Eating 500 calories and BMR .

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scarticia
scarticia Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 29 years old, I am 5'9 and weigh 269 lbs. My BMR is 2017. I started a diet 3 weeks ago and have lost 15 pounds so far. I am eating around 1000 calories a day and burning at least 500 calories at the gym alone. So my net calorie intake is 500 per day. I would like to know will I loose more weight eating more or should I continue on. I am doing well, not starving but I am trying to find the most rapid weight loss possible. I just can't seem to grasp that if I eat 500 less according to my BMR I would be eating around 2000 calories a day and that seems like a huge amount? Any info or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.
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Replies

  • SOOZIE429
    SOOZIE429 Posts: 638 Member
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    You are NOT eating enough for your body to function healthily! You should be eating your BMR at least everyday. Start with this recent thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/539980-people-who-have-had-success-by-upping-their-calories

    But there are a bunch more. Please do your research before you cause a ton of health problems. A net of 500 calories a day is going to screw up your metabolism. And you'll easily gain all the weight back you lose. Please eat more.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    I think this is a really bad way of doing things, as it would be dangerous to your health to sustain such low calorie intake longterm. No way would I contemplate exercising off 500 calories and eating only 1000.
    I did that sort of thing in my anorexia days. and it is just not very sensible in my opinion.
  • sjeagle30
    sjeagle30 Posts: 292 Member
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    Well I can tell you that everyone on here is going to yell at you for having only 500 net calories :tongue: That is way too little for anyone. Slow weight loss is the way to go. Im relatively new to this site and that is one thing I see repeatedly. You also most likely will not be able to maintain a 500 a day calorie lifestyle. 2000 calories per day is not a lot at all. Most likely if you were like me before even coming to this site that can easily be doen in one meal of wrong food choices. There are several tools to figure out your BMR and TDEE then just reduce it by maybe 20 percent from what I have been told......and drinks tons of water. Good luck.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    Unless you are planning on eating very low calories/day for the rest of your life, it's probably counterproductive.

    Slow and steady ... wins the race!
  • kimstwin
    kimstwin Posts: 136 Member
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    We have similar stats. I net 1500-1800 daily. There is a group on here about eating more and losing. The problem with your strategy is eventually you can't sustain and be satisfied on 500 net calories.
  • joepat21
    joepat21 Posts: 13
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    Look online for a program called "Rapid Fat Loss" by Lyle McDonald. This is not a life maintenance solution by any stretch of the imagination but it could provide some structure to what you are trying to accomplish.
  • dododo123
    dododo123 Posts: 105 Member
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    You are eating way too little.... I have done what you did before. I stopped when my breathing stopped at the gym for about 10 seconds, could not breathe no matter what I did, fell down, and when I could finally get back up, I stopped my crazy low cal diet and never looked back. Do not do this to yourself...
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I am 29 years old, I am 5'9 and weigh 269 lbs. My BMR is 2017. I started a diet 3 weeks ago and have lost 15 pounds so far. I am eating around 1000 calories a day and burning at least 500 calories at the gym alone. So my net calorie intake is 500 per day. I would like to know will I loose more weight eating more or should I continue on. I am doing well, not starving but I am trying to find the most rapid weight loss possible. I just can't seem to grasp that if I eat 500 less according to my BMR I would be eating around 2000 calories a day and that seems like a huge amount? Any info or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

    Losing weight as fast as possible is poor approach because you will lose fat AND MUSCLE. What you want to do (I'm pretty sure) is lose fat while KEEPING Muscle.

