I restarted counting calories the Monday after Thanksgiving and have lost over 10lbs in less than 2 weeks. On average I've been eating about 800 cals a day and I realize that that's not much but I haven't been starving. I just fight off my cravings until I am able to make better choices as to how much food I put in my body. And the results are such fabulous motivation, every day I step on the scale hoping to see another pound gone.
My question is, will this screw with my metabolism? If so, how long can I push it before the results start to wane? I have tried so many diets with no results, and this one is working out so ideally - I would hate to stop it now.
Will eating 800 calories alter your metabolic rate? From what I have read, all the nutritionists, doctors and experts agree that it can! On top of that, you are likely burning through muscle tissue (something NO one wants to do! It's counter-productive to a lasting weightloss!).
I agree with Yogini -- you may be having good short term results, but in the long term setting yourself up for LOTS of problems. It's possible you could slow your metabolism to the point where you really reduce the number of calories you can eat without gaining weight...
why eat 800/day when you can lose in a healthy way eating more? Do you want to be skinny or healthy?
I've started to get interested in this question and am thinking of going out and looking for some research on the topic...
I also agree 1200 cals is the MINIMUM, unless your being supervised by your dr. You always loose more in the beginning, since you tend to loose water weight. Do this for the LONG term, not just to "lose weight"..you want to be able to make better choices for LIFE, not until goal. If it takes a little longer so what, it took time to put the pounds on and it will take time to take them off properly.
These are really good advice and something I could use since I tend to keep my calories below 900 myself! Its a struggle for me to eat the 1200 that I know Im supposed to eat to be healthy.
Its like.... I gained all this weight and so my mind decided "ok, so lets don't eat" but instead of losing weight, I keep it on because my body has lowered its metabolism and hordes the calories it gets!
So solution? I drink coffee, take a vitamin with green tea extract, and try to eat 1200 HEALTHY calories a day.
Have you seen all the new studies stating that coffee is actually good for dieting? DUH! Tell me something I didn't already know! LOL
I restarted counting calories the Monday after Thanksgiving and have lost over 10lbs in less than 2 weeks. On average I've been eating about 800 cals a day and I realize that that's not much but I haven't been starving. I just fight off my cravings until I am able to make better choices as to how much food I put in my body. And the results are such fabulous motivation, every day I step on the scale hoping to see another pound gone.
My question is, will this screw with my metabolism? If so, how long can I push it before the results start to wane? I have tried so many diets with no results, and this one is working out so ideally - I would hate to stop it now.
Thanks.
Megan
Depends how lean you are. "Calorie restriction" kicks in at ~2/3 of your maintainance when you are of "normal" bodyfat, but obese people don't seem to experience it. I have no signs of it on a 1,500 Cal/day diet and my maintainance calories are over 4,000. I am sure it varies with the individual, because we all have different metabolic set points.
You do need to be very active on a highly restrictive diet to stave off wasting of your muscles. Much smaller margin for error on a highly restrictive diet, probably even more so for women because they have less testosterone.
Like Yogini mentioned, sure, you're losing weight on the scale, but it's more likely muscle that you're losing, not fat. Your body resorts to burning muscle instead of fat when you don't feed it enough because your body gets more energy from the muscle. All I can think of is girls with eating disorders, how they lose so much weight and get so skinny, but because they don't eat enough, they are extremely weak because they have practically no muscle left!
Like Yogini mentioned, sure, you're losing weight on the scale, but it's more likely muscle that you're losing, not fat. Your body resorts to burning muscle instead of fat when you don't feed it enough because your body gets more energy from the muscle. All I can think of is girls with eating disorders, how they lose so much weight and get so skinny, but because they don't eat enough, they are extremely weak because they have practically no muscle left!
The biggest determining factor between whether you burn muscle or fat is atrophy. Its a much bigger factor than whether you are losing 1lb per week vs 3 lbs per week. Muscle has a "use it or lost it" mentality. If the muscle gets used on a regular basis, your body will hold onto it. If the muscle never gets used, it will get burnt away in your calorie restrictive diet, regardless of whether you are losing 1 pound per week or 3 pounds per week. That's why I do weight trainig with the heaviest weights I can possibly lift while I am restricting calories.
Okay...you all really need to be eating a minimum of about 1200 calories a day. Not 800...not 900...not 1000.
1200.
The only time you should be going below that on a regular basis, is if you are under the supervision of a doctor, or you are a professional bodybuilder or fitness expert who is doing a cycle before a competition. (By a cycle, I mean a regime where they may vary their calorie intake every few days in a "cycle".)
Lifting weights and using your muscle does help them grow...BUT-you also need to be getting proper protein and nutrients in your diet as well. Lifting weights alone won't keep the muscle if you are starving them of enough nutrients and protein.
Yes, you can lose a lot of weight pretty quickly on 800 calories a day. You can also run into complications such as gallstones from too rapid weight loss. You can lose a lot of your muscle mass instead of fat because you are on a crash diet-so you may end up thin, but the result will be that the firm and shapely muscle tissue will be reduced, and the fat will be left behind-so you could very well end up thin and flabby. From the lack of proper nutrients, you could also end up with dry, brittle hair that could possibly thin out. These are just a few examples of what a drastically low calorie diet can do.
The goal is to get FIT and HEALTHY, and change your lifestyle to a healthier one that you can stick with for life. This is the key to lifelong weight loss and maintenance of that loss.
Metabolism & calorie counting
