Started a diet again after a rude awakening.

Krimoral · April 2014

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

xsmilexforxmex · April 2014

http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/

Use the military body fat calculator then the Goal body weight tool. Healthy ranges are listed, I'd pick something on the high healthy side at least at first.

And I know you're not asking about it but if you're going to do a VLCD please do it under a doctors supervision. You don't have THAT much to lose and can do more harm than good, even if it is for a brief period of time. That's all I'll touch on it as I'm sure there will be plenty of others warning you how unhealthy it is.

_Zardoz_ · April 2014

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

My thought's well you'll suffer for a while you won't keep to it and then you'll put any weight you lose back on plus a bit, Sorry to sound harsh but that's what's going to happen. You really don't need to suffer to lose weight. You can either continue down the road you have decided or try and do something about your weight in a sensible and sustainable way. Your choice. If you want to be sensible use the tools MFP have provided set a sensible weekly goal eat your exercise calories back and you'll lose weight and be able to keep it off.

skinnyinnotime · April 2014

I think it's a terrible idea, what's the rush to lose so much in such a short time? You will be hungry and miserable. Start as you mean to go on, with a sensible deficit which leaves you satisfied.

GiveMeCoffee · April 2014

So you are saying you took years to put on weight now you want to lose it overnight while being miserable and making everyone that has to associate with you miserable because you'll be hungry.

Now you say you know about nutrition and everything so how about think about this logically (I know it's the internet and logic isn't a requirement) but try it anyway...
Find a REASONABLE calorie deficit, log your food accurately and honestly, don't make your family miserable. Don't cut out full food groups, it works try it.

Find an activity if you enjoyed running, work running back into your day. But do not make losing weight harder than it is by restricting yourself so much.

tmaryam · April 2014

I think you're setting yourself up for failure by cutting so many calories out. You will feel weak, fatigued, and starving. I hope you try a moderate deficit and increase your cardio. No need to deprive yourself of essential nutrients. Best of luck! :flowerforyou:

nxiety · April 2014

If you're insisting on doing this with such a substantial calorie deficit, I'd recommend consulting a doctor first.

Eating so little for 6 weeks will inevitably change how you think, and your energy levels will be depleted constantly. You may be setting yourself up for greater disappointment if you can't do it. I'll reiterate what others have said; start with more reasonable goals.

amantine1 · April 2014

Losing weight fast is easy enough but as others warned you, you will put it all back on + more if you just starve yourself.
There are however, ways to get lasting results faster. Everybody is different and you will have to try different things until you find what works for your body and lifestyle.

If you really want to lose weight fast I would recommend you try these things, one at a time.

- look into a ketogenic diet with most of your calories from fat. You will need to set your macros at 5-10% carbs, 20% protein, 70% fat. This will get you results fast but you have to stick with it when weightloss slows down. I recommend joining the keto group on here and getting more advice.
- alternatively, you could try fasting 2 days a week and eating moderately the other 5 days. It's called the 5:2 diet and again there is a group on mftp to help. There is an excellent bbc documentary about it on youtube.
- finally you could try a classic body builders cutting diet. This means 6 small high protein meals of around 200-300 cal, every 2.5 hours. I would ad apple cider vinegar to help you with hunger. Google meta-D or bombshell spell for recipes to make it more palatable. You will need to cut carbs after 3pm and make sure that you get .5g of protein for every lb of body weight. This diet works mostly for people who workout and include weight baring exercises or intense Pilates style workouts like the blogilates.com calendar.

If hope this helps and no matter what you do, please don't cut out your required daily proteins (0.5g of protein for every lb of body weight) or you will just lose muscle and slow down your metabolism and regain fat fast.
Message me if you need help.

chani8 · April 2014

You just joined a website where thousands of people have lost thousands of pounds by not starving themselves on an 800 calorie diet.

There is just no reason for this.

If you set your calorie goal at what even MFP suggests, you'll lose weight fast enough.

Instead of taking on a hard complicated diet, if you don't have diabetes issues, then check out No S Diet (nosdiet.com) and likely you'll find that to be the easiest diet in the world for you, especially if you also monitor your calories here on MFP and get moving with some exercise.

l_s_85 · April 2014

I agree, no need to cut calories that severely.

elliej · April 2014

By cutting your cals that low you will be burning through your lean body mass - muscles in particular - and you will slow your metabolism by a huge chunk. Wouldn't you rather steadily and healthily lose fat and retain/build muscle?

blossomnu · April 2014

If you follow a proper VLCD ketosis programme from a company that specialises in such things, you can lose a lot of weight, not feel hungry, and not put it all back on after as long as you follow a refeeding programme and change your eating habits. It's much easier to do it than going it alone, and you know you're getting the right nutritional balance.

corgicake · April 2014

If I ate that low I'd be passing out all over the place, and you've got nearly half a FOOT on me. Nooo. Eat more. If you're exercising, eat more yet. When I was biking 8-17 miles a day last summer (some days were even more than that), it was normal for me to down well over 1800+ calories a day and be mildly concerned by how fast the weight peeled off (it's hard to be that concerned when you're past the obese mark). Yes, it stayed off... the reason I'm here again is because I want to lose some more.

SezxyStef · April 2014

I think you are self punishing yourself for being overweight.

Stop it.

ETA: user deactivated.

ShariTho1 · April 2014

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

Timelordlady85 · April 2014

Hopefully the thread might still help another newbie thinking of restricting their calories that low.

