Your opinion?

Oops25

A 25 year old female co-worker of mine lost 65 pounds over a period of months by following an 800-calories/ day diet and exercising for about 20-45 minutes 5 times a week (only cardio)..

It is really tempting to follow ~ 800-900 calories/ day method, especially since I know it worked ! (her pants size droped from 16 to 6) !! But i'm wondering if it is healthy/ good to do that, when the BMR is about 1300 calories/day?

She looks pretty healthy and does not seem like she lost the glow on her face or anything disastrous like that..but before I pursue something like that, I would like to get your opinion on it..

s1lence

Everyone's different in the way that their body handles such defects. Check with your doctor to see what would be best for your body and then go from there.

You are going to get lots of different views on the low calorie diets like that and many will say that it's unhealthy and not wise because of starvation mode and other such concerns. Please do research into it and check with a doctor before you decide.

Good luck.

maggie16sweetxoxo

uummmm well do you know about how tall she was? Because its prob. okay if shes like really short but i dont think you should because your body goes into a 'starvation mode' (though you dont know it has) and it slowly starts eating away at your muscle because you body thinks its starving, so yes you can lose weight, and muscle is the first to go not fat. Hope it helped

ChristinaOlliver

How long ago did she finish it? One of the big issues there would be what happens when she goes back to eating normally? Surely she would pile on the pounds again. At the end of the day it's your body and your choice, but as someone else said, you should probably consult a doctor first.

yoovie

WARNING: Not everyone was born with the same body and what works for one person could completely derail another's progress.

angiechimpanzee

I'm usually the one to say that (if you're a small framed female like I am), there's nothing wrong with eating below the 1,200 calorie limit that everyone for some reason worships like it's some magic number, but 800 for MONTHS seems quite extreme. Like the longest I'd ever go that little would probably be a week, then I'd up it to something like 1000 at least.

But if it worked for her and she's keeping it off eating a higher amount of calories now then I think it's fine. I'm assuming since she was eating such a low amount of calories, those calories were from carefully selected, highly nutritious foods like lean meats and lots of vegetables (4oz of grilled chicken is a mere 100 calories and three cups of romaine lettuce is a measly 30 calories - so I can easily see how that's possible). I see no health risk in that case because she's likely getting in more nutrients than someone eating 2000 a day of junk and whatever they'd like.

Something I'd like to point out is that when someone says they're eating quite a low amount, lots of people like to jump in with all of the "dangerous health risks". As if the risks aren't completely minuscule compared to the risks of those who overeat on fattening, virtually poisonous foods on a regular basis (ie the vast majority of america).

And to anyone who wants to bring up "starvation mode" - it's a myth created by the weight loss industry which doesn't exist and is very annoying to constantly hear about.

myak623

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

Oops25

That's a very valid point.. I am interested in seeing what happens when she gets back to her normal diet..

angiechimpanzee

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

If she's getting an adequate amount of protein in her diet (it would be pretty easy for me to get my recommended 40g a day on an 800 calorie diet if I were on one) there's no reason for her body to break down a noticeably high amount of muscle UNLESS she is already in a state of very low body fat (which in that case, the body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle for fuel). Otherwise the majority of energy her body needed was extracted from fat stores, hence, the dramatic weight loss & reduction in pant size.

That's a very valid point.. I am interested in seeing what happens when she gets back to her normal diet..

if she immediately doubles her calories then she'll surely gain it back. it's all about gradually increasing until she's at a good maintenance amount.

LesliePierceRN

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

This is true.. she has essentially bare-boned her metabolism, guaranteeing that if she begins to consume more, she'll pack on storage (fat) like crazy since she has pared down her lean body weight to achieve what she's done. I have actually had the same results.. I lost 50 pounds by running, but I always kept my calories (net) above 1500, and I always eat back my exercise calories. The result? Glorious muscle, that I have continued to build, while remaining the same size I was at my lowest weight (4/6) but gaining 10 pounds, which translates into over 2000 calories a day in food! This means I can eat about 2 1/2 times as much as she does, remaining the same size, and am very strong and healthy. Win!

myak623

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

If she's getting an adequate amount of protein in her diet (it would be pretty easy for me to get my recommended 40g a day on an 800 calorie diet if I were on one) there's no reason for her body to break down a noticeably high amount of muscle UNLESS she is already in a state of very low body fat (which in that case, the body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle for fuel). Otherwise the majority of energy her body needed was extracted from fat stores, hence, the dramatic weight loss & reduction in pant size.

