eating 1000 cal and feeling great

Nataliethin81

You may lose the weight quickly but you will gain it all back faster then you lost it. You're putting your body into starvation mode. If you want to lose weight the healthy way, you have to be patient. It takes time. Do it the healthy way or you will majorly regret it.

tigersword

Are you doing 30 minutes of cardio at one time? I do 30 minutes every day but break it up in intervals. Like, morning - 10 min, Noon - 10 minutes, Evening - 10 min. Just make sure you get your protein and plenty of water after each exercise. If you eat "super foods" like eggs and yogurt and celery, they will help boost your metabolism and are very low calorie.

Remember to drink plenty of water!!!

Sometimes I don't reach 1200 calories but I listen to my body. If it says I'm hungry, I'll eat. I'm not gonna force food down my throat just to reach some number.

Listen to YOUR body. Not what everyone else tells you.

Terrible advice. Your body adjusts to what your brain tells it. You can decide to only eat a head of lettuce a day, and your body would adjust to it and accept it. You die of malnutrition and starvation, but hey, you're listening to your body, right?

You have a BRAIN for a reason. The brain controls the body, the body doesn't control the brain.

kitujainen

I've already pretty much eaten 1000 calories before afternoon, so for me I'd be hungry all day. But there are fibre and chromium tablets for sweet control i could eat those.
Whoa that reminds me theres pizza for dinner so I'll be around or over 2000 calories today at least!
can't imagine what the 300 calorie hgc diets are like..

Katwilkins

Just saw your height is 5'6" sorry you need more calories, if you try to go to low you may be setting yourself up to fail, because pretty soon you will get hungry, and then you might binge, it's better to be consistent, I would say see what my fitness pal suggests and then you can decrease that by 100 to 200 calories but you shouldn't do more, or you might find yourself relying on unhealthy ways to keep going to high caffeine energy drinks or other worse means. You can loose the weight, but if you want it to last, make a lifestyle change you can maintain the rest of your life.

LorinaLynn

Listen to YOUR body.

I hate this advice, and I'll tell you why.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 26 years old and had just split with my boyfriend. I only ate when I was hungry. I wasn't dieting. My weight wasn't on my radar at all. And I went down to a frightening 102 pounds at 5'5. I was wearing clothes from the children's department.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 36-37 and my parents died. I only ate when I was hungry. But this time around, "when I was hungry" was a lot more frequently. And I went up to a rather chunky (for me) 160 pounds at 5'5.

My body is stupid. I don't listen to it any more.

spriite

My opinion is this, as i have done a diet like this before and what I'm kind of doing right now. Since you're only 2 weeks in that's great. Your body hasn't changed it's metabolism yet.. As soon as you start to feel hungry though, you should listen to your body and eat. As you workout more your body will need more energy. If you're paying attention you'll be able to figure it out. You also have to keep eating every 3-4 hours.. Even if you aren't actually feeling hungry. Protein, and quite a bit of it is essential because if you don't get enough. Your body starts to pull from your muscles, I like to do shakes, or eat black beans, and I stick to pretty much chicken. That's my opinion. To get good results you shouldn't sustain it.

amy_marlene

:flowerforyou: I decreased my calories to 1000 also and I am rarely hungry, I am only 5'1" and I noticed on MFP no matter how short I told it I was it would not decrease my calories lower than 120:drinker: 0. I think 1000 calories are fine as long as you are making sure you are eating healthy foods and a vitamin couldn't hurt. Even at 1000 calories MFP says I can't loose more than about 1.7 pounds a week:sad: . In order to loose 2 pounds a week it said I could only have 800 calories a day, but that's too low for me to function. I also did not include my activities, because even when I exercise, I don't seem to loose more weigh:smooched: t. I am averaging about 1.6 pounds a week on 1000 calories. How tall are you?

1.6 lbs per week is awesome ) if i may ask how long have you been losing weight ?
i'm 5'5

huntindawg1962

OP - Good luck on your continued journey. After reading the responses and other threads the best I can add after a couple months on these boards reading the threads is:

- You need to make your own choices based on what you see results you are happy with. If it is working for you that is all you can hope for. (One might consider that going from binge eating at one point in your life to extreme fasting diets still may be evidence of compulsive behavior over a greater time span but that is yours solely to decide.)

- Nobody on this board is really a weight loss authority. Too, MFP is hardly the place to get sound nutritional advice as most people posting have not been at it all that long nor has "studied" anything close to weight loss science. It is a great place to stay motivated and use the daily tracking tools - the boards are just anecdotal support at best and a place to potentially share your NSV's (as you know - not all are celebrated with you). But lots of us are very experienced at weight loss as we are so good and experienced at it, heck, some of us have done it several times in our lives (its just SOOOO much fun we tend to repeat it and have all the weight loss answers).

