VLCD: Yes Or No
Tom1997B
Posts: 10 Member
Hi all,
I was going to post this in an existing topic but didn’t see one which really followed suit.
So essentially what are people views on very low calorie diets. I often don’t get very hungry, as in I’ll eat about 600-800 calories a day a few times a week and that’ll be about it.
Obviously for me personally I should be having about 2100 calories a day in order to lose 2lb a week, so if I followed through with having around 600 calories a day that’s obviously pushing around 4lb lost per week.
Main question, is this something I should definitely avoid and just force myself to eat more, or would doing this be okay considering I’ll still have the recommended 2100 a day every few days?
Most of my food is protein based such as protein bread, cooked chicken and other meaty sandwich fillers.
I was going to post this in an existing topic but didn’t see one which really followed suit.
So essentially what are people views on very low calorie diets. I often don’t get very hungry, as in I’ll eat about 600-800 calories a day a few times a week and that’ll be about it.
Obviously for me personally I should be having about 2100 calories a day in order to lose 2lb a week, so if I followed through with having around 600 calories a day that’s obviously pushing around 4lb lost per week.
Main question, is this something I should definitely avoid and just force myself to eat more, or would doing this be okay considering I’ll still have the recommended 2100 a day every few days?
Most of my food is protein based such as protein bread, cooked chicken and other meaty sandwich fillers.
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Replies
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No.
Group rules:
1) Know the difference between fact and opinion.
2) Don't pee in someone else's sandbox - if you tried keto and it didn't work out it doesn't make it bad for someone else.
3) Medical Supervision is necessary for very low calorie diet discussion.
4) This is a place for practical weight loss discussion only. All roads must lead to a calorie deficit.
5) The ONLY advice we give to people suspected of an eating disorder is to see a doctor.
6) Try to keep your disagree button in your pants as much as you can.
We do not support very low calorie diets unless it's coming from your doctor.
Your body needs a certain amount of calories to function. Also, what's the rush? If you crash diet, you're much more likely to fail.
I've been eating at a 500 - 1000 calorie per day deficit (aiming around 1800-2000 calories per day) since January and have lost 79 lbs so far. You don't need to go berserk eating so little to achieve decent results.3 -
No.
Group rules:
1) Know the difference between fact and opinion.
2) Don't pee in someone else's sandbox - if you tried keto and it didn't work out it doesn't make it bad for someone else.
3) Medical Supervision is necessary for very low calorie diet discussion.
4) This is a place for practical weight loss discussion only. All roads must lead to a calorie deficit.
5) The ONLY advice we give to people suspected of an eating disorder is to see a doctor.
6) Try to keep your disagree button in your pants as much as you can.
We do not support very low calorie diets unless it's coming from your doctor.
Your body needs a certain amount of calories to function. Also, what's the rush? If you crash diet, you're much more likely to fail.
I've been eating at a 500 - 1000 calorie per day deficit (aiming around 1800-2000 calories per day) since January and have lost 79 lbs so far. You don't need to go berserk eating so little to achieve decent results.
Preach0 -
Hi all,
I was going to post this in an existing topic but didn’t see one which really followed suit.
So essentially what are people views on very low calorie diets. I often don’t get very hungry, as in I’ll eat about 600-800 calories a day a few times a week and that’ll be about it.
Obviously for me personally I should be having about 2100 calories a day in order to lose 2lb a week, so if I followed through with having around 600 calories a day that’s obviously pushing around 4lb lost per week.
Main question, is this something I should definitely avoid and just force myself to eat more, or would doing this be okay considering I’ll still have the recommended 2100 a day every few days?
Most of my food is protein based such as protein bread, cooked chicken and other meaty sandwich fillers.
Hi @tom1977b,
The minimum nutrition line for a male is 1500 calories per day. That is not the say that is a safe level for all men though. Stats, activity, and nutritional quality all play a role. That is however the lowest you should go on a daily basis or a weekly average.
