Very low calorie diets and metabolic damage

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  • JennetteMac
    JennetteMac Posts: 763 Member
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    I think this is the most useful post and followup I have come across. Really appreciate the info and balanced replies.

    I lost my original weight by eating almost nothing through emotional stresses. I upped to 1200 after finding mfp and try to stay there or thereabouts.
    Unfortunately I do tend to have odd binges when on holiday or celebrating, and I now find it really hard to drop back to my preferred weight. I dont have trouble staying at 1200 cals, but I don't seem to be able to lose weight again.

    What I mean is, I went on holiday last summer and put on 8lb in a week. I spent the Autumn trying to lose those pounds but by Christmas had still kept about 4lb too many. Over Christmas I put on about 3lbs and tried to lose them before this year's summer holiday, but still feel about 7lb overweight.

    As I said I stay around 1200 cals, often a fair bit below, rarely a bit over (1250/1300).

    Any thoughts on how to shift half a stone? And why I am struggling so much?

    I am basically vegetarian but when I am struggling to get protein I will try tuna or chicken, though I don't like this.
    I eat veg, salads, some fruit, hardly any processed foods, not much bread (I'm cutting this almost completely at the moment) and my special treat sweets might be a piece of chocolate or marshmallow (I know, daft aren't I?)
    When I have a stupid day I eat cake (usually at work) but always try really hard to keep that day under calories as compensation.

    Sorry if there is a ramble here, or too much information, but I do feel a need for some balanced advice, and I think I would get it from you.
    Thanks
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    bump
  • jen_zz
    jen_zz Posts: 1,011 Member
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    I'm not out there advocating VLCDs. Not at all... heck, I wrote the Nutrition 101 article, which everyone should have read by now, and nowhere in it did I advocate VLCD. I'm simply trying to maintain the integrity of information while steering people in an optimal direction. It seems like too many people around here are stuck on absolutes. They believe there is 100% right ways of doing things and 100% wrong ways of doing things. There's no in between. In reality, there are very few absolutes in the game of fat loss.

    Cheers :drinker:
  • majiklydelicious
    majiklydelicious Posts: 1
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    Ok I have a specific question about my life long eating habits, and you seem to be able to answer it. I have always had terrible habits, eating only one time a day and usually eating around 1000-1500 calories, comprised of an even distribution of fat carbs and protien (with probably a little more fat than the other two). I am very active and sometimes l exert myself with little to no food. I'm wondering what kind of long term effects this can have on my body? I've been trying to make better eating choices, including eating more times a day, but it really just simply comes down to not being very hungry, allowing me to forget to eat until the end of the day.
  • SCARLETTEatCleanTrainDirty
    SCARLETTEatCleanTrainDirty Posts: 11
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    Bump
  • judilockwood
    judilockwood Posts: 134 Member
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    bump - to hang onto a great thread
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
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    .
  • SapiensPisces
    SapiensPisces Posts: 992 Member
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    Interesting read. Tagging to read through original post and responses later.
  • Ideabaker
    Ideabaker Posts: 517 Member
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    This is the most interesting discussion of the "1,200 calorie" topic I've read here so far... thanks for posting, everyone.
  • Whereismycoffee
    Whereismycoffee Posts: 130 Member
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    Good read, thank you.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    In to read later.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    One of, of not the single best thread I've ever read on here.

    It should be stickied at the top of this board and required reading before anybody can post.

    It goes a very long way toward dispelling a lot of the myths about energy expenditure, "starvation" mode, calories, and metabolism commonly (and alarmingly) regurgitated around here.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Ok I have a specific question about my life long eating habits, and you seem to be able to answer it. I have always had terrible habits, eating only one time a day and usually eating around 1000-1500 calories, comprised of an even distribution of fat carbs and protien (with probably a little more fat than the other two). I am very active and sometimes l exert myself with little to no food. I'm wondering what kind of long term effects this can have on my body? I've been trying to make better eating choices, including eating more times a day, but it really just simply comes down to not being very hungry, allowing me to forget to eat until the end of the day.

    Meal frequency isn't as important as many make it out to be. That being said, my personal opinion would be it's likely better to space out your nutrition consumption at least a bit more than one giant meal per day. In the end, it might not matter as long as you're getting sufficient amounts of the essentials in. But I still think it'd be easier on your body and digestions to balance it out a little. Which is why I typically haven't cared if you're eating 3 or 6 meals per day.

    Has your weight and body composition fared well over the time you've eaten like this? What about health?
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Thanks everyone else for the kind words... glad you enjoyed the thread. Feels like forever ago that this was started.
  • anita4869
    anita4869 Posts: 1
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    Great post!
  • thecheesybrie
    thecheesybrie Posts: 47 Member
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    Great post, thank you! I struggled with extreme dieting in high school, and kept myself at below 800 calories for about 2 years. Good to know that I didn't entirely screw myself over!
    Cheers!
  • marciebrian
    marciebrian Posts: 853 Member
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    saving to read later
  • _db_
    _db_ Posts: 179 Member
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    Good information.

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  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Sure, most people will screw up VLCDs, as I mention in the original post.

    Most people will screw up everything and anything, including the paint-by-numbers MFP approach, as evidenced by the endless parade of posts on these forums.

    The dirty little secret in all of this is that anyone with the discipline and self control to succeed using the MFP method will be able to succeed using virtually *any* method. If you look at the MFP champs here, dollars to donuts you could force them to go VLCD and they would find a way to make it work in a nutritionally sound manner.

    It's never about the specifics of the diet - it is *always* about the dieter.

    PS To be clear, I am NOT advocating VLCD in any way shape or form.
  • maybyn
    maybyn Posts: 233 Member
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    Bump!

    Yeah, it's pretty much about the dieter.

    I think though that through education, many, many more folks will get it right eventually. Knowledge is power after all. The internet (and sites like this one) helps with the information stream. Of course, it's a cesspit of good, bad and average information out there but still... it counts.

    Not only the fact that success rate is increasing because of folks knowing more, but it is also the fact that obesity is so abhorred in society nowadays that obesity rates are now declining. In contrast, the rate of those diagnosed with eating disorders causing extreme thinness is on the increase. Wonder when we humans can ever find a balance in all that we do??

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