I've been on a very low-cal diet for the past week (between 1000-1200 cals) and my cravings and hunger has disappeared. I still get hungry and feel like certain foods from time to time but it's nothing like before. Can anyone explain this?

I am unable to answer why your body is not craving more things, however I am genuinely concerned about your low amount of calories. The only women that should be eating 1200 calories are 4'9, 95 pounds women who do very little activity. I am 141 and I eat 1300-1600 TO LOSE! Is this a doctor recommended calorie limit or are you just trying to get it off as fast as you can?

Eating that few calories can actually cause your body to NOT lose weight and can make binges happen very easily. Your body still needs far more calories to function properly. After using your stats, it says to maintain your weight you want to eat 2715. However, since you are not trying to maintain, you of course want to eat less then that. I'd probably try and eat 1800-2100 to start off with. As you lose weight, you will need room to lower your calorie intake!

Im sorry this has nothing to do with what you posted, I am just worried about why you chose to eat so little (unless your doctor has prescribed this and is actively watching your health... and even then I would still go get a second opinion)


EDIT: Valrock pointed out a good fact. The week after my period I am never hungry (probably because during my period I have a black-hole for a stomach and could eat a horse so its my bodies way of balancing out lol!)

Where are you in your cycle? The week after my period I could eat almost nothing and not be hungry. I make up for it the week before, though . Everyone is different.

I'm not under a doctor's supervision; I am, like you said, just trying to get it off as fast as I can. I know I should be eating far more but I just want to get this weight off -- at least the first twenty or so pounds. I don't know if eating 1200 calories or so is necessarily dangerous -- is it? I am a bit hesitant about doing what I'm doing, but at this stage in my life I don't want to spend the next two years losing weight.

As for my cycle, I have no idea. I have PCOS and so my cycle is extremely irregular/non-existent.

Thanks for your answer.

P.S. I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow so I'll ask her what she thinks about doing such a low-calorie diet.

I have PCOS so my cycle is pretty much non-existent.

The best road would be to consult with your doctor tomorrow! However, the dangers of eating such a low amount of calories are real. Due to your current weight, your body uses a lot more calories for basic things such as walking, standing up and doing laundry then someone who is smaller. Because of that, you will always have a really low net calorie intake (calories you eat vs calories you burn). Occasional net calorie lows are okay, but consistent is never good as your organs need the fuel to function properly.

I completely understand about wanting to get it off as soon as possible but slow-and-steady wins the race. I just hope that it does not cause you to not lose weight or give up due to the massive change in your diet. Good luck with the doctor appointment tomorrow and sorry for the giant lecture type response. Not doing it to be jerk or anything, just a concerned poster with your best interests at heart!

Not at all, your advice is really helpful! I'll have a chat with the doc tomorrow and see if we can agree on the lowest caloric intake possible that's not going to be dangerous. I suppose I just assumed that if my body needed the extra calories, then it would just burn the stored fat. :/

I agree with some of the other posters that it might not be a good idea to eat so little on a regular basis.

As someone who has occasionally fallen into the trap of eating too few calories, trust me when I say that it never turns out well (at least without doctor supervision).

The method that you use to take off the weight will be very similar to the one you'll need to KEEP it off. Unless you want to eat so little forever, I would recommend starting at a higher calorie intake.

Also, burn outs occur way more often when you don't eat much. Whenever I would go a few days without eating enough, I'd eventually break down and binge (there are other reasons overeating occurs, but this one happens every time). This leads to setbacks, loss of motivation, and for some people effectively ends weight loss eventually.

You CAN do this. Just maybe do it the healthy way. Honestly, it'll be a long journey. Some weeks you'll lose a ton, and others you won't. Your body will take some time to adjust on the way down, so be patient with it.

Please be careful and take care of yourself. But congrats on deciding you want to lose weight!

I'm a textbook binger and so far I haven't felt the urge, which is unusual. I'm just not hungry, but I have felt a little tired and lightheaded.

I'm still really unclear on how the human body burns fat. I assumed that if I created a calorie deficit I would lose weight -- and the bigger the deficit, the larger the weight loss.

I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow anyway so if she thinks carrying on this way is potentially dangerous then I'll certainly stop. It just kind of bums me out to think about how far I've got to go.

Thanks for your help!

Hi Amy - I have to echo what others have said about you not eating enough. It might work short term, but long term it just won't. You need to change habits as well and this way you're far more likely to crack and end up bingeing and undoing your good work. The light headed/tired feeling is your body telling you it's not getting enough fuel - the tiredness is lack of energy as your body is using what it's getting for basic functions leaving nothing to power your muscles.

As someone else said, slow and steady wins the race. It's taken me just over a year, but in the meantime I haven't felt like I've been dieting and have been going out and enjoying myself as always. Just set yourself small targets at a time and aim to reach them - before you know it a few months will have passed and you'll be surprised by how much weight you've lost....as LiannaKole says, it's a long journey, but oh so worth it so good luck.

Whoa, I thought 1200 calories was normal! (Off to do research!)

i've been on a doctor-supervised VLCD since march 1st. i check in every week for weighing and to get my blood pressure checked (and to hand over my bp readings from the rest of the week). i get my blood tested every six weeks as long as the results are good.

unless you are clinically "morbidly obese", you are NOT a candidate - you don't have the bodyfat to back it up.

losing your appetite is normal - your body is starting to turn down your metabolism because it has detected a possible state of famine. that's why i use a timer to make sure i eat every 3hrs.

you will next find yourself irritable, unable to think, picking fights for no reason at all.

you will be tired - everything will be too much effort. just getting dressed in the morning is too much work. don't take a hot bath or shower because you'll fall asleep.

it's all well and good to want the weight off as fast as possible, but do you really want to be "skinny fat"?

remember the last time you met someone and they told you they lost 'x' lbs and for the life of you, until you looked at their stomach or thighs, you honestly couldn't tell?

my god-daughter - love her to death, but she lose nearly 200lbs in less than a year by starving herself and using drugs. she went from nearly 300lbs to 135lbs and i'm not kidding: you cannot tell. her face barely changed shape - she still had fat deposits and sagging jowls and the double chin. she still had a muffin top. she still had thigh bulge at the hem of her shorts.

she was *exactly the same shape*, just it looked like someone photoshopped her body and reduced the scale.

she's back up to 236lbs - she's 22yrs old.

it's not enough to want to be thin - you MUST want to be healthy and fit. if you concentrate on improving your health and fitness, trust me: your body will happily demonstrate the fruits of your labour.

[why am i on a VLCD? i'll be dead or in a wheelchair before i'm 50 if i don't - i'm 45 now and i really don't like being near the end of my life - not when i have a daughter who just turned 5 on march 16th]

Amy, I'm one of the people who will support what you're doing. There is evidence to suggest anything anyone wants to say about how you're losing weight. But getting the weight off quickly is a good thing! It gets you out of a state of stress from your current weight, and good things happen, like your blood sugar is regulated properly and your organs work better. Much more important for healthy longevity!

As I understand it, there is a point when you aren't plagued by the elevated blood sugar levels and cravings and hunger start to diminish. Use that force for good! Make healthy choices at the market and choose fresh foods, make your calories count with real nutrition. What good is it to pack in 1500 calories if it doesn't have any real nutrients. Better to eat 1000 calories of veggies with fiber, lean proteins and healthy fats. When you get enough nutrients, you don't get as hungry.

I lost 60 pounds in three months on a very low calorie diet (around 950 a day). I felt ok but its not a sustainable lifestyle and because of that It all came back plus some.

This is what happens when you go too low.