You can eat lower calorie some days and balance it with higher calories another but your weekly calories need to be above the safe limit line for yourself. At the maximum you should not try to lose more than 1 percent of your total body weight per week. That assumes you can do it while staying above the minimum nutrition line, fuel your day, and eat in a sustainable way. There is no point to losing weight if you can't lose weight for a really long time and then figure out how to keep it off. This is why it is better to go a little slower.
There can be a bit of a honeymoon phase at the beginning of your loss that allows you to eat less and even seem to feel good doing it. It will not last and it could easily lead to your energy crashing and/or a massive overfeed session.
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Oh and @tom1977b one other thing. As someone who has watched his weight and his weight trends very carefully for a whole lotta pounds I can tell you that having low and high days does nothing to speed up weight loss. My hunger has never been consistent even when I was gaining weight. I manage myself on a weekly basis and it is normal for me to have some lower calorie days each week and I offset them by eating more on other days. At times those low calorie days were quite low but I still lost weight at the same~3500 calorie per pound that people who eat more consistently.0
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A VLCD may sound enticing if you are looking for a quick road, but if you look at the effects the lack of eating proper nutrition give you... they are terrifying. Appetite can be tricky. If you are not hungry and you are not losing weight rapidly, it might be a good sign you're also not tracking truly at only 600 calories. But if your tracking is spot on... remember, appetite maybe can be trained away through a pattern of consistent VLCD, but that doesn't mean your body isn't still asking for fuel and that might manifest in other ways.
I love my hair too much to lose it.
I am terrified of the dentist and want to keep my teeth as much as possible.
I want to live the best life I can live, which requires energy to do it!
The body is amazingly tolerant of stressors -- it should be so that you can weather through tough times. Like this weekend, I've definitely been undereating due to food poisoning. I won't immediately get ill effects assuming I get right back into eating a good nutritional diet, which means having enough calories to fuel my energy needs. We are resilient, us humans, but not infinitely resilient.
Take care of yourself. Your journey, in the long run, will be that much richer for taking the slower, longer road. And you'll avoid problems such as decaying teeth, loss of hair, anemia, potential heart issues, etc, etc.
Of course, in some cases, a VLCD supervised by a medical doctor may be needed, but that falls into the 'medically necessary' category and being monitored in all of that.
Good luck to you!0 -
dhiammarath wrote: »A VLCD may sound enticing if you are looking for a quick road, but if you look at the effects the lack of eating proper nutrition give you... they are terrifying. Appetite can be tricky. If you are not hungry and you are not losing weight rapidly, it might be a good sign you're also not tracking truly at only 600 calories. But if your tracking is spot on... remember, appetite maybe can be trained away through a pattern of consistent VLCD, but that doesn't mean your body isn't still asking for fuel and that might manifest in other ways.
I love my hair too much to lose it.
I am terrified of the dentist and want to keep my teeth as much as possible.
I want to live the best life I can live, which requires energy to do it!
The body is amazingly tolerant of stressors -- it should be so that you can weather through tough times. Like this weekend, I've definitely been undereating due to food poisoning. I won't immediately get ill effects assuming I get right back into eating a good nutritional diet, which means having enough calories to fuel my energy needs. We are resilient, us humans, but not infinitely resilient.
Take care of yourself. Your journey, in the long run, will be that much richer for taking the slower, longer road. And you'll avoid problems such as decaying teeth, loss of hair, anemia, potential heart issues, etc, etc.
Of course, in some cases, a VLCD supervised by a medical doctor may be needed, but that falls into the 'medically necessary' category and being monitored in all of that.
Good luck to you!
This.
The human body is normally not a fragile thing but it can become that way and once it does it may be a long road back to good health. Some people take a year of eating properly to fully regain their health after improperly executing a VLCD. Since it can trigger eating disorders in people with predispositions it can end in even a worse outcome.
I think we have to be smart about our weight loss. We need to be mindful of our health and part of that is being mindful of nutrition.
I think this chart sums it up and if you look at the very bottom calories is the biggest priority:
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