Too Radical? 500 calorie diet

[Amie]

If you are doing that much exercise already... you may find the plateau is from muscle mass gain rather than a true lack of fat loss

:yeahthat: Are you going purely by the scales or are you also taking measurements or seeing how your clothes fit? The scales are sometimes not your best friend if you've changed diet and are doing regular exercise. Muscle weighs more than fat. Simple. With that amount of exercise you are sure to be losing fat %. Great work!

[Aimz]

I think you're all right - I was just a bit down yesterday about not losing anything AGAIN.

I know the healthiest option is to maintain my current healthy eating and step up the exercise. I KNOW I have lost cm's - but I haven't been measuring. I just feel thinner kwim?

I just feel SO close - it's only 10kgs - but still so far away. I am putting in SO much work and exercising EVERY day and to not see any results is disapointing. I guess I'll just keep at it and hope this plateau is over and I will start seeing losses again.

Thank you all for your supportive advice - I can see this kind of thing being a touchy subject for some and I didn't in anyway mean to offend (with regards to anorexia). That was not at all how I intended it - I had just been doing some reading about this diet and thought I would put it out there. I didn't post with the frame of mind of "I can't eat anymore if I want to lose weight" it was more that I wanted to know if it was achievable to eat so little but maintain the same level of exercise - clearly it's not and clearly it is NOT healthy.

[Pandora]

Its normal to reach a plateau for a while when you are losing weight, and its normally changing up your exercise routine or what you eat - in terms of the types of food, calories could be the same) that can get things going again.

If you drop you food intake too much, your body goes into self preservation and can actually start to increase you weight as it tired to hold on to its fat stores as it thinks you are starving.

I would keep it at 1000 or above.

[sleepless in tas]

if it makes you feel any better - it took me 3 solid months of exercise and good eating to loose even 1kg!! But then it just fell off! Totally normal to plateau!

[AnyDream]

On 500 calories your body will start burning muscle not fat as it consumes itself in order to survive.

I think cutting back to 1100 OR eating the same but adding some extra exercise is a much more realistic goal, they say the difference between losing and not losing usually only amounts to 100 calories a day.

BTW - If you've cut back and you're waking up hungry every morning then it's a sign that your metabolism is still working on the calories its getting. If you're waking up NOT hungry then it's a sign you've cut back too far and your body is going into starvation mode. Whole foods like lots of veggies, WHOLE GRAIN cereals and legumes (even baked beans LOL) will feed your body AND ramp up your metabolism at the same time.

[queenbee]

Amy, I wouldn't do it but that is only my opinion. Eating well, limiting alcohol intake (that is hard, I love my wine!) and exercising regularly should make you lose weight. I sometimes only lose 0.5kgs per week. That is healthy. I believe I will keep it off longer if it takes me time to lose. Remember, took time to go on, so will take time to come off. I really think 500 calories per day is too radical. On Weight Watchers, I give myself a treat every day (within my points limit) and it is awesome, I stay on it and reward myself. I love it because I can eat everything and still lose weight. Sure, I won't be able to go back to eating 5 tim tams in one sitting but it is a total lifestyle change, FOREVER. Good luck with everything see you in our Body Transformation Group hun xx

[catherinemoses]

Totally agree with what you have already been told.

Just with regards to the exercise. Have you tried any classes at the gym? I know I can be expensive (gym memberships) but doing a variety of classes each week helps your body to "stay on it's toes". When you do the one thing your body gets used to it and what started out as really effective becomes less effective cos your body expects it. So mix it up, I found the best way to do that was with classes.

HTH

Keep up the great work!