500 calories??

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karitomcm
karitomcm Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Yesterday I was talking with a friend and I was telling about how I change my eating habits and I am exercising now ( according to myfitnesspal I should consume 1200 calories a day to lose weight) She told me she lose 20 lbs and expect to lose 20 lb more to reach her goal with a diet a DOCTOR told her but she only can eat 500 calories a days, don't seem to healthy to me but she was looking a little upset when I told her that, what you guys think about that 500 calories diet???
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  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I think her doctor needs his/her license revoked
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    If she is being medically supervised, then they are the qualified ones. Its called a very low calorie diet the key is she is being monitored. What do the guys here know about a medically supervised low calorie diet? Pray tell.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
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    500 calories for someone 40 lbs overweight is not an appropriate VLCD, with our without medical supervision.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    edited May 2015
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    999tigger wrote: »
    If she is being medically supervised, then they are the qualified ones. Its called a very low calorie diet the key is she is being monitored. What do the guys here know about a medically supervised low calorie diet? Pray tell.

    Normally I'd agree...but 500 a day for any sort of significant length of time is well beyond most medically supervised vlcds....especially with only 40 lbs to lose
  • grandma107
    grandma107 Posts: 70 Member
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    Many posts on this forum indicate minimum caloric intake for woman is 1200 and 1500 for men. That being said, we aren't doctors nor do we know her medical background, albeit 500 calories does seem dangerously low. Blessings
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
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    Maybe it was cutting 500 cals from her daily intake huh? ;)
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    sheldonklein wrote: »
    500 calories for someone 40 lbs overweight is not an appropriate VLCD, with our without medical supervision.

    It doesnt say she had 40lb to lose, what her starting weight or other details are either. I would take what the OP says with a pinch of salt tbh. Im not the Dr and you dont have all the information.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    I would think that would be between your friend and her doctor.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    There is a such thing is a 500 calorie diet that a doctor will supervise for a patient - the keyword being supervise, with regular tests and monitoring. Generally a diet like that is prescribed when the risk to the patient's health from being overweight is greater than the risk to their health from being on such a very low calorie diet.

    A very low calorie diet has serious health ramifications, and I would be surprised that a doctor would recommend something like that for someone with only 40 lbs to lose. It is really not healthy, which is why it is generally only used in situations like the one mentioned above.
  • karitomcm
    karitomcm Posts: 8 Member
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    bfanny wrote: »
    Maybe it was cutting 500 cals from her daily intake huh? ;)

    No, I ask her that because she said my diet was really good with 1200 calories intake and hers was so hard because she can only consume 500 calories a day, that's why I got concerned
  • xesixb
    xesixb Posts: 165 Member
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    500 calories is really low. She should take it at a slower pace. She should slowly start increasing her calories. She could become anorexic if she continues this way.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    Sorry, but there has to be more to this story. I had a friend who was put on an 800 calorie a day diet by a registered dietician who was allegedly also a doctor (of what, I do not know). BUT, said friend was "allowed" to eat as many vegetables a day as she wanted. She probably ate 400 calories a day in carrots. That's not how I'd like to use up 400 calories, but this friend had tried calorie counting before and it overwhelmed her. This way was "easier," she said. She lost weight and has since kept it off. And she's healthy.
  • mch2829
    mch2829 Posts: 70 Member
    edited May 2015
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    500 calories is not dangerous if you're medically supervised. The reason people say don't go below 800 or 1200 or 1500 calories isn't because you need a certain number of calories while losing weight. It's because it's easier to get enough nutrients in that amount of food.

    If the doctor is supervising, making sure she's not deficient in any nutrients, providing supplements, and making sure she's not doing any strenuous activities, then a 500 calorie diet isn't that big of a deal.

    Her biggest issue is going to be keeping the weight off because she didn't learn to eat properly.
  • roselover58
    roselover58 Posts: 96 Member
    edited May 2015
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    it could be the Hcg injections - the doctor does them. While on the injections, you eat 500 to 1000 calories a day (depends on several factors); the Hcg causes the body to burn about 2,500 to 3,000 calories. You can be on it for no more than 40 days, and then the following 21 days, you continue to not eat starch and sugar, but your caloric intake is back to 1,500 to 1,800 calories.

    ...and I not a doctor (MD), but I am a nutritionist.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    karitomcm wrote: »
    bfanny wrote: »
    Maybe it was cutting 500 cals from her daily intake huh? ;)

    No, I ask her that because she said my diet was really good with 1200 calories intake and hers was so hard because she can only consume 500 calories a day, that's why I got concerned

    Have you talked to her Dr? Do you know the full details of her diet and any medical condition?
    Has she boiced her concerns to the Dr? How overweight is she? Whats her height and weight?
  • victoire713
    victoire713 Posts: 720 Member
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    This sounds very unhealthy. The doctor should have had her taken it slower and not had her only consume 500 calories per day. Then again, that said without all the details, who am I to judge anyways? This is just my take on it from my side of things.
  • karitomcm
    karitomcm Posts: 8 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    Your "friend"?

    Yes, my friend why???
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    karitomcm wrote: »
    bfanny wrote: »
    Maybe it was cutting 500 cals from her daily intake huh? ;)

    No, I ask her that because she said my diet was really good with 1200 calories intake and hers was so hard because she can only consume 500 calories a day, that's why I got concerned

    Well, yeah, I think limiting oneself to 500 calories a day would be very hard, but there may be some reason why the doctor thinks it is necessary. Perhaps she should get a second opinion from another doctor. Comments on MFP don't count as a second opinion.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,566 Member
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    roselover58 wrote: »
    it could be the Hcg injections - the doctor does them. While on the injections, you eat 500 to 1000 calories a day (depends on several factors); the Hcg causes the body to burn about 2,500 to 3,000 calories. You can be on it for no more than 40 days, and then the following 21 days, you continue to not eat starch and sugar, but your caloric intake is back to 1,500 to 1,800 calories.

    ...and I not a doctor (MD), but I am a nutritionist.
    Your knowledge of nutrition is severely lacking if you were taught or believe HCG burns 2,5000-3,000 calories.
    Please post a PEER REVIEWED CLINICAL STUDY that supports this. I for one would love to see this.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

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