My friend is on a 1000 calorie diet

Crying_In_Color

FIRST off, I have been an athlete all my life, I know first hand that if this person is doing what she is describing she is not eating enough to compensate for her workouts. If your body is burning close to 1000 calories a day with the work outs, what is left over ?!

Stored energy which is commonly referred to as fats.

SECOND, I have a friend that ended up in the hospital from eating the same way (athletic, 145 lbs, 5'3) eating roughly 1100 per day (even with her workouts and practices).

Don't know much about your friend and her exact diet so I can't comment on that. I can make up a true scary story though. Almost half of the adult Americans are obese and are at risk of type 2 diabetes and could end up getting their leg amputated. I personally think my story is scarier as it affects a much larger population and involves losing limbs.

As far as solid evidence, there are countless articles and websites promoting healthy weight loss, any fitness plan would not restrict someone to that unless there is a medical reason. Even MFP will set someone at a 1200 minimum (which is still too low for most people).

Healthy is a general term. There is no set definition of healthy eating in nutritional journals.

I also don't see any solid arguments from you either, other than calling me and another poster out on our "fear mongering" post.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/194142-risks-of-a-low-calorie-diet/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/278787-risks-of-losing-fat-fast/?utm_source=undefined_R1

The only real risks such as heart diseases and irregular heart beats from those articles are talking about a VLC-diets. Those are diets under 800 calories and not the 1k diets, as defined in your very own article. Even if it was true a VLC-diet, it can be manageable if done properly. Link below for an example of someone who did a true VLC-Diet and lived to tell the tale.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121060001&page=1

I don't like you and so I think we shall be friends.

victoria4321

Give her some Caltine bars and tell her it makes you lose weight crazy fast!

schondell

1000 calories a day is not bad for her. People greatly overestimate the amount of calories they need to function in a day. Instead of looking at it in terms of calories, look at in terms of food, is she eating well?

schondell

Give her some Caltine bars and tell her it makes you lose weight crazy fast!

Kady, stop.

tootertay

I also just started a 1,000 calorie diet and it's not so bad. It hurts a bit at first because you're hungry, but it fades and doesn't really affect you!!!

Blmarlborough

Well it depends. If she has a decent amount of body fat, then thats fine. The body has fat for a reason. It needs to be used in times of famines, whether self induced or not. However, if shes a twig, then that is bad. Once reaching 5% ish body fat, her body will not be able to break down any fat, and her body will break down proteins for glucose, instead of ketones from fats, leading to the catabolization of her lean tissue and she will die. So yeaaaah. How them Celtics guys? Hah just kidding. They're doing terrible this season.

nikilis

Threads like this remind me how the majority of people here really have no idea, and shouldn't comment. this is a total farce.



I would get into this but theres too many of you and you are all so, so wrong. i've reached the point where I'm quite happy to let you all crap out your internal organs.

Rays_Wife

Threads like this remind me how the majority of people here really have no idea, and shouldn't comment. this is a total farce.



I would get into this but theres too many of you and you are all so, so wrong. i've reached the point where I'm quite happy to let you all crap out your internal organs.

nikilis

Threads like this remind me how the majority of people here really have no idea, and shouldn't comment. this is a total farce.



I would get into this but theres too many of you and you are all so, so wrong. i've reached the point where I'm quite happy to let you all crap out your internal organs.

JennW130

Nothing. You can't do anything. I know someone eating 900 calories a day (and I know for sure she needs more than this, I've run the calculations, but whatever) and nothing I say will trump her DOCTOR'S recommendation.. The same doctor that put her on Phentermine and 20g of carbs a day. She's losing weight like crazy. But she said herself that she's done this before (and gained it all back).

Just like there's nothing you can do to tell someone who is morbidly obese that they need to lose weight. Or tell an anorexic person that they need to eat.

psshh. thats nothing! Get this. I had a friend have a doctor prescribe her some type of diet pill and told her to eat only once a day, 500 calories. 2 months later she had lost no weight and she asked the doctor why, and the dr just told her "i guess your that 1% that cant lose weight that way" I told her about MFP. I dont know if she ever joined though

Rays_Wife

Nothing. You can't do anything. I know someone eating 900 calories a day (and I know for sure she needs more than this, I've run the calculations, but whatever) and nothing I say will trump her DOCTOR'S recommendation.. The same doctor that put her on Phentermine and 20g of carbs a day. She's losing weight like crazy. But she said herself that she's done this before (and gained it all back).

Just like there's nothing you can do to tell someone who is morbidly obese that they need to lose weight. Or tell an anorexic person that they need to eat.

psshh. thats nothing! Get this. I had a friend have a doctor prescribe her some type of diet pill and told her to eat only once a day, 500 calories. 2 months later she had lost no weight and she asked the doctor why, and the dr just told her "i guess your that 1% that cant lose weight that way" I told her about MFP. I dont know if she ever joined though

Oh yeah get this! I have a friend of a friend of a friend's girlfriend's brother who whenever is hungry pops 1 M&M into her mouth. She currently lives on 1 small fun sized packet of M&M's a day and is losing weight like a madwoman! It's all the rage now!!!!! So maybe your friend can try the M&M diet!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

1000 is too low. She isn't even obese.

