Can you be succesful with Very Low Calorie Diets?

shadowsaround
shadowsaround Posts: 76
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all,
I just wanted to hear about everyones experiences with VLCD's.

Replies

  • itsuki
    itsuki Posts: 520 Member
    This website does not support VLCDs, or people who promote them. Your thread may be locked in the near future as an FYI.

    Generally speaking they may give you some short-term results, but in the long term they can mess up your metabolism and can be dangerous if you're not under the care of a doctor.
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
    Hello all,
    I just wanted to hear about everyones experiences with VLCD's.

    I am not even going there on this subject. I'll end up getting banned no doubt. :mad: :explode:
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Used properly, yes. But very few people will do so.
  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
    People can have success on them for sure. Usually once those people increase their calories to normal they gain all the weight back plus some. It will lower your metabolism and will most likely result in gaining the weight back again. It's not healthy to do. People do it for quick weight loss but quick weight loss normally leads to gaining it all back plus some and results in loose skin.
  • guardian419
    guardian419 Posts: 391 Member
    I hurt people. I'll stick with baseline being my 2300 BMR.

    Like Fire_rock said, if used properly. Most people following a VLCD don't have doctor supervision, do it the wrong way, and either have/develop an ED.

    Talk to your doctor if you're thinking about it at all, otherwise I'd recommend the tried and true eat healthy, move your body and enjoy a LIFESTYLE change, not a quick fix :bigsmile:
  • tyraskanks_
    tyraskanks_ Posts: 229
    It'll work in the short-term, but in the long term you will gain all of that back plus even more.


    www.eatmore2weighless.com
  • shadowsaround
    shadowsaround Posts: 76
    I wasn't considering doing a full VLCD only a normal 500 deficit on 4 days with 2 days being lower than that and a day at maintenance.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    VLCDs are not advised for anyone that is not under the direct supervision of medically qualified personnel.

    Typically, people that engage in such do not fair well in the long run. This is because instead of learning HOW to eat, they simply eat way too little till they've reached their target weight, then eat like normal again and gain it all back over time.

    For the people that do not make it to their target weight, they give up due to expecting super fast results and cannot stand the hunger, tiredness, moodiness, and other ill effects they gain from such a diet.

    Additionally, it is possible for such diets to stall very easily due to the body's hormone levels going crazy from lack of calories and increased stress.

    Despite what movies and TV shows show us, anorexics tend to be overweight, NOT underweight.
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    Short-term success. I was once put on a 480-calorie-per-day diet by Weight Loss Clinics, and I did get the weight off in spite of "cheating" with something almost every day.

    When I quit the diet and resumed normal eating, all the weight came right back and brought friends.

    I'll never do that again!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,963 Member
    Do a search for alternate day, or intermittent fasting. That sounds like the program you are interested in.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    I wasn't considering doing a full VLCD only a normal 500 deficit on 4 days with 2 days being lower than that and a day at maintenance.

    500 cal deficit a day is FAAARRRRRR from being classified as a VLCD >.>
  • Kassadeedle
    Kassadeedle Posts: 136 Member
    Just wondering what is considered to be "very low "?
  • shadowsaround
    shadowsaround Posts: 76
    500 would be on the normal days. it would be more like 1000-1300 on the VLCD days.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    IT's misery and unsustainable--might bring on eating disorder or make you liable to binge eating. I don't support them in the slightest.
  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
    500 would be on the normal days. it would be more like 1000-1300 on the VLCD days.

    Why not follow the guidelines here? Or calculate your TDEE than reduce from that at a rate of about 20%?

    Going too low with calories will hurt your lean body mass and you will begin to lose muscle.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Generally VLCDs are only for people who are morbidly obese AND being followed by a medical professional while on the diet. For anyone else, there's no way it can possibly end good. Here's why:

    1. It's not possible to build muscle while undergoing a VLCD, or even get in enough nutrients to allow muscles to sufficiently recover after a workout, making any sort of exercise other than very mild cardio not only pointless but also dangerous.

    2. Your metabolism slows down to a crawl so that when you do eventually reach your goal it's virtually impossible to switch back into "maintenance" mode because once you start eating a normal amount of calories again you blow up like a balloon.

    3. Healthy organ function becomes a lot more difficult because your organs need a certain amount of calories just to run properly.
  • shadowsaround
    shadowsaround Posts: 76
    By "normal eating" do you mean maintenance level or eating junk food and more than maintenance calories?
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    By "normal eating" do you mean maintenance level or eating junk food and more than maintenance calories?

    Maintenance level

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