Stop the Low-Cal Insanity!
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Here is the danger of all the Eat More people telling everyone what they should do.
There are numerous people struggling to lose weight on here. They are told that their BMR is like 1800 and their TDEE is like 2500 so they should be eating like 2200 per day.
Other people tell them that they MUST eat back their exercise calories.
So they ride their stationary bike for an hour and MFP tells them they burned 700 calories. Yippee! They now have 2900 calories they can eat per day! They think that sounds like way too many calories, so they only eat 2400 calories per day. That should give them an extra 1 pound loss per week, right??
After the first week or 2 of extra water weight they lose, they stop losing and even start gaining. People tell them they need to add weight training, so they go to the gym a couple days a week and lift a few weights. Ok, now when they gain weight, people can tell them that it isn't fat they are gaining, it is muscle. That is a good thing.
Other people tell them that since they are 'exercising' so much, that they now need to eat even more. So they do. And they continue to gain 'muscle'. Meanwhile, 3 months have passed and they have not lost 1 pound of the 80 pounds of fat they needed to lose.
They now get discouraged and decide that 'diets don't work for them' and quit altogether.
But hey, they have at least taught themselves how to eat 3000 calories per day so they won't go into 'starvation mode' and lose all their LBM!
Good job Gurus, good job!
THIS. Like I said previously, I have had great success on 1200 a day and feel the absolute best I ever have. I am only considering upping my calories periodically to see if it makes a difference with my heavy training. If it doesn't work, I'm going back on 1200. :drinker:0 -
and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
So what of you're short, I know plenty of people that are 5'3" and shorter that eat 2,000+ cals/day and cut. Short height doesn't give you an automatic pass to under eat and potentially lead to an ED. But you're right, why should people care if they see others doing harm to themselves? We should stand back and let them do so, it's their health and body after all, not ours.
^ I agree with the first post about the fact that EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
I'm losing weight at the rate of 2 pounds a week (or thereabouts) by eating around 1290 calories a day.
I'm short too. That works for us!
I don't agree with the second poster. Again, EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
You may know people who eat 2,000+ cals/day but that obviously doesn't work for me.
Why say we'll develop an ED? 1,200 calories is the MINIMUM. At least we aren't eating 500 cal/day -_-0 -
Wise advice!0
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and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
So what of you're short, I know plenty of people that are 5'3" and shorter that eat 2,000+ cals/day and cut. Short height doesn't give you an automatic pass to under eat and potentially lead to an ED. But you're right, why should people care if they see others doing harm to themselves? We should stand back and let them do so, it's their health and body after all, not ours.
^ I agree with the first post about the fact that EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
I'm losing weight at the rate of 2 pounds a week (or thereabouts) by eating around 1290 calories a day.
I'm short too. That works for us!
I don't agree with the second poster. Again, EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
You may know people who eat 2,000+ cals/day but that obviously doesn't work for me.
Why say we'll develop an ED? 1,200 calories is the MINIMUM. At least we aren't eating 500 cal/day -_-
Well said
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if i never see the number 1200 again it will be too soon!
1200 is not a magic number. for all the people out there who think it is i say "phooey".
figure out a healthy deficit from your BMR/TDEE and use that as a guideline for a diet that allows you to lose weight at a healthy pace... i.e., don't starve yourself and risk gaining it all back later.
if the BMR/TDEE calculations result in 1200 as your goal, then fine. but if you saw 1200 talked about as a magic number on some idiot's blog or Dr. Oz's show or some other website promoting other garbage such as cleanses, then ignore the number and never think about it again.
1200 is not a starting point for anyone. calculating your BMR/TDEE is the starting point. from there you can derive the CORRECT number for yourself. if it happens to be 1180, or 1200, or 1450, or 1800, or 2500, or whatever. so long as it comes from the formulas, it's ok by me. what's not ok is just pulling 1200 out of thin air because that's what you read on some blog somewhere.