- Lots of people have written "eBooks" only available on the internet but have never seen the top of a publishers desk. You will see them cited on here all the time as "scientific evidence." You can only buy them online and they also are potentially not well researched nor backed by verified science.

- The responses for the above 2 points will be, at best. anecdotal or just something regurgitated from someone else's anecdotal claims. Or they will cite some other unscientific body of evidence.

- Everybody on MFP that has never met you before already knows your problems and your true nutritional needs based on the limited information that anyone shares. Pretty good diagnostics I have to say. Especially since they are on here working their own journey because they did not recognize their own problems.

-People proclaiming to be "certified personal trainers" don't necessarily mean that they have any real scholarly training on human body sciences. I have had one trainer myself that his claim to being a "trainer" is that he was in the marines and worked out a lot but passed this national chain's certification tests.

And then there are those that claim to you that you will plateau in starvation at < 1000 calories - remind them that they too likely hit or will hit plateau's at 1500, 1700 or 2000 or whatever. The threads on here are full of people eating in the "MFP boards accepted" manner and still plateauing for months at a time, failing to lose weight, or even gaining weight in alleged deficit. Some say calories don't matter, others tell you it is the kind of calories you eat (a calorie is a calorie???) Some tell you don't eat carbs, others tell you eat lots of carbs. Apples is a simple carb / apples are a complex carb. Avoid carbs - increase carbs.

You know the drill. We all know what your body needs are already! And we already see your failure now (but not our own). Oh - and don't forget that you will gain it all back faster because nobody ever following the MFP accepted plan does :

BeckaT79

These forums are public. if you did not want the public opinions, good or bad, you shouldn't have posted on here.

- Lots of people have written "eBooks" only available on the internet but have never seen the top of a publishers desk. You will see them cited on here all the time as "scientific evidence." You can only buy them online and they also are potentially not well researched nor backed by verified science.

There have also been a lot of published books that have done the body harm.
Believe it or not a lot of the people who have posted on here are trying to help you. Most of them like LorinaLynn have lived through it and have done wonderful things with their bodies because of the previous failures. The problem is that most people who fail refuse to take advice from knowledgeable people and when their "diet fad" fails they quit. Listen to the advice given to you but also do some research and talk to your doctor or a dietitian. because you may be doing harm without realizing it. (Internet included)
Good luck with your journey, just make sure you use this forum for the good information also. I don't think this site would ever put you below 1200 calories or any Dr. for that matter.
Good luck.

PinkAndSparkle

I sustained a diet of 600-800 calories a day for 5 years...then gained 10 lbs. I never felt hungry, and was constantly bloated because my body was storing everything I ate. Your body gets used to whatever you feed it and will make do. However, you will not gain muscle especially with 45 grams of protein a day...and you're probably just burning lean muscle instead of fat when you workout. Once you force yourself to eat a bit more every day, your body will get used to it quickly and probably get hungry again and lose weight.

thistimeismytime

Yes, it's wrong. And yes you CAN force yourself to eat more to be healthy. You can do anything you set your mind to!! I fear you may have to learn the hard way though . You'll lose as much muscle as you do fat with a very low calorie diet. Muscle IS metabolism!! You have to fuel your body better. Good luck hon.

PinkAndSparkle

Listen to YOUR body.

I hate this advice, and I'll tell you why.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 26 years old and had just split with my boyfriend. I only ate when I was hungry. I wasn't dieting. My weight wasn't on my radar at all. And I went down to a frightening 102 pounds at 5'5. I was wearing clothes from the children's department.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 36-37 and my parents died. I only ate when I was hungry. But this time around, "when I was hungry" was a lot more frequently. And I went up to a rather chunky (for me) 160 pounds at 5'5.

My body is stupid. I don't listen to it any more.

i feel the same way. My body and my brain do NOT communicate very well! My brain could convince my body it was not hungry and vice versa. I have struggled with every eating disorder in the book, and I'll tell you right now that I've never been happier with my body than I am right now eating 1500-1600 calories a day of REAL food.

huntindawg1962

There have also been a lot of published books that have done the body harm.

Yup - and they become the "fad" diet of the decade. I remember back in the 1980's the "you are what you eat so cut out all fat" diets. Then came "carb restriction and don't worry about calories" Then MAYO, grapefruit, egg, and numerous other "diet of the day" plans.

mczwright

Are you doing 30 minutes of cardio at one time? I do 30 minutes every day but break it up in intervals. Like, morning - 10 min, Noon - 10 minutes, Evening - 10 min. Just make sure you get your protein and plenty of water after each exercise. If you eat "super foods" like eggs and yogurt and celery, they will help boost your metabolism and are very low calorie.

