Is this a good idea?
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Chrysalid2014 wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »No, this sounds like a bad plan. Not only do you set yourself up for a sort of eat/punish cycle, which is not healthy, but you're also setting yourself up for a host of side effects. Lean muscle loss, brittle bones, vitamin deficiencies, hair loss, brittle nails, bad skin, etc.
Why? It's perfectly possible to meet one's nutritional requirements on 1200 calories if nutrient dense foods are chosen and no calories are wasted on alcohol or other junk.
There's no guarantee about how much weight will be lost in any individual case, of course, but I think you're drastically exaggerating the possible side-effects, particularly as the OP is talking about doing this for just three months.
I agree with you about the eat/punish cycle, if that's indeed what OP meant, but I've seen plenty of people posting on these forums saying their main motivation for exercise is to give them extra calories to eat.
She gave the answer to your questions above (see bold). Eating 1000 calorie is not sustainable at all.0 -
To be in my healthy weight for my height I could lose 50 pounds. I'm just trying to lose the 30 that I gained my freshman year of college. I gained 30 pounds in one year so I'm pretty sure I could lose 30 pounds and it not have any harsh effect on my body. I'm 5'6 and 180 pounds. I'm pretty sedentary most of the time.
Good luck. Just eat at a deficit and try not be cute about it. The game is simple.0 -
LegendOfErin wrote: »SherryTeach wrote: »Well, okay. but if you lost 90 pounds and gained it all back, maybe you should question your own advice. We are trying to recommend sustainable weight loss here.
I never gave advice. I simply stated an opinion about 10 lbs per month. Gaining it all back is because I stopped tracking my calories daily and got back into my old habits. I guess you do want my life story.
Telling her she can lose 10 pounds a month is untrue and unsustainable. No one wants your life story, but gaining back 90 pounds after weight loss does not suggest that you learned enough from your experience to weigh in on someone else's.
Again, OP, I am your height and it took me almost 5 months to lose 30 pounds. I rarely eat under 1400-1500 calories. It can be done, but you need a little patience.0 -
pollypocket1021 wrote: »It's a great idea.
If you're an actual Hobbit. If not no. Not a good idea in the slightest.
What self respecting hobbit would do this???
I am half hobbit, and therefore I have coffee, breakfast, brunch, elevensies, lunch, tea, snack, dinner, supper, and dessert.
Hobbits know how to eat.
you.. I like0 -
Look we all did this kind of stupid *kitten* when we knew less
and hence the joy of yo-yo .. getting fatter and fatter over the years .. struggling to lose the second time and the third and the fourth
Now you could learn from those who have the experience and knowledge with scientific backing and actual long-term experience of achieving a decent maintenance at their goal weight range or you can learn from your own failed attempts over the next years / decades / lifetime
but whatever you do .. it's absolutely your decision .. and it's your life0 -
pollypocket1021 wrote: »It's a great idea.
If you're an actual Hobbit. If not no. Not a good idea in the slightest.
What self respecting hobbit would do this???
I am half hobbit, and therefore I have coffee, breakfast, brunch, elevensies, lunch, tea, snack, dinner, supper, and dessert.
Hobbits know how to eat.
Snigger. Poooootatoes. Boil em mash em put em in a stew!0 -
LegendOfErin wrote: »brianpperkins wrote: »LegendOfErin wrote: »Why would someone flag my post? I don't understand. I lost 90 lbs and consecutively lost 10 lbs a month. There was nothing wrong with my post.
Yet your ticker says 12 pounds lost of 100 planned. Ten pounds per month is far too aggressive for the OP with the amount she has to lose. Losing that much for her would require losing muscle mass.
So people can't lose weight in the past? I lost 90 lbs in the past, went from 220 lbs to 130 lbs.
So you did things in an unsustainable manner and gained back but still tell people that ten pounds per month is a viable option?0 -
brianpperkins wrote: »
So you did things in an unsustainable manner and gained back but still tell people that ten pounds per month is a viable option?
Losing weight slowly doesn't guarantee you'll keep it off either. We already know most people will gain back all the weight they lose.
The OP's question is about weight loss, not maintenance.
