800 calories a day for a week
Replies
-
If eating 800 per day keeps her happy, then go for it. I'm just saying that she won't be able to do it for long.. not enough energy to sustain a full day of activities, especially for a nurse. I don't believe that she's "harming" herself or this is "reckless" like some have pointed out. There are people who fast for days and they are fine. She is just reducing her calories significantly, that's all. Today I only ate about 900 calories, only because I'm feeling under the weather and in bed most of the day. Would I keep eating 900 per day? Probably not. Am I hurting myself? I don't think so.
Is she going to do any long term damage? No. But she's also not going to achieve a hell of a lot in terms of fat loss either. Your body can only utilise a certain number of calories from body fat per day, the rest is going to come from lean body mass. That's just a fact. If the only thing she cares about is the number on the scale, then that's not a big deal. But seeing a bounce back in water weight when she ups her calories again is almost a given. It just doesn't seem worth it to me, why suffer for a week for the sake of maybe an extra pound of fat loss? But then I'm not that hung up on scale weight.
And having the odd low day because you're sick, or even just because you got busy and didn't eat enough, is entirely different from planning to under eat by a significant amount for a week.9 -
No but it might cause you to lose your hair. Read some threads from people who tried to eat at this dangerously low calorie level.3
-
Be patient with your calorie deficit. Be honest with your food and exercise logging. Be accurate with your food and exercise logging. Get all your nutrients from food.0
-
So you are a nurse, I'm guessing more active than sedentary desk job.
You are exercising.
You a mom too?
And 1200 is recommended minimum for safety to get all the nutrients needed for average sedentary woman.
So you are not sedentary by a long shot.
Don't be average either, and don't work towards minimum results, which is what you'll end up with.
Much like minimum building codes is for safety - not performance or longevity or aesthetics - so also the minimum eating level for bare bones nutrition.
But perhaps you want to perform better, to last longer, to look better - then don't do minimum.12 -
dogeatdogworld wrote: »I'm going to start taking n more protein tommrow 60mg a day
yikes! just thinking of all the problems that could occur when a nurse doesn't know the difference between grams and milligrams!17 -
There's no such thing as starvation mode. But this plan of yours is going to fail. You will break down and overeat. It will be worse overeating than you would have done had you eaten normally. When you fail, don't say nobody told you so.1
-
As others have mentioned, starvation mode isn't a real thing, but 800 calories is not enough1
-
dogeatdogworld wrote: »I'm going to start taking n more protein tommrow 60mg a day
But it's still very low calorie.....so it's still more lean muscle mass than most people would be comfortable with. Skinny-fat isn't a good look.
But yeah - you're a nurse (and you know how to do it). Um, why did you ask about starvation mode if you have all the answers already?1 -
I was also a nurse before I had my child, now I'm a stay at home mom. We of all people should know that eating 800 calories a day, can do the body no good. In my nursing school, we barely took time to go over nutrition but we should still know the effects on the body. Especially if you're a current nurse and up on your feet all day long, running around. I use to work 16 hour shifts like every single day and I wouldn't be able to function on 800 calories a day.4
-
dogeatdogworld wrote: »I'm on a 1290 cal diet and for the last 2 days I've only taken in 800 cal per day plus I exercise. I am a healthy 35 year old female with an 18 month old and would really like to shed 40 lbs, so my question is, is 800 cal for a few days or a week going to cause me to go into starvation mode?
You won't be healthy too much longer... enjoy the ginormous binge on day 6...5 -
No, but the issue is getting in enough calories to fulfill optimal nutrients and macros. I've done dieting where I was way off for a couple of days. I had really "wimpy" workouts those days myself. Anyway, short term shouldn't do much or any harm at all, but don't expect a lot of fat loss if that's why you're doing it. Fat takes time to lose.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
So really you went on a crash diet. I would think as a nurse you would know 10lbs in 5days is not good, and this is not how you usually eat, or you would not be trying to lose weight. Eat your 1200 which is probably to low anyway, but we don't know your stats.1
-
no, starvation mode is a myth....check out Lyle Mcdonald's fat loss plan. It is about 800 calories but high protein to maintain muscle. I haven't tried it because I tend to binge eat, and I know if I eat that low of calories it's only a matter of time before I binge and completely ruin that caloric deficit I created while eating 800 calories.1
-
People have been fasting for various reasons for who knows how long so cutting your calories to 800 a week shouldn't do any long term damage to a healthy person.
But know this...cutting that many calories isn't going to put your body into some kind of super fat burning mode. You're going to lose the same amount of fat you would have lost eating 1200-1300 calories. You're only going to lose more water and muscle which shouldn't be your goal.
7 -
You need to eat more0
-
dogeatdogworld wrote: »I've lost 10lbs in 5 days and i take a water pill have been for a while now so I know its from the low cal intake. Its not like I'm going to continue 800 cal a day I want to stay heathly and being a nurse I definitely know how to do it!!
Apparently not. Because if you did know, you'd never have started doing this to yourself in the first place.
1 -
Eek. If I were a patient I would far rather the nurse looking after me had eaten well earlier in the day than was part way through what really amounts to a crash diet!4
-
10 lbs in 5 days? Are you aiming to get gallstones?2
-
Dear Posters,
I wanted to provide a brief explanation for locking this topic.
The forum guidelines include this item:
3. No Promotion of Unsafe Weight-Loss Techniques or Eating Disorders
a) Posts intended to promote potentially unsafe or controversial weight loss products or procedures, including non-medically prescribed supplements or MLM products will be removed without warning.
b) Profiles, groups, messages, posts, or wall comments that encourage anorexia, bulimia, or very low calorie diets of any kind will be removed, and may be grounds for account deletion. This includes positive references to ana/mia, purging, or self-starving. Our goal is to provide users with the tools to achieve their weight management goals at a steady, sustainable rate. Use of the site to promote, glamorize, or achieve dangerously low levels of eating is not permitted.
c) Photos intended to glamorize extreme thinness will be deleted.
d) Those seeking support in their recovery from eating disorders are welcome at MyFitnessPal. A growing list of support resources can be found in our Eating Disorder Resources page.
If you would like to review the forum guidelines, please visit the following link:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines
At our discretion, this locked thread may be deleted entirely in the near future.
With respect,
Alex
MyFitnessPal Community Manager8
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions