My Starvation Diet

I think most people are scared to touch this topic...but I am going to take a shot at it...

EAT NORMALLY!!! You WILL lose weight and it will likely stay off this way. You need to eat right AND exercise. It sounds like you need to tone your body now that you have lost weight (and muscle) as you have not exercised. I am NO expert but this how people become anorexic, I think. You are now worried too eat normal because you will gain it all back, you think. In my opinion, when you do start to eat within the guidlines that mfp gives you...you will gain a little back BUT you will lose it if you exercise and eat right. And you will feel and look better...also your profile shows that you are past your goal weight...BE CAREFUL whatever you do:flowerforyou:

I eat 1800-2500 cals a day and I exercise and I have lost just over 30lbs in the past 12 weeks just as you did, but the difference, I am still losing weight, its not slowing down because I am not starving my body.

You need to just eat right and exercise and do it right

Hello! Im going to start by saying that I started myself on a VLCD back when I was in Middle school. I actually would not eat lunch at school..I really only ate dinner, It never ever crossed my mind that I would become anorexic, but thats exactly what happened. I went from a VLCD to not eating at all, and drinking chocolate milk so that I would not feel hungry!

I am telling you this becuase it was a long, hard battle that nobody should have to go through, and it sticks with you for the rest of your life, even if you recover without losing your life or damaging your heart..the thoughts will stay with you forever, I struggle with this on a daily basis.

Another reason I am telling you this is because after recovering, I put weight back on..even with just eating a small amount, my body started to store everything I ate to make me healthy again, I got back to a normal weight..and then I went from being under weight to over weight, had my first child at 18 and put on 70 lbs, developed thryroid problems among other things! I went from being anorexic and shopping for pants in the little girls department to putting on so much weight after 3 kids that I am now trying to lose a great deal of weight. And its not an easy thing to do when all you want to do is starve yourself! But I know first hand that if you restrict yourself to that extreme...YOU WILL GAIN IT BACK, PLUS SOME! And you also risk developing heart issues because of fluctuations in weight! You would have to stay on a VLCD in order to keep the weight off because as soon as you eat more then you will gain weight, and you cannot live a healthy,full life on that few calories!

Start eating normally..you may gain a couple lbs back, but you will lose it again fairly quickly and keep it off. I have noticed with my weight loss that if I stay between the 1200-1600(Different depending on your body) calorie mark that the weight comes off easily,but if i skip meals it doesnt come off or I gain! I was surprised by this..but it works. Good luck to you!

headstones, you really need to read stormiweathers post and then re read it.......to me, its probably one of the best replies you will recieve for your posting

im afraid youre going to end up like Oprah did, and yeah, we all know how many diets shes been on, but the one where she fit back into her Calvin Klein jeans....

Oprah only drank her calories, I dont know what the diet drink was, but she did say this

"When I got finished with the show (the one where she walked on stage with her Calvin Klien jeans on, dragging about 100 lbs of fat in a Hefty Bag, ) that she went home and
"ate for 2 weeks, non stop, and began gaining back the weight that I lost on the shake diet"

Also, I think the man who mentioned you need some professional help, ie, the Dieticain who can review your diet is correct

Trust me, I talked to my Dr and he said rapid weight loss can cause NUMEROUS MEDICAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH PROBLEMS, such as liver failure and you can damage your gall bladder, esp if you have some calcium deposits in it as you diet

I will repeat, Im not weight loss expert, but I did my research online and talked to the medical professionals, and the only way to lose the weight "PERMANENTLY" is eating healthy, exercise , and do this is a timely manner and to be patient, really, patience is important in weight loss.....

Ive been on every diet that you can name, and the only one that works is the one that I am following thru this website, .......and it doesnt cost anything.....

I hope you get the help you need, because I think youre going to ultimately fail, and thats a bad thing to happen........

Good luck, I hope I dont sound too harsh or opinionated, I am just trying to help you in the way that worked for me...........Lloyd

At this point, you need to start undoing the effects of what you have been doing to your body. That involves gradually increasing calorie intake and adding cardio and resistance training to your routine. Chances are, things are going to fluctuate for a while and that will bring in some emotional issues, as you have described.

