so my low cal diet won't work to lose 50 pounds?

ninerbuff

I weighed 251 2.5 weeks ago. I'm down to 236. I should be eating 1700 calories according to the 'in place of a road map' thread. I did all the calculators.
i've been eating about 900 calories a day. Its easy for me to do and i'm losing a lot of weight. i don't think i'm capable of eating 1700 calories. I can either eat a lot of calories (like 2600) or very little.

my plan is to stay on 900 a week until I stop losing weight and then start adding 100 calories a week back. I think ill plateau around 180 pounds and probably gain back like 10 pounds while my metabolism goes up when I add back calories

Well you didn't gain weight eating 1700 calories a day, so you're capable of doing it.

You can keep losing weight eating that much, but you'll be losing a good amount of lean muscle (and muscle DOES weigh more than fat by volume) so take that into consideration because losing it means a lower metabolic rate, less strength and a higher risk joint wear (since muscle helps to keep bones friction down).

Also you're more likely to stall or plateau much faster and for a longer period of time.

Less calories doesn't always mean better when it comes to healthy weight loss.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

JoanB5

It's hard to go from one eating system to another. You put a lot of emotional energy, time, playing, and fortitude into where you are...and now, you will need to make some slow adjustments to move foward without feeling like you are sabotaging former efforts.

The goal is several small "mini-meals" through the day, which you are already doing. So, let's shoot for an Egg McMuffin style sandwich for breakfast, lean, low fat, and not too heavy on the breads, or a bowl of oatmeal with an apple or a few almond slivers in it (1 T.) and a cup of coffee or skim milk.

Mid morning, a large apple and a cup of coffee, or a few peanuts (about a capful is close to an ounce, pre-measure nuts so you'll know how to "spot" a one ounce serving. About 100 cals.

Lunches are easy: a bowl of soup, veggie salad, a hummus wheat roll, turkey based sandwich on Healthy Life bread with some fruit, veggies, and salsa. All of these should get to about 250-300 calories.

Mid afternoon, you have several options depending on how big your supper is. If it's small, go larger on this. If it's going to be big and early or with family who is not dieting, you might save more calories for supper. So, a granola bar, a protein bar, a 100-200 calorie snack. If you are working out, perhaps more protein, if not, healthy carbs: carrot sticks, hummus or peanut butter in celery sticks.

Then, evening meal, shoot for 400 calories or so.

Bedtime, you may feel "snacky" again. A 100 calorie mini bag of popcorn, piece of fruit, piece of dark chocolate (often 70 calories), a protein smoothie (if you didn't have one earlier and worked out, these are often 250 calories or so, so I save them for workout days).

And start walking. !5 minutes a day...every day. Watch that grow from one mile to about two over the next two weeks. And progressively walk. Your body will build more muscle, which burns more fat, which allows you to enjoy eating without starving yourself. Soon, you'll be able to handle low impact aerobics tapes or Jilliam Michaels Biggest Loser...great places to start.

Once you feel safe at 1200 calories and see you are losing, and you feel great, you may feel safe to creep on up to where you need to be, and it will give your body time to adjust to these changes. Make about a 200 calorie change at a time, sit on it a while, behave in healthy ways, and keep adjusting.

I hope this helps.

lizlkbg

I could either save money by putting 10% of my paycheck into a savings account each week. Or I could save money by prostituting my body at a truck stop on weekends and then putting that money into a savings account.

I would probably have a bigger savings account faster with the second option, but does that make it the smart option?

No. Eat some damn food.

:flowerforyou:

ninerbuff

A couple friends used to weight about as much as me. They signed up with a medical weight loss clinic. One has lost 40 pounds in the last two months. She eats about 900 calories a day, she's still losing. The other has hit a plateau at about 180. They don't eat sugar or salt, all protein, carb and veg. I don't eat the same thing as them.

If I could quickly get down to 180 it would be easier to focus on the best way to lose for long term health.

Could I get information instead of just bashing?

They are at the wrong clinic then. Don't be a sheep. It's so ironic that some people will do all the right things to protect their family, kids, animals etc., but when it comes to weight loss, they'll take a chance even if it could mean a health consequence.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

quirkytizzy

I could either save money by putting 10% of my paycheck into a savings account each week. Or I could save money by prostituting my body at a truck stop on weekends and then putting that money into a savings account.

I would probably have a bigger savings account faster with the second option, but does that make it the smart option?

No. Eat some damn food.

I like you.

This is why I quit reading these posts. Everyone is an expert! If it works for you and you are not feeling sluggish & run down then it works. We are all grown ups on here and should try to support each other not boss each other around.

