Am I Dropping My Calories Too Much?
 

I weigh 213, I'm 5'6". I work out 2-4 hours everyday. I am aiming to take in 800-1000 calories a day with less than 40g. of Carbs, Low Fat, High Fiber, High Protien. 2 liters of water in everyday...

but i keep reading what everyone else is doing and it makes me wonder if i'm not taking it too far? :?: i'm trying to lose weight at about 3-5 lbs a week, but I don't to be unhealthy! And Frankly - I'm HUNGRY!!! Some people at work told me to supplement the hunger with water, but it really isnt cutting it and I dont want to start wasting muscle mass.

Help!

Well, there are lots of opinions out there, but I would think you are taking it a bit too far, especially if you are not being medically supervised.

Why do you feel the need to lose so fast? I'd be concerned that you wouldn't be able to maintain, binge, crash, and give it up, only to gain back what you lost and then some... Plus, I'd wonder if you were getting in enough nutrients and being good to your body. At 213 I'd think you could lose weight and be healthy and learn what to do to keep it off for the long term.

If you go below 1200-1500 you are sending your body into starvation mode. If you do that you won't lose weight anyway. I know that you want to loose fast, but to cut down too much you won't lose weight fast and you will eventually not lose weight at all and gain it.

Way too low and 3-5 pounds a week is an unhealthy weight loss goal. 1-2 pounds is a safe one.

And, from another view: why make it so unpleasant on yourself? If you can lose the weight, just a bit slower, at 1800 cal (or 1700, or whatever), why make the journey so punishing? Life is just too short and there is too much pain in it as it is... I'm just not a believer in voluntarily adding any more to it. :)

The same goes with exercise- I much prefer exercising in ways that I enjoy rather than ways that I suffer through.

hhmmm... OK. Thanks! :) How do I know how many calories I have to take it to stay at the same weight?

What is Starvation Mode?

It does seem rather low for someone so active. No wonder you're hungry! I did one full week of less than 1000 kcals a day (I weighed around 200 pounds, IIRC), and I was weak and headachey. Plus I was exercising a lot less than you are.

As for water being filling, I've never got that. :?: Water doesn't hang around in the stomach for nearly long enough to make a difference.

re: water filling - i didnt understand it much either and frankly - it doesnt work! :)

[standard disclaimer] Well, I'm no dietitian, but

Well, with 2-4 hours of exercise, and at your weight and height, I'd think that there is a very good chance that you'll lose well on even 2000 cal's/day. I'd say at lowest, 1800 - 2000 (again especially considering your level of exercise). Then, just hold that for a few weeks (maybe even a month) and see how it goes.

(only offered because you asked- you'd get more in-depth [and I'm certain better] info browsing the calorie counters forum) :)

I agree.... it's way too low.

If you want to go that low, you need to be medically supervised.
Other than that, I see no problem with it (other than it must get difficult to keep your exercise up).
Fact is: your body must go into starvation mode in order to burn fat... if you weren't "starving" your body of necessary calories, why would it breakdown the fat that leads to weight loss? I get so tired of hearing that. By everyone else's logic, I should be completely without energy and without any weight loss. Its just not so.
If you are trying to get yourself into ketosis, lower the carbs and up the protein (helps protect muscle). Once in ketosis, you shouldn't really feel physically hungry (its more a mental hunger). You don't need to have such low calories to maintain ketosis, just low carb. Also, fish oil is a good supplement for this. I hope that in all that exercise that you are also lifting. The fact is: you cannot lose ONLY fat, there will be muscle loss no matter what you do, but it doesn't have to be significant - high protein and lifting helps protect muscles.
Ultimately, you need to do what you are comfortable with and that you can sustain. If your weight NEEDS to come off now, like me, then don't do this plan without medical supervision. It WILL work, but you need to be safe.

I will tell you from personal experience that while you will lose weight at that amount of calories, it will be nearly impossible to maintain it. I lost 95 pounds many years ago by eating 400 to 600 calories a day, I did lose it faster than I am losing now but no one can maintain that kind of caloric intake long term and so once I started eating again I gained it back along with more. You are exercising a lot, so I agree that you would probably want to keep your calories above 1600. Starvation mode is when you cut your calories back so much that your body starts saving all it can and burning fewer calories a day to make up for the drastic decrease in calories and save you from starving to death (as if you were in a time of famine). There are several websites you can go to and find out what you would need to get in to stay at your current body weight, fitday.com is one but there are others out there as well.

Amanda, there is a point where your body burns fewer calories because you are taking in fewer calories. Yes you need to take in fewer calories than you burn in order to lose weight, and yes you will lose weight taking in an extremely low number of calories, but it is not necessary in order to lose weight. In fact, you can hear lots of stories of people who were in fact taking in fewer calories and not losing weight and when they increased their caloric intake a couple hundred calories they started losing.

I think that whatever works for people is great, but I've heard way more stories of people who lost weight at a 1-2 pound a week loss and kept it off than stories of people, like me, who lost it quicker by taking in very few calories and kept it off long term. There was just no way I could keep eating that low of calories long term, and I gained by increasing my caloric intake not a whole lot at that point. I also got gallstones after losing my weight that way, which was not fun at all.

wow! thanks for all the input guys!
i'm going to talk to a doctor about it, and see what he says but for now, i upped my calories to 1300 for today. :)

That is a good idea Kate! The 1300 calories should help you feel a lot fuller, I've been doing 1200 to 1600 a day, usually staying at around 1300 (until I joined weight watchers last week and now i'm following their system) and I felt like I was getting enough in. I do not exercise as much as you, but I SHOULD exercise more, so I'm working on it, lol. :)