Hello everyone.

I managed to stay very well under a thousand calories per day, mostly because I'm a very disorganized person and can't do diets, I just eat less, and healthier... thank god for FitDay, otherwise I'd be lost completely... I live with vegetarians/going on vegan, so there's not much meat in our house, if any at all... So 70% of my calories came from carbs, and 12% from protein. I know some people have done marvelously with Atkins, but I just can't see myself dumping all of that ureic acid in my joints, so I'd appreciate some meatless advice

I have lost app. 2 lbs of fat in the last week, I am very well aware that the other 4 were water. I stopped loosing a pound a day two days ago.

I have no problems eating little, but then I start reading the fitday adds, stuff like: "why do low calorie diets not work", and I get depressed, thinking that I might be hitting a plateau very soon, and then what...

Anyway, I would like to loose 20 lbs as quickly as possible (my long term goal is 60 lbs), and I wanted to ask all of you nice people how you did it and how much time did it take? I currently weigh around 180 lbs (81 kilos). Thank you for your help in advance.

WHOA, ONLY A THOUSAND CALORIES?!?!?!?! That's not enough! I would think your body was going into starvation mode (genrally happens if you go too far under 1200 calories a day). I would try eating more good foods. Maybe your body will realize it's not starving so it won't keep the little bit of food that you give it and it will be willing to shed some pounds...

This is NOT HEALTHY. Please rethink this strategy!

At the very least you need to maintain 1200 or so calories a day. Any less and you put your body into starvation mode. The reason you stopped losing a pound a day is that your body is starting to realize that you're starving it and it's beginning to hoard any and all food you *do* give it. You'll actually damage your metabolism if you keep this up long term.

A healthy goal is 2-ish lbs per week (at the MOST). So to do it healthily, your 20 lbs should take about 10-12 weeks (about 3 months). Doing it any faster *might* work for the short term and in an extreme circumstance, but it won't be a healthy or maintainable loss.

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1000 calories is almost certainly not enough, and certainly "well under" it isn't a good idea, as your body won't be able to get enough nutrition from those calories to fuel itself. Dipping to a level that low once in a while won't really be an issue, but consistently being below is setting yourself up to convince your body it is starving, resulting in all kinds of issues, binging and trouble with weight loss as well as malnutrition among them.

What is your daily menu like? Stick here and we'll help you sort this out so you can keep going on losing weight without starving, ok?

Hi fatbomb, Keep your chin up! You can lose weight.

It has taken me about 2 and 1/2 years to lose 160 lbs.

I just want to add that you don't need to get so caught up in losing weight as quickly as possible. Just remind yourself that you want it to stay off, and you want to learn new habits that will help you keep it off. A loss of 1 - 2 lbs per week is a very good loss. And a 1000 calories is very very low. What happens when you do plateau? Generally when we plateau, we drop our calories a bit so that we can continue losing. If you start out at such an extremely low level, you don't have anything left to drop it to. There are lots of websites where you can calculate your calorie needs, if you're interested.

Losing weight is part of the battle. Keeping it off is something else entirely!

I know you want to lose quickly. Everyone does. But many of us tried to lose as fast as possible... we eat very little. It works for a while, but is difficult to maintain, and then, we binge, go off plan and gain all the weight back and then some! Talk about depressing!

What are your long term goals? Why do you need to lose quickly? How quickly is quickly, anyway?

I know I haven't answered your question yet, but I think a lot of those questions help put it in context. I started off weighing nearly 300 pounds and lost 100 pounds in just over a year -- so on average I lost just under 2 pounds a week (more at first). Generally, it's considered healthy (and sustainable) to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week, and we tend to lose slower as we get closer to goal...

Fatbomb, I agree with everyone above -- you definitely have to eat more calories per day -- check the vegetarian forum to get ideas on adding more protein or calories to your daily menus -- tomorrow is my 8th day as well, and I am hoping I can just take this healthy habits lifestyle day by day, instead of doing my usual of "getting it off as fast as I can" - I have done that my whole adult life, and it just doesn't work - I either get frustrated and quit, or if I do lose weight, I gain it all back and more when I begin to slowly eat regularly again - it's extremely difficult to maintain 1000 calories a day for a lifetime. Good luck to you. Michele

you are definitely not eating enough. i know it's hard to eat more than you feel you have to, but you really do have to. on days that i feel that way i make sure to eat at least 1300 calories so as not to be starving myself.

be patient and devoted... it will work.

the calorie thing is kinda drastic to a degree mind you. yes the ideal minimum for a normal omnivorous diet is 1200 calories, however, you said you live with veg'n people so chances are you eat a lot of veggies? just mentioning to people vegetarians/vegans tend to eat a lower amount of calories cause veggies are low calorie to eat 1200 a day is really hard because the calories go farther.

second, on the plateau issue, when was the last time you changed up your work out routine? sometimes changing things a bit helps. if youve been doing an hour of walking, add in 10-20 minutes of running into it (5 minutes here, 5 there) you dont necessarily have to increase the time spent but try to up the intensity slightly.

try replacing starch carbs like potatoes and wheat for less starchy veggies, or whole wheat items.

changing your routine even slightly (good change that is) can do wonders for getting over a plateau.

