Calorie Deficit Questions

MBrothers22

This has to be a joke. Do you really think eating that little and losing that much is safe?

geebusuk

cdc.gov/en/HealthSafetyTopics/HealthyLiving/HealthyWeight/
LosingWeight/Introduction

The first citation for this article suggests it is safe for women to lose weight eating 1000-1200 calories a day.
The second citation for this article suggests that people with a BMI 25 to 35 should limit themselves to a 300-500 calorie deficit. I did not find studies supporting this, though they may be buried in there.

.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/recommen.htm

mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047752

No citations. Repeats the common mantra we hear here - which no doubt does apply to the 'average' person.

So, to better qualify my request - please provide a citation that ideally uses a clinical study, meta study or similar to show that it is 'unhealthy' for an extremely overweight individual to lose weight faster than 2lb/week.
Or at least a decent explanation WHY it might would be a good start .

Evidence also shows that for some people, getting weight off quickly leads to better long term success

ndj1979

cdc.gov/en/HealthSafetyTopics/HealthyLiving/HealthyWeight/
LosingWeight/Introduction

The first citation for this article suggests it is safe for women to lose weight eating 1000-1200 calories a day.
The second citation for this article suggests that people with a BMI 25 to 35 should limit themselves to a 300-500 calorie deficit. I did not find studies supporting this, though they may be buried in there.

.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/recommen.htm

mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047752

No citations. Repeats the common mantra we hear here - which no doubt does apply to the 'average' person.

So, to better qualify my request - please provide a citation that ideally uses a clinical study, meta study or similar to show that it is 'unhealthy' for an extremely overweight individual to lose weight faster than 2lb/week.
Or at least a decent explanation WHY it might would be a good start .

Evidence also shows that for some people, getting weight off quickly leads to better long term success

so you think it is OK for OP to net 200 calories a day?????

RHinkle26

I should mention it's a weight loss doctor/surgeon I've been working with. We're not discussing that being a continued weight loss regimen. Simply add we've lowered my calories I've continued to gain. We're seeing if this helps. I use to be very active and burn similar calorie amounts. I didn't ask for criticism, just if the math is correct.

GiveMeCoffee

I should mention it's a weight loss doctor/surgeon I've been working with. We're not discussing that being a continued weight loss regimen. Simply add we've lowered my calories I've continued to gain. We're seeing if this helps. I use to be very active and burn similar calorie amounts. I didn't ask for criticism, just if the math is correct.

You should still find a new doctor cause it's unsafe. You post something that is unsafe on a public forum you will get responses. When you lowered your calories in the past how were you checking for accuracy?

You didn't gain the weight overnight stop expecting to lose it overnight

_Zardoz_

So I have talked this over with my doctor who assures me that losing 5 pounds a week wouldn't be out of the way for me

err I'd get a new doctor

geebusuk

so you think it is OK for OP to net 200 calories a day?????

OP's doctor presumably does.
There's plenty of cases of people with very high body fat eating very little (see the bloke that just did water and a vitamin pill for a year, or less extreme examples like "the biggest loser and so on".
I have not seen any evidence to show that it would be unhealthy for people in that situation to lose weight that quickly.

It's not an area I have researched massively as it doesn't apply to myself.

I have just checked and nowhere have I suggested I do or do not think any specific figure is ok for the OP.

I would expect that if it is unhealthy for people to eat at this level there would be some decent research somewhere to explain it why this was decided?

OP: have you been checked out for other issues such as thyroid and so on?

RHinkle26

I literally took pictures of everything that went into my body. I lost 26lbs in a month from just my diet in 2011 when we found that My pancreas wasn't properly working(had pancreatitis) I quit eating any processed foods and felt much better. We've recently discovered that I also have an issue with gluten. Basically I'm at a point where I can eat whatever I can grow lol. So we found that with that strict of a diet change wouldn't be a real issue because of the low calorie of most fresh food. We'd like to be between 1100&1300

GertrudeHorse

Last January I started at 285 lbs, I'm now at 180 lbs and for the past year I've eaten 1500 calories or above usually closer to 1700 calories.

Why make yourself miserable by eating 1100 calories when you can eat more still lose weight, and have the energy to actually do things. Make changes that you can do for the rest of your life, learn portion control, moderation and above all else learn patience.

Read the sexypants link that was given above, think this out to do it in a way that you and anyone that has to deal with you miserable.

Good luck and get a new doctor or at least a 2nd opinion

Edited to add I'm also 5'6 so my starting was very similar to yours.

This person is very wise. Listen to them.

Losing weight rapidly will place unnecessary strain on your heart and other organs. It can do much more damage than if you had just stayed overweight (and I'm assuming health is somewhat a motivator for you??). Are you sure your doctor didn't mean that in the first couple of weeks you *might* lose 5lbs per week? That is entirely possible as your body sheds glycogen and water weight. But to sustain that loss is so ridiculous as to be laughable. Well, it would be laughable if it wasn't so outrageously dangerous.

Burning 900 calories per day is also completely unrealistic unless you have a good four or five hours to dedicate to strenuous cardio exercise. Again, doing that would place enormous stress on your heart *especially* if you aren't fuelling yourself with the required food.

Your doctor is clearly an idiot. Read the sexypants link above and follow that advice. Good luck!