Remember to drink plenty of water!!!

Sometimes I don't reach 1200 calories but I listen to my body. If it says I'm hungry, I'll eat. I'm not gonna force food down my throat just to reach some number.

Listen to YOUR body. Not what everyone else tells you.

Terrible advice. Your body adjusts to what your brain tells it. You can decide to only eat a head of lettuce a day, and your body would adjust to it and accept it. You die of malnutrition and starvation, but hey, you're listening to your body, right?

You have a BRAIN for a reason. The brain controls the body, the body doesn't control the brain.

You can crave junk food, and think that's what your brain wants, when really your body wants sugar. So, eat natural sugar, like an apple. If I'm full and can't stand the thought of eating another bite, I'm not gonna make myself miserable by eating just to reach a number.

Yeah, your body adjusts, that's why obesity rate is so high. People think they Need to eat more than what their body needs.

I'm just giving advice that I'm using. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. I'm not saying you are right or wrong either. And, I'm not trying to argue. Just clarifying.

invisibubble

You won't lose for long at that low a calorie intake.

not being rude or anything but i know a lot of people who lost lots of weight on this intake and haven't gained it back

Well lucky them. Except they're not lucky because they're not adequately nourishing themselves. And that's if they're even being honest about their intake.

watboy

Speaking of trying to encourage someone to do something... ..,, .......,

Why would you come here and brag about your unhealthy and unsustainable weight loss?

why are you being so rude?
i'm NOT bragging about anything. I'm just saying how i feel and asking people for advice. that's all.
i guess i should be apologizing for not being hungry o.O

I'm being rude because I don't want people to see this thread and get encouraged to starve themselves skinny like you are doing. There is a million threads on this forum addressing why this is a unhealthy and unsustainable weight loss method.

If this is working for you, well, good for you. Just don't come here and encourage others to follow in your foot steps.

watboy

Me too

You won't lose for long at that low a calorie intake.

not being rude or anything but i know a lot of people who lost lots of weight on this intake and haven't gained it back

watboy

So so true. Instead of offering advice poor girl gets beat up. Nowhere in her post did the OP encourage people to eat 1,000 calories.

I'm being rude because I don't want people to see this thread and get encouraged to starve themselves skinny like you are doing. There is a million threads on this forum addressing why this is a unhealthy and unsustainable weight loss method.

If this is working for you, well, good for you. Just don't come here and encourage others to follow in your foot steps.

Possibly, without knowing her background, a little more support would be warranted here, as she just joined less than 2 months ago, and you have been here over a year. I know for myself that there is a HUGE difference in what I thought in the course of a year here. Just a thought?
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Di3012

Listen to YOUR body.

I hate this advice, and I'll tell you why.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 26 years old and had just split with my boyfriend. I only ate when I was hungry. I wasn't dieting. My weight wasn't on my radar at all. And I went down to a frightening 102 pounds at 5'5. I was wearing clothes from the children's department.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 36-37 and my parents died. I only ate when I was hungry. But this time around, "when I was hungry" was a lot more frequently. And I went up to a rather chunky (for me) 160 pounds at 5'5.

My body is stupid. I don't listen to it any more.

Well your body is the only body you have. Look after it, do not insult it and it will last you a lifetime

lizb41

Hi...i haven't read any of the other replies so i may be repeating others but i would say no...it's fine. I was doing the same and stayed between 800 and 1200 cals a day for nearly four months, mostly averaging abouit 1000. I asked my GP and he said as long as i felt ok and adjusted my calorie intake when i reached my goal then it was safe and healthy....much healthier than my previous diet!!!
I managed to lose over 60lbs in the 4 months doing that....then it started to get tougher so i joined weightwatchers and have lost 16lbs in the past 5 weeks, which i'm happy with.
i would say you should listen to your body and if you need more some days then have it and the same if you feel you need less...do that too. Don't be swayed by some extreme views you see on mfp (although there is also lots of great advice too) as it could mess up your determination...just keep doing what works for you for as long as you can and good luck x

rextcat

hey if your body says its ok right now then its ok right now just like when your body says "!!!!feed me!!!" you sould also do just that!! all tho you should try to eat some high nutrant foods and take an awsome multi vitamin non the less

BeckaT79

There have also been a lot of published books that have done the body harm.

