the myth, starvation mode, and dont eat before bed.

Also with the whole pushing your limits, I agree too- but I don't know if you read an earlier post by me, my little sister and a few of her friends have signed up for this site, and young girls especially will do anything to lose weight quickly.

WHOA, i didn't mean pushing your limits like that. What I mean is... pushing the limits of human potential. In terms of bettering ourselves, so we can live to our maximum potential. This has nothing to do with being unhealthy.I am talking about about being "super healthy". If you're on a low calorie diet for a while, i think all of us know, it's miserable. Is being miserable healthy for your psychology, and your physiology? NO. It can make you stressed out. Also low calorie diets, can lead to severe health issues. Is this healthy? NO.

I know you're not stating the contrary. I just want to make it clear to the young people.

My 'passion' that has come through in many of my posts were solely because I was concerned that the youngin's on this site might read posts like yours and think they can eat next to nothing and be healthy. I think we both agree that when someone is only a few pounds overweight and are still growing (their freshman in high school, so 14 and 15), it is really important for them to eat balanced and enough, especially since a 15 year old metabolism is certainly a lot faster than a full grown adult. Also, I feel as if most 15 year old minds are not capable of understanding anything more than what is a healthy food and what is an unhealthy food, and if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. I doubt they have the capacity to understand the intricate workings of mirco- nutrients, the human metabolism, hormones, the breaking down of amino acids, etc.

And to everyone who says "people should be smart enough to do what works for them, etc."-there and young and impressionable people on this site. I used to be one of them, which is why I suffered an eating disorder for quite a while. There are overweight people at every age. Any ADULT should be intelligent enough to know what will work for them.

This is more to the young people what I am about to type. Low calorie diets, are not recommended. If you do do low calorie diets for a prolonged period of time. You can seriously injure your body. What I would recommend for a young person, is start to engage in a exercise program. Exercise doesn't consist of torturing yourself. It just consist of increasing your heart rate for a little while 15-60mins. You can do many things, play sports is a fun activity. Girls like to dance, you can do that too. Being active is what it boils down to, you can go for bike rides also. It's not about spending hours in the gym. Nutrition should be something you work your way in to. Most people on this site have had issues with their weight most of their lives. I wish someone gave me the advice I am about to give when I was younger. Maybe if they did, I probably still wouldn't have listened. The thing to do is, gradually change your eating habits, if you change them suddenly it can lead to a lot of stress on the body and make you relapse and gain back your weight and probably more. The thing is to make healthy eating a life long habit. This can not be rushed.

I know girls are all fussy about their hair, and usually try to make it all pretty. Guess what could happen if you get on a low calorie diet for a while. your hair can fall out. Your skin can look all funky.... pale, with chaps. Your teeth can also fall out too, you can get bloody noses out of the blue. Your menstrual cycle can be damaged, and you may not be able to have kids.

Same thing with guys. of course they don't have menstrual cycles. But their sperm count can be low preventing them from having kids. Their testosterone levels can go down also.

In worse case scenario it can lead to death.

My closing statement, adults can also be very........... naive and do things that will harm them, so what i stated doesn't only apply to young people.

conversely, i live by the rule of eating at MOST 1200 calories a day, and my BMI is only in the 16 range; it's "working wonderfully" for me.
would i suggest it to anyone? no, the physical and mental side effects are unpleasant. but i find it necessary.

It's really NOT necessary. Why go through mental and physical unpleasantness? Why not be the best you can be both mentally and physically?

okay. i'm not assuming definitely, but i'm gonna infer that you probably regard me as "one of those stupid pro-anorexia girls" or something similar; and i know a lot of people think "not eating" is "the easy way out" (which is a ridiculous viewpoint aided by a misconception that people with EDs don't exercise...).
but it isn't so. have an unhealthy relationship with food and my self-image (not just physically) stemming from very private/personal past experience, and it's lead me to this point--at which i want to lose even more than is "healthy," which cannot be done via healthy methods. if i eat as much as a "normal" person, i won't keep losing weight. i know i'll gain; it only makes sense. i'm 5'7 and weigh ~109 lbs (the last five pounds are from emotional binging in the past couple of weeks, which is generally followed by cycles of heavy cardio + calorie restriction). to keep losing weight when i am already underweight, i have to keep working in a manner that is...abnormal/disordered, i suppose. but moreover, the behaviors in which i've so deeply/long-rooted myself maintain their grip on me because of fear of GAINING weight (i have a "safe range"--anything under 110--and i get caught up in ridiculous, addicting cycles such as now in order to maintain a weight within my own acceptable boundaries).

yeah...i joined MFP for the calorie counter and progress reports (i had the limited app on my phone before i even realized that an online community existed). so no, i'm not a typical member. but i hope my ramble above helped shed some light on why people find themselves in confusing, nonsensical and difficult-to-understand patterns or methods of weight-control. i would go more in depth, but i don't want this topic to stray too far from its original point >.<

have you ever tried professional help with your issue?

I thought i stated no one under 22 should use any advanced diet methods, but I guess not. So here is my statement.

I just wanted to share this because fat can't be used only to fuel the body, glucose must still be present.

"At this point, most of the cells are depending on fatty acids to continue providing their fuel. But, as mentioned earlier red blood cells and the cells of the nervous system need glucose. Glucose is their primary energy fuel, and even when other energy fuels are available, glucose must be present to permit the energy-metabolism machinary of the nervous system to work........The need for glucose poses a problem for the fasting body. The body can use its stores of fat, which may be quite generous, to furnish most of its cells with energy, but the red blood cells are completely dependant on glucose, and the brain and nerves prefer energy in the form of glucose. Amino acids that yield pyruvate can be used to make glucose. To obtain the amino acids, body proteins must be broken down. For this reason, body protein tissues such as muscle and liver always break down to some extent during fasting....In an effort to conserve body tissues for as long as possible, the hormones of fasting slow metabolism.As the body adapts to the use of ketone bodies, it simultaneously reduces its energy output and conserves both its fat and its lean tissue. Still the lean (protein-containing) tissues shrink and performm less metabolic work, reducing energy expenditures. As the muscles waste, they can do less work and so demand less energy, reducing expenditures further. Although fasting may produce dramatic weight loss, a low-kcalorie diet and physical activity better support fat loss while retaining lean tissue." (Whitney, DeBruyne, Pinna, Rolfes)

This is why catabolism occurs...or starvation mode to some, even though I don't prefer the term. I do agree that humans don't need to consume multiple small meals daily. This may work for some to keep them on track in maintaining their calorie deficit or maintenance but it doesn't work for me; I prefer a big dinner.

That's a nice quote, I think with adequte protein intake, that wouldn't be a problem. About the 1 meal a day thing... It's more of a discpline issue I believe. Some people just can't do it, honestly... I can't do exactly 1 meal a day sometimes. I started out with drinking a protein shake in the afternoon to curve my appetite till later.