To those doing very low cals (in the 600 to 1200 range)

SHBoss1673

Here's the tragic part of this thread. Many people will read some of the posts, watch 1/2 the video, realize they might have a damaged RMR of some kind, and just immediately add 3 or 4 hundred calories to their diet expecting to suddenly start losing weight.

I just want to let you guys know, If that's your plan, you WILL gain weight that way (and mostly fat) It takes time for the body to adjust to higher calories. When I'm helping someone, I usually tell them between 50 to 100 calories increase every two weeks to three weeks. The larger the base calories the larger the jump can be.

I.E. for a woman starting with around 1100 calories (as a random example) you would probably want to add something like 50 calories, let that settle and let your body get used to it for two to three weeks, then move up another 50.

But if you're a person who's at say 1700 or 1800 now and wants to move up closer to the mid 2000's then I'd start close to 100 calories...

@Donica, if you immediately go from 1200 net to 1440, that might work, but I wouldn't be shocked to hear that you gain for a month or more before it does. I'd caution you to take it slow, give yourself a month at 1300 or so before you try to jump, to 1350 then another two weeks before you jump to 1400...etc.

Back to everyone. the MOST important part of this is to do your research, and tweak and observe. This is YOUR body, and it's not going to conform exactly to any model. If you really want this to work, you must be vigilant about keeping track of what you are doing, write down what you eat very closely, measure your food closely, and really try to keep track of your exercise, don't just make vague estimates, go get a heart rate monitor at the least and record your heart rate. They aren't perfect, but it'll give you a solid idea of what you are burning during exercise if you do.

And as always, feel free to PM me if anyone has questions.

psuLemon

What about morbidly or supermorbidly obese on a doctor supervised VLCD? I guess this video can judge me better than a team of doctors can.

I wanted to point out, just because you are supervised by a doctor, doesn't mean you will defy the laws of science. But it's a cost benefit. Most Dr's are ok with a person losing lean body mass if it means they will get into a healthier weight category or if a quick VLCD will alleviate a medical issue. The thing is, too many people put themselves on a LCD and do it long term. LCD are not intended for long term basis. And the less body fat a person has, the less calories that will be stored for energy. And LCD become more detrimental than helpful. This is really the point of Boss' post or at least a part of it. There are a ton of people on this board with 20-50 lbs to lose, they all want it off in a month or two... they eat almost nothing and do cardio like crazy. Unfortunately, these same people, several in this thread, say "as long as I am losing than I am not doing harm to my body". And these same people don't monitor body composition or blood work, or anything. It's all based on, I will drive until my car runs out of gas, then I will fill it up.

What many people don't' realize, is if you minimize muscle loss and aim for a less goal, you will have to lose less weight to have that ideal body image. Because the more muscle you lose, the more weight you need to lose to compensate for it.

Oishii

I gave up reading the comments and decided to watch the whole of the video instead (time management ftw...).

What this video reminded me is that there is nothing at all suppressed about my metabolism, but a short spell at 1200kcal was still a bad idea. When I reached my goal weight my upper arms were so scrawny that I couldn't shave my under arms. If I ate 1000kcal in one sitting I'd hot flush, and blood tests showed I was anaemic. Good nutrition and exercise may have prevented all of this, but the high calorie diet my body was accustomed to was how I was used to providing those nutrients.

1200kcal was around half my TDEE, but no calculator would predict that, but I wish I'd never done it. Now I know I can lose on 2000kcal, if I want to lose, I'll keep my metabolism up (unless the zombie apocalypse comes, at which point I hope my body does become more efficient :P).

beachlover317

Can't seem to get the website for IIFYM to cooperate. Some of the calculators won't work and the video won't upload. I'm a geek when it comes to computers but I did go in and add it to safe list.

I will admit that I didn't read all the newer posts. Read this awhile ago. When I saw your post, I thought of me. It has taken several months of eating "RIGHT" to have my body start responding and beginning to lose again. That's okay. I want this to be the last time I have to do this every again

I am in a giving mood this morning and I will share with you the present that started me on a path to better health. This site is FULL of people that are successful and are supportive. Join us. There is also a Fbook page by the same name and a group of MFP. helloitsdan is the creator of this site. He can help you. Take the gift!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 :flowerforyou:

Dave198lbs

the answer is simple-

have MFP NOT allow anything more than a one pound a week loss rate calculation

the 1200 calorie people here (the majority I bet) are following what MFP tells them to do and I bet they are all at the maximum weight loss calculation which outs them at a large deficit from the very start

people are basically lazy and do what they are told rather than think for themselves

MFP says 1200 calories, well then by god, even if I starve, that is what I will do.

