Eating less than 1200 calories a day and/or fasting

nineteen · 11-15-2007, 03:05 AM

Does anyone here do this?

gatita · 11-15-2007, 04:38 AM

Not for maintenance, no.

I did eat around 800-1000 cals. a day when I lost weight (I did Medifast) but now I take in 1200-1700 calories a day to maintain.

NightengaleShane · 11-15-2007, 05:59 AM

only if I want to lose a few pounds very quickly. I'll also make sure I take a multivitamin.

Meg · 11-15-2007, 06:19 AM

Fasting? Never - your body will digest its muscles (including your heart) in a desperate attempt for protein if you don't feed it.

I'll drop to 1000 calories/day if I need to lose a few pounds, making sure that every calorie is as jam-packed with as much nutrition as possible.

Kery · 11-15-2007, 07:38 AM

I don't go under 1200 either. I can do it for a few days if really I need it (I'll do like Meg -- tons of nutritious foods with high volume and low calories) but I don't like it, especially in this season. Being always cold due to my weight loss + exercising on an almost-daily basis + winter doesn't work well with anything under about 1400 calories for me, and I can't go into cranky-sleepy mode, else studying and working will go down the drain. It's easier in summer, though.

featherz · 11-15-2007, 08:23 AM

Yikes! I'd pass out. I get dizzy and weak if I get even close to 1500 and I'm 125#.. Fasting is not an option for me and 1200 would be about my minimum if I need to lose weight - and even that would require me to sit around the house all day and skip any exercise, kinda defeating the purpose.

paperclippy · 11-15-2007, 09:08 AM

The first time I lost weight (and you can tell since I said "first time" that I gained it all back) I ate about 1000/day with SlimFast. It really screwed up my body. My stomach tried to digest itself and caused an ulcer, I felt like I was going to pass out half the time, and I got really nasty indigestion. This time when I lost weight I ate 1200-1700 for losing, and for maintenance I eat 1800-2000.

I haven't heard of anyone fasting for maintenance. Everyone I know personally (as opposed to online) who has fasted or eaten less than 1200/day has gained back all the weight and then some.

rockinrobin · 11-15-2007, 09:13 AM

Fasting no, never, 1000 calories or so - occasionally, yes. 1000 highly nutritious calories, spaced throughout the day very well. A few days a week perhaps, every now and then, when I either know a party is coming up and I'll be going over my calorie allotment for the event or after a weekend with too many splurges in it, for whatever reason.

ennay · 11-15-2007, 10:36 AM

Only when I was very ill - I did have that horrible sore throat for 10 days...and lost 3 lbs of MUSCLE. (well, once when I was 18 I did a very low cal thing, but I lost 10 lbs and gained 50 back shortly after...)

I have never intentionally gone below 1700 this time.

baffled111 · 11-15-2007, 12:11 PM

I never have, really. I'm not a giant fan of being hungry.

When I first lost my weight, I did it on 1200 a day plus heaps of exercise, and some days I did drop below, just as on other days I went above.

Why are you asking, btw?

Sheila53 · 11-15-2007, 12:42 PM

Never fasting because that would give me incredible reflux and set me up for a mighty binge. I occasionally go below 1200 because of some higher calorie days or because I'm not feeling well. Like the others, when I go below 1200 (and actually, even at 1200), I eat nutritious food in high quantities. I like volume.

nineteen · 11-15-2007, 01:26 PM

Meg~

Is it possible that when you go under 1200 calories or fast, your body uses up extra stored fat as opposed to eating up your organs? Because that's what *some* people do firmly believe to be true. Personally, I don't know.

Meg · 11-15-2007, 04:25 PM

Nineteen, the way I understand it is that our bodies require daily protein with its essential amino acids every day for body repair and maintenance. Your body can draw on its fat reserves for energy, but can't get meet its protein requirements from stored fat. So it will turn to its stored protein reserves, which are muscles. So when you fast, some stored fat is burned, as is some muscle.

I realize that there are many people on the Internet who disagree with me and who are adamant supporters of fasting for weight loss. I don't deny that a person will lose weight by fasting, but I believe that part of that "weight" will be muscle, as well as stored fat. So it's not something that I personally would ever consider doing.

LisaMarie71 · 11-15-2007, 07:17 PM

Besides the health considerations, which are the most important thing obviously, there's another good reason NOT to fast or dip below 1200 calories: it's simply not necessary. With healthy food and exercise, weight loss can happen with more calories than that, so why wouldn't we eat more? I just don't see any good reason for fasting.

mandalinn82 · 11-15-2007, 07:22 PM

Meg's understanding is mine as well. Your body can break down fat for energy, but there is no way to synthesize the essential amino acids your body needs for hormones, body repairs, nerve signals, and all of the other places protein is used in the body. So your body energy needs will come from stored fat. Your body protein, though, has to come from body protein...ie muscles and, if your body is desperate, organs.