Decreasing and increasing calorie intake

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xNausicaa
xNausicaa Posts: 61 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My usually diet is 1500-1600 calories. For personal reasons, for the next 3-6 months I'll be eating 800-1000 calories a day. After I become financially stable again an eat what I've normally been eating will I gain a lot of weight? My diet is very healthy, I'm just curious what's going to happen when I resume back to normal.

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  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    I think you should re-evaluate this plan of yours. I'd be more concerned with what's going to be happening from under eating than gaining weight back afterwards. You're looking at a possible hospitalization doing that.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    This is dangerous. Don't do it.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Rice and beans are pretty cheap.
  • Btheodore138
    Btheodore138 Posts: 182 Member
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    Check out your local food pantry, or check out the dollar store for some good deals if money is tight (pasta, rice, beans, frozen fruit/veg). The absolute minimum you should be eating is 1200 a day.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    edited April 2016
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    What the others said about inexpensive food. The problem with staying so low for so long is your hormones will go into a sort of survival mode (not starvation mode, that only happens under 12% body fat). If you have enough body fat your body can make up the energy difference with the stored fat, but fat burning will slow down when you eat too low for too long, even more so for females.

    It drives your hunger hormones up and eventually you will binge and that sets you up for a vicious cycle. You can't out run those hunger hormones which your body will increase whether you like it or not, and there is no such thing as willpower when that happens.

    Eating up to normal maintenance at least one day a week even while on an overall deficit is what helps keep our hormones stable. When your body fat is lower you need even more "maintenance" calorie level days to keep your hormones stable.

    There is no reason to eat that low with the available of high calorie foods available to you at such a low cost.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Eating that little would be incredibly unhealthy. In the next 3-6 months, you could lose your period, experience hair loss and brittle nails, lose muscle mass, and cause damage to your heart and other organs. And yes, that might be long enough to lower your metabolism going forward.

    If you are planning this to lose weight quickly, you will be disappointed. If you managed to stick to it, in addition to the health problems, you will lose a lot of muscle and will look skinny-fat. If you are planning this to save money, there is plenty of affordable foods you can buy to include in a sensible diet plan, like rice, beans, frozen veggies, canned tuna, store brand chicken parts, eggs, etc. Please reconsider!
  • xNausicaa
    xNausicaa Posts: 61 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Eating that little would be incredibly unhealthy. In the next 3-6 months, you could lose your period, experience hair loss and brittle nails, lose muscle mass, and cause damage to your heart and other organs. And yes, that might be long enough to lower your metabolism going forward.

    If you are planning this to lose weight quickly, you will be disappointed. If you managed to stick to it, in addition to the health problems, you will lose a lot of muscle and will look skinny-fat. If you are planning this to save money, there is plenty of affordable foods you can buy to include in a sensible diet plan, like rice, beans, frozen veggies, canned tuna, store brand chicken parts, eggs, etc. Please reconsider!

    I'm not planning on doing this to lose weight. Trust me, I love to eat. I just literally cannot afford much of anything right now.
  • gequalsmoney
    gequalsmoney Posts: 5 Member
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    You're going to lose muscle tissue as well. Not good. That affects your present and future metabolic rate.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    xNausicaa wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Eating that little would be incredibly unhealthy. In the next 3-6 months, you could lose your period, experience hair loss and brittle nails, lose muscle mass, and cause damage to your heart and other organs. And yes, that might be long enough to lower your metabolism going forward.

    If you are planning this to lose weight quickly, you will be disappointed. If you managed to stick to it, in addition to the health problems, you will lose a lot of muscle and will look skinny-fat. If you are planning this to save money, there is plenty of affordable foods you can buy to include in a sensible diet plan, like rice, beans, frozen veggies, canned tuna, store brand chicken parts, eggs, etc. Please reconsider!

    I'm not planning on doing this to lose weight. Trust me, I love to eat. I just literally cannot afford much of anything right now.

    If you shop at Food4Less, they mark down 50% or more for the stuffs that have to go the same day. I think you can freeze many food items for later.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited April 2016
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    xNausicaa wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Eating that little would be incredibly unhealthy. In the next 3-6 months, you could lose your period, experience hair loss and brittle nails, lose muscle mass, and cause damage to your heart and other organs. And yes, that might be long enough to lower your metabolism going forward.

    If you are planning this to lose weight quickly, you will be disappointed. If you managed to stick to it, in addition to the health problems, you will lose a lot of muscle and will look skinny-fat. If you are planning this to save money, there is plenty of affordable foods you can buy to include in a sensible diet plan, like rice, beans, frozen veggies, canned tuna, store brand chicken parts, eggs, etc. Please reconsider!

    I'm not planning on doing this to lose weight. Trust me, I love to eat. I just literally cannot afford much of anything right now.

    Make things like stews packed with chicken, veggies and rice or pasta. Make big batches so you can freeze it. Make things with eggs, like omelettes. Lots of soups, pea and ham is cheap to make and very filling, spaghetti bolognese is also cheap and you can make big pots of it. Lots and lots of salad.

    Good luck and I hope you get back on your feet soon xx

    ETA: your metabolism may slow down eating such low calories, and once you start eating normally again you will see weight gain due to fluid retention, extra food in your system etc etc But as long as you stay below your TDEE you should be all good. Just try and do this plan for as least time as possible, because your health/bodily functions will suffer.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
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    Hey OP, free book on eating well on $4 a day.

    https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    It seems you are using financial distress as an excuse to severely undereat. Nothing good comes from that.
    Adding 500 cals a day to your current plan of 800 can be achieved for less than $30 a month.

    Rice and pasta are fine.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
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    OP, it's dangerous to go alone. Take food.

    Seriously though, I've spent time without a place to live and very limited funds. You can still eat at appropriate levels on an extremely limited budget, especially if you seek out assistance. Like others have said, go for the cheap stuff you can buy in bulk and make sure to take advantage of local foodbanks and charitable programs. Do you have a job?

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