Too Radical? 500 calorie diet

So I've been tossing around an idea for a while and I have done heaps of research into it. At the moment I am on 1200 calories a day and have been for the past month. Initially I didn't have an appetite so it was easy to maintain. Since my appetite came back I have learned to deal with the pangs of hunger and push through them. My 1200 calories consists of healthy, fresh food and I drink about 2L a day. I also exercise for an hour every day too.

For the next fortnight I want to drop my calorie intake down to 500.

I haven't seen any results for the past 2 weeks and I want to step it up. I would love to lose 5kgs FAST and then slowly move the last 5kg over a longer period.

A typical day on the 500 cal diet would be this...

Breakfast: Cereal with light milk
Snack: Pear/Apple/Grapes
Lunch: Green Salad and Yogurt
Dinner: Grilled Fish with steamed veggies

That combined with 2L of water and my regular multi vitamin. The only difference between this and what I am doing now is the portions would be smaller.

Would you do it? Have you done it?

Honestly no way. You should read some articles about carrot stick diets (as they are called) when you take away nearly next to all fats your body goes into storage mode, so when you aren't eating this way your metabolism is setup in such a way that it regains at double and in some people triple speed. It might be nice to lose that 5kgs quickly but do you want to put it all back on again even faster (and possibly more to boot?)

I was only on 500 calories or so in the two weeks after my surgery. The main thing that seems to happens when you're intaking calories at such a low level is that you lose energy, you start to burn not only fat but muscle (as your body goes into starvation mode), so your metabolism slows and when you move on to a higher caloric intake, you plateau for ages while your body hangs on to everything you eat. During that time, I also looked grey (as in no colour in my cheeks) and my skin was pretty awful too.

The best way to make sure you lose more is to burn more calories via exercise, instead of starving your body of calories. Even with the band, I try to get in at least 1200 calories a day in order to continue losing weight. If I get too much under that, I start to plateau as my metabolism slows (which is counter-productivein the long run).

If you're exercising 4-5 times a week at a rate where you're raising a pretty good sweat and are out of breath, and you're eating 1200 calories a day and still not losing, it's likely your body is at its set point and it will take a drastic change like far more intense exercise to get you past that. And then to keep it off, you'll have to maintain that level of exercise from here on in.

Amy honey, I wouldn't recommend that to anyone!!!

A better way to get around it, is to give you metabolism a bit of a kickstart - so for one day drop it down to around 1000 calories, then the next day 1200, and so your metabolism goes heyyyy whats going on here... but its still in conjunction with enough calories so your body doesn't go into starvation mode.

Thats what I'm doing anyway ;)

The best (and healthiest) way to lose weight hun is to do it slow - around 0.5 to 1kg a week. Your body wouldn't be able to cope with that few calories and exercise as well - you will have no energy and ultimately instead of being healthier, your health could suffer. I personally don't believe in any diet or eating plan that makes you feel hungry - hunger is a sign of a genuine physiological need - your body wants you to eat. You just have to choose the right food, which is where we all at some time or other end up going wrong (hence the need to lose weight).

Yeah, I've done it.

I was suffering with anorexia at the time.

I agree with not dropping your calories so much, but when I was seeing a PT, he used to swear by having a shot of espresso before doing a training session, to get your body going, and eating spicy food as well... Not sure if this is true, but I did it....

Maybe you also need to look at your exercise and as well as the cardio, add in some toning work, to help with changing your body shape too.

I thought it sounded a bit drastic! I'm just so frustrated that I'm only eating 1200 calories, exercising EVERY day and not seeing a loss. Maybe 1000 calories would be better then, and also stepping up my exercise routine. I have just started jogging (I finally feel "fit" enough to do it) and I plan on adding in more light weights this week. I already do 60-100 squats, lunges and sit ups 3 times a week and I will now step that up to every day too.

I just want to keep losing!! I feel so close but still so far away.

I wouldn't do it because 1 it's not sustainable and 2 you will stack it all back on (and then some) when you go back to a regular eating plan. I would be preferring to stick with what you're doing now, but really ramp up the exercise if you find that you've plataeued - it's a common thing to have happen a few weeks into a diet/healthy eating plan and you need to challenge your body to keep burning the fat off without losing vatal muscle tone etc.