I understand your point on not knowing where she started.

Flip side, you seem to be an advocate for low cal eaters. That's your stance and that's fine. We will have to agree to disagree on that one.

ETA: We live in a microwave society and people get the false expectation that losing weight should be a fast process. So, they go to extremes to do it. The methods aren't sustainable and they end up gaining some or all of the weight back. If it took 10 years to put the weight on, why would one think it should only take 6 months to get it off and maintain at that weight?

Oops25

Yes, I think that is what is important..that you make choices which are low-cal but highly nutritious..as long as you get your nutrition and fuel, you should be fine. I already make very healthy choices and am around 1000 cals/ day when I do so..I do not consider it to be too tough to have a 1000 cal diet..

LuckyLeprechaun

how long has she maintained these results? Getting there is one thing, maintaining is ANOTHER!!

I couldn't function at that level, I certainly wouldn't want to try.

Luckily I've learned here that I don't have to try. I lost very well at about 1500 calories, and am maintaining pretty decently at 1750-ish.

Mommyof3texans

A 25 year old female co-worker of mine lost 65 pounds over a period of months by following an 800-calories/ day diet and exercising for about 20-45 minutes 5 times a week (only cardio)..

It is really tempting to follow ~ 800-900 calories/ day method, especially since I know it worked ! (her pants size droped from 16 to 6) !! But i'm wondering if it is healthy/ good to do that, when the BMR is about 1300 calories/day?

She looks pretty healthy and does not seem like she lost the glow on her face or anything disastrous like that..but before I pursue something like that, I would like to get your opinion on it..

You know, the real test is if she keeps it off long term and what her diet is like maintaining. An 800 calorie diet just isn't sustainable and being able to move into a healthy maintenance mode is likely to be tougher going from such a restriction.

angiechimpanzee

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

If she's getting an adequate amount of protein in her diet (it would be pretty easy for me to get my recommended 40g a day on an 800 calorie diet if I were on one) there's no reason for her body to break down a noticeably high amount of muscle UNLESS she is already in a state of very low body fat (which in that case, the body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle for fuel). Otherwise the majority of energy her body needed was extracted from fat stores, hence, the dramatic weight loss & reduction in pant size.

I understand your point on not knowing where she started.

Flip side, you seem to be an advocate for low cal eaters. That's your stance and that's fine. We will have to agree to disagree on that one.

I'm not really any "advocate" for anything. I believe in doing what you're comfortable with to lose weight, in order to attain the type of body YOU (as in every individual individual who wants to lose weight) want. Not everyone wants to be a muscular 3000 calorie/day protein shake-guzzler, and not everyone wants to be a slim, low-calorie eating, light-exerciser. It all depends on everyone's personal goals. What bothers me is when someone declares one person's method of weight loss as the "wrong" way, as if we're all aiming for the exact same bodies or lifestyles.

angiechimpanzee

A 25 year old female co-worker of mine lost 65 pounds over a period of months by following an 800-calories/ day diet and exercising for about 20-45 minutes 5 times a week (only cardio)..

It is really tempting to follow ~ 800-900 calories/ day method, especially since I know it worked ! (her pants size droped from 16 to 6) !! But i'm wondering if it is healthy/ good to do that, when the BMR is about 1300 calories/day?

She looks pretty healthy and does not seem like she lost the glow on her face or anything disastrous like that..but before I pursue something like that, I would like to get your opinion on it..

You know, the real test is if she keeps it off long term and what her diet is like maintaining. An 800 calorie diet just isn't sustainable and being able to move into a healthy maintenance mode is likely to be tougher going from such a restriction.