I really don't understand all the objections to the proposed 1200 calorie diet with no exercise. Plenty of people on MFP are doing 1200.0 -
Chrysalid2014 wrote: »brianpperkins wrote: »
So you did things in an unsustainable manner and gained back but still tell people that ten pounds per month is a viable option?
Losing weight slowly doesn't guarantee you'll keep it off either. We already know most people will gain back all the weight they lose.
The OP's question is about weight loss, not maintenance.
I really don't understand all the objections to the proposed 1200 calorie diet with no exercise. Plenty of people on MFP are doing 1200.
Please go read the OP's initial post. She isn't proposing 1200 with no exercise. She is proposing under 1200 then punishing herself with one hour of exercise if she exceeds 1200 coupled with a far too aggressive loss rate for the amount she has to lose. She is exercising five days per week ... according to her thread started on the 16th.
My question to you is why are you trying to defend her unhealthy plan when it requires ignoring her own statements to do so?0 -
To be in my healthy weight for my height I could lose 50 pounds. I'm just trying to lose the 30 that I gained my freshman year of college. I gained 30 pounds in one year so I'm pretty sure I could lose 30 pounds and it not have any harsh effect on my body. I'm 5'6 and 180 pounds. I'm pretty sedentary most of the time.
No one as of yet has told you why it's a bad idea, so let me tell you. I put your stats in to a TDEE calculator. Your TDEE is how many calories you burn a day. Your results is you roughly burn 2080 calories. You want to eat max 1,200 calories. This is already pretty aggressive, you should be eating around 1,500 calories. If you are too agressive, you will suffer from metabolic issues, your metabolic rate will slow down greatly, you will suffer from hormonal problems, you will be tired, and lose LBM(Lean body mass, most refer to this as muscle) which will slow down your metabolic rate even further. Okay, this should be incentive enough to not eat that low.
But on top of that, you want to burn 1000 calories MORE on days you go over. Lets say you go over 300 calories putting you at 1,500 calories. If you go out and burn 1000 calories, this is 1500 calories you eat - 1000 calories you burned = 500 calories for your body. This multiplies the issues above. SO yes, it's a pretty bad idea.
Pu, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you posted this.
This is why it's a bad idea to lose weight too quickly.
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brianpperkins wrote: »LegendOfErin wrote: »brianpperkins wrote: »LegendOfErin wrote: »Why would someone flag my post? I don't understand. I lost 90 lbs and consecutively lost 10 lbs a month. There was nothing wrong with my post.
Yet your ticker says 12 pounds lost of 100 planned. Ten pounds per month is far too aggressive for the OP with the amount she has to lose. Losing that much for her would require losing muscle mass.
So people can't lose weight in the past? I lost 90 lbs in the past, went from 220 lbs to 130 lbs.
So you did things in an unsustainable manner and gained back but still tell people that ten pounds per month is a viable option?
People are so argumentative on MyFitnessPal anymore.0 -
LegendOfErin wrote: »brianpperkins wrote: »LegendOfErin wrote: »brianpperkins wrote: »LegendOfErin wrote: »Why would someone flag my post? I don't understand. I lost 90 lbs and consecutively lost 10 lbs a month. There was nothing wrong with my post.
Yet your ticker says 12 pounds lost of 100 planned. Ten pounds per month is far too aggressive for the OP with the amount she has to lose. Losing that much for her would require losing muscle mass.
So people can't lose weight in the past? I lost 90 lbs in the past, went from 220 lbs to 130 lbs.
So you did things in an unsustainable manner and gained back but still tell people that ten pounds per month is a viable option?
People are so argumentative on MyFitnessPal anymore.
Only when people are told things that don't make sense for them such as you saying ten pounds per month is ok for the OP. She simply does not have the amount to lose that supports that rapid of a loss in a healthy manner.0 -
pollypocket1021 wrote: »It's a great idea.
If you're an actual Hobbit. If not no. Not a good idea in the slightest.
What self respecting hobbit would do this???
I am half hobbit, and therefore I have coffee, breakfast, brunch, elevensies, lunch, tea, snack, dinner, supper, and dessert.
Hobbits know how to eat.
We really need a like button. 'Cause I like this!0 -
doktorglass wrote: »No.