ETA: To clarify, no one on this thread is criticising you. People are (rightly) criticising the suggestion that netting such low calories is a) sustainable, b) healthy, c) necessary.

geebusuk

I lost 26lbs in a month from just my diet in 2011 when we found that My pancreas wasn't properly working(had pancreatitis)

Not sure if cause, effect or correlation - but that might be a excellent ancedotal evidence of why eating at a high calorie deficit can be bad - I suspect it's quite possible your body then has more problems dealing with other issues.

Travelbug1955

Do what your Dr. advises you to do. The people on these boards are not Dieticians or Nutritionists. As long as you are under your Drs. care, you will be fine. I only listen to my Dr.

sloth3toes

I should mention it's a weight loss doctor/surgeon I've been working with. We're not discussing that being a continued weight loss regimen. Simply add we've lowered my calories I've continued to gain. We're seeing if this helps. I use to be very active and burn similar calorie amounts. I didn't ask for criticism, just if the math is correct.

The math seems pretty accurate. The 'criticism' is just an added bonus.

MrsRatfire

The first week, just concentrate on tracking. Enter everything, over or not. this habit will keep you figuring it out every day- and it can change everyday. It takes time to change habits. I think the calorie goal is too low. For me, I would not stay on it. I set mine high and now I have the reward of watching me come in "under" After a solid week of under, I will lower the goal. Add physical activity in pieces and doses. You can't become an Olympic Runner by starting to run everyday for a week. And most of us who have crashed off weight b being extreme eventually get sick and tired off it and just fall off the wagon and gain part or all back. Along with breaking what we thought, were habits. Your choice of how you do this is yours, you have my unconditional support. I want to change my eating habits for the rest of my life- not just to burn off my excess now. I plan to track forever, it has helped me so much. 5 pounds a week is not sustainable in my opinion. Start with whatever activity you can- walking- and build up to more and more. I believe this is the way to diet as well. I set my calories high- and after 14 days, I see myself going under with no effort. After a week of going under, I plan to lower my calories. For me this is a life plan. The marathons I have done in the past, eventually ground me down to abandon- even with great losses. Just my opinion. It is in your hands- only you can figure out how much you can eat of exercise in a day. I would just give myself time to work up to it.

ndj1979

OP - the math is sound..the plan is not...

hortensehildegarde

Doesn't every single person who has surgery eat at the levels ya'll are saying this doctor should be abandoned over?

I'm not advocating for or against or whatever, but seems to me LOTS of doctors out there are surgerying LOTS of people all the time and post-op those people eat what- 600-700 cals a day?

Is it somehow ok to eat at that kind of deficit with the surgery but yet not without, other than the fact that it is probably easier with the surgery?

I'm just saying, the medical community (at least in US, no idea how it works in other communities) obviously allows all these people to get cut up to facilitate them eating at extreme deficits and losing more than 1-2 lb per week on a continued basis. What is so different about doing that without getting cut up?

I'd like to see the research on that, too.

geebusuk

On the maths - if you are gaining weight on 2500 calories or whatever you have set as your TDEE, then that is NOT your TDEE.

This 'maths' takes some basic assumptions.

If your body is a fair bit out, then the very start of the maths is wrong.

You can work out your TDEE by tracking what you eat and watching the scales.

Even if, say, all the food you eat is actually providing you with 50% more calories than you're tracking because of errors somewhere, you still get a useful figure as you can use it for comparison, presuming you're going to continue eating similar foods.

GiveMeCoffee

Do what your Dr. advises you to do. The people on these boards are not Dieticians or Nutritionists. As long as you are under your Drs. care, you will be fine. I only listen to my Dr.

And you don't think Doctors make mistakes or ever give bad advice??? I question and research everything especially when it comes to my health and this is unsafe, and not sustainable.

As for taking pictures of everything you ate OP how does that help with accuracy, did you take the pictures while the food was on a digital scale to confirm just how much the portion was?

MrsRatfire

thank you for your post as well as your before and after pictures. It really inspired me! and I also agree with your advice.

RHinkle26

The pancreas level was suppose to be 15-30 and mine was 1090. I was at a critical level and my body full of toxins. Basically my body just doesn't process those foods like normal

Sunitagt

OP, this doesn't sound sustainable for very long. I am your height and I started at 299 in July of 2013. I am down to 225 today. I eat around 1800 calories a day and my weight loss has been steady.

For your calculations, they will only work for so long. About every pound you lose is 4-5 calories reduction in your BMR using the Harris Benedict calculations (I know, because I have the calculations set up for each pound I lose). So you start at 1100, but to keep going at that deficit, once you lose 5 pounds you either have to reduce what you're eating by 20-25 calories each day, or you will have to be sure to burn 20-25 more calories each day. That'll add up really quickly after you lose 20 lbs.

Not only that, but once you get to your goal, you will have to re-learn how to eat properly, not on this extreme diet. I've done some math and based on my goal and activity level, my maintenance should be somewhere around what I'm eating right now (probably a bit higher), so I know the methods I'm using now to lose weight should be transferrable to maintaining. As others have said, it didn't happen overnight, so I wouldn't expect it to come off overnight either. Take your time, learn new habits that you can use for the rest of your life, and enjoy yourself! It doesn't have to be a painful process where you deny yourself to get to your goal. I still eat very well and am consistently losing.