I definitely don't doubt it'll be tougher than if she was losing the weight eating more. But I think since she's apparently been doing it for months it shouldn't take much effort for her to add in an extra meal a day for a few weeks or something. The self control she had to build to eat that little for so long is probably more than enough for her to control her eating now. Or at least I'd hope so for her sake.

If someone had been following some 800 calorie fad diet for a week to fit into a dress on the other hand, there's no doubt in my mind that person would find it near impossible to do any type of gradual calorie adjustment. they'd likely dive right into a vat of chocolate once that diet was through.

myak623

She may have lost the weight, but not all of that was fat loss. Since she may not be giving herself enough fuel and only doing cardio, she lost lean body mass as well.

Will you lose weight doing this? Yep, you bet. Is it recommended? Nope, since you are sacrificing much more.

If she's getting an adequate amount of protein in her diet (it would be pretty easy for me to get my recommended 40g a day on an 800 calorie diet if I were on one) there's no reason for her body to break down a noticeably high amount of muscle UNLESS she is already in a state of very low body fat (which in that case, the body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle for fuel). Otherwise the majority of energy her body needed was extracted from fat stores, hence, the dramatic weight loss & reduction in pant size.

I understand your point on not knowing where she started.

Flip side, you seem to be an advocate for low cal eaters. That's your stance and that's fine. We will have to agree to disagree on that one.

I'm not really any "advocate" for anything. I believe in doing what you're comfortable with to lose weight, in order to attain the type of body YOU (as in every individual individual who wants to lose weight) want. Not everyone wants to be a muscular 3000 calorie/day protein shake-guzzler, and not everyone wants to be a slim, low-calorie eating, light-exerciser. It all depends on everyone's personal goals. What bothers me is when someone declares one person's method of weight loss as the "wrong" way, as if we're all aiming for the exact same bodies or lifestyles.

Part of what you are saying is true. However, unless someone has a medical condition, then most of us are pretty much the same. We will need to eat at a caloric deficit to lose weight. Proper calorie intake will be needed to fuel our bodies and if that intake is too low for an extended period of time, then the body will adapt. Not a "starvation mode" type event, but can slow down.

myfitnessnmhoy

That's a very valid point.. I am interested in seeing what happens when she gets back to her normal diet..

Here's what I'd do (you asked for opinions, this is nothing more than that - I have no qualifications so it's an opinion).

I'd start at this point by following the recommendations of this site. You'll eventually need to learn and/or enforce the fundamentals of healthy eating, because someday you'll be at your ideal weight and you don't want to undo all your great work, right?

Use this time to observe your test subject. If she does back to her "normal diet", she'll go back to her "normal weight". If she adjusts her diet for her new size and desire to maintain her thinner self, she will. See how her accelerated diet worked from her, and learn from her successes and mistakes.

There's no race here unless you are inventing one for yourself. Start with a simple, sustainable weight loss. Get to know what it feels like. Learn to listen to your body.

THEN, and only then, if you decide to pursue a very-low-calorie diet, you'll be going into it with a better idea of what your body might try to tell you during the process, and a better idea of how to adjust to a healthy long-term lifestyle afterward. And if you can't handle the low-calorie method, you don't have to "give up", you have a proven method to fall back to.

And check with your doctor before going a higher-risk route. Low-calorie or low-"anything" (low-carb, for example) diets are hard on specific parts of the body in specific ways. Make sure your body can handle the stress. Most healthy bodies can, but it's worth checking.

SeatownTilt

How long ago did she finish it? One of the big issues there would be what happens when she goes back to eating normally? Surely she would pile on the pounds again. At the end of the day it's your body and your choice, but as someone else said, you should probably consult a doctor first.

Exactly, Fit is a Lifestyle, not a fad diet! No way I could survive by cutting my calories like that, and definitely not sustainable for me, but if it works for her then more power to her I guess!

jak2315

You should eat at least 1200 calories a day. If you eat less, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism is screwed up. You won't lose weight when your metabolism isn't working correctly.

jsapninz

Rule of thumb: if it comes off quick, it goes back on quicker