/rant
also, ladies, stop justifying your 1200 diet by saying "we're all different". yes, we are all different in small ways. but our bodies work the same way. if you're 5'4" and 150 pounds, i've got news for you... your BMR is pretty much the same as any other woman your age who is 5'4" and 150 pounds. your BMRs might differ by 2%-3%, but "no, you are not different" in any way which materially affects your metabolism unless you have a real medical issue.0 -
mmm anyone who finds 1200 calories too much food and hard to eat..is on the verge of an eating disorder and just don't realize it.
Learning that eating more is ok and works for weight loss and been the biggest benefit of reading the posts here on mfp. I was so tired of starving myself and was getting discouraged at thinking of a lifetime of barely eating to look how I want.
I'm eating 1500 to 1600 a day and ..boy! what a difference in quality of life...then when I exercise I get even more calories to eat. I love it.0 -
Life of an MPF'er:
1. Sign up
2. Eat as little as possible while posting a thread asking if it's ok to eat as little as possible.
3. Get miserable and stop losing weight.
4. Actually read the forums and decide to up calories to a reasonable level.
5. Start losing weight.
6. Comment on similar threads in forums to try and stop newbies eating as little as possible.0 -
I don't understand the low cal craze either. I'm 5'3" tall and just over 200 and my calorie target is 1660. Why would anyone want to eat half of that?
I think it has to do with impatience more than anything. Most people just starting out want all the fat gone NOW, and they don't think about what they're doing to get there.
but when they want the fat gone NOW they are usually the ones that will lose some. then gain it right back when they realize that they are hungry.0 -
if i never see the number 1200 again it will be too soon!
1200 is not a magic number. for all the people out there who think it is i say "phooey".
figure out a healthy deficit from your BMR/TDEE and use that as a guideline for a diet that allows you to lose weight at a healthy pace... i.e., don't starve yourself and risk gaining it all back later.
if the BMR/TDEE calculations result in 1200 as your goal, then fine. but if you saw 1200 talked about as a magic number on some idiot's blog or Dr. Oz's show or some other website promoting other garbage such as cleanses, then ignore the number and never think about it again.
1200 is not a starting point for anyone. calculating your BMR/TDEE is the starting point. from there you can derive the CORRECT number for yourself. if it happens to be 1180, or 1200, or 1450, or 1800, or 2500, or whatever. so long as it comes from the formulas, it's ok by me. what's not ok is just pulling 1200 out of thin air because that's what you read on some blog somewhere.
/rant
But what if 1200 is NOT starving yourself? I definitely do not starve myself and never will. I actually struggle somedays to reach a net of 1200 after my workout because I am so full! I eat balanced and clean, and I do also have indulgences here and there. I have made great progress, I am building muscle rather than losing it, and I have boundless energy.
I understand the logic and respect the science behind it, but also think that people should just do what works for them. It doesn't always have to be so complicated.0 -
if i never see the number 1200 again it will be too soon!
1200 is not a magic number. for all the people out there who think it is i say "phooey".
figure out a healthy deficit from your BMR/TDEE and use that as a guideline for a diet that allows you to lose weight at a healthy pace... i.e., don't starve yourself and risk gaining it all back later.
if the BMR/TDEE calculations result in 1200 as your goal, then fine. but if you saw 1200 talked about as a magic number on some idiot's blog or Dr. Oz's show or some other website promoting other garbage such as cleanses, then ignore the number and never think about it again.
1200 is not a starting point for anyone. calculating your BMR/TDEE is the starting point. from there you can derive the CORRECT number for yourself. if it happens to be 1180, or 1200, or 1450, or 1800, or 2500, or whatever. so long as it comes from the formulas, it's ok by me. what's not ok is just pulling 1200 out of thin air because that's what you read on some blog somewhere.
/rant
But what if 1200 is NOT starving yourself? I definitely do not starve myself and never will. I actually struggle somedays to reach a net of 1200 after my workout because I am so full! I eat balanced and clean, and I do also have indulgences here and there. I have made great progress, I am building muscle rather than losing it, and I have boundless energy.
