Had to post out of sheer irritation.

mamaparks87

Okay so I have a friend that I have already posted on once before that I am concerned about. Today we are talking on the phone and after our conversation I wanted to come post here to make sure that I did have my facts straight.
Basically she revealed to me that she eats on an average "no cheat" (her words) day about 800 calories and burns 1000 doing c25k (this sounds high to me but I didn't say anything because maybe she does). On a cheat day she says she takes in about 1200 cals. Her logic being that you have to burn as many cals as you take in in order to lose weight. This is where the conversation turned heated. I always though the aforementioned statement was taking into account the fact that our bodies are constantly burning calories. She insists that if you eat 1200 calories you have to exercise 1200 calories away- same as if you eat 2500- apparently you need to exercise 2500 cals away. This is supposedly what her doctor and friend who is training for the olympics told her.
So today she had 3 peanut m&m's for breakfast, 220 cals worth of corn in butter sauce for lunch and whatever she has for dinner will not exceed 800 cals for her entire day. Then she will go and exercise off 800-1000 cals to make it even. I told her what I had been reading on this site about needing to eat more and how I eat 1700 per day and make sure not to go below a certain number and all. Her response to me was well there is no way anyone can lose weight doing that and you can't believe what you read online.
I may be wrong which is why I wanted to post here and see. I am just concerned for her. She is currently about 140lbs and 5'9. I saw her yesterday and she looks bad to me. Not what you would expect to see a healthy person look like.
I really just want to know if I am right in my thinking or is she. Do I really need to be in the gym for 6 hours exercising off my 1700 cals. Obviously because I am the one with the weight problem she isn't going to listen to me so as far as that is concerned we are at a stalemate, I just want to have my facts straight.

cohophysh

she is nuts, and I bet she didn't interpret what the doctor said correctly.

prplangl4

NO!:noway: you are right and she is flat out wrong and UNHEALTHY! Whatever doc she's talking to is off his/her rocker!!! Your body needs so many cals a day simply to function properly... read this for all your answers and share with your friend! :brokenheart:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/567092--read-this-figuring-out-your-calorie-goals

susannamarie

Your friend's wrong. But she's not going to listen to you anytime soon. Not until she's ill, probably.

Keep doing what you're doing. Keep healthily and gradually losing those pounds.

I would avoid discussing weight loss or food with her, really, unless she brings it up.

icandoit203

Good question I had that thought too, I always thought you burn more than you eat but you still have to eat once you exercise. 800 cals a day isn't that to low!! I'll be waiting on this answer.

Mindful_Trent

Your friend is seriously misguided.

Our bodies are *constantly* burning calories. Exercise just makes us burn more calories. Most people can eat 1200-1500 cal/day and still lose weight, even with little to no exercise, because many people will burn more than that just from day-to-day living.

By restricting her calories so severely and exercising off what she does eat, she's literally leaving herself no fuel to operate on. It is dangerous and cannot be sustainable, at least not without her body turning on her. ANY doctor would tell her that.

TheFunBun

...Poor thing. That sucks. 800 calories and post workout hunger? I bet she's got zero energy.

jsapninz

she is nuts, and I bet she didn't interpret what the doctor said correctly.

^This.

Beg her to call her doctor IMMEDIATELY. Although she is ignorant, It is not something to be angry at her at. What she is doing is very dangerous.

dolldreams

She probably could get away with doing that if she were eating better foods like vegetables and other things with lots of nutrients in them. A few candies for breakfast...no. She will probably find that her skin, hair, teeth, nails, whites of her eyes etc are going to take one hell of a beating from being nutrient deprived.

c8linmarie

Let's just say...



You'll be visiting her in some type of hospital...



VERY SOON.

lporter229

Your friend's wrong. But she's not going to listen to you anytime soon. Not until she's ill, probably.

Keep doing what you're doing. Keep healthily and gradually losing those pounds.

I would avoid discussing weight loss or food with her, really, unless she brings it up.
[/quote

Couldn't have said it better.]

dolldreams

She's going to mess up, trust me she won't be able to sustain it. Ask her "what happened?" when she does.

This too. There's very little chance she'll be able to eat similar to that for the rest of her life. When she tries to go into maintenance mode, it will be hell trying to figure out how to eat properly.

