Is this healthy?

t_rog

So for awhile, i've been following the weight loss progress of a girl I knew from high school who had a kid about a year ago. She's lost a crazy amount of weight (100+ lbs), and consistently loses between 2-4 lbs/week. I was very curious how she was having so much success so I asked her what her routine was.

She said: "I eat 1,100 calories and burn 1,200 at the gym, every day."

After 2 years of being on this site, my initial reaction was WOAH, that's not healthy. But...she has never hit a plateau and seems to be doing well. She also works with a friend/trainer (not sure if licensed) who has I guess recommended this.

What are your thoughts on this?

snowfox1

bump

SanteMulberry

So for awhile, i've been following the weight loss progress of a girl I knew from high school who had a kid about a year ago. She's lost a crazy amount of weight (100+ lbs), and consistently loses between 2-4 lbs/week. I was very curious how she was having so much success so I asked her what her routine was.

She said: "I eat 1,100 calories and burn 1,200 at the gym, every day."

After 2 years of being on this site, my initial reaction was WOAH, that's not healthy. But...she has never hit a plateau and seems to be doing well. She also works with a friend/trainer (not sure if licensed) who has I guess recommended this.

What are your thoughts on this?

Knowing how those kind of crash diets go, as soon as she stops her stringent dieting and exercise (and she will eventually have to) she will regain all the weight--maybe more. I was a yo-yo dieter for years until I learned how to properly nourish my body with the proper diet and exercise. Because crash diets tend to reduce lean body mass, the person becomes that much more vulnerable to weight gain when they stop the diet. That is why smallish deficits work better in the long run. She has an extreme deficit if she is really only eating 1100 and exercising 1200. Her body will eventually rebel, unfortunately.

kaitgettingfit

1,200 calories? What the hell does she do there?

Also, no not healthy. She's -100 calories per day. Shes not giving her body what it needs. She might look skinny but damn, she's probably so unhealthy.

Rowan813

She can't keep up that program forever. How long does she spend at the gym? I would need several hours a day to rack up that burn on my HRM, then I would collapse. I have a feeling that when she tries to moderate her eating/exercising it will be really difficult and the weight will start to come back. I would not recommend that program to anyone.

wikitbikit

My thoughts?

"Good luck." :flowerforyou:

mzjessicaxo

I burned 925 calories at the gym one night this week in 75 mins, it's definitely possible but I always eat that back, you don't want to burn more than you eat!! I ate 2200 that day

Cr01502

She's either not tracking her calories properly or not really burning 1200 calories at the gym.

Either way that trainer should find a new job.

No it's not healthy. She may be losing weight but alot of it is probably muscle mass and it's not something she'll be able to do long term.

cwolfman13

And that's all I have to say about that...hope your friend has good health insurance.

WendyTerry420

Maybe she is eating more than that and not tracking accurately. I can't imagine being one 100 net calories for too long.

now_or_never13

Definately not healthy.

The majority of her losses will of come from muscle mass and not fat. She is damaging her body doing this.

matt2442

If you have to ask of its healthy, it probably isn't

dakitten2

I think I see a hospital in her very near future!

UnoDrea3732

I would be starving!!! I don't really know if that is "healthy" but if it works for her for the moment then I say let it be. You know what's best for your body and I would definitely consult with a physician BEFORE trying what she is doing...

89nunu

If you have to ask of its healthy, it probably isn't

My exact thoughts!

holly1283

Folks she is 100 cal. in the hole. She's foolish and probably needs counseling.

frood

She said: "I eat 1,100 calories and burn 1,200 at the gym, every day."

Since you say she's working with a trainer, I can only assume that it's more complicated than this. This is saying she's eating less than zero calories. BMR much?

Boogage

This does not sound healthy or even possible! Maybe shes telling some porkies to make herself sound like shes succeeding in being extremely disciplined?

I also agree that shes probably lost a lot of lean body mass if she is crash dieting this way although I recently read about a study in which participants ate very little, close to starvation but by continuing to heavily weight train they did not lose muscle....interesting

mrsimes

It depends on how big she is and what she is doing at the gym. As an example, I am 280lbs. and, according to another site that I use, it says I burn 846 calories doing 60 minutes of Zumba. I then walk the treadmill for 30 minutes at a 2.5 speed, which burns about 160 calories. Sure this is no where close to 1200 a day but if she is big like me then she just might be burning that much.

nwg74

I lost my first 154 pounds in a year averaging 2.5 pounds per week. It went has high as 5 pounds 4 times in a week and I saw 4 pounds quite a few times. I never plateaued but I started at 373 pounds. I am a month short of two years now and lost 46 in my second year.