1. Exercise is not a tool to punish your body with.
2. Food is not your enemy. And eating is not a battle.
I thought this could maybe be said again, so, that. ^0 -
Wow! There have been some pretty harsh, and some questionable responses to the OP. First of all, so much depends upon the person's current weight as well as height, gender, metabolism, and a number of other things. In this case, apeyboo states that she is 5'6" and weighs 180#. She also states that she is sedentary.
Her post gets immediate perception of a 'punishment' for eating over 1200 calories and others are screaming that 1200 calories is not enough to sustain her healthfully. All of this is probably incorrect to some degree. For instance, while 1000 to 1200 is the 'recommended' minimum caloric intake for a woman, this would change appreciably based on height. In apeyboo's case, the 1200 target is probably a pretty good goal.
The real problem is the issue of being sedentary. And THAT, apeyboo, is where you need to start adjusting your lifestyle. Have a sit down job without opportunity to get up and move around? Take a walk at lunchtime! Join a gym and stop before or after work for an hour. Get up an hour early and walk or workout. (alternating days with a mile walk around the neighborhood and days of crunches and push ups on the bedroom floor and do wonders!) Join a yoga or a Pilates class at the local Y. There are any number of ways of incorporating exercise into your everyday life. You just have to be directed enough to make it stick. And that means you have to determine that you are worth it and you deserve the positive results that will come of it. Eventually, you may even learn to love it. It becomes a positive part of your day.
But you truly have to want it for yourself. So you give yourself an hour of workout everyday - not because you ate too much but simply because it is good for you! Now, whether you eat back all of those exercise calories every day is not that important. Consider that, you gained the extra weight from eating more than the proscribed 1200 calories. So you have already cut back on your calorie intake! This, in and of itself can give you about a half pound to a pound of weight loss every week, depending on how much you weigh to start with.
You have been eating about 1500 to 1600 calories a day? You've now cut back to 1200? You have successfully cut out 300 - 400 calories a day! On top of that, if you exercise an hour daily, you are cutting out another 400 - 600 calories from your diet. So now you've cut out anywhere from 700 to 1000 calories from your diet daily, thus guaranteeing a weight loss of about a pound to a pound and a half a week, more if a person is exceedingly overweight.
Now... you want to lose 30 pounds by the end of August? THAT probably is not really a reasonable goal but it can be done. But you would have to be extremely diligent in your exercise regimen and your diet program. You've got about 13 weeks and that's looking at more than two pounds a week. Pretty extreme given your height and weight. And I would certainly not advise it. You can get close to that target and probably lose inches - an equally important but too often ignored factor - by your target date. Bear in mind that, while you exercise, you are not only shedding fat, you are building denser muscle mass. A pound of muscle takes about one third of the space of fat tissue so you can lose two pounds of fat, but gain two pounds of muscle. You stay the same weight but you just dropped a dress size! (In other words, the number on the scale is not really the most important one so don't obsess over it.)
If you stay on your exercise program, by the end of August it will have become a habit for you... a natural part of your everyday routine. And you will have achieved a more realistic goal than just a particular number of pounds. Then, when you look at the person in the mirror, you can be proud of the person you see.
Good luck. And... keep us posted.0 -
ReeseG4350 wrote: »Wow! There have been some pretty harsh, and some questionable responses to the OP. First of all, so much depends upon the person's current weight as well as height, gender, metabolism, and a number of other things. In this case, apeyboo states that she is 5'6" and weighs 180#. She also states that she is sedentary.
Her post gets immediate perception of a 'punishment' for eating over 1200 calories and others are screaming that 1200 calories is not enough to sustain her healthfully. All of this is probably incorrect to some degree. For instance, while 1000 to 1200 is the 'recommended' minimum caloric intake for a woman, this would change appreciably based on height. In apeyboo's case, the 1200 target is probably a pretty good goal.
The real problem is the issue of being sedentary. And THAT, apeyboo, is where you need to start adjusting your lifestyle. Have a sit down job without opportunity to get up and move around? Take a walk at lunchtime! Join a gym and stop before or after work for an hour. Get up an hour early and walk or workout. (alternating days with a mile walk around the neighborhood and days of crunches and push ups on the bedroom floor and do wonders!) Join a yoga or a Pilates class at the local Y. There are any number of ways of incorporating exercise into your everyday life. You just have to be directed enough to make it stick. And that means you have to determine that you are worth it and you deserve the positive results that will come of it. Eventually, you may even learn to love it. It becomes a positive part of your day.
