If you are on a low calorie diet, READ THIS!!!

1PatientBear

I pulled this post from another thread (with the permission of the person who posted it). She didn't want to post it herself but didn't mind if I shared her story. So, here you go....

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I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain. Because of that its a slippery slope. When I was at my lowest weight (73 pounds and I am 5'8") I was never hungry. Food had no appeal to me. I could sit there and be surrounded by delicious things that smelled and looked amazing to everyone else, and my attitude was basically "eh."

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PLEASE, PLEASE think about the long term ramifications of what you might be doing to your body if you are not fueling it properly.

Thewatcher_66

Word!

pastryari

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain.

Quoting this part because I see this get tossed around all the time. People saying they don't feel hungry as an excuse.

Cranquistador

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain.

Quoting this part because I see this get tossed around all the time. People saying they don't feel hungry as an excuse.

many times ^THIS
"listening to your body" is sometimes NOT the right thing to do

suziepoo1984

Just makes me sad. I hope people realize the long term results than looking for a short term quick fix. There is so much more to life than just looking slim or skinny or whatever. Health is of utmost importance , which people dont value when they have it!

Steph_cook92

I've been eating around 1300 calories a day since May and I'm 5 ft 3, is this ok? I've lost weight and feel so much better in myself but this really scared me so I just want some advice?

sheenarama

Thank you for posting this. I battled eating disorder since a teenager. Anyone who says nothing tastes as good as skinny feels is wrong. Skinny feels pretty shi**y.

AllonsYtotheTardis

bump for my FL

odusgolp

(((Hugs to the person behind the person)))

suziepoo1984

I've been eating around 1300 calories a day since May and I'm 5 ft 3, is this ok? I've lost weight and feel so much better in myself but this really scared me so I just want some advice?

If you have very less to lose, input goal as to lose 0.5 lbs per week and eat all the exercise calories back(HRM, not MFP estimated)
If you have a lot of weight to lose, input goal as to lose anywhere between 1-2 lbs per week and eat back exercise calories as mentioned above.

If you want to go by TDEE, calculate TDEE and deficit anywhere between 10-20% depending upon how much you have to lose. Lesser deficit if you have very less to reach your goal. And in this method, do not eat your calories back, because your activity level will be included in this.

leaaa92

Thanks for this.. What are your thoughts about a 1,200 calorie diet? That's what was set for me by MFP. On days that I workout, I still try to stay at 1200 cals. Is that unhealthy? I've been losing 0.2 to 0.8 lbs a day, weighing myself every morning at the same time. And I'm currently obese at 181 lbs, and I'm 21. Is my calorie goal okay? Oh, and I'm 5'3".

DopeItUp

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain.

Quoting this part because I see this get tossed around all the time. People saying they don't feel hungry as an excuse.

Agreed 100%. This gets parroted all the time by every person that is trying to justify their dangerous diet. "I don't feel hungry, I feel great all the time, everything is going great!". Then two months later "Why is my hair falling out?"

Cranquistador

I've been eating around 1300 calories a day since May and I'm 5 ft 3, is this ok? I've lost weight and feel so much better in myself but this really scared me so I just want some advice?

hi there...depends...how much are you exercising?

MireyGal76

*this made me cry*

DopeItUp

Thanks for this.. What are your thoughts about a 1,200 calorie diet? That's what was set for me by MFP. On days that I workout, I still try to stay at 1200 cals. Is that unhealthy? I've been losing .2 - .8 lbs a day, weighing myself every morning at the same time. And I'm currently obese at 181 lbs, and I'm 21. Is my calorie goal okay?

How much have you lost per week for the last 4 weeks? I'd shoot for 1lbs/week with your current goal in mind. If you're losing more than that I'd scale the calories up a bit as you've probably got too extreme of a deficit going.

DopeItUp

Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain.

Quoting this part because I see this get tossed around all the time. People saying they don't feel hungry as an excuse.

many times ^THIS
"listening to your body" is sometimes NOT the right thing to do

Yup. Hell, that's why most of us are here right? If I listened to my body I would eat 5000 calories a day easily. Which, coincidentally is how I made it to 300lbs and how I ended up here. It goes both ways too, you can be eating way too little and suffering dangerous health side effects as a result if you just listen to your (non-existent) hunger signals.

PikaKnight

Tagging.

Much hugs to the OP and I hope people really take the experience to heart.

leaaa92

Thanks for this.. What are your thoughts about a 1,200 calorie diet? That's what was set for me by MFP. On days that I workout, I still try to stay at 1200 cals. Is that unhealthy? I've been losing .2 - .8 lbs a day, weighing myself every morning at the same time. And I'm currently obese at 181 lbs, and I'm 21. Is my calorie goal okay?

How much have you lost per week for the last 4 weeks? I'd shoot for 1lbs/week with your current goal in mind. If you're losing more than that I'd scale the calories up a bit as you've probably got too extreme of a deficit going.

I just started being "serious" about my diet and exercising at the beginning of September. So it has almost been 3 weeks and I've lost around 6 lbs. I've been steadily losing, and I'm happy about it, but I want it to be healthy.

Moonbeamlissie

While you are reading this keep in mind that many doctors put people on low calorie diets and it works fine. I am sure this person took low calorie overboard. Just because you eat at a lower calorie does not mean all of this will happen to you! Also keep in mind this person is 5'8 so the calorie requirements for her would not be the same for me who is barely 5ft. I just thought I would put this out there because someone could read this and then automatically think they are going to end up in this condition. Sometimes the power of the mind can push someone into thinking they have an issue when they really do not. Everyone is different

Rays_Wife

Thanks for sharing this. This bears repeating.

jofjltncb6

Lots of ^this...

...good luck to the original author...

...and in to see where this thread goes.