If you are on a low calorie diet, READ THIS!!!

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  • Janice2Shakira
    Janice2Shakira Posts: 257
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    Tagging for FL
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Thanks for reposting this OP. I'm glad it will have the chance to impact a broader audience.
  • _rozamu
    _rozamu Posts: 119 Member
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    Such a good reminder of why I'm here. Thank you!
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    When I was a teenager I could survive on as little as a bread roll a day and I wasn't hungry and I didn't feel like binging ever. It took me years to have a better relationship with food (I now actually enjoy eating and tasting the food)
    To the people who keep beating the 1200 calorie horse for short people: I am short and near my goal weight so even if i choose the lowest amount of weight to lose and I choose sedentary, MFP will give me 1200 cals. I know that the people arguing against those sort of cals DO NOT mean me, they mean taller people with more weight to lose who work out more. For the love of ***, stop feeling offended every time someone speaks out against 1200 calorie diets. Its not bad advice even if it is not applicable to you.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 503 Member
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    I think that the OP presented a very powerful and meaningful message. Starving one self is indeed frightening and dangerous. I believe what the OP shared was someone's experience with an eating disorder. Which isI a psychiatric condition that requires treatment.

    I would never dismiss the message or the messenger, but perspective is necessary and needed here.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I pulled this post from another thread (with the permission of the person who posted it). She didn't want to post it herself but didn't mind if I shared her story. So, here you go....
    I have an eating disorder. I have to go to the doctor twice a week to watch my blood pressure, that runs around 70/50 because if it gets lower than that, something could go wrong with my heart and I could die. My pulse is also extremely low. My oxygen saturation is low. My body temperature runs around 96 (where a normal body temp is 98.6). I have to regularly get blood test to check and make sure that there is no damage to my kidneys or liver and a slew of other things (There is an order for blood work sitting right beside me right now, the orders on it are TSH, CBC, CMP (chem 14), ESR (Sed Rate), A1C) because what I have done to my body. How did I get said eating disorder? Eating less than 1000 calories a day. Dropping weight quickly. Deciding since I was dropping weight so quickly I would drop down more and more and more. Now my teeth are falling out, my hair is coming out in handfuls, and there is something wrong with my kidneys.

    Also, trust and believe me when I say this; your body will get used to running on little to nothing. Just because you don't feel hungry does not mean that you're not doing damage to your body. If I want to, I can go days without food and feel fine. Have tons of energy, sleep well, and be in no pain. Because of that its a slippery slope. When I was at my lowest weight (73 pounds and I am 5'8") I was never hungry. Food had no appeal to me. I could sit there and be surrounded by delicious things that smelled and looked amazing to everyone else, and my attitude was basically "eh."

    PLEASE, PLEASE think about the long term ramifications of what you might be doing to your body if you are not fueling it properly.

    I think this is something everything should read. I was lurking in the original thread this was posted in and was hoping the original poster would re-post it. Kudos to you for getting permission to re-post it since she didn't want to. :drinker:
  • mahanaibu
    mahanaibu Posts: 505 Member
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    Eating disorders are horrible and insidious things. I feel terrible for the person who developed this problem, but the person also is not being honest with themselves about the cause of their disorder. Thousands, probably millions of people use 1,200-calorie diets (or thereabouts) without developing eating disorders. Far from it. The biggest problem, as we all know, is that they go back to old eating habits and don't exercise and eat at maintenance calories and thus regain the weight.

    Basically, this post, though sad, tells us nothing about low-calorie diets.
  • thesevolatiletimes
    thesevolatiletimes Posts: 59 Member
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    So, we don't need to become alarmed by low-calorie diets, but only by those that are in the presence of an eating disorder.

    I'm not sure I understand how you arrived at this conclusion. Personally, I think people *should* be alarmed by (or at least keenly aware of the potential ramifications of) low-calorie diets (depending, of course, on the definition of "low-calorie") regardless of whether or not there is an actual eating disorder.

    Our definitions of low calorie are seemingly a bit different, which may be why you're confused by my post. I don't define any sort of drastic and disordered nutritional/food habits as 'low-calorie diets', and I prefer to use the term 'restriction/restricting' to describe them. If anything, I am 150% agreeing with you, when it comes to advertising the dangers of restictive diets, and the proper ways to go about weight loss (within reason that is).