A person at my work always comments on what I am eating...too much salt, too many carbs. I've lost 16 lbs and she just exercises her mouth. Who is doing better??

And you - you really feel that it's not simple enough to say "Hi, I'm an adult who is eating less than a newborn?" an go "This is not a good idea. You're an adult, not a newborn."

You know, a tiny human being that had just passed through a woman's body mere months ago?

Do you REALLY think you need to be an expert to know that's bad? If you do, please - stop posting any and all advice on forums. Cease and desist. THIS moment. We do not need someone who is so ill advised in the human body that they won't say eating at starvation levels is a bad thing.

likitisplit

It's hard to go from one eating system to another. You put a lot of emotional energy, time, playing, and fortitude into where you are...and now, you will need to make some slow adjustments to move foward without feeling like you are sabotaging former efforts.

The goal is several small "mini-meals" through the day, which you are already doing. So, let's shoot for an Egg McMuffin style sandwich for breakfast, lean, low fat, and not too heavy on the breads, or a bowl of oatmeal with an apple or a few almond slivers in it (1 T.) and a cup of coffee or skim milk.

Mid morning, a large apple and a cup of coffee, or a few peanuts (about a capful is close to an ounce, pre-measure nuts so you'll know how to "spot" a one ounce serving. About 100 cals.

Lunches are easy: a bowl of soup, veggie salad, a hummus wheat roll, turkey based sandwich on Healthy Life bread with some fruit, veggies, and salsa. All of these should get to about 250-300 calories.

Mid afternoon, you have several options depending on how big your supper is. If it's small, go larger on this. If it's going to be big and early or with family who is not dieting, you might save more calories for supper. So, a granola bar, a protein bar, a 100-200 calorie snack. If you are working out, perhaps more protein, if not, healthy carbs: carrot sticks, hummus or peanut butter in celery sticks.

Then, evening meal, shoot for 400 calories or so.

Bedtime, you may feel "snacky" again. A 100 calorie mini bag of popcorn, piece of fruit, piece of dark chocolate (often 70 calories), a protein smoothie (if you didn't have one earlier and worked out, these are often 250 calories or so, so I save them for workout days).

And start walking. !5 minutes a day...every day. Watch that grow from one mile to about two over the next two weeks. And progressively walk. Your body will build more muscle, which burns more fat, which allows you to enjoy eating without starving yourself. Soon, you'll be able to handle low impact aerobics tapes or Jilliam Michaels Biggest Loser...great places to start.

Once you feel safe at 1200 calories and see you are losing, and you feel great, you may feel safe to creep on up to where you need to be, and it will give your body time to adjust to these changes. Make about a 200 calorie change at a time, sit on it a while, behave in healthy ways, and keep adjusting.

I hope this helps.

Great advice!

Watch the salads, though. I can easily put together a 700 calorie salad with sunflower seeds, cheese, dressing, croutons, etc + all the veggies.

dorothytd

I was very discouraged by a friend on my list. We both had the same amount of weight to lose - 100+ pounds. We started on the same day. I decided to go with the road map and she kept doing her less than 1200 cals a day. She lost about 3 pounds every week and every body was cheering her on. I was determined to lift heavy and eat healthy. I was jealous of her losing so fast.

Flash forward one year. I am down 74 pounds, I can deadlift 110 pounds & doing Stronglifts, I am running for 32 minutes straight, I am healthy. My hair is thick and shiny. I pay attention to my macros. My friend is about 10 pounds from her goal. She posted the other day that she has serious vitamin D deficiencies, has a lot of loose skin and her hair is falling out.

It may take me another year to lose all my weight, but I will do it. You can too. There are lots of ways to go about it. The key is whether you want to be healthy at the end or not.

Good luck in your decision. :flowerforyou:

Another vote for the advice of this awesome MFP who is celebrating her one year of awesome today. I recommend a friend request and to sit back and take notes!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

It helps that you're obese, but this decision will catch up with you.

staceypunk

Take a step back and try and listen to what you sound like. You can only eat 900 or 2500 calories? That is a bit ridiculous. You have to retrain yourself to eat at the 1700 or so. No one said it was gonna be easy.

Tanja_CHH

Yes you will mess up your metabolism which you seem to already know so not a big deal to you right?
But you will also seriously mess up your muscle mass, you will start to become weak, get fatique, headaches, depression, poor sleeping patterns, hair falling out, teeth getting weak and sensitive, nails breaking easily, skin looking dull and all this will probably impact your life in such a way that you will stress out and start eating crap again and gain all the weight back, only this time it will look even worse on you as you will not have as much muscle on your body, therefore your bodyfat percentage will be higher than ever before. Thats if you don't break down and binge after a few days

Crochetluvr

If I could quickly get down to 180 it would be easier to focus on the best way to lose for long term health.