ErinBeth7

So, she eats 800 cals a day, then burns off 800 cals and thinks that is how you lose weight? So what number of calories does she think her body is using for energy. The answer is 0. This is insane.

debrapeterson

I bet she is really tired and starving herself to death. Not a good plan to me.

cprice05

NO!:noway: you are right and she is flat out wrong and UNHEALTHY! Whatever doc she's talking to is off his/her rocker!!! Your body needs so many cals a day simply to function properly... read this for all your answers and share with your friend! :brokenheart:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/567092--read-this-figuring-out-your-calorie-goals

Nice link! Looks like everyone has said what I intended to after reading the OP. However, I also believe that 1000 cals burned on C25K is a bit on the high side. It takes me at least 8-9 miles in a run to get that high. Yes, I know everyone's body is different but I don't see anyone burning 1000 calories in 3.1 miles. Maybe she is actually taking in more calories than she thinks as well (which would be a positive).

sandrinamsilva

I got hungry for her just reading all this. Your friend seems to be doing something very dangerous. Just keep doing what your doing.

ReinasWrath

:noway: Noooooooooooooo That's like leading down the path to an eating disorder!!! Your body needs calories to LIVE, as in bodily functions... To keep the kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, everything working! She must have misunderstood the Doc :l Unless she goes to her Dr. appts in an alley way somewhere and the M.D has a very .... uh classy pipe on him 0_<

moejo3

NO!:noway: you are right and she is flat out wrong and UNHEALTHY! Whatever doc she's talking to is off his/her rocker!!! Your body needs so many cals a day simply to function properly... read this for all your answers and share with your friend! :brokenheart:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/567092--read-this-figuring-out-your-calorie-goals

Nice link! Looks like everyone has said what I intended to after reading the OP. However, I also believe that 1000 cals burned on C25K is a bit on the high side. It takes me at least 8-9 miles in a run to get that high. Yes, I know everyone's body is different but I don't see anyone burning 1000 calories in 3.1 miles. Maybe she is actually taking in more calories than she thinks as well (which would be a positive).

This is concerning...at 5'9" and 140 pounds she is not overweight. I can understand wanting to be more toned / leaner. It almost sounds like a bit of a disorder..I hate to say that as I do not know her but, I would definitely try to be positive in the importance of good sources of calories for her. M&M's for breakfast really isn't going to cut it. Keep an eye on your friend you may be the only one paying attention. Good luck

bjwbmw

She has unhealthy habits. she cannot sustain that lifestyle. And peanut m&ms for breakfast. Stupid.

You may need to make a decision about what kind of friends you want to surround yourself with. She is unhealthy and her mind is not functioning well - no wonder since there is no nutrition.

harlanJEN

Your friend is VERY VERY wrong . In fact, frighteningly wrong. Dangerously wrong. PLEASE do not follow her guidance

Dargealing

people on average without exercising burn over 1,000 calories a day. just living. I stick with the 1200 a day. What she is doing is dangerous! In the long run it iwll back fire on her. Her body will consume the muscle tissue and will hang on to every calorie it can. She is going to mess with her metabloism . If a trainer or dr. is telling her she should do this, He or she should be fired. She is only harming herself.

tpittsley77

First off, 800 calories way too low!! I am currently doing c25k. My treadmill does calories, after 3 miles it says 400 calories max. No way she is burning 1000 calories. I dont burn that after an hour of zumba!

auroranflash

No one can lose weight eating 1700 calories? I have lots of MFP friends who can attest otherwise...

Some of the most successful people I know here eat 1700+ calories a day and have lost the most weight and completely changed their bodies through diet and exercise while still being able to EAT and eat well....

Your friend is dangerously misinformed and is exhibiting the behaviours of an eating disorder, if it hasn't developed into a full-blown one yet. She needs to re-visit her doctor, or better yet, a nutritionist, and get set straight before she has to go to the hospital because she's passed out while driving.