    By low calorie, I essentially meant a diet in which there was a healthy and reasonable calorie deficit. I realize the fact that people's experiences with food, exercise, calories, etc. are all very subjective. So, for somebody consuming 2,200 calories per day 1,800 calories may not be a big deal.....but for somebody consuming 4,000 calories per day, cutting their intake gradually down to 1,800 may feel like an incredible 'low calorie diet'. Do you see where I am coming from with this?

    If you do a bit of research, you can easily find that while the line is blurred per say....there are distinct differences between a "diet gone wrong" and an eating disorder. If you would like, I can explain this further, or link you to a page that can do so more comprehensively. :)
  • thesevolatiletimes
    thesevolatiletimes Posts: 59 Member
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    Remember that study that showed that people who ate low calore/huge deficit amounts, they began to show the same symptoms of eating disordered people?

    Also, the minimum is 1200 for women, and 1800 for men.

    inb4 WELL MY FRIEND EATS THIS MANY CALORIES & IS DOING FINE.

    Assuming you are referencing the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, It was NOT a low calorie/large caloric deficit diet. The men in this diet were quite literally STARVED under medical supervision, just as most anorectics do (minus the supervision, obviously). Those running the study wanted to conclude whether or not it was the physical conditions of starvation that 'cultivated' the Anoretic mindset, or whether the mindset was always the primary problem, with the nutritional deprivation, weight-loss, etc. being secondary results.

    *I was not capitalizing to come off as snippy or rude. I just wanted to emphasize my response, since it was only different from your opinions by a few mere words. Why the heck does MFP not have the option of bolding text yet?!
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    So, we don't need to become alarmed by low-calorie diets, but only by those that are in the presence of an eating disorder.

    I'm not sure I understand how you arrived at this conclusion. Personally, I think people *should* be alarmed by (or at least keenly aware of the potential ramifications of) low-calorie diets (depending, of course, on the definition of "low-calorie") regardless of whether or not there is an actual eating disorder.

    Our definitions of low calorie are seemingly a bit different, which may be why you're confused by my post. I don't define any sort of drastic and disordered nutritional/food habits as 'low-calorie diets', and I prefer to use the term 'restriction/restricting' to describe them. If anything, I am 150% agreeing with you, when it comes to advertising the dangers of restictive diets, and the proper ways to go about weight loss (within reason that is).

    By low calorie, I essentially meant a diet in which there was a healthy and reasonable calorie deficit. I realize the fact that people's experiences with food, exercise, calories, etc. are all very subjective. So, for somebody consuming 2,200 calories per day 1,800 calories may not be a big deal.....but for somebody consuming 4,000 calories per day, cutting their intake gradually down to 1,800 may feel like an incredible 'low calorie diet'. Do you see where I am coming from with this?

    If you do a bit of research, you can easily find that while the line is blurred per say....there are distinct differences between a "diet gone wrong" and an eating disorder. If you would like, I can explain this further, or link you to a page that can do so more comprehensively. :)

    I believe a "low calorie" diet, whether defined in absolute or relative terms, is a potential problem regardless of whether or not there is an eating disorder. The topic is "low calorie diets", not specifically eating disorders (or at least I think it is...honestly, it seems like it's been a while since I read the OP and it seems like the topic veered a little off course recently).

    I don't think I need you to explain any further because I don't believe the problem is in my understanding of what you are saying.

    :huh:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Agree... though generally if someone is restricting to 1000 calories it would set off alarm bells that there is an underlying psychological problem fueling such extreme restriction.

    What about people just having a lack of understanding or belief about the physiological impact of a diet that is too restrictive?
  • liftingheavy1
    liftingheavy1 Posts: 112
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    yes cause the problem we have in America is under eating :)
  • Rurouni_Kou
    Rurouni_Kou Posts: 180 Member
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    Remember that study that showed that people who ate low calore/huge deficit amounts, they began to show the same symptoms of eating disordered people?

    Also, the minimum is 1200 for women, and 1800 for men.

    inb4 WELL MY FRIEND EATS THIS MANY CALORIES & IS DOING FINE.


    *I was not capitalizing to come off as snippy or rude. I just wanted to emphasize my response, since it was only different from your opinions by a few mere words. Why the heck does MFP not have the option of bolding text yet?!

