arguing with hubby

I am new here and am wondering if someone could help end an argument I am having with my husband.

I am currently 135-137 ad want to get down to 120-125 by april.

I am 29, well I will be 30 in a week and a half and 5'4"

Is under 1000 cals okay?

I know it is stupid to ask but he watches me like a hawk and it is getting kind of a pain in the butt when my friends are asking me why he is like that at meal time. 

 

 

 

So am I reading this right?  He is watching you because he thinks you are eating too much or too little??

the wisdom around here says you shouldn't go under 1200.  i saw a dietician on my local news yesterday who said that she doesn't allow her small, female clients to go under 1100.  if you're getting significant exercise, you need more.

sorry - hubby is right!

no -- 1000 a day is not ok.  You should strive for a minimum of 1200 per day if you are not exercising -- more if you are exercising.  At 5'4" 1000 calories will not give you the required nutrients.  And -- what will you do when you reach your goal weight, start eating the way you were?  

What is so special about April and why is 120-125 the magic number?  This should be a sustainable lifestyle choice -- not a quick fix diet.  Quick fix diets don't work in the long-term, only in the short.

no, 1000 cals a day is NOT ok unless you want to starve your body... even if you are doing no exercise and sitting at a desk all day the minimum recommended amount for women is 1200... if you up your cals and do a little exercise the weight will come off much quicker than if you eat very little, trust me

Under 1000 is definatly not ok, someone with your stats probably has a BMR around 1400, meaning that you should not eat less than 1400 calories a day.

hi, my stats are basically the same as yours (5'4" ish and 135 ish) and i think under a 1000 calories is wayyyyyyy too low

i don't know what your activity level is, but my "bmr" (?)  i think it is called (what i burn just living, sleeping, walking, etc.) is 1700 calories.  so with a 500 calorie deficit that puts me at 1200 a day.  and really you shouldn't be going below 1200 calories a day.  if your exercising and your body is burning more, than you should be eating alittle more too. 

sorry hubby is right, you'll need more calories than that or you'll just end up starving yourself!

 

just to clarify - jmc1221, that isn't your BMR, that is your sedentary burn. Your BMR is what you burn without the walking or getting out of bed.

You shouldn't eat below BMR (which floggingsully calculated to be about 1400), but you can eat below your sedentary (and if you are sedentary, you would have to eat below that to lose weight).

If you add exercise, then you can acheive a 500 deficit that jmc1221 is talking about, without eating below your BMR.

Thanks for all the information.  I have finally agreed with my husband and am making an appointment with my Doctor about this.  I have struggled with hating food and my weight for most of my life.

 (my parents still does not get that being called fat all my life when I was actually quiet thin would mess a person up)

I don't think I classify as an eating disorder but then again how healthy is starving for a week then when you do eat and it is over 500 cals you feel like a failure.  I should get back to what I had done though in the past and it seemed to work.  No more pop and limit how much sugar I do eat.

 

 

 

amethyst- thank you :)  i knew i understand when you explained it to me but was sure i'd get something wrong explaining it to someone else!

You can't say that under 1000 is too low without qualifying that statement.  There are cases where this is okay, specifically when prescribed by your physician.  There are cases where a very low calorie diet is called for, but only under the strict guidance of a health care professional.

So under 1000 is way too low unless your doctor prescribed that diet for you and is closely monitoring your progress. 

In order to maintain enough energy throughout the day and, more importantly, to keep one's metabolism up and stay out of the dangerous and fat-storing "starvation mode," WOMEN SHOULD NEVER CONSUME LESS THAN 1200 CALORIES.... EVER!!!!

1000 calories a day isn't enough for a 3 year old, much less a grown adult. Check out this about.com calculator:

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalc alc.htm

Under-eating will deprive your body of nutrients it needs and slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. 

A few reasons to eat more.

Your body needs the following servings each day...
5-10 servings of veggies
3 servings of fruits
3 servings of dairy products
3-5 servings of carbs
3-5 servings of protein
3 servings healthy fats

Roughly totals 1200+ calories.


It is recommended to never go below 1200 calories if you are a female, because your body will go into starvation mode and it is possible that you might gain weight, besides doing serious damage to your body. (1500 calories if you are male).

Your body needs at least 1200 calories per day to survive. Here is a very rough scientific break down provided by a dietician for a  5' 2", 19 year old female weighing approximately 100 pounds, sitting around all day and doing nothing:


-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

Reference: http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3178 .html#6

I don't understand why people refuse to accept the FACT that a doctor prescribed very low calorie diet (VLCD) is acceptable.

I AM NOT SAYING THAT ANYONE SHOULD DO THIS ON THEIR OWN.  A VLCD SHOULD ONLY BE INITIATED UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION AND IS ONLY APPROPRIATE IN VERY LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES. 

The statement that you should never go below 1200 calories is simply not true.  A more correct statement is that unless prescribed by your physician, that a caloric intake of under 1200 for women and 1500 for men risks your health and can damage your metabolism.

VLCDs have been extensively studied and used properly under medical supervision, are effective in helping extremely obese people, especially those with Type-2 diabetes. 

AGAIN, IF YOU PUT YOURSELF ON A VLCD, THEN YOU ARE RISKING YOUR HEALTH.   ONLY A DOCTOR SHOULD PRESCRIBE THIS TYPE OF DIET. 

And to the person who started this thread, I'm glad you are going to see your doctor.  He or she can surely help you find the correct balance in your diet or can refer you to a specialist who can.  Best of luck in developing a healthy lifestyle and dealing with your food issues. 

Techdog you are right that a DR. could prescribe this 1000 cal diet, but in this thread I think your stance and need to be right is missing the point that lishakatz WAS restricting her cals by her own whim and in her further statements is on potentially shaky ED ground.

Yes I am sick of the whole starvation mode mantra, but tristen's never below 1200 is a safer stance (albeit stated without the DR. caveat) than justifying 1000cals to one on the brink.

 

bagga:  Perhaps you are right and I should ease up.  It just bugs me when people don't tell the whole story and make statements that are not true or only tell part of the story.

And I realize that lishakatz was doing something potentially unhealthy in restricting too much, which is why I said I was glad that she is consulting with her doctor and why I said that 1000 is too low unless her doctor prescribed it.

I'll try to ease up.  :)  It's just against my nature to let misinformation go unchallenged.  I think that having the whole story is always better than having only part, which is why I am constantly reading all of the research I can find on weight management and healthy eating and why I tend to be long winded in my responses.

BTW, the reason I chose the screen name techdog is because I had a boss once that called me his technology pitbull.  He would assign me a problem, I would attack it and relentlessly pursue a solution until I solved it.  As you might have surmised, my current "problem" is getting myself to a healthy weight and I employ the same strategy to solve it.  And sometimes that passionate pursuit of a solution makes me come across as aggressive.  I'll have to "attack" that problem as well, I guess. 

Cheers.