Is a fast diet unhealthy? 500 cals a day?

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blondielou1992
blondielou1992 Posts: 37 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Before everyone starts jumping to conclusions!

A magazine that came free with the newspaper a couple of weeks ago has suggested a so called "fast diet" whereby you eat around 500-600 calories every day for 10 days to lose weight which is the diet used by celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch and various others.

Is this safe for 10 days? If so what could you be expected to lose in this time?

I currently weigh 120 pounds but want to lose 5 more to be at my ideal goal! I am 5ft 3

Thanks!
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Replies

  • Mutant_Toad
    Mutant_Toad Posts: 17 Member
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    Before my pregnancy I did 500 calories for 2 days and then my 1900 for the other five days. I can't imagine doing it for ten days though. I tend to find busy work during ing my fasting days to keep me occupied.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    If you just have 5 pounds to lose then yes, this is not healthy or safe. more than likely you are just going to lose five pounds of water weight and then when you go back to eating regularly on day 11 you will gain said five pounds back. Do you really think that this is a sustainable plan to keep said five pounds off???

    Just keep eating in a calorie deficit and you will lose the last five pounds. Also, at 120 pounds why do you want to be 115?

  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    No. Just No.

    You are already at a low weight. Safe healthy weight loss is not done by starving yourself for 10 days.

    Benedict Cumberbatch is a muppet if he did this diet.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Ugh. No. Ask yourself these questions....

    Do you have a red carpet event to get ready for?

    Are you being paid millions of dollars to look a certain way for a part?

    Do you have a throng of personal attendants (chef, trainer, stylist) at your beck and call helping you achieve your goals?

    Or... Are you a normal person who wants to be the healthiest, fittest, and happiest she can be?

    If you answered yes to 1-3 I still wouldn't think that diet was healthy.

    If you answered no to those but yes to #4 then set your goal to lose a half pound per week, or conversely set it to maintain and focus on strength training you would probably like the changes in your body better than losing 5 lbs.

  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    OP you posted back in February that you had 5lbs to lose. It is now 3 months down the line and you are still looking for a quick fix for something that you could have solved by now if you had listened to the solid advice you were given at the time.

    SMH.
  • FoxyMars25
    FoxyMars25 Posts: 112 Member
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    The magazine called it the fast diet? The fast diet, otherwise known as 5:2 is when you just do TWO days a week of 500 cal and the other five days, you eat at maintenance. I have been doing a version of this (mixing it with intermittent fasting and calorie cycling) for about 5 weeks now and have lost 1 lb per week (total of 5 lbs so far). There is NO way I could do 500 calories 10 days in a row, especially since I work out 5-6 days a week. I would pass out!
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    No no way. This is unhealthy. And you'll gain back everything you lose once you return to normal eating anyway so what's the point of doing this? Don't pay any attention to fad diets, even if celebrities are doing them. Just because someone is famous, doesn't Mean they are smart. This is a dumb idea.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    aimeerace wrote: »
    No. Just No.

    You are already at a low weight. Safe healthy weight loss is not done by starving yourself for 10 days.

    ^^ this.

  • chadpoulin
    chadpoulin Posts: 9 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Dear god no. I dont think it is healthy to intentionally eat less than ~1200 calories a day.

    "The American College of Sports Medicine states that you shouldn't send signals to your body to conserve calories by detoxing or fasting. They recommend that women should eat at least 1,200 calories per day, and men should eat at least 1,800"

    Will you lose weight? Sure. Will it be healthy? Likely not.
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    If you just have 5 pounds to lose then yes, this is not healthy or safe. more than likely you are just going to lose five pounds of water weight and then when you go back to eating regularly on day 11 you will gain said five pounds back. Do you really think that this is a sustainable plan to keep said five pounds off???

    Just keep eating in a calorie deficit and you will lose the last five pounds. Also, at 120 pounds why do you want to be 115?

    I don't know about the OP but I'm 5ft 1. 115lbs is right in the middle of the healthy weight range for me.
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    Also OP. No it's not healthy. It's a crash diet. They're not good.
  • juleszephyr
    juleszephyr Posts: 442 Member
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    aimeerace wrote: »
    OP you posted back in February that you had 5lbs to lose. It is now 3 months down the line and you are still looking for a quick fix for something that you could have solved by now if you had listened to the solid advice you were given at the time.