So by your own opinion, 1k calories is too low. That's hardly going to convince anyone to get off a 1k calorie diet.

wow. you're unbelievable. OP...I recommend that you talk to her and perhaps steer her to MFP so that she can educate herself--telling her won't help as much as giving her the resources to learn for herself. I know it's frustrating to see and not be able to help but honestly she's the one who has to want to change. Depending on the relationship you have with her parents maybe you can HINT (not outright tell) the mom or something so that she can keep an eye on her.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Well it depends. If she has a decent amount of body fat, then thats fine. The body has fat for a reason. It needs to be used in times of famines, whether self induced or not. However, if shes a twig, then that is bad. Once reaching 5% ish body fat, her body will not be able to break down any fat, and her body will break down proteins for glucose, instead of ketones from fats, leading to the catabolization of her lean tissue and she will die. So yeaaaah. How them Celtics guys? Hah just kidding. They're doing terrible this season.

partly right but largely wrong. your body catabolizes muscle preferentially in the time of famine because muscle is a metabolically active tissue and requires more energy to sustain. after a considerable amount of time in a "starved" state the body will burn fat stores but initially it is the body proteins that are broken down for glucose (energy). Also, 5% would be well past the stage where a woman's body would freak out (for lack of a better word) and the endocrine system would be completely shot.

NocturnalGirl

Convincing her may be hard, you can try and lead by example - show her it's working for you. As someone mentioned above, directing her to MFP might be helpful or any other useful websites/studies/articles. You could also mention that the low calories will most probably impact on her cheerleading performance due to the depletion in her energy levels. Good luck!

JennW130

Nothing. You can't do anything. I know someone eating 900 calories a day (and I know for sure she needs more than this, I've run the calculations, but whatever) and nothing I say will trump her DOCTOR'S recommendation.. The same doctor that put her on Phentermine and 20g of carbs a day. She's losing weight like crazy. But she said herself that she's done this before (and gained it all back).

Just like there's nothing you can do to tell someone who is morbidly obese that they need to lose weight. Or tell an anorexic person that they need to eat.

psshh. thats nothing! Get this. I had a friend have a doctor prescribe her some type of diet pill and told her to eat only once a day, 500 calories. 2 months later she had lost no weight and she asked the doctor why, and the dr just told her "i guess your that 1% that cant lose weight that way" I told her about MFP. I dont know if she ever joined though

Oh yeah get this! I have a friend of a friend of a friend's girlfriend's brother who whenever is hungry pops 1 M&M into her mouth. She currently lives on 1 small fun sized packet of M&M's a day and is losing weight like a madwoman! It's all the rage now!!!!! So maybe your friend can try the M&M diet!

shenanigans

norcal_yogi

bump....just because.

Rays_Wife

Nothing. You can't do anything. I know someone eating 900 calories a day (and I know for sure she needs more than this, I've run the calculations, but whatever) and nothing I say will trump her DOCTOR'S recommendation.. The same doctor that put her on Phentermine and 20g of carbs a day. She's losing weight like crazy. But she said herself that she's done this before (and gained it all back).

Just like there's nothing you can do to tell someone who is morbidly obese that they need to lose weight. Or tell an anorexic person that they need to eat.

psshh. thats nothing! Get this. I had a friend have a doctor prescribe her some type of diet pill and told her to eat only once a day, 500 calories. 2 months later she had lost no weight and she asked the doctor why, and the dr just told her "i guess your that 1% that cant lose weight that way" I told her about MFP. I dont know if she ever joined though

Oh yeah get this! I have a friend of a friend of a friend's girlfriend's brother who whenever is hungry pops 1 M&M into her mouth. She currently lives on 1 small fun sized packet of M&M's a day and is losing weight like a madwoman! It's all the rage now!!!!! So maybe your friend can try the M&M diet!

shenanigans

Ya think?

heatherzinha

"Don’t cut your calorie level drastically when trying to lose weight; this strategy will backfire. Your body is programmed to defend your usual weight, so when calories are cut severely — to fewer than 800 to 1,000 a day — your metabolic rate adjusts to conserve the few calories you do give your body. You won’t lose weight any faster than if you allowed yourself to enjoy 1,200 to 1,500 a day." Source: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/setting-a-reasonable-calorie-level-for-weight-loss.html

heatherzinha

"To lose weight, you have to cut calories, but if you cut too many from your diet, you may not lose any weight, and you probably won’t be able to stick to your diet for very long because you’ll lack essential nutrition and that will make you feel hungry all the time.

Don’t cut your calorie level drastically when trying to lose weight; this strategy will backfire. Your body is programmed to defend your usual weight, so when calories are cut severely — to fewer than 800 to 1,000 a day — your metabolic rate adjusts to conserve the few calories you do give your body. You won’t lose weight any faster than if you allowed yourself to enjoy 1,200 to 1,500 a day."

red_road

I think it would depend on her height and weight. on mfp they recommend people 6 foot to 5 foot go on 1200 cals a day to lose two pounds a week. I think if your friend is short going 200 cals less then the recommended minimum is okay.