I also forgot to say that even though you wont get there quicker by doing it sensibly, you are more likely to keep it all off if you take a bit longer to get there.

Hmmm I agree that cutting your calories so low will do nothing good for your metabolism.
Sometimes it can take your body a while to show the changes, especially if you are exercising - as you may be gaining more muscle whilst you lose fat. Have you been taking measurements? Have these changed in the past 2 weeks?
Best way to get your metabolism kicking is exercise!!! I have managed to lose 10kg over 3.5 months by exercising, 5 days a week, an hour a day (sometimes a bit more, sometimes less)... I have been watching my food a bit, but I'm sure my intake is still well over 1200 calories (still BF though).
Try and mix up the exercise a bit... take long fast walks, with stretches of jogging or sprinting. Do you have a bike you could ride? Go swimming?

If you are doing that much exercise already (and you have only a small overall body weight left to lose) you may find the plateau is from muscle mass gain rather than a true lack of fat loss. I hate the BMI for that reason. It is demoralising when you are, in fact, losing body fat and centimeters but not *on the scales* weight.

Maintain the caloric intake. Measure portion sizes to ensure you aren't accidentally getting more calories than you think. Take your measurements and go by how your clothes fit. Ignore the scales for 2 weeks and keep going as you have. Then see what has happened :)

As everyone has said, the short term gain (or loss ;)) can leave you getting an extra fat deposit when you start eating a normal calorie intake again. Not worth destroying all the positive effort you are currently putting in.

I've done the 500 calorie thing. I was taking in 1200 cal's a day but doing an rpm (spin) class and that knocked me down to 500cals.

Just eating 500cals a day is not good for you hun! Up your calories for your own health and maybe up the exercise.

The main thing is to look after your health and as long as you eat right and do exercise you will drop the weight in no time!

I was on a 900 calorie per day diet about 22years ago (when i was 21) ... i went from 66 to 50kilo's in 7weeks (lost 16kilo's)... just ridiculous & to think that was through the help of a weight lose centre that had just started up it's business ... :doh:

It got to the point that i felt i wasn't eating hardly anything and strangely enough i lost my appetite for food and began even eating less to the point i was losing 3kilo's per week in the last fortnight on the program ... just insane ... luckily one of the consultants picked up on this :rolleyes:

Anyway, the outcome was i put ALL the weight back on in about 2mths plus more :wall:

I never went down that road again ... as i could see i was getting use to not really eating ... very dangerous ... So, I say 500calories NO WAY !!!

Judging by your ticker amysarah, it looks like you're doing GREAT!

I realy do think that the key is to do stuff that's sustainable. I know for me it took ages to lose 2kg because I wasn't willing to do anything drastic but to just make changes that I was willing to make for the rest of my life. So mainly cutting down on the booze and having smaller portions. I know when I do that the weight comes off so if, as has happened in the last couple of weeks, I have a blip because DP went and bought about 10 bottles of wine, I don't beat myself up about it too much because I know why I've put weight back on and I also know that I can get it off again.

As I said before, you're doing really, really great and I say just carry on what you're doing. No need for the faddy stuff, just do what you can stick with forever.

You need ALOT more calcium in your diet than that too.... just a bowl of light milk really isn't enough for a day for a woman IMO. Gotta keep your bones strong hun! Especially ready for PG.

Yep I agree.... aim for 0.5kg a week. That's what I'll be doing when bubs arrives.

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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

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: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! :D

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.

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. :)

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!

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.

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

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!

Catherine - I am actually going to my first gym class since I started this health kick tonight! I am doing an aerobics class and next week I plan to do a spin class.

I'm going to make an effort to do a class once a week on top of my normal routine to see if that kick starts things again.

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Catherine - I am actually going to my first gym class since I started this health kick tonight! I am doing an aerobics class and next week I plan to do a spin class.

I'm going to make an effort to do a class once a week on top of my normal routine to see if that kick starts things again.

