Every diet is a form of calorie restriction. I was peering at the South Beach Diet, Phase 1, and according to the plan I saw online, one would eat approx. 1000 cal. per day.

I've found many dip well below the 1200 mark.

I'm not criticizing - just observing.

Has anyone else added up the calories in popular, structured diets?

I personally did south beach diet 2 years ago and I ate way more than 1000 calories. U can eat any amount you want ( within reason) of the allotted foods for each plan. It just is VERYYY restricitve.

When I was on Jenny Craig around 1994 they started me on 1,400 and reduced it to 1,200 when I was close to goal.

I've seen accounts online about Weight Watchers and some of them seem to end up at the sub-1200 calorie mark even when eating all of their points.

I don't know if this is a common thing, or just a unique circumstance with the right combination of food choices.

It all comes down to one thing, we must reduce calories to lose weight .

I was on Nutrisystem, and it supposedly ranged from 1200 to 1400 per day. For me, it was closer to 1400. I rarely ate 1200. It depended on your choice of add-ins.

last time I saw my doctor he wanted me to consume no more than 900 calories a day.
He said I did not exercise enough to warrant more. I am also 51 years old. maybe if i was younger and more active he would have suugested more calories but I can easily consume 900 calories before 10 am. So what's the point!
No just kidding . I am not on any standard diet, just doing my own hard core vegan thing and no booze, no bread, no non-dairy coffee creamer...

Low-carb diets do not primarily work by calorie restriction - they work by regulating insulin levels. The moderate-carb diet I was on had no calorie restrictions laid out in the diet, only grams of carbohydrates. I started eating more calories when I switched from calorie-counting to that diet and I lost weight faster and more consistently.

I just find that most "popular diets" are on the super low end of the calorie range. I mean, "The Zone" comes in at barely 1200 a day.

As others have pointed out, so do Weight Watchers and Nurtisystem. Doctors also tend to prescribe super-low- calories....

I'm not trying to draw any conclusions here.... I just think it is fascinating how low these diets go!

ERHR: Last year I remember seeing a BBC documentary.... something like "The Truth about Carbs". They studied people on low-carb diets and found they generally were fuller on less food for a longer period of time. Thus, they actually did create a larger calorie deficit than when they were on a regular diet that included carbs.

So, the low-carb worked simply because they were eating less in general..... not because no-carb calories are something special or different.

I'm not refuting your experience - just wanted to add!

I started at only 168 and have lost more than 15 pounds eating 1400-1600 a day, sometimes more. Granted, I do work out 6 days a week. Anyway, I couldn't imagine eating 1200/cal- at least not every day. I have 1200 calorie days, but the next day I'm very very hungry. In my opinion there's no reason to be that restrictive on a regular basis.

Also, while we're on the subject, I'm fairly baffled as to why people would do anything besides count calories to lose weight. (Or weight watchers, since that's basically what it is). South beach, atkins, etc... I don't get it. Counting calories is free, fairly easy, and supports a lifestyle change so much better than any other diet, IMO. I'd never do it any other way.

And that is why I count calories, I refuse to pay money for someone to tell me what to eat. I have done it but now count calorie, efficient and free !

Speaking for myself, I was at a point last summer when I felt overwhelmed with my academic work and other things in my life, and when I spent time thinking about weight loss, the other things went by the wayside, and I was unhappy (and in trouble)! So I felt that I needed to compromise, and go with something "convenient." The Nutrisystem plan fit these criteria perfectly, but I always intended that it would be a temporary compromise -- the best thing would be to eat whole foods, and not pour money into the "diet industry."

That's one of the reasons I have quit Nutrisystem -- I know I don't want to eat their food forever, and the structure (and peer support) of their program got me into really good habits (that I didn't have to think about) -- now I feel that I can do it without the feeling of being overwhelmed learning new habits.

This! I couldn't afford to do any plans when I started and even now that I can I'm glad I never went that route.

I'm also not a big fan of weight watchers because they make it seem like it's the ONLY way to lose weight (I can't fault them for that, they're a business). I've heard so many people justify not even trying because they can't afford weight watchers and think it's the only way they can successfully shed pounds.

I also get annoyed when people ask me if I lost the weight with weight watchers. When I say I didn't, they act SHOCKED as if it's an impossible thing to do and then accuse me of starving myself.

yes folks, that's it, the only ways to lose weight are Weight Watchers and starving yourself.

I actually just started south beach yesterday, and I'm also calorie counting (out of curiosity, mainly. I am apparently very sensitive to carbs so I really need to pay more attention to that than I have been, which is why I'm trying this out). I just tallied my calories and ended up with 1719 for today.

South Beach didn't have much cost to me.. less than $20. I didn't sign up for the website, just bought a few books on half.com. I'm a longtime calorie counter and will continue to do it, but I'm also a carboholic and wanted to try it out to see if it really got cravings in check. It's also really hard for me to lose weight and this helps me focus on the "kind" of calories I'm getting. So far so good, but it's only day 2... I'll keep my fingers crossed. So while I get that calorie counting is often the way to go, I find it helpful to use in conjunction with other methods.

They say that you don't have to track your portions etc... but I know that I won't be successful that way, so I do. I will say, though, that even if I don't end up following the plan longer-term, they have some great recipes and having that volume of food (I would expect that I was eating 1.5x as much based on how satisfied I am) is really helpful.