ShariTho1 · April 2014

Whoops. sorry...didnt mean to hit post the first time. You know what....I say its a good plan. If it is what you want to do and you can stay motivated I say Rock On Girl! Everyone on this website thinks there experts. if I would have taken there advice I would still be 17 pounds heavier. I walk/jog alot but I have to eat low cal diet to lose. thats just the way it is. So I say you do what you think will work. Sounds to me like you know yourself pretty well. Good Luck!! :-)

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

[/quote]

FitMe758 · April 2014

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

If you consume 800 calories, your metabolism will slow down. And although you will lose weight at first, you will stop losing very very quickly. Plus, you won't have the energy to even go for a 20 minute walk once you decide to start working out.

Even if you lose 10 pounds on that amount of calories, that will be it. You *will* stall because your metabolism will be in starvation mode.

The best thing to do is to eat a well balanced diet, stay within your caloric range (that this site gives you) and do something to move. I am not saying you start Crossfit or a bootcamp today. Even if you just walk around the block, it will help. It will help you develop stamina and better habits.

IME, eating too little is a form of self-sabotage: you know it is not sustainable, you will feel like crap, and then fall off the wagon bc you feel miserable.

No, I am not wishing this on you, that's my experience and what I have seen happen to other people.

If you do decide to go that low with calories, only do it under medical supervision. I have seen it done with success (once) and that was under a very strict medical program that included injections and doctor's visits twice a week. Other than that, I don't think it is safe or sustainable.

FitMe758 · April 2014

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

If you consume 800 calories, your metabolism will slow down. And although you will lose weight at first, you will stop losing very very quickly. Plus, you won't have the energy to even go for a 20 minute walk once you decide to start working out.

Even if you lose 10 pounds on that amount of calories, that will be it. You *will* stall because your metabolism will be in starvation mode.

The best thing to do is to eat a well balanced diet, stay within your caloric range (that this site gives you) and do something to move. I am not saying you start Crossfit or a bootcamp today. Even if you just walk around the block, it will help. It will help you develop stamina and better habits.

IME, eating too little is a form of self-sabotage: you know it is not sustainable, you will feel like crap, and then fall off the wagon bc you feel miserable.

No, I am not wishing this on you, that's my experience and what I have seen happen to other people.

If you do decide to go that low with calories, only do it under medical supervision. I have seen it done with success (once) and that was under a very strict medical program that included injections and doctor's visits twice a week. Other than that, I don't think it is safe or sustainable.

Also, get a food scale and measure everything you eat. There are too many people that guess their portions and end up consuming more calories than they need (or think they consuming) because it is super hard to "eye ball" portions accurately.

ashleyjohnstonn1 · April 2014

That is WAAAAYYYY too low. You should never ever ever go below 1200 calories. Ever. Very bad for you. If you want to lose weight and sustain a healthy lifestyle this needs to be done in moderation.

Swap unhealthy options for healthier options, eat smaller portions of unhealthy things, and add in some fruit and veggies. Log every. single. thing. you put into your mouth onto mfp. I don't care what it is. Five tortilla chips? Log it. When you log everything you eat you get a better picture of your diet.

ShariTho1 · April 2014

I have been eating 800 cals a day for weeks and I walk/jog 3 to 4 miles a day. still losin and feelin good

(Now let me preface this by saying I was once upon a time very fit and know calculations and such for nutrition.)

So two days ago I stepped on a scale which I havnt done in over a year and a half. The last time I weighed myself I was 200 lbs and thought I was sort of heavy.

I have always been active and at least moderately fit and for a couple years I was eating close to 3500 calories a day just to maintain with my activity level.

Then I got married and let myself go without activity and kept the same diet. I am now 245.3 lbs with a BMI of 34.2

I decided to start a extremely limited caloric intake until my BMI is below 30 then increase to a moderate diet afterwards until I am back to at least close to where I was pre marriage.

I will be aiming for 800-1000 calories a day for the next 6 weeks after which I should be down a good 25-30 lbs bringing me to a BMI of 30ish after which I will up caloric intake to 1300-1400 and begin a moderate cardio regimen until I am back down to 165-75 lbs with a body fat percentage of less than 20%.

That being said, I know I know 800 calorie diets are the devil so on so forth but its only until I get past the obese BMI marker, then I can tailor the diet to my activity level... but I will be cramming so many empty calorie foods down my gullet throughout the day... Salads with vinegar and oil and some nice dried grated parm cheese to even it out, occasional nuts and berries for breakfast, and a fish dinner with half portions of course. The only issue is Im going to be going through A LOT of lettuce.

For numbers sake before I was married I had 16% body fat and weighed 165, at 5'11. I was running daily 2-5 miles and doing calisthenics for around an hour a day. Now I dont need to be that fit again, but I would like to be close to it. Im thinking 170-175 and healthy.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

If you consume 800 calories, your metabolism will slow down. And although you will lose weight at first, you will stop losing very very quickly. Plus, you won't have the energy to even go for a 20 minute walk once you decide to start working out.

Even if you lose 10 pounds on that amount of calories, that will be it. You *will* stall because your metabolism will be in starvation mode.

The best thing to do is to eat a well balanced diet, stay within your caloric range (that this site gives you) and do something to move. I am not saying you start Crossfit or a bootcamp today. Even if you just walk around the block, it will help. It will help you develop stamina and better habits.

IME, eating too little is a form of self-sabotage: you know it is not sustainable, you will feel like crap, and then fall off the wagon bc you feel miserable.

No, I am not wishing this on you, that's my experience and what I have seen happen to other people.

If you do decide to go that low with calories, only do it under medical supervision. I have seen it done with success (once) and that was under a very strict medical program that included injections and doctor's visits twice a week. Other than that, I don't think it is safe or sustainable.
[/quote]

Started a diet again after a rude awakening.

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