I understand the logic and respect the science behind it, but also think that people should just do what works for them. It doesn't always have to be so complicated.
for some people, 1200 will work out to be the right number. if that's what you're eating and you derived it from the BMR/TDEE calculations, then great. that's my point. always start with your BMR/TDEE.
if you just picked 1200 out of thin air, then i would say you are going about this wrong.
what's your height, weight, and age? i want to run the calculations and show you whether 1200 is right for you or not. once you understand using the BMR/TDEE numbers, you'll never have to just "guess" at what your daily requirements should be ever again.0 -
I really appreciate you sharing this, it was very insightful and helpful, as I was just going through something similar and found out that I was not getting enough protein!! Thanks again!0
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and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
If 1200 works for you, that's great. I'm definitely not a guru by any means. My only concern is that when some people eat 1200, and it stops working, they may decrease past the minimum, If you're eating at 2000 (or 1800, or 1600..) and it stops working, you can drop down 200 calories for a few weeks and see how that works.
much like the first person. i eat 1200 calories a day. I do this because when i eat more. i never lose the weight. but i choose wisely what 1200 calories within the day that i eat. i choose healthy varieties of food. and i eat at least 5 times a day. so i truly am not hungry. and i pull of maybe 1-2 lbs a day. with some exercise. were not starving ourselves. We just choose to be disciplined with how much and what we eat. is how i see it.0 -
bump0
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and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
This is exactly the kind of poss the OP was referring to I believe. Just because it is working for you RIGHT NOW, does not mean you are doing it right. Yes, every body is different but I can't see how eating so little can ever be justified with that excuse. Eventually, if it is working, it will stop working.
I lost 50 lbs in 7 months my first year on MFP, eating 1200-1300 calories. I probably would have said the same thing you just did. Then I stopped losing, plateaued for MONTHS and 15lbs crept back on. I wish I wouldn't have been starving myself into losing those first 7 months because I wouldn't be HERE right now.
Eat more.0 -
and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
So what of you're short, I know plenty of people that are 5'3" and shorter that eat 2,000+ cals/day and cut. Short height doesn't give you an automatic pass to under eat and potentially lead to an ED. But you're right, why should people care if they see others doing harm to themselves? We should stand back and let them do so, it's their health and body after all, not ours.
^ I agree with the first post about the fact that EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
I'm losing weight at the rate of 2 pounds a week (or thereabouts) by eating around 1290 calories a day.
I'm short too. That works for us!
I don't agree with the second poster. Again, EVERYONE. IS. DIFFERENT.
You may know people who eat 2,000+ cals/day but that obviously doesn't work for me.
Why say we'll develop an ED? 1,200 calories is the MINIMUM. At least we aren't eating 500 cal/day -_-
Eating 2000 calories a day doesn't work for you because you have destroyed your metabolism by eating so little. Eating that little is not sustainable for the rest of your life and you WILL gain back. Do you think you will be able to eat that when you are 40- 50 or 60 years old and stay the same size?
That's why the people who eat more reset and eat their TDEE for weeks before cutting it by 15%-20% to lose fat. Since I screwed up with 1300 calories for so long. I am having to eat 2501 calories a day to reset my metabolism. Then I will go down to 2000 after a few more weeks.0 -
and I find it annoying how ppl eating 2000 and losing come and try to ¨teach¨ people like if they were a fitness guru.
Yes I eat 1200 cal a day, yes im a shorty, and no i wont eat more than that cause I stop losing thank u.
If you eat 2000 and you lose, GREAT for you :drinker: , if I eat 1200 and lose, GREAT for me :drinker: . What works for you doesnt work for me and viceversa. To each their own, do your thing and stop worrying/complaining about what other people do.
If 1200 works for you, that's great. I'm definitely not a guru by any means. My only concern is that when some people eat 1200, and it stops working, they may decrease past the minimum, If you're eating at 2000 (or 1800, or 1600..) and it stops working, you can drop down 200 calories for a few weeks and see how that works.
much like the first person. i eat 1200 calories a day. I do this because when i eat more. i never lose the weight. but i choose wisely what 1200 calories within the day that i eat. i choose healthy varieties of food. and i eat at least 5 times a day. so i truly am not hungry. and i pull of maybe 1-2 lbs a day. with some exercise. were not starving ourselves. We just choose to be disciplined with how much and what we eat. is how i see it.