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Good on you! Do they have any Les Mills classes there? My favourites were Body Combat, and Pump. Boxer circuits and cross training classes are also great fun and burn up lots of cals :)

Have fun, hope you see some great result.

I really think I need to join the gym for classes. But I so don't want to join up for a year or anything. Classes are so expensive though if you don't sign up for ages aren't they!? I too love BODY PUMP!

Queenbee - I pay $10 per class which I don't think is very expensive at all. The gym I go to isn't a big gym - it's called "The Health Temple" and they have a range of classes including pump, kickboxing, spin, aerobics, pilates and yoga which I think are fantastic. Usually gyms have 3,6 and 12 month class memberships which end up being good value. At my gym I can pay $80 for 10 classes (12 month expiration) so I can save 20%.

If I signed up for 3 months (about $120) I can go to as many classes as I want for those 3 months. I won't sign up until I am in a routine though because I wouldn't want to waste it!

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I really think I need to join the gym for classes. But I so don't want to join up for a year or anything. Classes are so expensive though if you don't sign up for ages aren't they!? I too love BODY PUMP!

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I don't know. I paid the same price if I went to classes or didn't. You'd just have to suss it out. I know it is quite expensive to join and be a member of a gym, but if you are serious about it and dedicated you can't put a price on health and fitness. I found classes to be very motivating and highly recommend them :)

Hi hon, have been meaning to come on and chat with you but it's soooo hot infront of my computer! Have you read any of my previous posts about the importance of the BMR?

If not let me know and i'll copy it all over. It's a great tool to have to work out roughly how many kj's per day you need - and if you are planning on getting out of bed, moving or even breathing on any given day then yes, you need a hell of a lot more than 500cals!!!

I also second whoever said classes (of course I would ;) ) Pump is awesome for losing weight as it increases your lean muscle mass which has a higher metabolic rate than fat. Spinning to is fantastic and of course Combat - but i'm a little biased!!

If you do start classes and you don't do Pump then try and add a couple of resistance training sessions into your week. As I said before the more muscle (I don't mean Arnie muscles!) you have the more kj's your body is burning at rest.

Good luck with it all and pm me if you have any questions :)

Would love the info on BMR CQ!!

I am starting classes again tonight. The spin class nearly killed me last time but now that I am feeling fitter (I have been walking every day for 3 weeks) I feel up to another session. Aerobics tonight and then spin next week. My gym doesn't have Combat but they do have Pump - so i'll give it a try.

If I wanted to work on my thighs - what are some really good exercises I can do? (Already doing squats and lunges).

Ok, basically your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate which is the MINIMUM amount of calories per day that your body needs to sustain itself at rest. Any less than that and your body shut itself down as people have mentioned before, your metabolism will run and hide leaving you feeling drained. And then, when you increase calories, your propensity for storing fat will increase... BOOM, yoyo diet/crash diet effect in action...

The was a formula developed by Harris Benedict to predict your BMR...
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in yrs)

Heehee - were you good at algebra at school (don't you wonder how these people worked this out!)!

So now you've got this number but your body's total calorie needs are never just the basic BMR level... Use a multiplier based on your lifestyle to calculate how much you'd actually need to consume (1.2 for relatively inactive, 1.4 for reasonably active (say 3 sessions of exercise per week), 1.5 or 1.6 for more active (say 3 or 4 sessions per week plus a reasonably active job) and even double for those who are extremely active). Create a calorie deficit by giving yourself a shortfall of 500 calories per day without going below your basic BMR... and bingo! Spread those calories over 6 meals a day and your body will never feel deprived...

What exactly are you trying to do to your thighs?! Do you want definition or lose fat? Unfortunately you can't spot reduce fat on the body :( If you want more definition then i'd recommend leg extensions if you have access to a gym the leg extension machine is awesome for toning your quads and leg curls are great for your hammys. If you don't have access to a gym then squats and lunges are great if you've been doing them for a while you could try adding some weight (held or on shoulders) or walking lunges or introduce some instibility ie put one leg up on a bench behind you and do one legged squats. This forces you to "switch on " your core working your abs as well (but only if you're confident doing them properly).

HTH :)