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

13

Replies

  • Original_Beauty
    Original_Beauty Posts: 180 Member
    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...
  • whatatime2befit
    whatatime2befit Posts: 625 Member
    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.

    Thanks again everyone!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    besee_2000 wrote: »
    If you go to 900kcals everyday, what happens when you plateau at that? It will happen.

    No, it won't.

  • cosmiqrecovery
    cosmiqrecovery Posts: 171 Member
    doctors aren't nutritionists and are usually clueless about weight loss. see a specialist, unless you feel like following his advice and starving away that healthy heart.
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
    edited May 2015
    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?
  • yogacat13
    yogacat13 Posts: 124 Member
    I'm 5'1", and lose on 1500-1700, with an average of 8000 steps/day. I have tried 1200, and was constantly hungry and I just couldn't keep doing it and living life normally. Dropping to 900 a day is setting yourself up for failure, IMHO.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    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"?
  • georginabain
    georginabain Posts: 20 Member
    That sounds so ludicrous! I have a friend who's experienced hitting a wall in weight loss & she actually upped her calorie intake, changed her exercise regime.
  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
    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.
  • Velvettpeach
    Velvettpeach Posts: 10 Member
    Not a chance. I could not do it. The thought alone makes me hungry even if activity bought me down to 900.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    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.
  • whatatime2befit
    whatatime2befit Posts: 625 Member
    kellycasey5 wrote: »
    Did your doctor recommend a specific plan?

    Just coming back to read the responses, and realized I hadn't answered this question. No, he didn't recommend a plan, nor any future monitoring.

    I'm going to wait a bit longer before considering his advice. There are some things mentioned on this thread I'll try first. If I had specific health issues requiring i get the weight off fast, I'd consider it immediately, but with only 30ish lbs to lose and no health problems, I'd rather take longer to get it off then do anything too drastic like this. If my weight really does remain unchanging over the coming months, i'll consider a 2nd opinion before going the 900 cal route.

    Thanks again :)



  • whatatime2befit
    whatatime2befit Posts: 625 Member
    Just wanted to post an update to this thread, and say thank you again to all who posted and offered advice. While it's only been one week, I tried calorie cycling as suggested by @besee_2000 . I also ensured I weighed everything and tracked everything that I ate. While my tracking had been good, I realized a few small things that I hadn't tracked consistently (like the milk in my coffee) .

    With everything I did this week, I saw the scale drop 2.4 lbs....which is almost half what I had lost in the 6 months before this. So thank you all for the advice. Hopefully i'll continue to see the scale move in the right direction (maybe just not at that rate though :smile: )
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Wonderful!
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    No, I'd find a doctor who actually knows what the hell he's talking about, because yours clearly doesn't.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    strong_curves wrote: »
    No. Especially since I've been eating 1800 calories a day & I still lose weight. Are you sure you're eating 1200 calories? Do you weigh/measure all your food & drink? If you aren't, you're most likely eating more than you realize.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212/youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

    tumblr_lkykp5CMXV1qbskw8.gif

    I completely agree.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    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"?

    Honestly, as someone who is 5'1 I don't think 900 calories would be sustainable for most people my height. Yeah, I may be short, but girl's gotta eat.
  • Leslierussell4134
    Leslierussell4134 Posts: 376 Member
    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.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    I think it is worth mentioning this:
    http://examine.com/faq/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people
    One study[1] noted that one standard deviation of variance for resting metabolic rate (how many calories are burnt by living) was 5-8%; meaning 1 standard deviation of the population (68%) was within 6-8% of the average metabolic rate. Extending this, 2 standard deviations of the population (96%) was within 10-16% of the population average.[1]

    Extending this into practical terms and assuming an average expenditure of 2000kcal a day, 68% of the population falls into the range of 1840-2160kcal daily while 96% of the population is in the range of 1680-2320kcal daily. Comparing somebody at or below the 5th percentile with somebody at or above the 95th percentile would yield a difference of possibly 600kcal daily, and the chance of this occurring (comparing the self to a friend) is 0.50%, assuming two completely random persons.

    To give a sense of calories, 200kcal (the difference in metabolic rate in approximately half the population) is approximately equivalent to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, a single poptart (a package of two is 400kcal) or half of a large slice of pizza. An oreo is about 70kcal, and a chocolate bar in the range of 150-270kcal depending on brand.

    Metabolic rate does vary, and technically there could be large variance. However, statistically speaking it is unlikely the variance would apply to you. The majority of the population exists in a range of 200-300kcal from each other and do not possess hugely different metabolic rates.

    Generally speaking, no, regardless of height, almost no adult (if anyone) is going to vary so much to be at maintenance or surplus on 1200 calories, short of living a comatose life style (and rare even then). Occam's razor says, by far, the best explanation is errors in counting intake.

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