My Starvation Diet

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.

I think the 1st thing you need is a doctor. They will help you start eating properly

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.

This statement is DEAD WRONG....anything is technically fat. Your body can convert and store most anything you eat outside of most greens and corn into fat. So carbs are not technically fat.....all things can technically be fat.

As a newbie, I would like to thank you for your input..... I have learnt soooooo much on here in a week!!!!

Okay, from personal experience the starvation diet works, but you loose muscle as well as fat, i know this because i starved myself for 2 months last year and i wound up in hospital with severe anorexia, plus my major depression that lead me to the anorexia...

long story short, i was 42kg, im 6" tall so i was all skin and bones, i didnt even have the strength in my legs to swing them out of the car on arrival to hospital, i had to pick up each leg with my arms...seriously...

because of the lack of nutrients my body was slowly shutting down, if you think what im about to tell you is made up thats cool, but i'll be honest because i dont want people to end up where i was, its not fun...

Ok, so heres the truth about what my starvation diet lead me to...believe it

My body was shutting down, first my kidneys stopped working, then my liver, i was rushed to hospital for fear of liver failure (even tho i hated going, my psychiatrist had an ambulance pick me up the first time i got put in)

My liver was terribly inflamed, a normal liver test should read about 25-50 of whatever scale they used, mine was 925 and in danger of failing, i developed a blood clotting problem due to the lack of iron and basically because i was SO malnurished my body was eating the protein in my red blood cells to survive, this stopped my ability to clot blood, so i wasnt able to undergo any operations

after 4 weeks in hosp with no answers they decided to take a biopsy of my liver, i had to spend the previous day on blood clotting agents so i wouldnt bleed to death internally, they took the sample, no explanation, i developed an illness called D.I.C which stands for 'Disseminated intravascular coagulation" (wiki it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disseminated_intravascular_coagulation) which is a potentally fatal desease, since the liver biopsy showed them no answers (and when i say them, i mean my liver specialist and all his crew, both national and international, because nothing like my case had ever been seen before, so i became a bit of an interest amongst specialists...which sucked)

anyway they decided to take a bone marrow sample as well, which isnt pleasant at all by the way, which also gave them no clues...

in december i was told by a nurse they predicted i had 3 or 4 days to live, my heart rate was 39 bpm, and my whole body just wasnt working anymore...i asked to be discharged for christmas because after now 6 weeks in hosp, i was sick of it and wanted to be home with my family if they werent finding anything new out...so i went home, mind u i wasnt able to climb the stairs...

then out of nowhere, i started eating small bits of different foods and for some unknown reason (even to the medical profession) i started getting better, they have no idea why, and my gastro oncologist still asks my psych about me because im what he called a medical 'marvel'

basically, eat! dont starve yourself, or you WILL die, i was just lucky i got out of it when i did

feel free to message me if you want any support or information that i can help you with

dave

Good carbs=energy. Protein and fat not so much. Protein is a source to help maintain and strengthen muscles, tendons, lingaments, bones, etc.

What you are talking about is an Atkins type diet and you will AlWAYS bounce back from that type of diet. The body needs carbs for fuel so starving your body of carbs will reach a point where your body will start scavenging muscle for fuel once it can no longer use fat as a resource. Plus it's easier for the human body to break down muscle versus fat as one is a two step process versus a one step process.

That's why under most any diet you will lose muscle but under a proper diet the muscle loss will be much less.