But you truly have to want it for yourself. So you give yourself an hour of workout everyday - not because you ate too much but simply because it is good for you! Now, whether you eat back all of those exercise calories every day is not that important. Consider that, you gained the extra weight from eating more than the proscribed 1200 calories. So you have already cut back on your calorie intake! This, in and of itself can give you about a half pound to a pound of weight loss every week, depending on how much you weigh to start with.
You have been eating about 1500 to 1600 calories a day? You've now cut back to 1200? You have successfully cut out 300 - 400 calories a day! On top of that, if you exercise an hour daily, you are cutting out another 400 - 600 calories from your diet. So now you've cut out anywhere from 700 to 1000 calories from your diet daily, thus guaranteeing a weight loss of about a pound a week, more is a person is exceedingly overweight.
Now... you want to lose 30 pounds by the end of August? THAT probably is not really a reasonable goal but it can be done. But you would have to be extremely diligent in your exercise regimen and your diet program. You've got about 13 weeks and that's looking at more than two pounds a week. Pretty extreme given your height and weight. And I would certainly not advise it. You can get close to that target and probably lose inches - an equally important but too often ignored factor - by your target date. Bear in mind that, while you exercise, you are not only shedding fat, you are building denser muscle mass. A pound of muscle takes about one third of the space of fat tissue so you can lose two pounds of fat, but gain two pounds of muscle. You stay the same weight but you just dropped a dress size! (In other words, the number on the scale is not really the most important one so don't obsess over it.)
If you stay on your exercise program, by the end of August it will have become a habit for you... a natural part of your everyday routine. And you will have achieved a more realistic goal than just a particular number of pounds. Then, when you look at the person in the mirror, you can be proud of the person you see.
Good luck. And... keep us posted.
The search function does wonders. Using it reveals the OP's thread from May 16 where she talks about her five day per week workouts.
Running her numbers through multiple calculators shows that 1000-1200 is too low.
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Original Poster...
Some of these posts might come across as harsh, but they are being honest.
I don't know if you meant you'd "punish" yourself for eating over 1200 calories but you must choose your words wisely when you post to such a large group of people with strong opinions.
That said, I probably weigh a lot more than you do and I usually eat about 1300 calories a day. I work out for at least an hour 6 days a week. BUT I do drink a lot of protein shakes and eat mostly protein rich foods. I really try to keep my intake to 30% protein, 20% fats and 50% Carbs.
I've not lost any hair, nor have I lost muscle. In fact I've gain almost 2% muscle for the last 4 months.
I don't think the end of August should be your goal, I think being healthy for a lifetime should be the goal. If you stick around here and really log your food you'll start to see what foods help you meet your goals and what foods should be kept as a treat.
Be kind to yourself, this is a very long journey that can be enjoyable.
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You need to go read the post again. You are deliberately saying she is saying something she didn't say.brianpperkins wrote: »
Please go read the OP's initial post. She isn't proposing 1200 with no exercise. She is proposing under 1200 then punishing herself with one hour of exercise if she exceeds 1200 coupled with a far too aggressive loss rate for the amount she has to lose. She is exercising five days per week ... according to her thread started on the 16th.
My question to you is why are you trying to defend her unhealthy plan when it requires ignoring her own statements to do so?
I just re-read it. She proposed 1000-1200 with exercise added if/when 1200 was exceeded.
This is why I don't think the plan is necessarily unhealthy:
1. She could easily meet her macro/micronutrient needs on 1200 if she consumes nutrient-dense foods exclusively.
2. The time frame proposed (three months) is relatively short – would it not be highly unusual for the metabolic slowdown and other negative side-effects people have mentioned to occur so quickly?
3. She proposes to add exercise if/when 1200 calories are exceeded. This will initially motivate her to get into the exercise habit (as we know she will be hungry after a short while and will want to eat more). Hopefully in the process she will discover that exercise is also enjoyable and it will become a lifelong habit.
4. Of course the desired rate of weight loss can't be guaranteed, but as we know everyone loses at different rates, so she'll have to try it and see how she goes. Some people simply can't get motivated unless they set themselves a very ambitious target.0
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