Eating 600 to 900 calories

WorkInProgress323

Can someone really succeed with this amount of calories? And if you exercise 5X a week and do not eat the calories back, isn't that even worse?

I'm trying to help a young lady out, I would love your input.


Thank you

Francl27

AKNMHunt

1200 net calories MINIMUM. 600-900 would be horrible for health.

Francl27

Why eat at all? I'm sure not eating would be even faster.

ETA: this is sarcasm, before someone reports me :laugh:

ndj1979

no, this is not healthy at all and this "young lady" is going to have a damaged metabolism and is going to lose a lot of muscle mass and is putting herself on the road to being skinny fat..

I would suggest this "young lady" get some professional help …

OP - I am assuming the "young lady" is you …so just do not do this ..

You should really be netting 1200 calories a day …

Samantha22014

Because of a slow metabolism caused by paraplegia, I need to cut down to 800 calories a day in order to lose a pound a week. Its not fun, and I'm hungry all the time, but it does work. I've found the following approach to be helpful:
a) ease into it - cut 200 calories every 2 weeks until I'm at 800; dropping straight to it is just to harsh
b) allow a "cheat day" about once every week or two - this helps guard against metabolic slowdown.( Although I give myself permission to eat whatever on these days, I find that once my body is used to 800 calories, my cheat days rarely go over 1200, so the impact on weight loss is minimal)
c) vitamins and minerals. Sadly, its almost impossible to get all the nutrients needed at this calorie level. I typically find myself low on calcium and iron
d) the biggest tip: plants. the secret is to eat bucket loads of plants. forget diet bars etc., they just aren't enough volume to keep me satisfied.

Hope this helps!

ruqayyahsmum

has she had gastric surgery?

has a specialist suggested this amount of calories to her?

if not then the minimum amount needs to be higher

helizi

It sounds like the 'young lady' in question is impatient for weight loss, and I completely understand the feeling...but it doesn't work that way. There are no shortcuts. Healthy sustainable weight loss takes time. 600-900cal plus exercise isn't a diet, it's starvation. She will do horrible damage to her body.

ndj1979

Because of a slow metabolism caused by paraplegia, I need to cut down to 800 calories a day in order to lose a pound a week. Its not fun, and I'm hungry all the time, but it does work. I've found the following approach to be helpful:
a) ease into it - cut 200 calories every 2 weeks until I'm at 800; dropping straight to it is just to harsh
b) allow a "cheat day" about once every week or two - this helps guard against metabolic slowdown.( Although I give myself permission to eat whatever on these days, I find that once my body is used to 800 calories, my cheat days rarely go over 1200, so the impact on weight loss is minimal)
c) vitamins and minerals. Sadly, its almost impossible to get all the nutrients needed at this calorie level. I typically find myself low on calcium and iron
d) the biggest tip: plants. the secret is to eat bucket loads of plants. forget diet bars etc., they just aren't enough volume to keep me satisfied.

Hope this helps!

I don't think this is a comparable situation to the OP ….

scubasuenc

Can someone really succeed with this amount of calories? And if you exercise 5X a week and do not eat the calories back, isn't that even worse?

I'm trying to help a young lady out, I would love your input.


Thank you

Very unlikely. This might be possible for someone who is morbidly obese and under a doctor's supervision. I certainly wouldn't recommend it long term.

3laine75

Yes she'll lose weight eating like that. She'll lose fat, muscle and probably some of her hair. There's absolutely no reason (except extreme medical cases) to live like this.

If you want to help this young lady, I'd suggest some kind of professional help.

TwirleySlims

Why eat at all? I'm sure not eating would be even faster.

ETA: this is sarcasm, before someone reports me :laugh:

^ This for the win! :laugh:

geebusuk

I never saw anyone baulk when I was losing weight at 1300/1400 calories.
That's quite possibly similar to a smaller person losing weight at 900 calories.

You need to look into WHY 1200 seems to be a holy-grail-minimum.
The main reason is getting enough micro-nutrients.
1200 is a nice and easy round figure where by it's reasonable to get enough micronutrients without loads of effort.
That's not to say that someone eating 600 calories may do better than another person on 2000.