That implies that people who eat more than 1200 are not disciplined. Why eat less and feel you have to be "disciplined" if you don't have to? How have you calculated higher numbers for yourself? And, very importantly, how long have you tried to eat a reasonably calculated higher number? And being hungry or not is often not an indication of whether your body is actually well-nourished,0 -
Here is the danger of all the Eat More people telling everyone what they should do.
There are numerous people struggling to lose weight on here. They are told that their BMR is like 1800 and their TDEE is like 2500 so they should be eating like 2200 per day.
Other people tell them that they MUST eat back their exercise calories.
So they ride their stationary bike for an hour and MFP tells them they burned 700 calories. Yippee! They now have 2900 calories they can eat per day! They think that sounds like way too many calories, so they only eat 2400 calories per day. That should give them an extra 1 pound loss per week, right??
After the first week or 2 of extra water weight they lose, they stop losing and even start gaining. People tell them they need to add weight training, so they go to the gym a couple days a week and lift a few weights. Ok, now when they gain weight, people can tell them that it isn't fat they are gaining, it is muscle. That is a good thing.
Other people tell them that since they are 'exercising' so much, that they now need to eat even more. So they do. And they continue to gain 'muscle'. Meanwhile, 3 months have passed and they have not lost 1 pound of the 80 pounds of fat they needed to lose.
They now get discouraged and decide that 'diets don't work for them' and quit altogether.
But hey, they have at least taught themselves how to eat 3000 calories per day so they won't go into 'starvation mode' and lose all their LBM!
Good job Gurus, good job!
So perhaps that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully you see my point. Seriously, right now I am watching several women who are getting so discouraged because they are eating around 1700-1800 cals per day and not losing any weight at all. The BMR calculators give them way too high of a number to start with and are convinced they have a TDEE of 2500. Then the MFP exercise calculators give them a number two times the number of calories they are actually burning, so they can't understand why they aren't losing weight. Now they have people 20 years younger than they are, who spend hours a day in the gym, telling them that they just need to eat more, don't worry you are gaining muscle not fat, just wait, give it more time and you will start losing, etc.
I feel horrible for these people because I understand their frustration.
If someone has 50 pounds of fat to lose, losing at 1-2 pounds per week is completely safe and healthy. Whatever calorie level puts you losing at that amount, and you are getting the right amount of nutrients where you are not starving all day and have zero energy, then eat at that amount. There is no magic number. Whatever number is working for you, is the right number. If after the first 2 weeks you stop losing and don't lose for a month, then you are eating too many calories.
PLEASE note that I am not directing this towards someone already at a healthy weight. This is for those who have a lot to lose. I also do not condone calories lower than 800 per day for anyone, long term. The CDC states that 800 is the minimum calories for most women and 900 for most men, to get in the proper nutrients and lose weight safely. AGAIN, I am not saying that everyone should eat at that low of a level, but if an overweight person is eating that low for the purpose of treating obesity, then leave them alone and let them and their doctor worry about it.
That is a bit of an exaggeration.
1. The outcome of the person "rage-quitting" because they gained all this muscle in the process of all this exercise they are doing is a billion times better than the person "rage-quitting" after spending months conditioning their body to get used to excessively low calories with some potential permanent impact to their metabolism because their body has started eating away at muscle.
2. Your body can only "chip away" at fat so fast, especially when you start losing weight and you don't have much more fat left to lose. It might work well to start off with, but it will all come crashing down eventually.
Excessively low calorie diets are absolute madness, because once you stop "losing", it is a difficult process to get your metabolism to actually "fire up" again. As another poster pointed out earlier - if she eats at 1500 calories, she gains weight - this is a sure sign of a metabolism that has slowed down (probably due to prolonged periods on low calorie diets). That's why people can be "skinny fat" - high % body fat with low weight, because of lack of LBM. THAT's what low cal diets cause. Less muscle means slower metabolism.
