THIS IS INSANE (litterally)

TBH the daily calorie intake requirement depends on the dieter's total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which can be estimated based on age, height, weight and activity level. So you're not wrong in saying 1200 calories is very low (for the average able-bodied adult), but you're not exactly right either, because that number was not produced by a custom estimate for your friend's age and everything.

That being said. What you both *should* be doing if you want to establish a correctly estimated calorie deficit, is to start by calculating your TDEE, as well as your basal metabolic rate (BMR) which is the lowest number of calories you each should eat in a day to maintain basic bodily functions (meaning: these calories are essential for life).

You can search online for "TDEE calculator" and "BMR calculator".

Keep in mind that the TDEE number (and implicitly the BMR as well) will be higher on a day when you've burned more calories (doing sports, running, or otherwise being active). So typically you should adjust the TDEE number higher on those days to take into account the extra calories that were burned. Otherwise, you might fall under your BMR on those days without realizing it.

The online calculators do their best to count regular activity such as having a job where you're on your feet all day, for example, but they typically won't count the calories you burn through irregular activities such as doing sports. So it's the dieter's job to keep track of daily physical activity and eat more to compensate for the additional used up calories.

As a general guideline, you should never eat less calories than your BMR estimate. Doing so, even for a short while, may have a severe impact on your long-term health, and may manifest as hormonal/endocrine imbalances, hair fall out, etc. You should always take the calorie "cut" for your diet out of the TDEE number, and never go below the BMR with your daily calorie intake.

I said "as a general guideline" because aggressive diets do exist, and sometimes bodybuilding athletes do apply a severe caloric restriction *for short periods and for specific goals such as competitions*. But they always do it for a very short while, because it is incredibly taxing on the body.

Also, bodybuilders do this for a living, and they have specialist advice and follow-up. And an aggressive dieting phase has its own challenges. It will make you grumpy/hangry, tired/lethargic, even disoriented at times. If your friend is eating under her BMR, she may literally not be thinking straight because of it.

Do you guys have any access to a professional nutritionist? How about a personal trainer who is also knowledgeable about sports nutrition? Usually talking to a professional helps to get you on the right track. You might start by talking to someone for yourself, ask about setting up a proper CICO diet, then share what you've learned with your friend, and since it's coming from a figure of authority in the matter, perhaps she'd be more inclined to trust it at that point.

Another thing: a calorie deficit by itself is already an effective diet, but a calorie deficit combined with a proper physical training program is going to have much better results than just dieting. Some ehmmm, food for thought.

I hope it works out!

serpentegena wrote: »

TBH the daily calorie intake requirement depends on the dieter's total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which can be estimated based on age, height, weight and activity level. So you're not wrong in saying 1200 calories is very low (for the average able-bodied adult), but you're not exactly right either, because that number was not produced by a custom estimate for your friend's age and everything.

That being said. What you both *should* be doing if you want to establish a correctly estimated calorie deficit, is to start by calculating your TDEE, as well as your basal metabolic rate (BMR) which is the lowest number of calories you each should eat in a day to maintain basic bodily functions (meaning: these calories are essential for life).

You can search online for "TDEE calculator" and "BMR calculator".

Keep in mind that the TDEE number (and implicitly the BMR as well) will be higher on a day when you've burned more calories (doing sports, running, or otherwise being active). So typically you should adjust the TDEE number higher on those days to take into account the extra calories that were burned. Otherwise, you might fall under your BMR on those days without realizing it.

The online calculators do their best to count regular activity such as having a job where you're on your feet all day, for example, but they typically won't count the calories you burn through irregular activities such as doing sports. So it's the dieter's job to keep track of daily physical activity and eat more to compensate for the additional used up calories.

As a general guideline, you should never eat less calories than your BMR estimate. Doing so, even for a short while, may have a severe impact on your long-term health, and may manifest as hormonal/endocrine imbalances, hair fall out, etc. You should always take the calorie "cut" for your diet out of the TDEE number, and never go below the BMR with your daily calorie intake.

I said "as a general guideline" because aggressive diets do exist, and sometimes bodybuilding athletes do apply a severe caloric restriction *for short periods and for specific goals such as competitions*. But they always do it for a very short while, because it is incredibly taxing on the body.

Also, bodybuilders do this for a living, and they have specialist advice and follow-up. And an aggressive dieting phase has its own challenges. It will make you grumpy/hangry, tired/lethargic, even disoriented at times. If your friend is eating under her BMR, she may literally not be thinking straight because of it.

Do you guys have any access to a professional nutritionist? How about a personal trainer who is also knowledgeable about sports nutrition? Usually talking to a professional helps to get you on the right track. You might start by talking to someone for yourself, ask about setting up a proper CICO diet, then share what you've learned with your friend, and since it's coming from a figure of authority in the matter, perhaps she'd be more inclined to trust it at that point.

Another thing: a calorie deficit by itself is already an effective diet, but a calorie deficit combined with a proper physical training program is going to have much better results than just dieting. Some ehmmm, food for thought.

I hope it works out!

Well I do agree if your a body builder with 4% body fat getting ready for a comp then yeah severely restricting calories is idiotic but they know that. People that have a lot of weight to lose especially the obese and morbidly obese who have a few hundred thousand stored calories to use for that deficit energy shortfall requires a totally different program, and contrary to popular believe they're not going to have negative long term health problem and hair falling out. They improve immediately all blood markers, reduce fatty liver, reduce visceral fat and improve our endocrine system
with increased insulin sensitivity, decreased inflammation and improve hormones that effect (restore) our hunger signaling. What needs to be monitored under these situation and hopefully under a doctors care is overall nutrient requirements, just to make sure there's no shortfall or problems. Can someone be too aggressive, sure, but not for the reasons your alluding to. imo. Cheers

paperpudding wrote: »

I thought you had to be 18 to join here?

They have a disclaimer that this site is only for adults over 18, but there's no real way to stop anyone from joining. Frankly, if a teenager wants to use the site, I don't really have a problem with it. I mean, they're on Instagram and tiktok and everything else (that has way worse stuff). So I think it's more of a liability disclaimer.