Yup - and they become the "fad" diet of the decade. I remember back in the 1980's the "you are what you eat so cut out all fat" diets. Then came "carb restriction and don't worry about calories" Then MAYO, grapefruit, egg, and numerous other "diet of the day" plans.

Exactly! I wasn't trying to be rude I just remember a lot of the more recent fads like "The Adkins Diet" I have watched so many friends do this and fail because they lose the weight and then put it back on quickly because they start eating carbs again. And it seems like just the littlest carb to them packs on so much weight.

lizb41

oh and one more thing.
i have a binge eating disorder since i was 12.
so i don't have any eating habits. the only habit i have is overeating all the time.
so for me this is a lifestyle change.because i don't know how to eat 'normal'.

keep doing what you are doing - you don't need anyones permission or approval....sounds like you're taking control of bad habits, which i did also, and that can only be a good thing.....it will work, and it will stay off if you keep eating healthily x

wingsandgills

If you are only eating 1000 calories or a little less, you should really go check in with a doctor every now and then. They can do blood work and check on your vitals to make sure you're staying healthy. I am on a doctor-supervised medical fast that has me eating about 800-1000 calories a day mostly in high-protein, nutritionally-balanced supplements. So it IS possible to eat only 1000 calories a day and remain healthy, but you shouldn't do it without a medical professional keeping an eye on you!

About five weeks into my fast, I had to temporarily suspend my fast and eat a diet of 1800 calories. This was because they did some blood tests and my liver was showing signs of irritation (~400 ALT). It turned out that some days I was eating just one too few supplements and I also wasn't staying hydrated enough. During this time I felt absolutely amazing, never hungry or tired! At 1000 calories it's kind of a tight rope walk. Be careful and talk to a doctor!

You don't have to tell them you're doing a 1000 calorie diet, but just that you want to make sure you're staying healthy on your diet and want some occasional checkups and blood work done. You can also look up "protein-sparing modified fast" and do a little research on how that works. Also "very low calorie diet." People do use these methods!

BTW, I think doing a protein-sparing modified fast (what I'm doing) can be really helpful for binge eating disorder. It really forces you to confront the problems that were leading to your overeating. This way you can learn what needs are not being met that you were soothing with food. Good luck to you!

Edit: Holy crap! I just read through the comments here, and some people on MFP are apparently rude and vicious! Honestly, I think moderators should disable posts asking for calorie/nutrition advice because none of us will take legal responsibility if our advice ends up harmful to the OP. I can't believe there are no moderators in here when there are intentionally malicious posts or posts using pure scare tactics to coerce the OP into changing her diet. Wow! There's a ton of what my (registered) dietitian calls "internet dietitians" in here too... people who mean well but have gotten all their info from 3rd-hand sources on the internet. At least I learned early to never come to the forums for advice. Phew! (/rant)

cincymomof3

I just read recently... 1 lb fat = 3500 cals... 1 lb muscle = 600 cals! On low cal diets, you drop weight faster bc it's usually muscle.

Typically as women, we tend to focus on the scale # but if you'll quickly see for yourself in the success stories section... The gals that lost slower, retained more muscle and their bodies are firmer with less cellulite than those weighing less who lost faster.

Just a little food for thought.

CallmeSbo

Why would you come here and brag about your unhealthy and unsustainable weight loss?

I say lets leav her alone. She just started a week ago. Personally, im giving her 3months tops and hopefully she ll give us some feedback. Some people learn the hard way.

Improvised

Listen to YOUR body.

I hate this advice, and I'll tell you why.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 26 years old and had just split with my boyfriend. I only ate when I was hungry. I wasn't dieting. My weight wasn't on my radar at all. And I went down to a frightening 102 pounds at 5'5. I was wearing clothes from the children's department.

I "listened to my body" when I was about 36-37 and my parents died. I only ate when I was hungry. But this time around, "when I was hungry" was a lot more frequently. And I went up to a rather chunky (for me) 160 pounds at 5'5.

My body is stupid. I don't listen to it any more.

Well your body is the only body you have. Look after it, do not insult it and it will last you a lifetime

There's nothing wrong with fitting into childrens sizes! I did as an adult before I had kids. Hope to fit in those sizes again once I'm done having kids.

seamonkey789

Let me tell you a story. I started out at 220lbs. I was losing weight by eating 1700 calories a day and adding 45 minutes at the gym in addition to my 4 2-5 hour dance classes a week. Then I started cutting it down till I was eventually eating what you were eating or less.