I don't get the freaking RUSH to lose weight. I have lost 50 pounds... Took me 11 months. And I won't have to figure out how to keep it off when I reach my final goal. I think that makes more sense than rushing to lose and gaining it all back.

quirkytizzy

I was very discouraged by a friend on my list. We both had the same amount of weight to lose - 100+ pounds. We started on the same day. I decided to go with the road map and she kept doing her less than 1200 cals a day. She lost about 3 pounds every week and every body was cheering her on. I was determined to lift heavy and eat healthy. I was jealous of her losing so fast.

Flash forward one year. I am down 74 pounds, I can deadlift 110 pounds & doing Stronglifts, I am running for 32 minutes straight, I am healthy. My hair is thick and shiny. I pay attention to my macros. My friend is about 10 pounds from her goal. She posted the other day that she has serious vitamin D deficiencies, has a lot of loose skin and her hair is falling out.

It may take me another year to lose all my weight, but I will do it. You can too. There are lots of ways to go about it. The key is whether you want to be healthy at the end or not.

Good luck in your decision. :flowerforyou:

Another vote for the advice of this awesome MFP who is celebrating her one year of awesome today. I recommend a friend request and to sit back and take notes!

This is good advice.

Calliope610

A couple friends used to weight about as much as me. They signed up with a medical weight loss clinic. One has lost 40 pounds in the last two months. She eats about 900 calories a day, she's still losing. The other has hit a plateau at about 180. They don't eat sugar or salt, all protein, carb and veg. I don't eat the same thing as them.

If I could quickly get down to 180 it would be easier to focus on the best way to lose for long term health.

Could I get information instead of just bashing?

You read the information (IPOARM), you just choose to ignore it.

mperez57

Although most of everyones info is mixed. 900 kcals is two low. especially from someone who weighs 230. While eating so low isn't necessarily great for your metabolism, its not thats horrible either our bodies are very adaptable . The difference will be minuscule when compared to how your body uses the food. Without sufficient nutrients our bodies will break themselves down to get whatever you are not supplying ie amino acids (protein) from muscle, calcium from bone etc. Energy levels drop, we are hungrier more often and more likely to binge. Doesn't matter if you have 6 meals or 1 big one..what ever helps you best is the right frequency. 1200kcals is usually the minimum a woman should take in, which should be composed of a balanced diet. Any excess should be addressed by a proper exercise program which includes resistance training. The resistance will help strengthen bones and tone muscle, and raise resting metabolism. Losing to much weight too fast can thrown hormones out of whack along with leaving a lot of excess skin etc its all about balance not always just the end result. Keep up the good work but add a few more calories...a simple protein shake, with milk and banana can add an easy 350 calories 450 if you add a tbs of peanut butter.

likitisplit

Lots of information here...

1) yes, you will lose weight
2) you will lose more muscle and bone density than you would while eating more calories
3) a 900 calorie diet is unsustainable
4) sustainable diets typically have better, longer-term results
5) you will want to exercise at the same time

+ you have been given several suggestions for healthy, higher calorie meals and a few successful people that you might want to follow.

rekite2000

But every other part of your life will suffer because of your low calories along with damage to your body. Eat 1700- it will take practice which is the whole point! Learn how to take care of yourself. I eat a hell of a lot more than 1700 (average 2400, net 1650). Been doing this since December/ January- I am down 37 lbs (21lbs since stating MFP). I am full, happy, energetic, and have no issues keeping up with it. Learn to put your health first.

aepdx

Sounds like you have an eating disorder and should see a therapist. Please don’t post threads about eating under 1200 calories.

dakotababy

I dont understand how you came to being 251lbs without eating over 1700 calories day.

You can eat more, you just don't want to.

