Is this healthy?

t_rog
t_rog Posts: 363 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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?

Replies

  • snowfox1
    snowfox1 Posts: 128 Member
    bump
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    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
    kaitgettingfit Posts: 84
    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
    Rowan813 Posts: 170 Member
    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
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
    My thoughts?

    "Good luck." :flowerforyou:
  • mzjessicaxo
    mzjessicaxo Posts: 330 Member
    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
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    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
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    sw7yu299707.gif

    And that's all I have to say about that...hope your friend has good health insurance.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    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
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    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
    matt2442 Posts: 1,259 Member
    If you have to ask of its healthy, it probably isn't
  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
    I think I see a hospital in her very near future!
  • UnoDrea3732
    UnoDrea3732 Posts: 342 Member
    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
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
    If you have to ask of its healthy, it probably isn't

    My exact thoughts!
  • holly1283
    holly1283 Posts: 741 Member
    Folks she is 100 cal. in the hole. She's foolish and probably needs counseling.
  • frood
    frood Posts: 295 Member
    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
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
    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
    mrsimes Posts: 8
    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
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
    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.

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