Is a 1000 calorie diet harmful?

Libby283 wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

My advice is to listen to your body, not random people on the internet. All you need to ask yourself is -Are you losing at a reasonable rate? How does your body feel? What do your lab tests show? etc. If all is well, then all is well, regardless of what people say here.

Plus, you said 1000 NET, which to me means you're subtracting exercise from your TOTAL intake. Regardless, I think if someone is eating and feeling full, it doesn't matter what the calorie amount is. There's no reason to eat more if you're not hungry. Your body will tell you what's up. If you're hungry, eat some more. If you're not, don't. That's how people who don't count calories yet are at healthy weight do it.

Best advice here.

Listening to their body and it lying to you is the reason most people are here in the first place...

I disagree. They are not listening - that's the problem.

Broken hunger signals are a thing.

True, but it seems the OP's hunger signals are functioning normally given she said this:

SunflowerDaisey wrote: »

I don't binge and I don't like lots of junk food at a time. I'm completely satisfied. It's why I was wondering if it's okay, but thank you for your help.

I say yes, it's okay. For people to tell her it's harmful to eat the amount she's eating and yet she's satisfied eating that amount, is essentially telling her to overide her own body's natural signals and instead eat more according to some arbitrary number of calorie minimum. I find that ridiculous.

Broken hunger signals can go both ways... Not feeling full even though you've eaten a lot and feeling full even though you've barely eaten. Never been sick and barely felt like eating? That, but constantly from bad habits like, oh I dunno, consistently undereating.

If she was consistently undereating she wouldn't be overweight!

And there's nothing 'broken' about not feeling hungry even though one hasn't eaten much on a given day. That's perfectly normal. People who have weight to lose especially, should not force themselves to eat when they're not hungry.That makes no sense.

I am always been an undereater. I can function on 1000 calories a day. I ate 1200 friday, saturday and sunday and gained weight. Last week when I was eating 900-1100, I lost weight. Go figure.

I am not overweight from eating. I put on pounds because I got a hormonal ID that caused my body to no longer burn off the many calories of alcohol I was drinking a day... food is not the issue for everyone.

And when did you measure that weight gain? Right after the weekend? That would be the weight of food and/or sodium. And how much exactly did you gain? Because according to your other thread 1200 is under your estimated maintenance so you shouldn't. And even if you did, that's only 100 calories per day over where you claim to need to lose - so that would be 300/3500 = .08 pounds "gain".

Libby283 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Calories are calories. That you drink calories doesn't mean that they don't count. If you are saying you always consumed 1200 calories plus 600 calories of drink, so your maintenance is 1200 or some such, no, that doesn't make sense. Unless you are teensy and extremely sedentary, you don't gain on 1200 unless something is wrong. (None of this has to do with OP, for the record.)

(Re calories are calories -- of course, alcohol isn't going to have the nutrients many other options would, and is a bad thing to base a diet around, no one is saying otherwise.)

If I change my setting to maintaining my current 153 lbs, I am only given 1680 calories a day. I am sure my calories will be substantially less to eventually maintain my goal weight of 124 lbs.

I am only 5'3".

I was pretty sure I needed to choose to drink or choose to eat. I cannot fit both into my daily calorie limit and stay a very small size.

I am 5'3 and 125. It's not "a very small size." 5'3 is pretty average. If I am sedentary (which I am not, and wouldn't recommend to any healthy person), maintenance (I think I'm older than you) is around 1550-1600, so 1680 for maintenance for you if sedentary seems right. For lightly active it's more like 1800-1900 for me, and of course with exercise it's more.

Point is, nowhere near gaining on 1200. If I were gaining on 1200 I'd either be counting badly or something would be wrong and I'd talk to a doctor (and bring in a few weeks of logs).

I totally agree that excess alcohol calories can cause weight gain, but it's not that you only need 1000 calories total for maintenance, as you seemed to be saying.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I totally agree that excess alcohol calories can cause weight gain, but it's not that you only need 1000 calories total for maintenance, as you seemed to be saying.

something the RD I work with mentioned when it comes to alcohol calories - is that your body potentially processes them more as fat than as carbs - so when I drink log I have created my own entries, that take the carb calories and the left over, I log as fat cals - its made me much more aware

I'm not sure of the science behind it (I've been meaning to ask)

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Libby283 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Calories are calories. That you drink calories doesn't mean that they don't count. If you are saying you always consumed 1200 calories plus 600 calories of drink, so your maintenance is 1200 or some such, no, that doesn't make sense. Unless you are teensy and extremely sedentary, you don't gain on 1200 unless something is wrong. (None of this has to do with OP, for the record.)