Vegans can eat legumes which contain plenty of calories, and grains, which also have plenty of calories. It needn't (and shouldn't) be all veggies. A cup of lentils with a cup of rice will be a 400 calorie meal (with 22 grams of protein!). Nuts are vegan, high in calories, high in nutrients and high in good fats. A person eating only vegetables (and thereby keeping their calories very, very low) is not meeting her nutritional needs either. Bodies need fat and protein, as well as vegetables and fiber.


OP, you need to increase your calories, no question. Even if you do live with vegans, you can keep your own cartons of eggs and yogurt in the house, can't you, and eat beans, nuts and other nutrient rich foods? Starvation diets are unhealthy and, ultimately, counter-productive. Please reconsider!!!

I'm sorry, but that's just not true and dangerous information. I lived with a veggie roommate for 5 years and I know how to properly eat veggie.

Calories do not "go farther" if they're veggie. And a starvation diet is unhealthy, no matter what your chosen lifestyle - omnivorous, veggie, organic, whatever.

At a bare minimum you need 1200-ish calories a day to maintain some kind of reasonable health (most people, with rare few notable exceptions). Veggies can get that from olive oil, nuts, legumes, dairy and eggs if they're not completely Vegan.

It's quite easy to eat 1200 calories a day and LOTS more on a veggie diet.

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Thank you all for the encouragement. I kind of knew I was setting myself up for disaster, and today it became painfully obvious: in the morning I weighed 2 lbs more then yesterday, although I ate only about 700 calories. I cried and ran to my computer.

I know I have not been eating well, and probably not moving enough either. I do tai chi twice a week, and I practice at home every day for about ten minutes, but I cannot get myself to do some serious workout. I like walking a lot, but can't run yet, until I shed about 20 - 30 lbs, because of my knees.

My menu is consisted mainly of apples, bananas, plain probiotic yoghurt, muesli (non-processed) with raisins, nuts and seeds, which I eat with a tablespoon or two of honey and two cups of green tea (unsweetened). It's like desert to me. I also eat a lot of legumes, yesterday we had bean soup, the day before pasta with lentils... I make myself vegetable broth from cubes and eat it with a small amount of soup balls, and that keeps me satisfied. I also snack on blown up rice and wheat cakes. Sometimes I allow myself a sweet yoghurt as a treat.

I am afraid of what will happen if I increase my intake for 500 calories...

I am not new to weight loss, I've been fat all my life. My all time high was around 250 lbs. I lost about 90 lbs over the period of two years, keeping it up for almost two more. But six months ago I had a terrible fallout with my sister (the closest person to me in the world), so I stayed in my room watching TV and eating, and voila, 22 lbs later I'm a very unhappy girl.
I could feel pretty before, now I'm just a fat blob again... And hating myself big time. That is why I wish to loose those 22 lbs quickly, within a month if possible.

I think I'll go and have some scrambled eggs for breakfast. I usually skipped breakfast, but I guess that's another goof of mine. I really should eat more often.

Mandalinn, thank you for being interested... your story gave me a lot of courage, when I read it.

Fatbomb, you need a realistic plan. Look around on this site--go to the Calorie Counters forum and look at the Frequently Asked Questions sticky--and also go to the 3FC main page www.3fatchicks.com and look under the Diets tab so you can compare different programs. If you like having a lot of support, consider Weight Watchers or TOPS, where you have regular meetings.

It is unrealistic to expect to be able to lose 22 pounds in a month. In fact, it is probably unrealistic to be able to lose half that! So my suggestion to you would be to find a plan that you can stick with for the long haul. None of this 700 calories a day business! That will only slow your metabolism and make things worse.

Good luck! Don't give up! And be patient...

Jay

If you up your intake 500-ish calories, you will be nourishing your body and maintaining a healthy weight loss so that you don't have freak out days and binge on junk food as you talked about in your first post.

Instead be afraid of what will happen if you DON'T increase your calories - at a steady diet of 700 calories, your body will go into starvation mode. You'll start retaining water and weight. You'll not have enough energy to do what you want to do. You'll either make yourself ill, or make yourself hungry enough to binge again and again and again.

Good luck to you in developing a healthy way of eating so you don't have to keep going through this cycle.

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Thank you both! Sometime I have very unrealistic plans... that's me! The unrealistic one.

I went to the 3FC main page, and read about the Medifast diet. They promise to make you loose up to 20 lbs in a month, so it is not THAT unrealistic... But since I'm low on money, I cannot afford it. I don't even know whether they operate in Europe...

Does anyone know what the secret to that diet is? Low calories, combinations...? Maybe I could make one for myself.

For breakfast I had two scrambled eggs and a yogurt. That was 320 calories right there. I think I'll make wholewheat pasta with eggplant, zucchini and tomato sauce for lunch. Or I'll just have a bowl of beans...

How do your diets work? I'd be very happy if you shared some personally gained wisdom.