Iron_Duchess

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SV17GT

I'm sure you have it right. The problem is that there is so much conflicting info out there. If you're a new guy you don't know where to go and who to believe. That said, I do about 14-1450 post workout most days. I've droped about 85 pounds and I'm pretty good with that. More strength training now just to kind of "move it around a little bit".

Dauntlessness

I haven't had time this morning to look at the video because I have lots of X-mas stuff to do but judging by these comments I can vouch that eating more makes you lose weight sometimes. I exercise 6 days a week burning about 700-1500 HRM calories a day. I was on a 1500 calorie diet and I didn't have any weight loss at all for like 6 months! I decided to try a 2k diet and boom! 3 pounds gone in 1 week! 10 lbs gone in 3. I am now down to my TDEE of 1718 and I exercise my calorie deficit. Its just easier to look at my diary the end of the week and see how much "in the green" I am. Most times I am eating around 2k though.

The way I look at things is never do things or cut out foods you cant live without. Unless you plan to not eat more then 1200 calories a day for the rest of your life and never having a piece of cake, again. DO NOT cut it out now. This experience is about learning to eat a balanced diet and maintaining it so that you can keep the weight off in the end.. If you haven't learned these tools more than likely you will end up right back where you were. For these reasons I think (with the exception of protein shakes) I think meal shakes, low carb diets, fad diets, pills and all that is never ever the way to lose weight. It always comes down to hard work and changing habits.

Donica1953

Here's the tragic part of this thread. Many people will read some of the posts, watch 1/2 the video, realize they might have a damaged RMR of some kind, and just immediately add 3 or 4 hundred calories to their diet expecting to suddenly start losing weight.

I just want to let you guys know, If that's your plan, you WILL gain weight that way (and mostly fat) It takes time for the body to adjust to higher calories. When I'm helping someone, I usually tell them between 50 to 100 calories increase every two weeks to three weeks. The larger the base calories the larger the jump can be.

I.E. for a woman starting with around 1100 calories (as a random example) you would probably want to add something like 50 calories, let that settle and let your body get used to it for two to three weeks, then move up another 50.

But if you're a person who's at say 1700 or 1800 now and wants to move up closer to the mid 2000's then I'd start close to 100 calories...

@Donica, if you immediately go from 1200 net to 1440, that might work, but I wouldn't be shocked to hear that you gain for a month or more before it does. I'd caution you to take it slow, give yourself a month at 1300 or so before you try to jump, to 1350 then another two weeks before you jump to 1400...etc.

Back to everyone. the MOST important part of this is to do your research, and tweak and observe. This is YOUR body, and it's not going to conform exactly to any model. If you really want this to work, you must be vigilant about keeping track of what you are doing, write down what you eat very closely, measure your food closely, and really try to keep track of your exercise, don't just make vague estimates, go get a heart rate monitor at the least and record your heart rate. They aren't perfect, but it'll give you a solid idea of what you are burning during exercise if you do.

And as always, feel free to PM me if anyone has questions.

Thanks for your input. I decided to move forward with more calories and don't stress the scale readings and start healing. I went from less than 1200 right up to my TDEE of 1440. My weight immediately jumped 2lbs. Took a deep breath and held on.
This morning, dropped the 2lbs and then some. I'm on my way! Thanks so much. I can't wait to start adding heavy lifting.

Donica1953

I haven't had time this morning to look at the video because I have lots of X-mas stuff to do but judging by these comments I can vouch that eating more makes you lose weight sometimes. I exercise 6 days a week burning about 700-1500 HRM calories a day. I was on a 1500 calorie diet and I didn't have any weight loss at all for like 6 months! I decided to try a 2k diet and boom! 3 pounds gone in 1 week! 10 lbs gone in 3. I am now down to my TDEE of 1718 and I exercise my calorie deficit. Its just easier to look at my diary the end of the week and see how much "in the green" I am. Most times I am eating around 2k though.

The way I look at things is never do things or cut out foods you cant live without. Unless you plan to not eat more then 1200 calories a day for the rest of your life and never having a piece of cake, again. DO NOT cut it out now. This experience is about learning to eat a balanced diet and maintaining it so that you can keep the weight off in the end.. If you haven't learned these tools more than likely you will end up right back where you were. For these reasons I think (with the exception of protein shakes) I think meal shakes, low carb diets, fad diets, pills and all that is never ever the way to lose weight. It always comes down to hard work and changing habits.

I so agree. I have finally wrapped my brain around and will adapt my eating around the foods I like and forget the "diet foods". The idea of using macros and eating good 80% and enjoy the 20% makes so much sense for a lifetime instead of a "2 week bull**** diet, loose 20 lbs." mentality. I'm done dieting!!!!!!!!!!

stever40

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LoosingMyLast15

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