Would you drop to 900 calories per day at your doctors advice?

Did your doctor recommend a specific plan? Many universities and major health centers offer such programs, reserved for those that are obese or overweight. Some opt for these as a last resort prior to surgery. They are physician monitored, you meet with a dietician, have lab work done every week or so, have weekly weigh ins and vital signs, and weekly classes. They will have an initial consultation to go over medical history, medications, and take full labs and ekg. You basically consume only supplied products, or a combination of that and a pre-planned meal. They are extreme diets, often requiring supplementation of potassium, vitamins, and for some appetite suppressants. They can also cause kidney, liver, and some gallstone issues in addition to menstrual irregularities, fatigue, headaches, and bad breath. I am sure there are more, but that is off the top of my head. It needs to be carefully and continuously monitored for your safety. Hydration and electrolytes are critical to the bodies proper functioning. These are not long term diets, even in such a program. You will lose weight on such a program if you follow it. Your doctor is correct in that you will lose weight on under 1000 cals/ day, however this should be done with the help of professionals.

There are some real health concerns going that low on the calories, and it requires a perfect balance of nutrients and proteins/fats to protect your body from consuming it's lean muscle mass (NOT a good move). It can be done, but should be done so very carefully and in a program designed to do so. You want your body to run off fat, not by destroying its organs. Just my 2 cents. Many are successful on such a program, many regain the weight. Your doctor was not out of line in suggesting this as a potential option. These programs, and products, are tools designed to help people achieve weight loss.

I think your doctor is incompetent for that advice.

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I don't see how it's possible for you to not be losing weight eating 1200 calories a day. Are you counting/weighing absolutely everything?

There are medically-supervised water fasts (one man was documented as fasting while under medical supervision for over a year, during the 1960s) so you'd probably be fine if monitored. The problem with very low calorie diets is that you tend to lack the energy to do the things you need to do during the day, and that you can end up damaging your metabolism if you do it long enough.

I think the best thing to do would be to increase your activity level, maybe try some weight training, and talk to a different doctor to make sure you don't have an underlying medical condition.

whatatime2befit wrote: »

I lost it doing the same as I am now. I just strength train alot more now. I eat back about half my exercise calories (not every day, but some days I do)
Edited to answer the question about sleeping enough. No, I don't get enough sleep. I'm a mom of 3 young kids, and I work full time. I don't even come close to getting enough sleep

Just a thought - are you taking any measurements of your body other than weight, by any chance? A few times when I hit a plateau AND was doing more strength training, I was losing fat and gaining muscle at a rate where there was no weight change. But when I looked at some measurements of certain body parts, there was a change there I could see.

And re: the sleep - that can have a big effect, too. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1991337/

No one should be on such a low calorie diet, you need fuel to survive...I would not listen to that doctor sorry. You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight...it only leads to trouble, a vicious cycle. I am about 25 lbs heavier and I maintain on 2400. I am on 2000 calories and losing...don't jepordise your health for a few pounds...

besee_2000 wrote: »

If you go to 900kcals everyday, what happens when you plateau at that? It will happen.

No, it won't.

I wouldn't. I'd drop the doctor though.
900 calories isn't healthy at all. Except extremely critical cases under 24/7 supervision. Maybe.

You might actually not being eating ENOUGH as it is. Do you work out?

For me, it would depend on how badly I wanted to lose the extra weight and how much I trusted the doctor.

1200 is an average, and you are shorter than average. Is eating 900 calories at 5'1" really so different than eating 1200 at 5'10"?

whatatime2befit wrote: »

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and provide feedback. I appreciate each comment. For those that doubt my belief that i'm eating 1200 calories a day and not losing, I get the cynicism. I do. But calorie counting is not new to me. I've been at this for a while now, an have lost 57 lbs. I'm not going to say my tracking is perfect, but there's no way i'm eating at maintenance or at 1800 a day as someone suggested. I'll do as many have suggested, and will track even more stringently. I strength train 4-5 times a week already, but i'll try to start squeezing in more cardio each week as well. I'll also try the cycling and carb loading, as i'm curious if that will help jumpstart things.

When I posted a similar story on another site’s board, all I got was "you're counting wrong!" When at the time, I was literally carrying a scale with me and counting every fraction of a portion I ate. I've come to believe that due to hormones, stress, water weight, or factors such as the body adapting to a certain calorie count, there are times when we just inexplicably plateau. But users on these boards tend to oversimplify the calories in<calories out method of weight loss and forget to account for the variables in the day-to-day lives and physiologies of people who are different than them.

I would echo the advice of other users here and say get a second opinion from a professional. Just today (in another thread), I’ve witnessed how incredibly misinformed some people on MFP are about medical issues, so seeing another licensed nutritionist or doctor is going to be a safer bet than listening to any of us.

It works with the Newcastle diet but the patients are very strictly monitored not just sent home and told to do it. I'd ask another Doctor.

No, I'd find a doctor who actually knows what the hell he's talking about, because yours clearly doesn't.

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DaveAkeman wrote: »

Unless there is somebody on here with a medical license, I would listen to your doctor. Or get a second opinion (from a doctor . . . not from the internet). Yeah, it sounds pretty severe, though.

Here's where I'm guessing he's coming from:

Nobody can accurately log food. I know there are people who weigh everything, etc. But all you have to do is search for "apple" in the MFP database and look at the wide range of nutrition info to know that there is no way that your calorie log is perfectly accurate. In fact, I read a study a while back where NUTRITIONISTS were asked to log their food, and NONE of them could do it with less than about 15% error, and they were, in general, low. The NUTRITIONISTS were eating 15% more calories than they were logging!!! (Non-nutritionists, like you and I, were more like 25% low, even when they weighed all their food, etc) So, while you THINK you are eating 1200 calories, the reality is that you are probably eating a couple hundred more than that. Your doctor probably thinks that, based on your plateau, your 1200 number is inaccurate. So, when the doctor says to cut to 900 calories, what he really MEANS is to cut 25% out of whatever you are eating.

Of course, I am not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV. My suggestion would be to follow medical advice, or get a second (medical) opinion.

My first thought when I read this was yours as well. While 900 calories does seem low, I'm not a doctor either, but tend to want to side with them on most issues. Seeking a second opinion might beneficial, but you could always try and see how you feel.
I'm female and also 5'1 (on a good day) and I feel my energy levels would suffer on this few calories. Every "body" is different.