Switching from very low cal diet?

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northstar699
northstar699 Posts: 99 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everybody! I got the MFP app ages ago but I'm just starting to use it as a serious tool for weight loss this week. I just quit a high protein/low cal program because I couldn't afford to keep going to the doctor's appointments and was overall starting to struggle with the diet's affect on my sleep and emotional patterns. It was working for me and I had lost 9 pounds at the time I quit, although I had been on a plateau for a week or so. In general on the diet you eat around 600-700 calories a day (all lean meats and veggies, no fruit) and exercise.

Long story short, does anybody have any ideas on how switching from this diet to this program will affect me on the short term? I'm not going to be surprised if I show a slight gain in the first few days, but could I be in store for a big gain right off the bat? I have about 8 more pounds to lose and I'm netting around 1200 cals a day (40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat). Help me, I'm scared!!

Replies

  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
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    When increasing your calories it's a good idea to do it gradually so maybe phase it in over a 2 week period. You probably will see some weight gain but try to stay away from the scales from a fortnight to allow your body the time to adjust and so that you don't upset yourself if you see a gain.

    Good luck :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • northstar699
    northstar699 Posts: 99 Member
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    That's a good idea, but I don't know if I can stand to go back! Honestly, I feel so much better now that I'm eating again. I can sleep and I'm not having crazy bouts of senseless depression. I guess I'll just have to really work out a lot and attempt to pry myself away from my scale (gulp!).
  • cowpacino
    cowpacino Posts: 77 Member
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    this is a very good post about low cal diets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux
  • northstar699
    northstar699 Posts: 99 Member
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    Ummm, so according to that I'm in line to gain back every pound I lost before I start to slowly lose again? Maybe I don't need sleep after all...
  • cowpacino
    cowpacino Posts: 77 Member
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    what? no!
    you will gain back a little weight, but only because your body is so used to starving. But once you start eating again, your metabolism will wake back up and you'll start losing again. You won't gain back all of it unless you overeat
  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
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    I did low cal for ages and I cannot tell you how much better I feel now that I'm eating all food groups and consuming enough to fuel my body enough - I feel great! Don't worry too much about the gain - after all weight is not all that important when you have a small amount to lose like you do, inch loss is what really counts. You can get through this, you just need to adopt a positive mental attitude about it.

    Remember you are doing a good thing for your body, mind and long-term health.:smile:
  • gaeljo
    gaeljo Posts: 223 Member
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    Listen to your body. Your diet is about the worst ever studies show high protein diets lead to heart disease and cancer. Read book the China study. You want to eat fruits veggies and whole foods. Watch Dr oz ive lost 60 lbs this way. I think south beach and atkins are popular because they r fast but they r unsustainable long term. Atkins himself died overweight w heart disease
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    Listen to your body. Your diet is about the worst ever studies show high protein diets lead to heart disease and cancer. Read book the China study. You want to eat fruits veggies and whole foods. Watch Dr oz ive lost 60 lbs this way. I think south beach and atkins are popular because they r fast but they r unsustainable long term. Atkins himself died overweight w heart disease

    from snopes -

    'Dr. Atkins heart ailment was VIRAL cardiomyopathy. His DOCUMENTED weight upon admittance to hospital after slipping on the ice and hitting his head on the sidewalk was 195 lbs. He was in a coma for about 10 days, during which time he was on fluids and his organs were shutting down, resulting in bloating which inflated his weight at time of death.'

    He died of blunt force trauma to the head. I am not suggesting that Atkins is the way to go, just clarifying the facts. He was 72.
  • northstar699
    northstar699 Posts: 99 Member
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    Thanks guys! I really do feel amazing now that I'm eating again. Oddly enough, I did the same diet in the past and lost 10 pounds, but it didn't take me long to gain it back. Oddly enough = "of course" and "I'm a slow learner/sucker." It definitely wasn't sustainable. I've been eating really well (except for three chicken fingers tonight) and loving being able to eat fruit again. Just in time for the summer farmers market too! Plus I'll have the energy to push myself working out in a way that was impossible when I was so weak from the diet. Yay!

    Thanks again for the mental boost. Good luck to everybody!
  • northstar699
    northstar699 Posts: 99 Member
    Options
    Listen to your body. Your diet is about the worst ever studies show high protein diets lead to heart disease and cancer. Read book the China study. You want to eat fruits veggies and whole foods. Watch Dr oz ive lost 60 lbs this way. I think south beach and atkins are popular because they r fast but they r unsustainable long term. Atkins himself died overweight w heart disease

    from snopes -

    'Dr. Atkins heart ailment was VIRAL cardiomyopathy. His DOCUMENTED weight upon admittance to hospital after slipping on the ice and hitting his head on the sidewalk was 195 lbs. He was in a coma for about 10 days, during which time he was on fluids and his organs were shutting down, resulting in bloating which inflated his weight at time of death.'

    He died of blunt force trauma to the head. I am not suggesting that Atkins is the way to go, just clarifying the facts. He was 72.

    Viral cardiomyopathy huh? Maybe he didn't brush his teeth...
  • lesley1981
    lesley1981 Posts: 329 Member
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    I did a VLCD, complete meal replacement diet to kick start my weightloss, and ended up staying on it for 6 weeks and losing 34lbs! I decided to come off that diet and do the rest on my own, so I went to Slimming World...

    I figured that the weekly weigh ins would be more of an incentive for me to keep going and I logged everything I ate on here and on the Slimming World website. I still managed to lose weight, while doubling my calorie intake from 600 cals to 1200 cals per day (another 16lbs lost).

    The VLCD taught me a lot about myself and how disciplined I could actually be when I was determined to do something... and I think it really helped me when I went at it on my own.

    My typical food intake when I went back to normal food was as follows:

    Breakfast: Porridge oats, made with skim milk and a teaspoon of sugar
    Lunch: Chopped strawberries, banana, grapes and kiwi topped with low fat yogurt
    Dinner: 3oz lean meat, plenty of veg with choice of potatoes/pasta/etc
    Snacks: Choice of low fat snacks, 1-2 squares of chocolate

    After a few weeks I upped my cal intake slightly, then slightly more, and slightly more again. It worked for me....

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