    SMH.
    Yep if you had done half a pound a week then you would be maintaining at your goal weight now, healthy and happy. There are NO quick fixes, you have to commit and put in the work. Aim for 250 calorie a day deficit and by summer the 5 lbs will be gone. Also do some strength training and see your body firm and change shape...
  • jonsmithkidd
    jonsmithkidd Posts: 1,204 Member
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    Benedict Cumberbatch also ate 4,000 calories a day to gain muscle mass for his role in Star Trek. Then went down to the 5:2 to get ready for Sherlock again....now he is back on 4,000+ to play Doctor Strange. He eats according to how he has to change his body type in a short period of time for a specific role......

    OP, as I assume you don't have any similar pressure on you, take your time. You can lost the 5lb in 5 weeks, safely and sustainably and without hating yourself while you do it.

    Good luck :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Sounds like you have misread the article as this sounds very much like 5:2 The Fast Diet.
    Fast as in intermittent fasting, not fast as in speed, as it's actually a slow weight loss method.
    http://thefastdiet.co.uk/

    5 days eating normally (at maintenance levels in calorie counting terms) and 2 days a week restricting to 500/600 calories.

    There's a whole world of difference between intermittent fasting and starving yourself.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    blondielou1992 wrote: »
    Before everyone starts jumping to conclusions!

    A magazine that came free with the newspaper a couple of weeks ago has suggested a so called "fast diet" whereby you eat around 500-600 calories every day for 10 days to lose weight which is the diet used by celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch and various others.

    Is this safe for 10 days? If so what could you be expected to lose in this time?

    I currently weigh 120 pounds but want to lose 5 more to be at my ideal goal! I am 5ft 3

    Thanks!

    Stay away from any and all diets spouted by some magazines. Especially if they're claiming X and Y celebrity are doing it.
  • johnbatzer
    johnbatzer Posts: 17 Member
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    I'd argue that, for 10 days, there is minimal risk -- but the weight you lose with such a high calorie restriction, is likely to be ALL MUSCLE. So, if you do the "bounce" back when you return to normal eating, you're going to be in worse shape than you were before you started.

    Now, if those 500 calories are all pure protein AND you're strength training AND you don't end up passing out AND you don't go overboard on re-entry, maybe you'll have a net positive effect. But, well, I'm downright STRICT when it comes to diet & exercise, and I couldn't consider a 2000 calorie deficit for a single day, nevermind 10 in a row.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Given your weight, I would guess that you would lose somewhere between 1 and 2 lbs of fat over the 10 days, and possibly some muscle to go with it. A bad diet for ten days probably won't kill you. If it would, more people would die while on vacation. But why mess with it? Just eat at 1200 for ten weeks and you're done.
  • Jgasmic
    Jgasmic Posts: 219 Member
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    aimeerace wrote: »
    OP you posted back in February that you had 5lbs to lose. It is now 3 months down the line and you are still looking for a quick fix for something that you could have solved by now if you had listened to the solid advice you were given at the time.

    SMH.

    Wow. I wish they would all come back and update like that.

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    johnbatzer wrote: »
    I'd argue that, for 10 days, there is minimal risk -- but the weight you lose with such a high calorie restriction, is likely to be ALL MUSCLE. So, if you do the "bounce" back when you return to normal eating, you're going to be in worse shape than you were before you started.

    Now, if those 500 calories are all pure protein AND you're strength training AND you don't end up passing out AND you don't go overboard on re-entry, maybe you'll have a net positive effect. But, well, I'm downright STRICT when it comes to diet & exercise, and I couldn't consider a 2000 calorie deficit for a single day, nevermind 10 in a row.

    I reckon there would be a significant amount of water in that weight loss
    aimeerace wrote: »
    OP you posted back in February that you had 5lbs to lose. It is now 3 months down the line and you are still looking for a quick fix for something that you could have solved by now if you had listened to the solid advice you were given at the time.

    SMH.

    Uh-oh


  • NicoleS107
    NicoleS107 Posts: 8 Member
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    Blondie, I don't think it's unhealthy. I am currently doing the same thing. I can burn a few pounds and then maintain.

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