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

I believe this effect is correct, but the problem is, what do you do? For one thing, finding the right calories for a given person whose body is out of balance is nearly impossible. We are left with crude calculators that are just as likely to steer us wrong as right. I'm struggling now myself to find the magic conditions that allow weiight loss without doing further damage. It's a poke in the dark, and it gets very frustrating when you spend weeks or months poking around and seeing no results. It often takes weeks to see the effects of subtle changes. I have yet to find a way of determining my BMR that is accurate.

I believe this effect is correct, but the problem is, what do you do? For one thing, finding the right calories for a given person whose body is out of balance is nearly impossible. We are left with crude calculators that are just as likely to steer us wrong as right. I'm struggling now myself to find the magic conditions that allow weiight loss without doing further damage. It's a poke in the dark, and it gets very frustrating when you spend weeks or months poking around and seeing no results. It often takes weeks to see the effects of subtle changes. I have yet to find a way of determining my BMR that is accurate.

he actually goes over how to correct the issue, it's not a popular way to fix your metabolism, it takes a long time, and requires slowly eating more calories until you hit what you should be at. once you can maintain at or around what should be your real TDEE, then you can once again begin reducing calories. I've recommended people do this before, it's actually not much different from how you should add calories when approaching your final weight if you were losing, I.E. gradually reduce your deficit until you reach your maintenance calories. Gradual is different for everyone, for some you can add 100 cals every two weeks, others need to be slower and maybe 100 per month, depends on your individual body and really the only way to know is through trial and error.

For example, a woman who has a TDEE of say around 2200 calories, but is currently Netting say around 1000 calories (1200 and 200 extra exercise calories) would probably need to do about 100 calories added every 2 to 3 weeks with frequent checks to see if it's working (or if they need to pause the increase for an extra week or two). So it would take between 10 and 15 weeks to reach maintenance. Then they would probably need to stay there for another month or 6 weeks to let their body adjust and become used to the new calories, then they could again think about lowering calories to again start losing weight. But this time they should take into account how much fat they have, how active they are, and how much they are looking to lose before deciding on a deficit.

Exactly: trial and error. Mostly error. What you are saying is correct, no argument. My point is that people reject it because they can't find a clear path through it. Drastic drops in calories will get results that people can see in most cases, even if it is not a good longterm strategy. There is another thread here where a woman had her BMR measured as part of a doctor supervised plan, and she measured 200 to 300 below what most of the calculators say. Since the BMR is the basis for the TDEE, you see the problem that most people face who are not under a doctors care. I guess my lament is that there isn't a better, more definite, approach that would get people on track faster. If there were, there would be less resistance to it (I think).

Ok.

Thanks for Sharing the Video

watch this blog, I implore you. it's everything I've been preaching for the last 5 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk

So I am one of those ppl that eat 1200 cals per day and wanted to say THANK YOU so much for sharing this video.

To all of the ppl saying it's bogus and it's not the same bc they aren't body builders blah blah blah you're terribly wrong! Those "body builders" stick to these diets so of course they are a better reference than to use someone who does a diet for a month and gives up(normal dieters). I have been dieting all my life, I've tried them all, along with every exercise routine that's out there!
Last year I was sustaining my weight of 165lbs (overweight for my height 5'6") by eating only 500 cals per day. I worked out 4 times a week and lost at the most 5 lbs over a 3 month period! Since then I have slowly built up to 1200 cals per day (today is my first day on the 1300)and I currently weigh 162lbs. When I first began the extreme low cal diets I would be able to drop weight quickly and reach my goals (135lbs) and sustain it for a few months. Even if I kept at the low cal intake I would slowly start to gain weight back. I had messed my metabolism up so badly that in order for me to even attempt losing weight I had to starve myself, which btw I was so used to not eating that I could go a day without eating and my stomach would not even growl!
So to all the ppl who say that their body requires you to only eat that low amount and function perfectly bc everyone is different, umm duh that is kinda his point- you have damaged your metabolism so badly that it has adjusted to this! I know personally though that when I was still in denial of this that no matter what anyone told me I wouldn't listen. It will take most ppl to have their own wake up call in order to realize what is really going on. I figured mine out and now I am slowly but surely trying to fix it and get back to eating like a normal person, and I must say having more food is awesome lol.