    Actually you can bold text on MFP. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/399087-how-can-i-bold-italicize-or-underline-text-in-the-forum
    (Wish there was an option to preview post first to make sure I've not borked the code though.)
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
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    I pulled this post from another thread (with the permission of the person who posted it). She didn't want to post it herself but didn't mind if I shared her story.

    So sad... very brave of her to share her story publicly. I wish this lady all the very best for her recovery.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    yes cause the problem we have in America is under eating :)

    At the country level? No doubt your point is valid.

    On MFP? Yes, I honestly believe that too much of a deficit is the primary problem that ultimately leads to people giving up entirely.
  • thesevolatiletimes
    thesevolatiletimes Posts: 59 Member
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    So, we don't need to become alarmed by low-calorie diets, but only by those that are in the presence of an eating disorder.

    I'm not sure I understand how you arrived at this conclusion. Personally, I think people *should* be alarmed by (or at least keenly aware of the potential ramifications of) low-calorie diets (depending, of course, on the definition of "low-calorie") regardless of whether or not there is an actual eating disorder.

    Our definitions of low calorie are seemingly a bit different, which may be why you're confused by my post. I don't define any sort of drastic and disordered nutritional/food habits as 'low-calorie diets', and I prefer to use the term 'restriction/restricting' to describe them. If anything, I am 150% agreeing with you, when it comes to advertising the dangers of restictive diets, and the proper ways to go about weight loss (within reason that is).

    By low calorie, I essentially meant a diet in which there was a healthy and reasonable calorie deficit. I realize the fact that people's experiences with food, exercise, calories, etc. are all very subjective. So, for somebody consuming 2,200 calories per day 1,800 calories may not be a big deal.....but for somebody consuming 4,000 calories per day, cutting their intake gradually down to 1,800 may feel like an incredible 'low calorie diet'. Do you see where I am coming from with this?

    If you do a bit of research, you can easily find that while the line is blurred per say....there are distinct differences between a "diet gone wrong" and an eating disorder. If you would like, I can explain this further, or link you to a page that can do so more comprehensively. :)

    I believe a "low calorie" diet, whether defined in absolute or relative terms, is a potential problem regardless of whether or not there is an eating disorder. The topic is "low calorie diets", not specifically eating disorders (or at least I think it is...honestly, it seems like it's been a while since I read the OP and it seems like the topic veered a little off course recently).

    I don't think I need you to explain any further because I don't believe the problem is in my understanding of what you are saying.

    :huh:

    I agree completely with you: I think all attempts at weight loss do hold the potential to be problematic. I never said that they didn't contain the potential to be problematic. I think that people can have problems in all types of diets, since the problems are never the actual food, and more so one's relationship with food. (:

    Then what do you believe it is? A disagreement of opinion/theory then? If you have a different theory, I'd love to read some research from an organization like the NIMH, or something of the sort. I try to keep an open mind to all paradigms of psychology, and all theories of origin.
  • thesevolatiletimes
    thesevolatiletimes Posts: 59 Member
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    Remember that study that showed that people who ate low calore/huge deficit amounts, they began to show the same symptoms of eating disordered people?

    Also, the minimum is 1200 for women, and 1800 for men.

    inb4 WELL MY FRIEND EATS THIS MANY CALORIES & IS DOING FINE.


    *I was not capitalizing to come off as snippy or rude. I just wanted to emphasize my response, since it was only different from your opinions by a few mere words. Why the heck does MFP not have the option of bolding text yet?!

    Actually you can bold text on MFP. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/399087-how-can-i-bold-italicize-or-underline-text-in-the-forum
    (Wish there was an option to preview post first to make sure I've not borked the code though.)

    D: I did not know this: thank you!! :)
  • igotabulletproofheart
    igotabulletproofheart Posts: 104 Member
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    This isn't going to apply to every person on here, only those who are severely underweight which is, dare I assume it, a minority on mfp.

    EDIT: Just thought I'd mention a very important point I made on another thread just now, when I saw this thread was linked.
    being on a severe calorie deficit will cause a thousand symptoms but in most cases it won't be as serious as this girl's because her weight was at an almost unrealistic point for most mfp users. People here are looking to get to a goal weight of ~110 to ~180ish lbs, not 73lbs so a VCLD won't hurt most of us too much as long as we know when to get off it. Remember that she is 5'8 and was a mere 73lb or 5st 2lb or 33kg. Most of us don't have to worry about getting to the point she was at.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
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    Hugs and prayers to your friend

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