(Re calories are calories -- of course, alcohol isn't going to have the nutrients many other options would, and is a bad thing to base a diet around, no one is saying otherwise.)

If I change my setting to maintaining my current 153 lbs, I am only given 1680 calories a day. I am sure my calories will be substantially less to eventually maintain my goal weight of 124 lbs.

I am only 5'3".

I was pretty sure I needed to choose to drink or choose to eat. I cannot fit both into my daily calorie limit and stay a very small size.

I am 5'3 and 125. It's not "a very small size." 5'3 is pretty average. If I am sedentary (which I am not, and wouldn't recommend to any healthy person), maintenance (I think I'm older than you) is around 1550-1600, so 1680 for maintenance for you if sedentary seems right. For lightly active it's more like 1800-1900 for me, and of course with exercise it's more.

Point is, nowhere near gaining on 1200. If I were gaining on 1200 I'd either be counting badly or something would be wrong and I'd talk to a doctor (and bring in a few weeks of logs).

I totally agree that excess alcohol calories can cause weight gain, but it's not that you only need 1000 calories total for maintenance, as you seemed to be saying.

I look very small at 125. That puts me in a size 2 jeans, and my face looks very sunken in. I tried to get under 120 last time, but once I hit the 125/124 mark people were no longer complimenting my weight loss and were beginning to think I looked sickly.

Libby283 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Libby283 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Calories are calories. That you drink calories doesn't mean that they don't count. If you are saying you always consumed 1200 calories plus 600 calories of drink, so your maintenance is 1200 or some such, no, that doesn't make sense. Unless you are teensy and extremely sedentary, you don't gain on 1200 unless something is wrong. (None of this has to do with OP, for the record.)

(Re calories are calories -- of course, alcohol isn't going to have the nutrients many other options would, and is a bad thing to base a diet around, no one is saying otherwise.)

If I change my setting to maintaining my current 153 lbs, I am only given 1680 calories a day. I am sure my calories will be substantially less to eventually maintain my goal weight of 124 lbs.

I am only 5'3".

I was pretty sure I needed to choose to drink or choose to eat. I cannot fit both into my daily calorie limit and stay a very small size.

How much alcohol are we talking? What kind?
As my user name might suggest, I enjoy wine on a fairly regular basis. I started at the exact same weight as you (I'm 5'2) and lost > 30 lbs and i did so eating 1600-1800 cals/day which included a glass of wine each day while losing and now am maintaining just under 120 lbs and still enjoy a couple glasses of wine several times/week - my maintenance calories are 2200.

Just like with anything with calories, moderation is key, maybe even more so with alcohol. If you are forgoing essential calories and nutrients from food in favor of several drinks each day then I wouldn't call that moderation, just like I wouldn't call eating 3 donuts a day moderation either.

None of that changes the fact that for the OP, and I believe for you, and for many others on this thread... eating below 1200 calories is not necessary nor advisable in order to achieve your weight loss goals.

I love wine. I can easily drink a bottle of wine in a sitting. I often order a salad and two fruity mixed drinks over the course of a dinner out.

I am trying very hard to not drink, but it is very hard. I enjoy my alcoholic beverages. Maybe even more so than food, except I do lack nutrients when I drink in lieu of eating. I can't find the happy medium here. My favorite drinks are 300-600 calories a glass. Two and I can be over my daily limit easily, before even adding food to the mix.

Well, and again, it can be done, in moderation. One glass of wine is 125 cals. Pretty easy to fit into an active fat with a reasonable calorie goal.

I also was drinking more before starting MFP. I used to work a full day and come home to fix my family dinner, with a glass of wine while I cooked. Then a glass with dinner, because who doesn't want to enjoy a glass of wine with the meal they prepared, even if it's grilled cheese on a busy kid sports night. After the kids finally went to bed and I was "done" for the night (dishes, laundry, lunches for the next day, then I felt a glass of wine was in order. Sometimes two. I was drinking 3-4 glasses a night, on the regular. Once I started logging on MFP I realized that wasn't going to work. I cut out the wine while cooking, and the wine with dinner (unless at a restaurant) and limited myself to after the kids were in bed. That naturally took me down to a glass, sometimes two, and only if I had the calories for it after a full day of food.

The fruity drinks are a calorie bomb but a glass of wine really isn't that hard to fit in. Maybe save the others for a weekend splurge even you've been extra active.

Look up the Minnesota Starvation Experiment on the internet if you want real data on that subject and not the opinions of everyone here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment This is an experiment that would never be allowed to be done again, but the data is priceless and all good nutritionists have studied this.