My opinion is that you should not do this alone. At the very least, it would be worthwhile to find a registered dietitian who has experience with cases like yours and developed a positive strategy for moving forward.

I completely agree with this. A nutritionist/dietitian/possibly a counselor is your best bet right now. Talk to someone who knows what they are talking about. I am positive you should be eating more calories than you are, and when you start eating more you might gain weight TEMPORARILY. However, that will even out, and as you exercise and eat healthy foods, you will lose weight.

Eating raw veggies, whole grains, and low-fat meat is NOT going to make you fat. Go ahead and eat!

OK. Here's your first problem: You're bony in some areas, but still flabby in others. This is because fat is burned evenly all over your body when you burn it, but it isn't laid down evenly when you make it. That's determined by genetics, and there's nothing you can do about it. All you really can do is put muscle back on the places where you are bony, and keep trying to loose the fat where you have it. Then hopefully the end result will be everything at least looking in proportion.

Which leads to you're second problem: You're not working out enough. You need to be doing cardio and weight training. I'm assuming you probably don't want to bulk up, but unless everyone in your family puts on muscle super quick, it won't be a problem. And even if you do build muscle quick, running a whole lot will help your body build lean muscle rather than bulk muscle. But you do need the proper nutrition to build either.

And that's your third problem: Most VLCDs only focus on calories and not nutrition. Unless you are eating tons and tons of fruits and veggies, you're probably not getting the nutrition you need to be healthy at the end of your weight loss.

You probably are at a plateau, but that doesn't mean permanence. Start working out and increase your calories to 1200 if you can (gradually). If that's not something your willing to do just yet, you can still increase the volume of food you eat, without increasing calories. Since most fruits veggies are low in calories, if you fill up on them, you'll get more nutrition for the calories you're taking in. Also, more volume fools your body. Because you are eating (hopefully a lot!) you're body knows its not starving, and begins to function more efficiently to get everything good out of those veggies.

You aren't losing at 700 calories, and chances are, you're not going to lose at 1200. What you simply MUST do is fuel your body at maintenance for a while until your hormones get straightened out. Once your body becomes accustomed to being fed, you can drop calories again and lose some weight. If you do it very slowly, you won't gain much (if any) weight. It takes TIME to do this...so be patient.

I think you should talk to a nutritionsit and go see your dr, because eating so low calories can do some harm to your body.
Exercise helps tone you up and loose weight safely, I think you should add back in the calories slowly, and eat 5 to 6 times a day, small meals.

Like Baffled said, 1200 is NOT a normal diet. My maintenance is over 2000 per day and I'm a fairly sedentary, middle aged woman who needs to lose 30 pounds. I am currently at 1500 plus exercise and losing. You can calculate what your maintenance is on this site or else where:

Here is a good one:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Having been on a VLCD for the last 5 weeks myself, I am happy to jump in. And I'm going to be blunt, but only because you need some FACTS instead of your own emotions running over you like a freight train.

(1) The VLCD is only for morbidly obese or obese people. It is NOT for overweight or healthy-weight people. A BMI of 20 is healthy. An "overweight" BMI goes up to 29.9. The VLCD is WAY off the table, not even available for consideration for you. This is because your body does NOT have the reserves to burn off, no matter what you think you see in the mirror.

(2) If you think you still need to lose weight when you have a BMI of 20, you need a psychologist, not a dietitian. Furthermore if you think you still need to lose weight when you have a BMI of 20 without any muscle mass on that body, you need a psychologist, not a dietitian. The weight problem is NOT with your body. You are a beautiful and perfect weight and shape. The problem is in your HEAD, as you are inaccurately perceiving your body. I'm sorry, but honey, this is the God's honest truth. You do not need to lose another ounce.

I was looking over tips for maintenance, where they say to bump up your calories about 50-100 calories every week or so. Would this be a good idea?

YES. How many times have you been told this in this thread now? Are you not seeing it, or just choosing not to acknowledge it because it involves eating more? Add 50-100 calories of HIGH-NUTRITION FOOD per day. That means high-quality fruits & veggies like broccoli, sprouts, yellow & red sweet peppers, blueberries.

...but include exercise to shift into my new goal weight and then move onto maintenance?

