[kaplods]

If a person eats nothing, he or she will eventually starve to death, but how long will it take at a given weight? If a person eats a consistent caloric level of let's just say 1200 calories, when will that person, stop losing weight, and for how long?

The short answer is, there's no way to tell, and the long answer is that it probably depends on a lot of factors.

Can a 300 lb person maintain their weight on 1200 calories? It may depend on the person. There's at least one way this can happen, and that is the person is usually, perhaps even "almost always" eating 1200 calories, but every so often binges and isn't counting the binges, so their average is actually much higher than their "typical" 1200 calories. A person eating 1200 calories 13 days out of 14, but not counting the 30,000 calories they ate on their out of control day, may whine "I'm eating 1200 calories, and not losing weight," because they're not realizing that they're 1200 calories is actually an average of over 3,000.

[flatiron]

try more cardio and keep a log of what you eat, put everything in the log and I mean EVERYTHING. That way you know exactly what you are taking in!

And I agree calorie counting (for me anyways) is the way to go. If you burn up more than you take in then you HAVE to lose weight.

Don't give up keep trying ... you are young now but what you do next will affect your life WAY into the future.

[JayEll]

windchime, obviously people can starve to death. The point isn't whether one can starve to death but what strategies the body's metabolism uses to try to hang on.

As calories slip lower, the body's mechanisms notice! So metabolism switches into conservation. This means slower metabolism and holding on to fat reserves. Many people have experienced a halt to weight loss and even a weight gain if they are consistently eating a lot less than they are burning. If this state goes on too long, yes, one will lose weight and ultimately die.

There is nothing magical about 1200 calories. Someone who is very heavy can have their body switch over to conservation if they eat less than 1800 cals. or even more. Someone who is exercising excessively to try to burn a lot more calories can also go into this stall state.

1200 calories is considered to be the lowest amount one can eat and still get enough nutrition from food, assuming one is eating a balanced diet (and not 1200 calories of candy). Nutrition means protein, carbohydrate, fat, and vitamins and minerals. To go to less than that, one should be under medical supervision. Some medical weight-loss programs do go to fewer calories, but the person is being given specific supplements, and they have tests done regularly.

As people lose weight, they are not losing just fat. The body is happy to burn muscle as well, because it's easier to break down protein for energy. The reason physical activity/exercise is suggested is that it helps lessen the amount of muscle breakdown, and it also increases metabolism. Muscle is the primary tissue that burns fat for fuel.

The basic idea is to avoid extremes...

Jay