Annie83uk

i did that, i used to eat one meal a day, i would go to work with no breakfast, drink a bottle of coke in my lunch break or rice cakes with cheese, i would come home and have a plate of pasta with soup, or mushy peas and thats all i would eat all day. other days i might of had a packet of noodles for lunch, sometimes i had jacket potato cheese and beans, or tinned pasta meals. anyway if i was to work that out now i was probably only having bout 800 calories a day.i never exercised, the only exercise i did was going to work, i lost 3 stones in less then 3 months, i was always tired, i got very depressed and unstable, i then met my husband and started to eat proper meals i put on so much weight because my body wasn't used to that kind of food but i was happier. i put on 5 stone in 10 years and i'm paying for it now, i'm trying again but this time i am monitoring my food properly and exercising to tone my body, i have lost 16 pound in 6 weeks, i am the happiest i have ever been and i have so much energy. please don't go the same way i did i felt i was nearly on the verge of an eating disorder and it was scary, the reason i put on the weight was because i lost it too quick. one time during my diet i was so hungry i ate 10 fake mars bars and lost half a stone. please listen to your fellow mfp people and control your diet sensibly, the reccomended calorie intake will help you and teach you about nutrition along the way, also exercise will make you feel stronger willed. good luck on your weight loss, we all have your best interests at heart. sorry bout the essay lol :flowerforyou:

Awesome for you!!! Glad to hear you didn't get back to your old ways!

thankyou

cynthiaj777

Do not eat below 1200 net. It will hurt you only in the long run. You might be losing weight now, but it isn't sustainable, and you will gain the weight back....with probably even some added to it.

I am 5'3" and 125 lbs. I eat over 2,000 calories a day, and when I have intense work outs, I will go to 2300-2500.

YOU HAVE TO FEED YOUR BODY TO LOSE WEIGHT THE RIGHT WAY! :huh:

cynthiaj777

Yes you will mess up your metabolism which you seem to already know so not a big deal to you right?
But you will also seriously mess up your muscle mass, you will start to become weak, get fatique, headaches, depression, poor sleeping patterns, hair falling out, teeth getting weak and sensitive, nails breaking easily, skin looking dull and all this will probably impact your life in such a way that you will stress out and start eating crap again and gain all the weight back, only this time it will look even worse on you as you will not have as much muscle on your body, therefore your bodyfat percentage will be higher than ever before. Thats if you don't break down and binge after a few days

Right. And why would someone want to weigh 180 lbs with 50% body fat because they lost everything else instead of the fat.

A healthy weight with a healthy body fat percentage is the goal here. Not the number on a scale and how fast you can lose. You have to lose it healthy.

mas6233

There is a big difference between a low calorie diet plan and an EXTREMELY low calorie plan. 115 days ago I started using my fitness pal and have followed their suggested calorie counts and nutritional goals. Since that time I have lost 66lbs as of today. I do not excercise at all, but my activity level grows more everyday. I am 5'10" and my starting weight was 324lbs, obviously excercise was difficult for me. Hell, getting out of my recliner was difficult. I truly believe that if you follow the guidelines set by MFP, you will be successful, healthier, and happier than what a 900 calorie a day diet can provide. Good luck to you, just take it one day at a time. One thing that has helped my wife (38lbs lost) and I is only getting on the scale once a month. The scale is cruel and your body fluctuates so much from week to week, this may help you feel successful each month.

Diamond05

Also, why would you want to be 190, unless you are six feet tall?

Why not? If she feels good in her own skin at that weight, I don't see the problem. Not everybody wants to be stick thin...

Average body fat for women is between 25% and 31%. To maximize health, one should target the 25% range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage

The average American woman is 5' 4"
At that height, 190 is 32.68 - which is obese

At 5' 6", 190 is 30.73% - Minimum acceptable
At 6'1", 190 is 25% - Maximum health benefits from losing fat.

Those numbers are completely meaningless. You cannot determine body fat using height and weight alone.

You're actually computing BMI, not BF%. BF% and BMI are totally different things.

Exactly, it`s not a one chart fits all. Many factors come in and there is people that are heavier and still healthy.

gillianonelove

Gosh... I hope I'm like you cuz holy smokes, I can't eat all that. Are you working out, too?!
Gillian

watfordjc

A couple friends used to weight about as much as me. They signed up with a medical weight loss clinic. One has lost 40 pounds in the last two months. She eats about 900 calories a day, she's still losing. The other has hit a plateau at about 180. They don't eat sugar or salt, all protein, carb and veg. I don't eat the same thing as them.

If I could quickly get down to 180 it would be easier to focus on the best way to lose for long term health.

Could I get information instead of just bashing?

Assuming your friends are going to a real doctor and not a scam place, ask them if their latest tests have raised any concern about the functionality of their adrenals or thyroid. Ask them how much of their weight loss has been from fat. Do you have the necessary medical training to be able to detect the early signs of heart failure and do you know what you should be eating to lower those odds and would you be able to stick to that diet religiously knowing the risks if you don't?

