A male friend is eating 600 cals a day.

I would direct him here:

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/FatsAndOils/Fats101/My-Fats-Translator_UCM_428869_Article.jsp

The American Heart Association does not recommend a person eat fewer than 1200 calories per day unless they are an invalid restricted to bed or wheel chair.

Not only will it slow his metabolism and will cause his body to go into starvation mode (his body will start hording calories); it will also destroy his organs. He is only looking at the short term "gains" that are not sustainable. He is technically heading down the path to anorexia. Anorexia can be not eating enough calories not just eating nothing; I do know this; I had anorexia as a teenager fortunately for me my parents were very attuned to what was going on before it went too far. Don't let him continue down this path without help.

Stay out of it.

Agreed he is going to learn the hard way unfortunately......

Yeah but as a good friend you should at least express concern and not stand by silently while they harm themselves. If he still refuses to change anything after the talk then there is nothing you can do but at least try to have a discussion with him. Good luck

If he were a girl and wasn't already very overweight, I bet people wouldn't be telling you to "stay out of it." If he's been only eating that much for quite a while now, he could feasibly drop dead any second from heart problems, liver problems and more. It's anorexia if he's been doing this for a prolonged time, whether people believe someone who weighs 300 pounds could be anorexic. And anorexia is a disease that no one gets help for without help from others. I'm not exactly sure what you can do yet since he's an adult, but I don't think your concern is unwarranted or you being a busybody. And it's sad to me that people think so.

He's been doing that since January apparently.

Then he's in trouble.

Whilst a very short term VLCD made up of mostly protein can be done with minimum harm if supplemented as well, doing so for many months at a time is a very, very bad idea.

You do need to say something. Tell him to read this study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7223697

If that doesn't scare him into stopping nothing will.

Hopefully he has been under reporting his intake (which is very common) and so is actually eating more than he things he is (fingers crossed.)

So he says he has been doing 600 calories since January.

No way. If he had been doing that for 8 months he would have lost a lot more weight and been one very tired and pissed off boy.

I have a feeling your x-boyfriend has been telling you a few fibs.

Starting tomorrow . if a male weighing 300 pounds 6 foot 2, age 34 who was moderately active ate 2863 calories per day they could expect to lose 70 by March 7, 2013.

That's eight months. Your x states he has been doing this since January. Hmmmmm.. That is also about eight months.

Sounds like something is a foot.

If he's unwilling to accept anyone's help, or look on mfp, or talk to a doctor, there isn't much you can do.
I would have told them they are on the wrong path, that he needs to be patient, but if he won't listen, I wouldn't say anything more than once.

this.

he's an adult. all you can do is express concern but beyond that what are you going to do, kidnap the guy and force a feeding tube into his stomach?

600 cals isnt sustainable for a long period of time so odds are he will come to his senses on his own. plus at 300 pounds it's not like he's going to shrink away to skin and bones within weeks.

I used to weigh over 300lbs. I get where he is coming from. Developing an eating disorder whether not eating or binge eating is easy to do. I can say this, provide him with healthy information, but from experience....he will not listen bc his being thin is what is impt to him right now. When obese, you will do anything to be thin....it is a dangerous feeling and desperation to have. Just be supportive and if you see him get in a dangerous area..contact his fammily or really sit him down with some good hard facts about health and that we need calories to fuel his body. I would recommend him some multi vitamins and calcium

I wouldn't ignore it, but I also wouldn't start giving him unsolicited advice, because that can get people's backs up, and make them more likely to stick stubbornly to what they're doing.

I'd simply ask him questions, to learn more - that shows you're not making assumptions and you want to understand better. I'd ask why he's chosen the number 600, and how he's managing to sustain it without getting exhausted, and how long he hopes to sustain it. And how he's getting all his nutrients. There are some people (called CRONies - Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition) who do live sustainably off 600 calories a day, as the BBC Horizon documentary discussed, and it makes them healthier in many ways, and their bodies are younger - but they need a very strict regime of very specific food in order to get all their nutrients, and also it has some negative side effects like physical coldness, constant hunger and possible sexual impotence. You could maybe somehow bring this into the conversation - asking if this is the type of diet he is working towards, and whether he's worried about the negative aspects.

I'd maybe ask him whether he's also doing strength training, and how he's going to feed his muscles. I'd share with him how my own weight loss journey is going, and the number of calories that is working for me, and what I struggle with and what is going well. Just have a conversation about it, where you find out more, and ask questions that get him thinking a bit. He's far more likely to change if he's thought of it himself than if you've told him - so you have to subtly ask things that will enable him to challenge his assumptions and come to his own conclusions and decisions.

Probably the best you can do is be an example darlin. If he sees you eating more and still losing maybe he will get the "bug". Some never do though. At the same time, if he asks, be honest, imo. It is hard all the way around seeing loved ones hurting themselves. Ever hear that saying "Id rather see a sermon than hear one"? Kinda the same deal, "show" him how to do it right rather than trying to tell him.

denise:drinker: :drinker:

I'm very worried. A friend of mine, also my ex-boyfriend, who started losing weight in the beggining of january, recently told me he eats around 600, at most 700 cals a day. He is 6'2 and weighs over 300 lbs.
I don't want him to feel like I am unsuportive of him. He has lost over 70 lbs and obviously I'm happy for him, but I don't know how to tell him that that's absolutely unsustainable.

We started this together, and he's doing much better than me (well, i only need to lose 20 lbs) so I don't want him to feel like I'm just envious or trying to slow him down, you know?