1) Will I gain 1lb if I eat a total of 3500 calories, or if I ate 3500 calories more than I burned in a day? Because as I understand, you will lose 1lb if you have a total of 3500 deficit. So basically it's the same with gaining, right? I will not gain 1lb by eating 3500 calories, but I will gain 1lb from having a surplus (I hope it's the right word for it) of 3500 calories on a day.
Ex.: I ate 5500 calories and burned 'only' 2000 calories, then I gain 1lb.
I ate 3500 calories and burned 2000 calories, I won't gain 1lb, because my
surplus is 'only' 1500 calories, so I don't gain 1lb.
2) How much can my metabolism slow down if I consume 500 calories a day for 1 month?
My BMR is 1415 right now, so it means if I lay the whole day without doing anything, I will still burn a total of 1415 calories, right? So.. on a basic day I burn around 2000 calories. And if I everyday eat 500 calories for 1 month can my metabolism slow down to the rate that I will have a BMR of 500?? Or is it not possible for that to happen in only one month?
P.S. Please answer only if you really know it and please don't tell me 500 calories a day is too little, I know that. But if in summer I won't be 121 lbs, I will be really down, and I mean: really down. I know I should of began earlier, but I was stupid enough by thinking: I still have time. But it's just now that I'm really motivated.
Oh and I don't believe in 'starvation mode' (:
Thank you very much for reading all this and answering my questions!!
1) Yes, you have it right. You'll only gain a pound (of fat) if you eat 3500 calories above what you burn (5500 eaten - 2000 burned = 3500 surplus). You'll lose a pound when you create that 3500 calorie deficit.
2) I don't think it can slow down that much in a month, but you will be depriving your body of nutrients on such a starvation diet. Plus, you may make yourself susceptible to binging and gaining the weight back (and then some). You'll probably also lose muscle in the process.
Why are you in such a rush to get to 121 pounds? This is life, not a race.
If you don't believe in "starvation mode," I'm confused about your second question as it implies a belief in starvation mode (or maybe I misunderstood you).
Also, your brain needs a certain amount of calories and fat to do its job. You may find that eating 500 calories a day leaves you really really down because you are starving yourself. That is anorectic behavior.
You would be better off calling a therapist to talk about why your happiness depends on a number on the scale rather than trying to force your body down to a certain weight in an unhealthy way.
sontaikle: I'm in a rush because it is my goal for this summer vacation. I know I'm very stupid about not thinking about this earlier, but I can't do anything about it anymore I guess, so that's why I'm in such a rush (:
lin43: well.. what I understand about starvation mode is that when you eat very few calories a day (like 500 cals), you won't lose any more weight. And then even gain weight when you start to eat more than 500 cals, like 1000-1800. <-- That's what I don't believe.
I do believe you will gain a bit when you start eating more, but not that it will stay and not that you'll gain more and more weight..
seagirl: Well.. that was kind of harsh -.- I'm not anorexic, I don't find super skinny girls/boys with only skin on their bones attractive and I don't plan on eating 500 or less my whole life. I'm not even happy about eating so little. I just want to lose weight before this summer vacation really badly. And the weight that I want to be this summer vacation, was just my goal already from beginning of the past summer vacation (though my UGW is 110lbs). But as I already said, I'm very stupid about postponing it until it was very late; now.
I did lose weight in autumn, winter and spring this year, but gained it all back because I 'gave up' and told to myself that I still have a lot of time.
And about that happiness shouldn't depend on a number on the scale.. about that you're right perhaps, my happiness shouldn't depend on that. But well, it still does (: That's just my biggest goal now. And I can't just give up on it.
It sounds like you have made up your mind, so just do it until you either hit a month and succeed or can't take anymore and binge. Good luck! Sounds like a very hard month ahead.
1) Yes, you have it right. You'll only gain a pound (of fat) if you eat 3500 calories above what you burn (5500 eaten - 2000 burned = 3500 surplus). You'll lose a pound when you create that 3500 calorie deficit.
2) I don't think it can slow down that much in a month, but you will be depriving your body of nutrients on such a starvation diet. Plus, you may make yourself susceptible to binging and gaining the weight back (and then some). You'll probably also lose muscle in the process.
Why are you in such a rush to get to 121 pounds? This is life, not a race.
I agree! On a diet that low in calories you run the very real risk of making yourself very ill. That's a bigger issue than any metabolic impact would be.
1) Will I gain 1lb if I eat a total of 3500 calories, or if I ate 3500 calories more than I burned in a day?
It would have to be 3500 calories more than what you burn (but what you burn can be effected). You can't burn zero, so if you ate 3500 calories in a day, you couldn't gain one pound from it - but even the experts don't know (or at least I haven't read so) how low metabolism can be reduced. Can your BMR be reduced to 500 calories per day or less? I'm not sure.
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2) How much can my metabolism slow down if I consume 500 calories a day for 1 month?