I started (November 2012) at 276 lb and had trouble walking 0.5 miles, cutting my first planned walk down from ~3 miles to ~1.5 miles: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/247168957

In 25 weeks I have lost 64 pounds. At 212 pounds today I walked the ~18.5 miles from home to Hyde Park: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306280971

I burned 3,533 calories during that walk (inclusive of RMR calories) and consumed 2,671 calories before and during that walk. If I had been consuming 900 calories a day for the last 25 weeks I would probably be at least 50 weeks away from being able to do that walk. Why go down the route that gets you the "you look ill" comments instead of the "you are looking healthier" comments?

ETA: You also haven't mentioned whether your friends plan to be at their goal weight for a day, week, or month before regaining their weight (like almost everyone who loses weight does).

In 2008-10 I went from 237.5 lb down to 176 lb, gave up, and gained 100 lb. I should reach 176 lb again in ~19 weeks and should reach ~155 lb this time as (a) I ate and exercised sensibly last time so my weight loss/regain/loss isn't technically yo-yo dieting so it should have no effect on my weight loss this time, (b) I have adapted what I did last time using what I learnt so that I am likely to be 100% compliant throughout, and (c) I gained or maintained my muscle mass last time (wasn't tracking it properly, might have minimised losses but can't say for sure) and my BMR has increased since December (although my TDEE has decreased as I don't weigh as much). I liked eating clean and weight training last time, but hated my low compliance rate. I like fuelling my walks with some of the things I crave and eating (mostly) whatever I want and my high compliance rate and consistent weight loss. I'd hate wasting several months or a year eating food I hate and ending up in a worse position than I started at.

Josee76

I should be eating 1700 calories according to the 'in place of a road map' thread.

i've been eating about 900 calories a day.

my plan is to stay on 900

Really?

Think about this for a second.

You didn't get to 250 pounds because you're so darn smart about food. You don't become obese because you make good decisions about nutrition. Right?

So, you went and read a thread full of fantastic info and direction about weight loss because you're 250 pounds and want to lose weight. So what do you do? Throw all that advice and information out the window.

Really?

A little harsh, but sort of what I was thinking.

Not harsh... REALISTIC! I could not have said better myself!

NikiChicken

I wish folks would stop spouting off the same unsubstantiated nonsense about "starvation mode" and the human body "storing all of its fat" because it is losing it too fast. This board has to be the biggest exercise in group think on the entire Internet, which is saying a lot.

There are many problems associated with eating too little. You lack energy. You're more prone to binging. It's harder to maintain your weight loss once it's gone because you haven't developed sustainable habits. There are actual health-related risks to your body. Etc. These reasons should be sufficient to dissuade people without lying about how they will eventually stop losing weight on a low calorie diet.

They will lose weight. It will still be a combination of fat and muscle mass (the composition of those two depends upon a number of factors). They may hurt their bodies in the process, and it's probably neither necessary or healthy. But as I said, there are enough good, legitimate reasons to avoid a very low calorie diet that people should quit relying on unsubstantiated lies in these discussions.

Everything said above. there is no such thing as "Starvation Mode" - if there were, there wouldn't be anorexics! However, there are a lot of legitimate, fantastic reasons not to eat below 1200 calories! It's bad for you for so many reasons, but "starvation mode" is not one of them.

kethry70

FWIW, a friend went on a doctor supervised VLCD (she has diabetes and liver disease) and, over the course of a year, lost about a 100 lbs and got down to a almost-healthy weight. Looked terrific, could breathe, etc etc. And then she came under stress and started eating out and fell off the diet. I'm pretty sure she gained back almost all the weight in half the time it took her to lose it. She never learned how to eat healthy and for the long-term. It was NOT sustainable and she had not been educated how to eat and in portion control. All that work for nought

Please follow the road map. Or at least bump it up to 1200

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

In regards to your statement that you can only eat a very high or very low calorie diet-- you need to learn how to eat a reasonable number of calories. Otherwise how will you maintain your loss? Are you going to go back to eating 2600 when you get to your goal weight? I'm afraid that's exactly what you're setting yourself up to do. IMO you ought to be using the time period in which you are losing weight to learn the habits that will ensure you don't gain it all back as soon as you finish. Start learning and practicing those habits now and your body will thank you long-term.

DesireeLovesOrganic

Don't do it. I did this a long time ago. It will leave you with saggy skin FOREVER from the fast weight loss. 7 years later and working out 6x a week, I still can't fix the damage I did from fast weight loss. I wouldn't go under 1200. I'd eat 1500-1700 and work out 300-500 cal worth a day instead....