Is this extreme dieting?

HellieCopter

HellieCopter

Gold Member
I saw a friend last night and she's lost quite a lot of weight. She's petite (about 5ft) and had about 3 stone to lose - 2 of which have now gone. She definitely looks great, but she's done it by sticking to 800 calories a day. And that's with a dieting club (local to her).

I was absolutely shocked!

800 is nothing...like...starvation! I don't know how she does it.

To me, that seems extremely low. I thought the body needed about 1200-1500 for a steady 1-2lb weight loss? Not that I know a lot about calorie controlled dieting, I've always done WW or SW...but still...

I just wanted to share and get your thoughts...

H x
 
You know the expression 'desperate times call for desperate measures'...well I did the same as your friend 2 years ago except I did it alone & only ate about 500 calories a day at the most. Its extremely difficult to consume such a low number.

Id always read around 1100-1200 was the abs least you should have so Im pretty shocked a 'diet club' would recommend such a low figure...!
 
Wow, does she have any energy at all? I dont think I could function on that, I'd be such a grumpy mare (well grumpier than usual!).

She needs to be careful when she's lost it all and goes onto whatever maintenance she's going to do, it'll all pile back on!
 
Im not a qualified nurse yet- but i do know that if a patient was just eating 800 calories a day, we'd be very concerned and may get fortisips prescribed (a drink with loads of nutrients)
 
I'm glad it's not just me that thinks this is extreme and not a healthy way to lose weight.

500 cals Lisa?! What did you eat?!

I tried to tell her that it was dangerous to be so low and she'd need to be careful when she starts increasing her calories again...but she's just happy to be losing. I can understand that, especially as sw is pretty slow for me. But I tell you what, I'd rather be doing it the way we all are than on 800 calories...
 
The thing is at 800 calories a day she may be losing weight howver a lot of that weight will not be pure body fat. I suspect she will lose a lot of muscle aswell eating so little, which unfortunatley means once she starts to maintain that her metabolism will be a lot slower and she will find she will need to eat less than someone who has lost the weight more slowly to maintain her goal weight.
 
It is deff too low but then people on the shakes like lighter life manage and they are about 500 cals a day.
What she will find when she starts to eat normally again is that she will gain for a while so she may be enjoying it now but she won't in a few months.

Does she get any sort of free foods that maybe pushing the calorie count up higher than 800?
 
Plus that when you start to lose muscle, you lose it from ALL muscle, and that includes the heart! This is why they stopped having people in hospital on ultra low cal diets,in the 70's because the heart attack rate was so high.
 
No free foods, well not that I can tell. I didn't have time to go into the details with her, but I think she set her own cal limit and is sticking to that. She has wine occasionally on nights out and doesn't count it in her cals...but still!
 
I think you can only be there for her and be a supportive friend. Even if you believe this choice of hers to be wrong (and I agree with you), she is an adult and it is still her choice.

She is doing this her way and I guess that has to be respected. If this is an organised programme, then I guess you have to trust that concerns regarding nutrition are being addressed.

It shows you are a lovely friend to be concerned, but I think if you try to pressurise her in any way about something she is very positive about, it may harm your friendship

xxx
 
cocktailprincess said:
I think you can only be there for her and be a supportive friend. Even if you believe this choice of hers to be wrong (and I agree with you), she is an adult and it is still her choice.

She is doing this her way and I guess that has to be respected. If this is an organised programme, then I guess you have to trust that concerns regarding nutrition are being addressed.

It shows you are a lovely friend to be concerned, but I think if you try to pressurise her in any way about something she is very positive about, it may harm your friendship

xxx
Click to expand...


Absolutely agree with you - she's chosen to do it and I won't stop her. Definitely wouldn't pressure her to change to SW! To be honest, I only see her once a week at band rehearsals, so we're not mega close buddies.

I've let her know if she wants any advice from a seasoned dieter then I'll help in whatever way I can, but as you say, she's chosen this way and it's working for her, which I'm pleased about...but it was so hard to hide my shock when she told me how she was doing it!
 
Hi

The low calorie in take will of course result in quick loss. Hospitals do get patients pre op who need to lose to have very low intake. The but is that once the calories are increased on goes the weight very quickly. Also as mentioned muscle will be most of the loss, which is not good for the obvious reasons.

Phil x
 
Last edited:
Helliecopter -

On 500 cals I really dont know what I ate, not much I remember! It was horrible not to mention a bad route to take!

When I started SW I couldn't understand how you can eat so much & still lose weight but shows how brilliant it is compared to cutting back/not eating. I hope your friend manages to sort things out, would be horrible if she ended up so unhealthy.
 
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