(a) Throw "goal weight" out the window. YOU ARE AT YOUR GOAL WEIGHT -- probably under it. Your new measuring stick is how your clothes fit. And I suspect they fit like crap because you don't have normal womanly curves (created by muscle and fat -- both of which are healthy) to fill them out. Your next goal is to make your clothes fit right.

To do that,

(b) you MUST exercise. Of that, at least 50% must be strength training. That means lifting weights. No more than 50% aerobic/cardio. The strength training will kick-start any weight loss that your body can stand to do. I know this because I am on the same diet, the same # of calories, and sat at a plateau for 2 weeks. I weight lifted ONE NIGHT and dropped 3# over the next 3 days, and the weight loss has continued since then. Muscle burns more calories than fat, just sitting there living on your bones. The more muscle you put on your frame, the more calories you will burn. So build muscle. Yes, BUILD. Muscles are HOTTTT, honey. I’m not talking about weight-lifter kind of muscles… just a nice solid frame filled out with healthy muscle. Bones are icky.

IMPORTANT:: Increase your salt and potassium intake. Take AT LEAST 400mg potassium and liberally salt all of your food. Because you are in such deep starvation mode, you are not getting these essential electrolytes from your foods, and they are required to keep your heart beating. Without them, YOUR HEART COULD STOP. So please go to the store and buy a bottle of potassium. Take at least 2 in the morning and 2 at night. Also, drink AT LEAST 80 oz. water/day to keep things flushing through your body.

Then I could also just start eating normal diet calories of 1200?

You eat as many calories as required so you are not hungry and you maintain a HEALTHY shape. "Healthy shape" includes solid muscles tip-to-toe on your frame, AND FAT. Fat is healthy. Your body NEEDS it.

But I am terrified of what this will do.

If you are terrified about anything having to do with your weight, you need a psychologist. Which I believe I mentioned above.

I don't want to gain weight, I still have weight to lose. I am so confused!

There is nothing to be confused about. You do NOT need to lose any more weight. Now is the time to GAIN muscle mass, which yes, is going to make you gain pounds. But they are not "fat pounds" so they don't count. You must now make yourself strong. You have hurt yourself terribly by starving yourself to this state of incredible weakness, using a diet plan that has never been and never will be suggested for someone of your tiny size.

To avoid ballooning in "fat pounds," yes, you will need to exercise some of the control that you have developed over the past few months. You are adept at counting calories, so you should have no problem measuring about 900 cal/day for a couple of weeks, then 1000 cal/day for a couple of weeks, etc. etc.

If, as you are exercising more, you find yourself ravenous (I would expect this to happen) eat more lean protein (meat), dairy and fresh veggies. This is eating above the 900 or 1000 cal/day. Your body needs the extra nutrition to build healthy muscle mass. You are NOT adding fat by eating more in this case. If your body screams for food after you start working out, FEED IT -- good whole, lean foods. There's no need to gorge. Normal portion sizes are just fine. And keep them down -- do NOT vomit them up!!!

There is nothing you will gain that you cannot lose through HEALTHY eating, exercising and toning. A healthy lifestyle creates a beautiful body all on its own.


What you need most right now is a professional who deals in eating disorders. I don't know how you got yourself into this pickle, by self-prescribing a VLCD for an already too-small frame, but you have no business being on it. You are at VERY high risk for organ damage, heart damage, cardiac arrest, and a miserable life of yo-yo dieting. PLEASE GET SOME HELP. You are in way over your head here.

No more scales. No more mirrors. Measure yourself by how your clothes fit and how strong you are. If you are in a size 6-12 and you look good in a bikini because of all the MUSCLES on your body, then you are at perfect condition. If you are anything but that, then you need to eat better (MORE good-quality food), exercise, and get more rest. It really is that simple.


Sorry, I know I was harsh. I hate seeing someone lure themselves into self-hurt when there is no reason for it. I'm on a VLCD for very specific VALID reasons, and will be switching to "normal" exercise-focused weight loss very soon because my BMI is getting too low to safely stay on the VLCD. Unlike you, I do have plenty of fat to burn yet but I know how painful and awful bone fractures and organ failure are. I am taking supplements up the wazoo, drinking lots of water and am being very careful about how my body feels on this diet. I haven’t just unilaterally starved myself and hoped for magic. That’s a good way to die.

