There is no need to eat over 1000 calories

Ohmydaze

You should not eat that low unless under the supervision of a doctor. However, I know several obese/morbidly obese individuals who have been put on <1000 calorie diets by their doctors, and seen good results. To say that it is never appropriate is ignorant, and to bash people who are following their doctor's advice is even worse.

I have definitely posted on some of these topics, as the "starvation mode <1200 calories" myth here seems to have grown out of proportion. I have also seen people eating <1000 calories at their doctor's recommendation be told that that is wrong, and they should eat 1200+, and get a new doctor, which is every bit as bad.

Can we try to base our arguments on science and what is effective rather than broscience and dogma?

Who's bashing people for following their doctor's advice?

Wasn't referring to you, but I have seen it here a couple of times in the last few months. Basically, anyone who is not losing weight at an honest 1200 net calories/day needs to see a doctor, because there is obviously something seriously wrong there.

I eat roughly 1200 cals or less a day, and have done for months. I'm already pretty small, but I can't seem to lose weight on that, much as I'd love to. I'd just decided I'm never going to be below 8 stone, and focus on toning up, which comes naturally in the summer. But some people do have different metabolisms. My mother has to eat very little in order to lose weigh, but she's very slim as well. My lowest weight was only 5 pounds or so less than I am now, and I was eating about 300 a day, with symptoms of anorexia. Obviously that wasn't great.

Just saying What works for one person doesn't always work for another.

meshashesha2012

netting and grossing are 2 different things. some of you are mistaking the two.

MissTattoo

Less than 1000? That's insane. I would be such a huge *kitten* and probably end up eating everything in the fridge.

MMarvelous

I eat under 1000 calories pretty often and feel just fine. I dont push my eating habits on anyone else, so why the **** does it bother you?

Try eating some nuts *an almond is about 10 calories give or take*, a spoonful of peanut butter or don't eat low calorie version of some foods will help too.

Polly758

My skeptical nature is questioning this idea that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN ADULT requires EXACTLY 1200 calories in order to support passive bodily functions. For example, it's reasonable to assume that a 4'9" person's heart requires less force to pump blood than a 6'5" person needs.

That said, I understand that 1200 is an approximate average and most people are not going to spend the time/money to get their actual number calculated... and to be safe, that number is a solid baseline.

But if a petite person, who exercises regularly and eats reasonably healthily, is gaining weight on that number (NET), then something may be off and s/he should see a nutritionist to get some numbers run, blood tests, etc.

Lpeterso15

I'm 45 years old and only 5 ft. tall.

I have a couple of friends that make fun of the way I eat. They think it's crazy that when we go out to eat, I cut all the food in half and only eat 1/2 of it or that I never eat cake, cookies or soda. Both of them are 50 pounds overweight with high blood pressure and 1 has diabetes but I of course never comment on that and I never take eating advice from overweight, unhealthy people. Now if I needed to lose weight and I found someone my size that had lost weight and kept it off, that would be a great person to get advice from.

My regular calories per day to maintain my weight is 1339 so dropping 300 calories out of my diet is very reasonable while dieting. I've eaten a "South Beach" type of diet my entire life (before there was a South Beach diet). That's just how I was raised to eat. The 1200 calorie rule is simply because you may not be able to get all your nutrients from less than 1200 calories. If you are 30 pounds overweight, or more the benefits of getting all your nutrients are outweighed by the damage you are doing to your body with your extra weight. The choice for short people is thin, healthy and take a vitamin or fat, unhealthy but well nourished.

I've eaten 1000-1400 calories most of my life and I'm healthy, not deprived and thin. I occasionally will gain a few pounds but I lose them immediately but dropping down to 1000 calories so I never have a problem. I disagree that under 1200 is bad for every person while dieting. If you have a small frame or are a short person, you might have several days a week that you drop below 1200 calories just maintaining your healthy weight. I'm willing to bet that most of the people saying under 1200 is too low while dieting are overweight. Again, don't take eating advice from overweight people unless they are now thin and have maintained that weight. Of course under 1200 is too low for most men and some tall females. Eat the number of calories for the size you want to be. Use one of those online weight calculators to figure it up for you.

A restaurant brings the same amount of food to a 350 lb 6 ft man as a 120 pound 5 ft female but you can decide how much of that food to eat. I'm cutting mine in half and you can laugh all you want while I'm laying on the beach in my bikini eating my 1100 calories.

barebon

Calories measure energy. Your body needs a certain amount of energy to run. So it doesn't matter if you are eating all veggies or donuts you need to meet your calorie goal so your body doesn't tear apart your lean muscle and bones. In result you will still have the fat because in starvation mode your body will first eat the muscle because it burns more energy and slow down your metabolism making you lose weight yes but you still look fat until all your tissue has been depleted and it also turns your body into a fat storing machine so when you get tired of dieting and go back to normal your body will store everything in panic mode to survive. Calories in foods are measured by the amount of that specifics food that your body can actually absorb. It's amazing to me how people will post Mary Kate Olsen a girl who is known to suffer from bulemia as their romodels on what to look like. Most normal girls want to look sexy to attract men and that would be more along the lines of a fitness models diet. Losing weight it a lifestyle change. Eat in moderation match your goals and create your deficit through exercise you will get the results you're looking for and be happy with your body. When you eat that low you start making dieting twice as difficult and horrendous. Why would anyone do that to themselves. Unless you are so obese that you can't walk across a room or get much movement in your life no one needs to eat 1000 calories. There is no perfect number for successful weight loss because everyone burns different amounts and everyone's body absorbs foods differently. Look at the biggest loser and they get into trouble eating to little. If you want successful weight loss look at what body builders do. You don't need to go through a bulking stage or take testosterone which would make you look like a man. Your body won't build muscle in a calorie deficit so use the body builder cutting scheme. Real body builders know exactly how the body works and can give you an educated answer to why they do everything they do and are very successful with it as they can get to really low body fat percentages. And you will see even most of them indulge sometimes. The trick is education and knowing your body not listening to what the new fad scheme is for the year.

CM9178

Lately I've noticed at lot of people on the boards touting their 'no need to net over 1000 calories a day method'. And if you are not on board with their method they will become negative, surly and downright nasty. In a certain circumstance they were encouraging person to continue eating well under 1000 calories while that person was already having physical repercussions. While we encouraged her to reevaluate her calorie intake and eat more - we were slammed by this group of people stating that there is no scientific proof that you need more calories than that a day. Thank goodness that In this circumstance the OP decided to up her calorie intake because she was feeling weak and losing her hair.

When you sign on the MFP and fill in your information MFP calculates what your calorie intake should be. I highly doubt they have ever recommended netting under 1000 calories a day. If you are eating well under your calorie guidelines and encouraging other people to do so....maybe this site isn't a good fit for you?!?! Just sayin.....

No Promotion of Unsafe Weight-Loss Techniques or Eating Disorders

a) Posts intended to promote potentially unsafe or controversial weight loss products or procedures, including non-medically prescribed supplements or MLM products will be removed without warning.
b) No pro-anorexia or pro-bulimia posts, groups, profile names, or profile bylines. Photos intended to promote or glamorize extreme thinness are also not permitted.

I have never seen one person support this on here, ever.

RunHardBeStrong

netting and grossing are 2 different things. some of you are mistaking the two.

My thoughts exactly. Beat me to it.