Wish you the best, please take care of yourself and try to inform your friend that what she's doing is not only counterproductive, but extremely dangerous and unhealthy.

thistimeismytime

The VAST majority of the calories our body burns are just to keep us alive...keep all our organs functioning, breathing, digesting food, etc. Most people burn upwards of 1500 cals a day even if they lay in bed 24 hours a day. Your friend has been seriously misinformed, and she's on the fast track to burnout or illness. I eat around 2000 cals a day, and lose about 1 pound a week, sometimes more. There is NO reason to starve yourself...that's just completely ridiculous. Tell your friend to look up the term "Basal Metabolic Rate"...that's the amount of calories your body burns with NO activity. She's acting like the ONLY time you burn calories is during exercise--totally FALSE. She needs better information, and FAST!

valorieflowers

Wow, that must be sooo frusterating! I feel for you! And I am 5'9"-5'10"ish and I am losing weight eating 1600-1700 cals with only very light exercise. Not to mention at her height and that weight, she does not need to lose a single ounce! Maybe you can just get her to join this site and then she may get exposed to a lot of information that may change her mind without you having to try to discuss it specifically anymore.

Katie0174

This is so ridiculous I can't even begin to understand how someone could think this is right. Your body needs energy and calories are energy - everyone needs a certain amount, and that amount is NOT zero.

She will not listen to you if she's arguing with you about it, she thinks she's completely right. I think the only thing that you can do is not encourage her and not even speak about it with her, unless she comes to you for advice. She's probably going to need a friend when she's sick though.

Fatbuster205

Anorexia is a serious illness and sufferers are often delusional because their brain chemistry is so wrong that they do not think or perceive things normally. Shouting, arguing etc will not help! Until she faces her own problems you will have this argument. In my non-medical opinion - the only thing informing me is life experience - be a friend but do not accept that what she is saying is right. If her logic was correct, there would be no children starving!

iWaffle

Ha! 800 calories is dinner and a post-workout protein shake. That's not a full day diet plan.

email4jenp

She is COMPLETELY full of Crapola! No Dr would ever tell a patient that. So, either she heard wrong or she's just making up some bull. However, it doesn't matter what you tell her, she has to figure that out for herself. I can't imagine eating 800 cals per day. And I can't even imagine having 3 peanut butter M&M's for B'fast - that right there ought to tell you she has no freaking clue....

FitLink

Okay so I have a friend that I have already posted on once before that I am concerned about. Today we are talking on the phone and after our conversation I wanted to come post here to make sure that I did have my facts straight.
Basically she revealed to me that she eats on an average "no cheat" (her words) day about 800 calories and burns 1000 doing c25k (this sounds high to me but I didn't say anything because maybe she does). On a cheat day she says she takes in about 1200 cals. Her logic being that you have to burn as many cals as you take in in order to lose weight. This is where the conversation turned heated. I always though the aforementioned statement was taking into account the fact that our bodies are constantly burning calories. She insists that if you eat 1200 calories you have to exercise 1200 calories away- same as if you eat 2500- apparently you need to exercise 2500 cals away. This is supposedly what her doctor and friend who is training for the olympics told her.
So today she had 3 peanut m&m's for breakfast, 220 cals worth of corn in butter sauce for lunch and whatever she has for dinner will not exceed 800 cals for her entire day. Then she will go and exercise off 800-1000 cals to make it even. I told her what I had been reading on this site about needing to eat more and how I eat 1700 per day and make sure not to go below a certain number and all. Her response to me was well there is no way anyone can lose weight doing that and you can't believe what you read online.
I may be wrong which is why I wanted to post here and see. I am just concerned for her. She is currently about 140lbs and 5'9. I saw her yesterday and she looks bad to me. Not what you would expect to see a healthy person look like.
I really just want to know if I am right in my thinking or is she. Do I really need to be in the gym for 6 hours exercising off my 1700 cals. Obviously because I am the one with the weight problem she isn't going to listen to me so as far as that is concerned we are at a stalemate, I just want to have my facts straight.

If her doctor told her that she should sue for malpractice. You just need a deficit to lose, you don't need to burn equal to or more than you eat in exercise. What you burn just maintaining your body counts too. It's just not a great idea to eat less than your BMR. Worse yet, what kind of meal is three M&Ms?

It seems obvious she has an ED. If she's a close friend, keep setting a good example and if she brings up what she's eating just keep on telling her the facts. Pushing too hard will just make her avoid you. People change when they decide to change, and not before.

_Bob_

I'm with your friend on this one... but only because I want to be a skeleton for this next Halloween

all joking aside though, it's because of things like this below......


That some girls turn out like this....



I've known a couple and it's hard to watch