Switching to an exercise-based weight loss regime is slower than the VLCD is at first. But the VLCD doesn't work long term. It only works as a short-term bang and FOR CLINICALLY OBESE PEOPLE ONLY. After that short-term pop, you must switch to an exercise/healthy food based weight loss system, and you will still lose just as much weight than if you had done the exercise/healthy food system from the start.

The next stage is slower but is just as effective as the VLCD at the 6+ month mark. So I figure if Mr. Right can't see past his shwanz for 10# that I refused to lose in an unhealthy way, then he isn't Mr. Right!!!!!!! If he's Mr. Right, he's gonna love that I took the initiative to lose all the weight I did (48# total so far, 29# to go) and have been busting my butt to get in good physical condition (got a ways to go there, LOL).


K


I am not a health care professional, dietitian, or doctor. I just have common sense and a big mouth. PLEASE TALK TO A DOCTOR BEFORE IMPLEMENTING ANY ADVICE I MAY SUGGEST!!!

please listen to the advice u are being given. u sound exactly like a friend of mine who ended up anorexic and what followed was NOT pretty!!! u need to heed this advice before its too late. You are worth it!

I'm so glad you posted for advice here because the advice you have been given is fantastic. I yo-yo dieted with VLCD's for years and ended up larger than ever. In that time I had my gall bladder removed - at 27 years old and it contained 50 gall stones - some of which were bigger than a british 10 pence piece. I also had an incredibly fatty liver - that of an alcoholic even though I didn't drink and had early stage NASH ( which of course with sensible diet and weightloss can be reversed .

I finally took the plunge recently and have started to lose weight in what I thought was the hard way but have learnt in just one week is the easy and far more enjoyable/rewarding way - a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

I just want to wish you luck on this journey and implore you to continue with the healthy diet and exercise - you will get fit, lose weight where you need to and feel fantastic for it too.

We're all here for you xxx

I'm so glad you posted for advice here because the advice you have been given is fantastic. I yo-yo dieted with VLCD's for years and ended up larger than ever. In that time I had my gall bladder removed - at 27 years old and it contained 50 gall stones - some of which were bigger than a british 10 pence piece. I also had an incredibly fatty liver - that of an alcoholic even though I didn't drink and had early stage NASH ( which of course with sensible diet and weightloss can be reversed .

I finally took the plunge recently and have started to lose weight in what I thought was the hard way but have learnt in just one week is the easy and far more enjoyable/rewarding way - a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

I just want to wish you luck on this journey and implore you to continue with the healthy diet and exercise - you will get fit, lose weight where you need to and feel fantastic for it too.

We're all here for you xxx

What's NASH???

Okay, what I'll tell you is going to go against the grain here. First, calories are not important. Eat as many as you want to. Calories don't make you fat. As any informed diabetic will tell you, it's the carbs that make you fat. The ideal diet for a diabetic, and that carries over to non-diabetics, is to eat a high fat, high protein, low carb diet. It's not unusual for a diabetic to eat eggs and bacon or sausage for breakfast, and wash it down with a glass of heavy cream. The more fat and protein, the better.(it keeps your blood glucose levels stable). For dinner, have a juicy steak and a salad. Use the regular high fat dressing, don't go for the low fat or fat free dressings, they are loaded with carbs.

As a diabetic, I need to avoid all the "white" foods.....no rice, no pasta, no potatoes, no bread, no flour products of any type, including breaded food like fried chicken. Avoid most fruits, especially bananas and watermelon as they are laced with carbs. Ideally, eating less than 50 carbs a day is what we shoot for. Keep in mind that the more carbs you eat, the more carbs you'll want. When you buy food, read the labels. You'll be surprised at how many carbs it has. Heck, a hot dog has about 5 carbs....if you add the bun, it comes to 30 carbs. A hamburger has no carbs, but add the bun and it comes to 25 carbs. Instead of the bun, wrap it in a large piece of lettuce.

If you stick to a low carb diet and don't worry about the calories, you will lose weight and never be hungry. This low fat, low calorie stuff never works for anybody in the long run.

Excess carbs are what's driving the obesity epidemic in this country, and the sooner we realize it and change our diets, the better off we will be.