As I said, even the experts don't know - but it can be a lot (I now lose only 2 lbs a month on a calorie level that used to net me a weekly loss of 5 to 7 lbs - and I don't just mean the first month - I mean weeks and weeks of 5 - 7 lbs. I blame a lifetime of vlcd's and yoyo diets).
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My BMR is 1415 right now, so it means if I lay the whole day without doing anything, I will still burn a total of 1415 calories, right?
Nope. First of all, there's no way to know this is your BMR without very complex laboratory testing (as in living in basically a plastic bubble for several months, with all your food, water, and body fluids - sweat, urine, feces being measured, as well as your body temp and every move is observed).
So unless you've had that kind of testing (and probably even then) 1415 - is just an estimate of your BMR. And your BMR is affected by a gazillion things, including illness, injury, what you eat, how well you sleep, which bacteria and viruses you've been exposed to, the temperature of your environment ... a gazillion things)
That's the main problem - we don't know how much crash-dieting affects metabolism, and whether or not they're permanent or long-lasting.
Some of the research suggests that the metabolic decline is permanent (or at least quite long lasting). Some suggests that exercise can help increase metabolism.
How low can it go - can you end up with a metabolism that will not allow you to lose weight on more than 500 calories? Probably not.
1800 (instead of 2000 which used to be average, now 1800 is)? 1500?
1200 calories? 1000 calories?
Maybe. But metabolic decline isn't your biggest problem with a vlcd. Metabolism and calorie restriction can sort of be seen as "budget cutting" of a big corporation. The budget cuts can have serious consequences, and you can't control where the budget cuts will be made.
When you drastically cut your calories, your body may start "cutting funding" to less vital processes. And the more you cut, the more "budget cuts" your body will make. For example, some recent research has found that calorie restriction, even small cuts, impairs the immune system. It's quite possible that this impairment suggests a cut in BMR (your body may no longer be "spending" as much on immune system processes). Now does this mean your BMR is reduced by 10 calories or by 300? No one knows.
What we do know is that even small calorie deficits can compromise immunity making us more susceptible to viruses, bacteria, and other illnesses (it doesn't mean don't calorie restrict - but it might mean be even more aware of handwashing and hygeine).
Where the budget cuts are made is extremely important, and it's something you have absolutely no control over. VLCD's are associated with serious complications including organ damage (primarily the heart - thousands of people, even very young people have died of heart attack because of VLCD's - and sometimes the damage was done over months, and sometimes in much less time).
So your metabolism is the least of your worries on a vlcd. You could face side effects ranging from permanent and even fatal kidney, liver, and/or heart damage, immune issues from colds, viruses, to warts and cancer (cancer probably being much more a long-term risk from prolonged or repeated vlcd yoyo dieting), gallstones and other gallbladder issues (even requireing gallbladder removal), kidney and bladder stones, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, seborrheic dermatitis, acne, dry/flaky skin and other skin issues, hair damage and hair loss (sometimes thinning, sometimes falling out in clumps), finger and toenail problems including fungus infections and brittle/dry condition, autoimmune diseases...
And worst of all... vlcd's are addictive, because it's an amazing rush to lose weight rapidly. Once you've experienced it, it's so hard to stop, even when you KNOW that your metabolism, health, and even life are at stake.
By my mid-teens I knew from experience that vlced's could cause hair loss, brittle nails, terribly dry skin... It's kind of freaky to be 16 and have your hair fall out in clumps.
By my early and mid twenties, I knew (from all my dieting reading) that vlcd's could damage the gallbladder, kidneys, liver, heart (causing mitrovalve prolapse or even fatal cardiac arrest by way of electrolyte loss).
And even though I knew all this, vlcd's were extremely tempting. Only now, I've experienced so many of the unpleasant and even dangerous side effects of crash dieting, I still have to remind myself that vlcd's are like heroine or crack - not worth the risks.
If you think I'm trying to scare you - I am, because I'd give almost anything to have not had to learn the hard way. I'm currently very sick and disabled, and even the doctors can't tell me whether my weight caused all the nasty health problems, or whether crash dieting did. It doesn't really matter, because I'm convinced they're both the same thing - because I think the vlcd's contributed more to weight gain than they did weight loss.
If I had never, ever, not-even-once restricted my calories under 500 calories (or 1000 for that matter), I firmly believe that I would have never gotten as fat as I did. When I stopped crash dieting (in my mid to late 20's), I also stopped gaining weight. So I wonder whether I would have ever gotten over 300 lbs or even over 200 lbs if I had never crash dieted. I can't know, but I suspect (and so do many of the experts).
I would love to save everyone from the mistakes I made, but I know I can't. Especially since our culture doesn't believe (or care) about the risks.