Take it slower. Consistency is better. Typically eating too low will set you up for binging and a vicious cycle of trying to recover from binging, eating low, binging, eating low, binging. The more you do that the harder it is to break out of it. There are no short cuts. How much is too low? Well mostly it's based on your height but I can tell you that 1000 is too low even for short kid sized people like me. Your body might allow you to be successful once or twice, then it seems to have "memory" for that and will rebel and not allow you to do that again - and you will binge. Don't think you can get away with it or cheat the system, you are human like everyone else and there is no such thing as willpower against those powerful hunger hormones.

When you eat at a deficit it is stress on your body. A deficit is anything under your maintenance. That means anything under that is stress. The further you go under that the more stress. Then workout adds another stress. Then lack of sleep adds another stress. Then not enough water adds another stress. Then not enough protein or carbs or fat or whatever adds another stress.

Then your emotional state can add more stress including HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT what you are eating or not eating. How often do you say "I can't have this.." The more you say you can't have certain foods the more stress it creates in your mind. The more of a feeling of gloom it adds. And then add that you don't feel like working out, or you don't feel like going to work, and add up all the things (see why we have to work at pushing out negative thoughts and change the words in our head?)

Extra cardio adds another stress. Then add driving in traffic, or someone being mean to you, and all the things of stress in life add up. It drives up our hunger.

So much of the time this process is all about stress management. How much stress you can take at any given moment, how much you want comfort from that food which is the easiest comfort to find - especially when you embark on this fitness journey and doing all the things to get healthy. It's not fair, here we are trying to get healthy and all the things bombard us EVEN MORE than before because we put more stress on ourselves.

SO, we have have the plan but learn to roll with our body and the stress in our lives. I still have to do that now and I swear I feel I'm going insane sometimes. And for me, all little things adding up too. And sometimes I do give in to eat the cookies or whatever, and yes I fight the guilt just like you. I remind myself it was okay, I enjoyed it, I own it, and now it's time to move on and it can't be fixed in one day.

We just motor on with the focus on protein, carbs, fat, fiber, nutrients, supplements, water, sleep, exercise, and the rest of stress management. It is hard.

I don't want to say what happened to you will never happen again (the dreaded binge). The fact of the matter is we just make those events fewer with more time in between and learn to be consistent more often. I always have to tell myself in the "feeling guilty" phases, that it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time, drink some water, tea, eat healthy, get to the gym, and take those steps because that is what builds motivation - BUT, not too hard because of the stress balance equation.

And the stress balance equation has no specific answer - it is individual to each person within their own life and environment and all the factors and within your body. It is HARD. But we just keep taking little steps forward and don't fall into the negative trap. Really care for yourself and be kind to yourself even in your words inside your head.

It's really important to not use negative words like "I can't" or "I'm fat", or thinking that you don't matter or that you are of no value. None of this is true. You get to workout and that is a blessing "What workout do I get to do today?" You get to have a portion of good food that you enjoy and that is a blessing.

Make sure to count the victories and tune out the negative noise. Appreciate your beautiful attributes, take a bath, put on some good lotion and use some good soap and shampoo. Wear nice underwear and PJ's and clothes around the house. You deserve to be loved right now, and the more you nurture yourself as much as you nurture everyone else, the more you will bloom yourself. You matter NOW, and you matter even when you reach your fitness goal. Sure people treat you different when you reach your goal, but you know you are the same inside. You have the same feelings and the same hurts, and the same internal gifts. Your gifts become stronger as you pursue your goals.

SunflowerDaisey wrote: »

Hello. I'm 5'5 154lbs. I have been eating 1000 calories net. I always meet my protein and carb goal. I don't always meet the fat goal. I eat really healthy and get lots of vitamins. I also take a vitamin tablet just in case. I also don't binge on junk to gain everything back. Is this diet okay or harmful?

I was your size during the early months of my weight loss journey. I did a lot of cardio, but I can't think of a single day I went below 1700 calories (usually ate more like 1900, as I recall) and lost 45 pounds (started at 162.4) in about 50 weeks.

I didn't track macros at all. I was eating low fat, high carb (am a vegetarian and this is easy for me), but there is no way I ever would have limited myself to 1000 calories. (Heck, sometimes I would have 1000 calories in a single meal.) I would not have been pleasant to be around at all at 1000 calories, nor would I have had any energy for exercise.

WinoGelato wrote: »

jmp463 wrote: »

OP - if you are looking for advice - most of the time this is not the best place. Lots of really helpful nice people - but they tend to get overrun by the rude types. I suggest build a good FL that actually will listen to you and address you with respect rather than the ones that just want to bash a random stranger in an attempt to make themselves sound superior.

Are you reading a different thread?

he's been providing the same type of comment on other threads....

Yes. Unless your sick and have an upset stomach I don't understand how anyone can eat that little