I felt great. You know why? Because I was running on adrenaline because lack of food caused me to stop sleeping. This spiraled into a 15 year eating disorder. There was a study done on healthy men. i forget what state. They cut their calories down to what you were eating and within weeks most of the men were preoccupied with losing weight, hoarding food, and showing all kinds of eating disordered behaviors

I am now having to go get blood work every 3 months and take all kinds of supplements in addition to changing my diet because my vitamin D is constantly low, I could have died from how low my iron was, my potassium is frequently low.

Does this sound like a nice future for you?

o_delaisse

Hi

My thoughts (I'll be repeating some other people's comments here).

On 1000 cals or less, you won't feel hungry. I don't get why, but you won't. I know you say you can't force yourself, but if you want to get healthy, you'll have to try and give it a go. I was on about 850-900 calories, no way was I hungry. But I'd done it for so long, well, other stuff started happening. Fainting, incredible tiredness, dizziness, seeing weird, tiny little stars around my eyes all the time. Some people lose their hair. My nails are foul, I've no muscle tone - essentially (and it upsets me to say this in public, even under a pseudonym - I am weak). I know you feel great, but you won't forever. It actually can't be maintained, because, simply, you'll continue to lose weight and die, or your body will intervene.

What I mean by that - you said you've always been a binger. Me too - big style. That's how I got so heavy (if you're looking at my ticker, don't - this is my second time on MFP). I've got to be honest, I was pretty proud of myself for being on less than 1000, and (another awful thing to admit) - I felt superior. If someone said they ate their BMR, I'd think I was awesome for having the "strength" to eat less. But back to binging - some people starve, other people, well, their bodies take over. After about 18 months of this 'less than 1000 rule', Lord, I was hungry, man! My body wasn't interested in my mind's goals. It was more than cravings, I can't say what it was. But I had to eat! No choice. Well, you get that yourself, you know what binging is like. It takes over. So I gained 40lbs. Which, you know, was a killer for my self esteem and my superior attitude! People who do it slowly, steadily, and healthy will keep on losing their weight, and when I was first on here, still my MFP pals were losing their lbs, while I was gaining. Kind of a kick in my superior teeth. But, they are the winners.

And now, I admire them and I'm trying to be like them. I deliberately add people who eat their exercise cals and aim for their BMR. They inspire me. (You can probably tell I have an eating disorder, so I add pro-recovery folks as well). These people have taken the time to educate themselves and learn the basic dos and don'ts. I didn't, and I'm wondering where exactly my arrogance came from!

As for losing weight - of course you're losing weight. But the scales don't measure your fat loss, they measure other loss. I mean, the scales basically only measure your gravitational pull to the earth If I didn't eat for a few days, there'd be no food in me, none at all, so I'd weigh less. I might lose water as well, so that would be more loss. And I've mentioned muscle - long term, you'll lose muscle tone and stuff (I'm just learning about that myself).

Example - I once measured my body fat. I was close to my goal weight (back then, it was super low). My BMI was about 17, and my body fat - can't remember the figure, but I do remember it was the high end of normal. So, scales said underweight, body fat didn't match it. So scales and numbers going down don't give you the full picture.

Right now, I'm aiming for 1300 calories with the long term goal of eating my BMR AND exercise calories (scary). A few days ago, I was hungry for the first time. I am still losing weight, and I'm still not exactly doing it the healthy way. But I remember - last time I was this weight, my jeans fit fine. Now, at the same weight, they're too big.

So yeah. I know it's hard, I know so well how it's hard. But listen to people, this isn't the way to go. You may feel great, but over time you'll gradually feel less great, so gradual you may not even notice it. That was the hard bit for me - feeling great, or believing I did, despite knowing I was exhausted most of the time. It just didn't register, not quickly enough at least.

Hambone23

Most of us are not nutritionists or doctors, so no matter what anyone says about how much they've researched the topic, it doesn't substitute talking to your doctor about your weight loss plans. In fact, almost every diet recommends that you talk to your doctor /before/ starting a weight loss plan. A doctor may want to take some blood work now and then later to make sure your body is working as it should. Trust /that/. Don't believe the stories you want to believe or ignore the advice you don't like. A lot of us have food issues. That doesn't make us mentally unsound. But it does mean we need to take care of how we lose weight, and no one can give you better--or more correct--information than your doctor. If you're not willing to see your doctor, then you aren't willing to hear an honest, researched answered. You're only looking for confirmation and validation of /your/ diet--whether it's healthy or not. There have been cases of people following low calorie diets, but the ones who want to be healthy and responsible follow these diets under the care of a healthcare physician. There really isn't any excuse for not seeing a doctor to draw up a healthy weight loss plan unless you really only want to do what you want to do--not what's necessarily good science, healthy, or well-planned.