The risks are real. If you don't believe me, please ask your own doctor. Some of the risks are rare, but the rarity doesn't matter a fig if you're the one in a thousand who it happens to.
kaplods: that's a lot of useful information you gave me, thank you very much! and of course I do believe you! I know there are risks from eating very little, but I just thought/think that if I do it for only one month, it won't have such a big impact on my body, and it will even kind of.. cleanse my body. Or am I completely wrong about that last thing? Hehe.
kaplods: that's a lot of useful information you gave me, thank you very much! and of course I do believe you! I know there are risks from eating very little, but I just thought/think that if I do it for only one month, it won't have such a big impact on my body, and it will even kind of.. cleanse my body. Or am I completely wrong about that last thing? Hehe.
Totally wrong.
I want to issue you a grave warning. Between March 11 2011 and the middle of April I ate close to nothing. I lived in Japan during that time and was involved in an evacuation. It was a very stressful time, and feeding myself was priority #1,000. In those weeks, as a healthy weight, young, active person I experienced a "cardiac event." We don't know if it was caused by radiation exposure, low calorie intake, or stress. In either event, I wouldn't take a chance like that. It's not worth it to your health. That's not the kind of 'big impact' you want to make!
kaplods: that's a lot of useful information you gave me, thank you very much! and of course I do believe you! I know there are risks from eating very little, but I just thought/think that if I do it for only one month, it won't have such a big impact on my body, and it will even kind of.. cleanse my body. Or am I completely wrong about that last thing? Hehe.
Totally wrong. Your body is self cleansing. Healthy functioning liver, kidney, sweat glands, bladder, bowel, etc. Your body is "cleansing" every day all on its own. Not eating will just stress your system.
I want to issue you a grave warning. Between March 11 2011 and the middle of April I ate close to nothing. I lived in Japan during that time and was involved in an evacuation. It was a very stressful time, and feeding myself was priority #1,000. In those weeks, as a healthy weight, young, active person I experienced a "cardiac event." We don't know if it was caused by radiation exposure, low calorie intake, or stress. In either event, I wouldn't take a chance like that. It's not worth it to your health. That's not the kind of 'big impact' you want to make!
Scary! I have to say you are such an inspiration. You look so fantastic! I pretty much think whatever plan you followed is the one I want to follow! I have yet to see anyone on here who has said "A crash diet got all this weight off, built these gorgeous muscles and made me look this fabulous in the long term!"
kaplods: that's a lot of useful information you gave me, thank you very much! and of course I do believe you! I know there are risks from eating very little, but I just thought/think that if I do it for only one month, it won't have such a big impact on my body, and it will even kind of.. cleanse my body. Or am I completely wrong about that last thing? Hehe.
Well as already mentioned, the cleanse part is complete nonsense. Researchers have studied the effects of so-called cleanses (both the fasting and the diarrhea causing medications and teas, as well as enemas and other so-called cleanses) - and there's no sign of any more or fewer "toxins" in the bodies (or in the body fluids) of the cleansers and the non-cleansers.
As for the harm of a month-long fast or vcd - I can't tell you that a month of vlcd would seriously harm you, but I also can't tell you that it couldn't.
The risks of vlcd's and fasting are like playing russion roulette. You could be the unlucky winner of a fatal heart attack, or you could get nothing worse than bad breath or a few extra strands of hair loss.
There are no guarantees, but the worse aspect is the addictive nature of vlcd's. Because even if you escape the worst possible outcomes - heck especiallyh if you escape the worst possible outcomes, it makes it that much easier to try it again -
You think "ooh, nothing bad happened to me" or "nothing THAT bad happened to me," and so you forget that the gun is loaded and you keep shooting yourself in the head with it - eventually you're going to get a bullet.
And if you've been playing the game for a long time, even the bullets don't stop you, if they were small enough - so anything that doesn't kill you will encourage you to keep shooting.
I've had some horrendouse effects that probably have come from crash-dieting, yet the temptation is still there - because I didn't get those effects from the first time, or even the first dozen times - but eventually your luck runs out and you take a bullet. Will it be a small bullet and your hair will fall out? Or will it be a big bullet and you have a fatal heart attack?
like other's have said no one really knows, and everyone is different- some people are fine after crash dieting, others gain alot of weight back. I've read about protein fasts, I think the "metabolic research center" plan (which there is a section for here on these forums) is one and is very low calorie.
my only concern is that you said you gave up all the other times, so it sounds like you aren't ready to make this a life style change. I know you said you are focusing on the now and can't change the past, but lets try to make sure you don't regain and you reach your goal weight and stay there. as you can read from kaplods posts, becoming a lifetime yoyo dieter isn't the way to go.
you'll read on these forums there really is "no giving up", if you slip up or cheat on your diet you get right back on track at the next meal, not wait till summer vacation. after your vacation are you planning on just going back to how you ate before? I think once you are on vacation you'll be so hungry after eating only 500 calories a day for a month you'll forget about eating right and pig out and gain all the weight back.
Calories and metabolism