    Think of eating exercise calories as FUEL for your workouts. The lowest NET calorie amount MFP recommends is 1200 because even COMATOSE people need calories for basic bodily function (brain activity, cardio, respritory, etc)

    Net calories = calories in (food) VS. calories out (exercise)
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    I am 29 years old, I am 5'9 and weigh 269 lbs. My BMR is 2017. I started a diet 3 weeks ago and have lost 15 pounds so far. I am eating around 1000 calories a day and burning at least 500 calories at the gym alone. So my net calorie intake is 500 per day. I would like to know will I loose more weight eating more or should I continue on. I am doing well, not starving but I am trying to find the most rapid weight loss possible. I just can't seem to grasp that if I eat 500 less according to my BMR I would be eating around 2000 calories a day and that seems like a huge amount? Any info or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

    Honest answer? You'll probably lose weight faster on the net 500 calories a day diet than you would by eating more, at least at first (I suspect your weigh loss will taper off and grind to a halt later as you make sub-conscious adjustments to keep from burning your precious fuel).

    BUT unless you're being carefully supervised by a doctor, I STRONGLY recommend against that approach. It is very difficult to get the nutrients you need to be healthy on a very low calorie diet (VLCD), which is what you are doing.

    "Nutrients" means more than just calories- you need a balanced diet with adequate protein, fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Without these, you'll become malnourished and could do long-term harm to your body.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
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    I am 29 years old, I am 5'9 and weigh 269 lbs. My BMR is 2017. I started a diet 3 weeks ago and have lost 15 pounds so far. I am eating around 1000 calories a day and burning at least 500 calories at the gym alone. So my net calorie intake is 500 per day. I would like to know will I loose more weight eating more or should I continue on. I am doing well, not starving but I am trying to find the most rapid weight loss possible. I just can't seem to grasp that if I eat 500 less according to my BMR I would be eating around 2000 calories a day and that seems like a huge amount? Any info or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

    Honest answer? You'll probably lose weight faster on the net 500 calories a day diet than you would by eating more, at least at first (I suspect your weigh loss will taper off and grind to a halt later as you make sub-conscious adjustments to keep from burning your precious fuel).

    BUT unless you're being carefully supervised by a doctor, I STRONGLY recommend against that approach. It is very difficult to get the nutrients you need to be healthy on a very low calorie diet (VLCD), which is what you are doing.

    "Nutrients" means more than just calories- you need a balanced diet with adequate protein, fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Without these, you'll become malnourished and could do long-term harm to your body.

    This
  • scarticia
    scarticia Posts: 16
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    Thank you all for your responses I understand that it is a small amount of calories but right now it's working and I feel so much better than I did 3 weeks ago. I am at a point of being so heavy that the benefits out way the risks for me. Yes ultimately I want to loose weight while being healthy but I also can't only loose 4 pounds a month as opposed to a week. I have read articles that consuming 500 less than your BMR drops more pounds than the 500 calorie diet so my question remains would i Loose more weight eating the 2000 calories a day than my net of 500?
  • Anthonydaman
    Anthonydaman Posts: 854 Member
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    Do what you are doing until you plateau, then change it by eating more calories.
  • beth40n2
    beth40n2 Posts: 233 Member
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    Any doctor will tell you that a women no matter how small should eat at least 1200 calories a day. This is set up to eat 1200 plus your exercise calories. If you eat too little you will go into starvation mode, which this website will tell you everyday you eat less than 1200 calories. You are only going to slow your metabolism down and soon you will not be making any progress!

    Eat healthy, fast weight loss is not good, you WILL rebound and gain it all back.

    Be smart!:bigsmile:
  • zacherybinx
    zacherybinx Posts: 215 Member
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    I don't know about the 2000 vs 500 but what you're doing is definitely unhealthy. I'd aim for 1200 net at minimum...so if you workout and burn 500 calories you'd want to eat a total of 1700 calories that day. If you're finding that hard to do have a banana or two in between meals throughout the day.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
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    Thank you all for your responses I understand that it is a small amount of calories but right now it's working and I feel so much better than I did 3 weeks ago. I am at a point of being so heavy that the benefits out way the risks for me. Yes ultimately I want to loose weight while being healthy but I also can't only loose 4 pounds a month as opposed to a week. I have read articles that consuming 500 less than your BMR drops more pounds than the 500 calorie diet so my question remains would i Loose more weight eating the 2000 calories a day than my net of 500?

