side effects than if you were leaner.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    I started at 320, currently around 190, and I found that at around 1900 calories/day on average I was losing about 1% body weight per week, which was my targeted goal. As I've gotten leaner, the natural reduction in my TDEE has slowed my weight loss on about the right trajectory to keep me on track, so I haven't adjusted it much, only by a bit here and there.

    2000 seems reasonable and wouldn't be unhealthy for someone of your size - certainly nowhere near as unhealthy as being your current size is.
  • MarkusDarwath
    MarkusDarwath Posts: 393 Member
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    I started at 292. I've dropped 30 pounds in 13 weeks at 2200 calories per day. I do lightly to moderately active work, but haven't been exercising apart from that. The exercise I have just started is for mobility in my lower back and hips due to some mild degenerative changes in my lumbar region, so I'm not really burning extra calories with it. I'm also diabetic and am controlling my blood sugar with a lower carb diet. I aim to keep my carbs under 20% of calories consumed (comes out to 110 net grams per day for my calorie goal). I also try for 25% or more from protein in an effort to minimize lean tissue loss. The remaining 55% fat is a floating number that just falls where it falls, not a target. I bring up the ratios 1. because you mentioned pre-diabetes and this is how I'm controlling my blood sugar when 850mg metformin 2x/day and 2mg glimeperide 1x/day are otherwise accomplishing next to nothing, and 2. these macro percentages keep me from feeling excessively hungry, and therefore it is easier to stick to my daily target. So far, my rate of loss is greater than 2# per week.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    Zedeff wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    No one should go lower than BMR.

    Nonsense. At 5'10", 151.2 lbs, my BMR comes out at 1648, off of the calculator. You know what happens when I eat at 1648? I maintain. Hell, I've been maintaining this weight at 1650-1700 kcals for well over a month now. I have to cut to at most, 1500 to see any notable loss.

    While I agree that the original advice of not eating below BMR is nonsense, I have to point out that if you are maintaining your weight then you obviously are not eating below your BMR, so your example isn't a good one. All it shows is that the estimate of your BMR or TDEE was not a good one.

    That's actually my point. Every calculator I have come across spits out a number that is much higher for BMR than what I am actually at. When most see "don't eat below BMR", then run a BMR calc, and get a number that's too high, they're going to wonder what the hell is going on, and why aren't they losing weight. We know this. Many do not. I am pretty sure that's part of the reason we keep getting so many "zomg what's wrong with me?" threads over the years.

    Do you have any medical conditions? Because those numbers are crazy low for a male. I am almost exactly the same stats as you (34, 5'11, 175, desk job and 5-6 hours of exercise) and maintain at 3k.

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