However, none of that is likely what you're looking for.
What you're probably looking for is "OMG, you'll die".
Which probably IS good advice for most people as for most people it ISN'T a great idea, I'd agree!

Timelordlady85

has she had gastric surgery?

has a specialist suggested this amount of calories to her?

if not then the minimum amount needs to be higher

This ^^^^

WorkInProgress323

no, this is not healthy at all and this "young lady" is going to have a damaged metabolism and is going to lose a lot of muscle mass and is putting herself on the road to being skinny fat..

I would suggest this "young lady" get some professional help …

OP - I am assuming the "young lady" is you …so just do not do this ..

You should really be netting 1200 calories a day …

It's not me, I'm 49, not so young :sad:

I'm honestly trying to help someone on here that told me this is her caloric intake.

As for gastric bypass, she didn't mention she had that and she didn't mention that it was under the advice of her physician. I don't know her personally but she seems really sweet and I think she's only 22. I'm hoping to get a message across to her.

Iron_Feline

I never saw anyone baulk when I was losing weight at 1300/1400 calories.
That's quite possibly similar to a smaller person losing weight at 900 calories.

You need to look into WHY 1200 seems to be a holy-grail-minimum.
The main reason is getting enough micro-nutrients.
1200 is a nice and easy round figure where by it's reasonable to get enough micronutrients without loads of effort.
That's not to say that someone eating 600 calories may do better than another person on 2000.

However, none of that is likely what you're looking for.
What you're probably looking for is "OMG, you'll die".
Which probably IS good advice for most people as for most people it ISN'T a great idea, I'd agree!

I would have - that is disturbingly low for a man :noway:

lynn1982

Can someone really succeed with this amount of calories? And if you exercise 5X a week and do not eat the calories back, isn't that even worse?

I'm trying to help a young lady out, I would love your input.


Thank you

Succeed at developing an eating disorder and becoming seriously ill? Yes.

MelodyandBarbells

I never saw anyone baulk when I was losing weight at 1300/1400 calories.
That's quite possibly similar to a smaller person losing weight at 900 calories.

You need to look into WHY 1200 seems to be a holy-grail-minimum.
The main reason is getting enough micro-nutrients.
1200 is a nice and easy round figure where by it's reasonable to get enough micronutrients without loads of effort.
That's not to say that someone eating 600 calories may do better than another person on 2000.

However, none of that is likely what you're looking for.
What you're probably looking for is "OMG, you'll die".
Which probably IS good advice for most people as for most people it ISN'T a great idea, I'd agree!

Honestly I've wondered where the 1200 # comes from, but hey, it's really not a problem for me :laugh:

OP are you worried about the young lady having some sort of eating disorder? If not I'd just try to be around when she realizes this awful diet is not sustainable and give her information on moderation and MFP of course

erikmsp72

Consider: The person who responded who eats 800 calories is paraplegic (cannot move their legs at all) -- AND, 800 calories is low enough for a person who *cannot move their legs at all* to lose a pound a week.

Someone who exercises and does not eat their calories back is going to need a LOT more than 800 or 900 calories a day.

I would say, tell her to trust what MFP tells her. That is, have her put into her profile what her current weight is. Have her log (honestly) what she eats. Have her log (honestly) what she is doing for exercise. MFP will tell her how many calories she needs, already building-in a deficit so she will meet her weight goal.

I am guessing it's gonna be over 900 calories.

WorkInProgress323

I sent her the link to this thread. I hope she reads it and listens to everyone's advice.

HorsesForever21

With that amount of calories you are looking at rapid weight loss which will eventually turn into rapid gain. It's a hellish cycle, restrict and lose, then binge and gain it all back.

geebusuk

I would have - that is disturbingly low for a man :noway:

This was a bit over a year ago - now I do every other day at 1400 net and achieve similar results.

However, it caused me no problems - and I was also doing a hell of a lot of manual work at the time. Barely lost any strength. Actual net calories were likely pretty damn low as I was often working twelve hour days moving car parts from one unit to another (carrying car gearboxes up a long flight of stairs and so on.)
Oh and mostly I was eating ready meals!

salbunnylettuceleafyexley

sorry but u need at least 1200 cals a day, eating 600-900 cals a day, at least for longer than a wk or so is not healthy, u could end up ill, its not worth it

Alex

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