    No
  • BarbWhite09
    BarbWhite09 Posts: 1,128 Member
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    Oh man, if anyone ever posts about a super low calorie diet they instantly get griped at on here.
    Do you feel satisfied eating that amount? Do you feel weak or light headed? Having any trouble sleeping? How's your concentration? It's not ideal to eat that little of an amount but there are people who are able to eat that amount & be alright for a decent period of time. Your metabolism will eventually slow down though & you will probably plateau. The plateau can be really discouraging to a lot of people. Plus if you start eating more you will more than likely gain weight fairly quickly...You need to try to stick with a calorie range that you can maintain throughout your life, or you will probably end up yo-yo dieting constantly.
    I upped my calorie intake & actually lost more weight. I eat about 1350 a day [5'3 & 132ish lbs] and it really helped my weight loss.
    Good luck doll! :)
  • Tashry
    Tashry Posts: 151 Member
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    Every person is different as to what approach would cause you to lose the weight faster. However, if you want to lose it and be healthy, up your calories. You may feel okay now, but you are in for some big health problems down the road if you maintain a 500 calories net each day. Not to mention that you are more likely to put the weight back on down the road. Being healthy is more important that being thin, and you will still get to your goals doing it the healthy way, even if it MAY take a bit longer. I say may because if you keep your net calories down too low for too long you will find that your metabolism slows down and your weight loss will stop. By upping your calories you can maintain a faster metabolism and keep those pounds coming off.
  • kaitlynnrogers
    kaitlynnrogers Posts: 142 Member
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    Thank you all for your responses I understand that it is a small amount of calories but right now it's working and I feel so much better than I did 3 weeks ago. I am at a point of being so heavy that the benefits out way the risks for me. Yes ultimately I want to loose weight while being healthy but I also can't only loose 4 pounds a month as opposed to a week. I have read articles that consuming 500 less than your BMR drops more pounds than the 500 calorie diet so my question remains would i Loose more weight eating the 2000 calories a day than my net of 500?

    so assuming you workout 3-5 days a week i calculated your TDEE..you're suppose to eat 80 percent of your TDEE
    YOUR TDEE=3112
    so
    3112 x 0.8=2489

    that is what you should be eating a day..go to tools at the top and calculate your BMR..never NET below your BMR or you will lose muscle..so to answer your question..yes, you would lose more weight eating 2000 calories a day..and it might take a while for your body to get use to but as soon as it does you'll be losing like crazy and make sure you recalculate it when you start dropping weight!(:

    hope this helps!!
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
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    I have read articles that consuming 500 less than your BMR drops more pounds than the 500 calorie diet so my question remains would i Loose more weight eating the 2000 calories a day than my net of 500?

    In short... Yes... but over a longer period. A diet isn't just about losing the weight, but also retraining your body and your mind to eat more healthily. Eating 500 a day is just as unhealthy as eating 6000 and sooner or later, your body will rebel either by refusing to work properly or doing what you don't want it to.

    Bringing it such a small amount for a long period is only going to train it to function on less, and since you're way under even the basic amount, it will start shutting down to conserve the little energy it's getting. Surely not the result you were hoping for!

    Then, of course, what happens after? Feed it even a little bit more and it'll store it for the famine you've trained it to expect... In fat stores.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    Yes ultimately I want to loose weight while being healthy but I also can't only loose 4 pounds a month as opposed to a week.

    Yes you can.

    And tell me; who loses more weight? Someone who eats 500 calories a day for a month, then succumbs to illness or binging, or someone who picks a livable amount and sticks with it long-term?

    People are telling you off, not because they want you to be fat, but because many people here have either tried these diets themselves or seen friends try them, and seen the effects directly.

    I know my mother has always warned me, because when she was in her 20s she was on a 500 cal/day diet (under a doctor's supervision) -- and yes, she lost weight. Then when she put her calories to 1200 afterwards, she started gaining weight. She also had no energy for tennis, which she'd always loved -- ultimately, it took her a year of good eating to recover her energy and by then she was well over her starting point.

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