Hi everyone... first of all I want to explain, I started eating healthy just 2 days ago, as I´m hipothiroid and have insulin resistance I decided to do it the right way and go to the doctor. He asked for multiple exams, including one to determine my BMR and even a resistance test (sorry, I don´t know how you call it in english but it´s the one to check your heart so you walk/run in a treadmill which keeps getting faster and with more resistance buaghh). Anyway, he game me a plan of about 1200- 1300 calories, and I have to exercise 5 times a week (using my Polar) but I´ve been having trouble getting all that calories in.
On the other hand my best friend started dieting like 2 weeks ago, she´s eating like 600 calories daily, I KNOW it can´t be good, but I really want to know why, to help her, and to convince myself that I´m not eating too much.. Sorry, I know I went to the doc, I know he knows more than me, but anyway I´m kind of scared I won´t loose any weight.. stupid thought, I know, but maybe you can help me...

(I´m really sorry if youve had to answer this questions many many times before, but I really want to convince myself Im doing it right.. the Dr is really nice but hes kind of busy so I prefer asking you..)

When I went to my doctor she told me that 1200 calories a day is the LOWEST you should eat, and if you are that low, you should take a multivitamin every day to make sure you are getting what you need. If you go below that, the thinking is your metabolism will slow down because you are in starvation mode. Anorexics who have eaten very few calories find that when they finally start eating (if they do) their metabolism is all messed up.

Hope that helps. I'm sure others will weigh in, too. People are always talking about making sure to get enough fuel.

Your body will think it's going through a famine and will store fat. It goes into starvation mode. Storing up water and fat for when you eat next. You friend is probably right on with her calories intake, depending on her activity level. Your doc probably prescribed 1200 for you based on your activity level.
I've found that after I eat a little more than normal I'll loose weight. Your body goes "phew! there's food again! I can let go of some fat!" Kinda. Other 3FCers can explain better.

EDIT: Oops, I read your friend eats 1600 calories a day. My bad. You'll be much more successful with 1200 in the long run.

It really depends
1) Your body can start storing fat when you are too low on calories and instead burn muscle
2) If you don't get enough fat (easy to do on a very low calorie diet), your hair can start falling out and other things such as your skin and nails can suffer
3) If you don't get enough of the right vitamins, lots of various problems can occur.
4) Your metabolism will slow to be more efficient so your weight loss could stops/slow and hard to speed back up
5) Your body will intensify cravings to get you to eat

Overall, its not very healthy and not very conducive to weight loss in the long run.

your intestines can also get all messed up, causing a lot of pain.

I'm not sure what is considered healthy, but I count calories too. I try to eat between 500-750 a day. I have not had any physical side effects from low calories & have lost 29 lbs in 8 weeks.

A very low calorie diet signals to your body that you are starving and your metabolism slows down, and begins storing fat and burning muscle. It is a starvation mechanism. You need a certain number of calories to defy that mechanism. You are more likely to have weightloss success then your friend in the long term because you are more likely to maintain a 1200 calorie diet and not feel starved, and your metabolism will not slow down. Your friend on the other had is going to starve off a few lbs, slow down her metabolism, and then binge like crazy till she gains it all back and then some.

Ohh thanks for answering so quickly... I do feel more confident with my 1200 calorie diet now..
And I´m going to talk to her about this..

Wow - 500-750?!?
I did the same thing when I was a teen because of some medication I was on. I lost weight FAST. I would go days without eating.
Guess what? I'm here.
Gained it ALL back.
It will work short term, but this is not a long term solution and you will be a lot less successful in the long run. Not to mention making yourself miserably hungry in the process!!!
You can't be getting all you nutrients and it's not a sustainable diet plan.

I'm seeing a lot of talk around here about calorie restricting and I'm really not liking it!

All it will do is set you up for failure when you train your body to survive on that few calories. As soon as you begin to eat enough to actually fulfill your nutrition requirements you will gain the weight back and then some, with lightening speed. I've been there, done that... I won't be taking that risk again.

The only healthy way to lose weight is through a healthy BALANCED diet with enough calories to sustain life and to get your body moving! On a good run I can burn 500 calories!!! Your body needs the fuel to power your muscles, body functions, and for goodness sakes your BRAIN!

I don't know a whole lot of people who can live their whole lives on that many calories. It's surely not sustainable.

You're body will most likely go into starvation mode with that amount of calories, because it's simply not enough and doesn't provide the amount of nutrients you need in order to be healthy.

Also, as you lose weight your body needs less calories in order to lose, so where are you going to go from 500? You can't manage on 400 or 300 a day so I'd really push it upto about 1500 and see how it goes from there.

I would strongly advise you to consider more calories. Not only will you very quickly regain the weight when you eat normally, but you could be damaging your internal organs due to lack of nutrients. Your body NEEDS fuel, plain and simple and 500-750 calories simply does not cut it. Also, please consider the fact that you could be damaging any future attempt at weightloss. Extremely low calorie diets can very adversly affect your metabolism.

Can I ask you, what happens when (not if, but when) you hit a plateau and stop losing? Do you stop eating all together?

What everyone else said.

This is NOT HEALTHY people. This isn't even sane. You're damaging your body and your metabolism.

Please rethink this.

.

Of course the funny (sad) part is that you can actually lose more weight by eating more calories because your body is more willing to burn fat if properly fed. Of course there is a balance you need to try to achieve between eating to fuel your body and eating to fuel your fat cells

Unless you are on a medically supervised diet, it is reckless to eat under 1200 calories a day. Take it from someone who knows first hand.