Thoughts on a 900 calorie diet

Wondering if my metabolism will slow down if I decrease my intake to 900-1000 per day.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    A very low calorie diet can cause your metabolism to slow down over time. I'm curious: why would you want to eat so few calories?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    It would be incredibly hard to get the necessary nutrition at that level. You'd be prone to things like moodiness caused by hormone imbalances, dizziness, loss of muscle, and such. Would you be under the supervision of a doctor who can watch your bloodwork for any major side effects or deficiencies?
  • willammoney
    willammoney Posts: 137 Member
    Why would you eat so few calories?
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    900 calorie diet is NEVER a good ideal!!!!
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Why would you eat so few calories?

    I'll take a wild guess.. she wants to lose weight quickly.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Sounds like a horrible plan that focuses on getting thin at the expense of your health.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Nope.
  • cfritch26
    cfritch26 Posts: 28 Member
    edited May 2016
    I did this about 4 years ago...I would eat between 500-900 calories, all while working out. I dropped weight quickly, but I also gained it back quickly. It's not sustainable and it will make you feel sick all the time. When you are losing weight there is only one way to keep that off, and that's by changing your entire lifestyle...eating more natural foods, knowing what nutrients you need, and being active.

    Advice from someone who did this for about 8 months....just don't.

    Did I lose weight quickly? Yes. Was I constantly sick? Yes. I would also binge eat because I had been depriving myself so much.

    My nails became brittle, my eyes turned slightly yellow, and I started losing some hair...all because I wasn't allowing my body to gain the nutrients it needed.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Sounds like a horrible plan that focuses on getting thin at the expense of your health.

    This^

    OP - when you lose weight you lose fat+lean muscle. A moderate deficit (more calories) gives you a fighting chance to maintain existing lean muscle. Lean muscle is firm & taut. Most women don't want the soft jiggly look.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    Unless you're doing something like 5:2IF or ADF, where you're incorporating higher calorie days, then it's a bad idea
  • Chameleon80
    Chameleon80 Posts: 25 Member
    Not to lose weight quickly but I can't seem to lose weight for the last month.Definatley don't want sacrifice my health,but wondering how I can get the scale moving again.Thanks for the advice
  • ChampCrucial
    ChampCrucial Posts: 120 Member
    Start taking inches and pictures weekly. You may be lowing inches. If your not strength training and lifting heavy then you should start. The body is a professional at making itself stay in one state. Log accurate, lift heavy, amp up your cardio, and sleep 8-10 hours. If your doing all this and stepping up each(heavier weights or more reps, more intense or longer cardio, more healthy food options) then the scale will never matter as your body will be transforming bit by bit. I was just looking at this trainer she had gained more definition, toned her legs, as well as lost arm fat all within 10 lbs. She was grinding hard for a whole year! So, follow those principles and be honest with yourself. You must be able to keep up with these things for life
  • mave36
    mave36 Posts: 17 Member
    I am 5'7 136lbs currently and a couple years ago I was eating 1200 cals. I was hungry, moody and generally obsessed over my intake. I was losing fast however, but then my loss slowed down and almost plateaued and I didn't lose much at all for a month or so. I've also heard of that happening on low cal. I think from personal experience this is a bad idea, you will deprive yourself for short term with potential to harm yourself in the long run. Treat your body nicely and fuel it, try different foods maybe? Just speaking from experience :)
  • sarochka85
    sarochka85 Posts: 103 Member
    Unless you are doing it for specific medical reasons (diabetes management comes to mind), it's probably not going to be terribly beneficial!
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Not to lose weight quickly but I can't seem to lose weight for the last month.Definatley don't want sacrifice my health,but wondering how I can get the scale moving again.Thanks for the advice

    Make sure you are weighing your food (not using cups,spoons or eyeballing) and also make sure you are logging correct entries. Avoid homemade or generic entries. Also the closer you get to your goal the slower weight loss will be so I agree with taking pictures and measurements.
  • willammoney
    willammoney Posts: 137 Member
    Why would you eat so few calories?

    I'll take a wild guess.. she wants to lose weight quickly.

    You guessed wrong smart guy
  • shadowmanlocal
    shadowmanlocal Posts: 15 Member
    900 calories is just not enough and I found 1000 undoable although that's what hospital nutritionists recommend for morbid obese as I was . I've been losing now over 21 months -158 lbs in total and have had one or two periods where the scale wouldn't change no matter what I did . I would say hang in for the long haul and don't put yourself at risk with insufficient nutrition . If you keep working a good programme that suits you the lbs will drop eventually . Patience , perseverance and motivation have been the key for me ( 1500 -1700 cals per day plus a shed load of exercise !!! ) Best of luck !!!!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Not to lose weight quickly but I can't seem to lose weight for the last month.Definatley don't want sacrifice my health,but wondering how I can get the scale moving again.Thanks for the advice

    How many calories have you been eating for the last month?
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    Not to lose weight quickly but I can't seem to lose weight for the last month.Definatley don't want sacrifice my health,but wondering how I can get the scale moving again.Thanks for the advice

    Make sure you are weighing your food (not using cups,spoons or eyeballing) and also make sure you are logging correct entries. Avoid homemade or generic entries. Also the closer you get to your goal the slower weight loss will be so I agree with taking pictures and measurements.

    This. Instead of dropping your calories, weigh all your food in grams. Weigh everything that isn't liquid.
  • Chameleon80
    Chameleon80 Posts: 25 Member
    edited May 2016
    Wow guys I can't say how much I appreciate you all taking the time to answer my post
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  • chellekoren
    chellekoren Posts: 273 Member
    Wondering if my metabolism will slow down if I decrease my intake to 900-1000 per day.

    So I would say only if you are zig zagging your calories and make up for it later with an weekly average of about 1200.