Yes, 3000 calorie diets work!

It's not funny the third time.

The assumption made here is that I intended to be funny.

Since this is general weightloss help, and we've already had two lower diet goal posts, I figured we needed a little bit of perspective.

One of the biggest "mistakes" people make when they start out is assuming that a goal that worked for someone else is going to work for them too. Rather than taking the time to figure things out, they look for articles talking about the lowest "safe" calorie intake and look for forum posts to support that.

The debate happens every day, but the majority of the time, posters are not speaking up for the fact that you can eat a lot and lose weight. Especially in response to exceptionally heavy people like myself. The general consensus seems to be, you've got a lot to lose, so you can cut a lot, and almost always posted by someone that has never had to structure a diet for a body over 250lbs.
The reality is, we're all of different sizes and nutritional needs, and the best and safest way to lose weight is the way tailored to YOU, and no one else.

It's not funny the third time.

The assumption made here is that I intended to be funny.

Since this is general weightloss help, and we've already had two lower diet goal posts, I figured we needed a little bit of perspective.

One of the biggest "mistakes" people make when they start out is assuming that a goal that worked for someone else is going to work for them too. Rather than taking the time to figure things out, they look for articles talking about the lowest "safe" calorie intake and look for forum posts to support that.

The debate happens every day, but the majority of the time, posters are not speaking up for the fact that you can eat a lot and lose weight. Especially in response to exceptionally heavy people like myself. The general consensus seems to be, you've got a lot to lose, so you can cut a lot, and almost always posted by someone that has never had to structure a diet for a body over 250lbs.
The reality is, we're all of different sizes and nutritional needs, and the best and safest way to lose weight is the way tailored to YOU, and no one else.

Have you ever seen 'my 600 lbs life'? I never understood why they force them onto a 1000 calorie a day diet when a 2500 or even 3500 would probably be enough to make the scale go down.

however, i suppose these people's health problems are serrious enough that they are basically at deaths door wether they realize it or not. So maybe its that important for them to lose weight as quickly as possible.

But, if a renouned doctor is prescribing a 1000 calorie a day diet for someone who probably needs 4000 cals or more to sustain thier current body weight... I think that goes a long way to prove that the notion that someone will somehow break thier metabolism buy eating too few calories is pretty much bull****. the starvation mode thing is complete bull

Agree that there is a 'diet' or calorie level that will ultimately be more sustainable for someone and therefore be 'better'... but it really has nothing to do with being safe or unsafe.

obviously if your doing this when you DON"T have a lot of fat too lose then its unhealthy, unsafe.

The thing you have to remember about that show is that, as far as I understand it, most of the people on there are undergoing bariatric surgery.

When you have your stomach stapled, the dietary expectations change. You are also placed on a boatload of supplements to supply for deficits you experience through the caloric restrictions. Most people who are not under bariatric care that adopt less than 1200 calorie diets are not under medical supervision, nor are they taking a customized supplemental regimen during the time that they are following such a drastic cut.

Typical bariatric care diets range from 1000-1400 calories a day, because the majority of people have a stomach reduction done... Whether it is a bypass, a sleeve, or either one combined with a duodenal switch. They are strictly monitored on this diet, and once they have lost a significant portion of the weight, they are slowly refed to a higher number of calories through a very strict eating protocol. These people are also signed on for supplements for the rest of their life. That is, if they stick to it. The diet has to be cut significantly for more than just weight loss purposes. Removing parts of the digestive tract in the way that is done during 3 of the 4 weight loss surgery types actually impacts the individual's ability to absorb calories, fats, and other nutrients, and eating an otherwise normal diet leads to the risk of bowel obstruction and death.

A large number of people that undergo these surgeries fail and regain at least some of the weight. Without the closely monitored guidance of a medical professional, the person is subject to possible systemic side effects. The supplement regimen and other medications that are used during the bariatric post-op period play a huge part in why the person's metabolism continues to work. There is also some relevance to the fact that because of the size of the stomach post-op, eating 8 meals a day keeps certain digestive activities going full time, which in turn lends itself to the fact that the metabolism doesn't have much "down time." These people, however, do indeed have significantly impacted metabolic rates post surgery, which is why they gain so quickly if they resume an otherwise normal calorie load for someone of their height and age. I suggest you do more research on the subject before concluding that it is somehow proof that metabolism isn't affected by 1000 calorie diets.

At my heaviest, I weighed close to 500 pounds. If I had had weight loss surgery, my expected diet goal was 1200 calories a day along with the large amount of supplements. Since I opted not to do surgery, and therefore did not have these impacts to my metabolism and digestive tract, my physicians (both the bariatric surgeon I spoke with and my general physician) stated that I should not drop my diet under 2000 calories. There are many things that start happening when you drop things too low and hold that pattern for too long, and that does include a type of preservation mode to the metabolism that is measurable and diagnosable through bloodwork. I've been down that road before, during the transitional period from anorexia to more normal eating patterns, and I can assure you that while it may not be common, VLCD in an individual who does not have an altered digestive tract can have severe impacts on their energy conversion and metabolic processes.