Another major problem with these low calorie diets is that once people have lost the weight, what then? How do you suddenly survive - the moment you start eating what a "normal" person should eat, you will simply balloon again and you are forever trapped in this vicious cycle. Low calorie diets are almost like self-fulfilling prophecies - the less you eat, the less your body can burn, the less you should eat, therefore proving that low cal diets "work". But it's just an endless trap that's really difficult to get out of.0 -
EXTREMELY well said - totally agree - people need to realise that it is a lifestyle change and that the body needs to stay healthy.
I have lost around 50 pounds since the end of January - averaging around 1 pound per week - doesn't seem much, but I still enjoyed the food I love - didn't deprive myself of anything - but just made sure that the majority of the choices were healthy and greatly reduced the portions I was having -especially of 'naughty'foods.
I had a net calorie count of around 1400-1500 per day and haven't looked back. Now that I am maintaining, I know that I don't need large portions and because I am not 'reintroducing' foods that were 'naughty' my weight is staying the same.
I haven't been on a 'diet' - I have just changed the way I approach food and embraced a whole healthy lifestyle.
It can be done without depriving!!!!!!0 -
Here is the danger of all the Eat More people telling everyone what they should do.
There are numerous people struggling to lose weight on here. They are told that their BMR is like 1800 and their TDEE is like 2500 so they should be eating like 2200 per day.
Other people tell them that they MUST eat back their exercise calories.
So they ride their stationary bike for an hour and MFP tells them they burned 700 calories. Yippee! They now have 2900 calories they can eat per day! They think that sounds like way too many calories, so they only eat 2400 calories per day. That should give them an extra 1 pound loss per week, right??
After the first week or 2 of extra water weight they lose, they stop losing and even start gaining. People tell them they need to add weight training, so they go to the gym a couple days a week and lift a few weights. Ok, now when they gain weight, people can tell them that it isn't fat they are gaining, it is muscle. That is a good thing.
Other people tell them that since they are 'exercising' so much, that they now need to eat even more. So they do. And they continue to gain 'muscle'. Meanwhile, 3 months have passed and they have not lost 1 pound of the 80 pounds of fat they needed to lose.
They now get discouraged and decide that 'diets don't work for them' and quit altogether.
But hey, they have at least taught themselves how to eat 3000 calories per day so they won't go into 'starvation mode' and lose all their LBM!
Good job Gurus, good job!
To be fair, the original post was aimed at people eating 800-900 calories or less a day.
You are correct on that point, and I apologize to the OP. After reading all the replies that were lumping 1200 cal diets into that mentality, I became very aggravated and completely missed that the OP was indeed referring to the 700-900, so again, I apologize to the OP.
Unfortunately, anytime someone mentions VLCD, then many of the comments turn into attacks on people eating 1000-1200 calories per day, and all the horror stories begin, and all the people that can 'eat like a pig' and lose weight come out in droves, to tell us all how we are doing it WRONG, and are destroying our bodies.
Seriously, 1300 is not that much different than 1200, so why does it get so many people so riled up? If I simply added one donut or one beer to my daily intake, suddenly I am healthier?
And as for the ones eating below 1200, I have an example to put things into perspective-
Several years ago I had a WW leader who was in her early 60s, about 4'10", very healthy and moderately active for her age. Her maintenance level was 13 points, which at time was only around 900 calories. That was her MAINTENANCE level, and had been for several years since she had reached her goal weight. So it is entirely POSSIBLE for someone to need to eat at 800-900 cals per day if they want to lose weight, and even at that level, the weight loss would only be 1/2 pound or less per week.0 -
I'm new here and I'm a little confused by the usage of "bump/bumping it". I gather that it means to save the post for future reference. But how do I do it? I too like the clear explanation of how a low cal diet is not good for you and want to save it for future.0
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