700 calories per day okay?

Am new to this whole calorie count thing over the web, I been trying to lose weight for weeks now and just last month I joined this site and been counting calories everyday and at the start I ate about 1800 calories but as days went by I have cut down to about 700 calories. I started on april 29 with a weight of 290lbs. And less then a month in am at 268 lbs and the last week or 2 I been only intaking 700 calories avg and I don't feel hungry at all. I also been going to the gym everyday for the past 4 days weight lifting and running for 1 hour. Am a male age 20, 5"11. Can someone give me some help to see if wat am doing is a good idea?

700 is too low.

You're going to get a reply from one of moderators telling you why you shouldn't eat less than 1200 calories/day, so I'll keep this short.

Eating only 700 calories/day isn't good. It just isn't healthy.

I'm not surprised about the weight loss with you cutting calories so much even the 1800 might be low.  The thing is your organs and such need a certain amount to work correctly and 700 just isn't gonna cut it.

You might continue to lose for a bit but at some point it will slow your metabolism and have other very bad effects on your system.  The minimum is 1200 for females and 1500 for males and those are minimums for people with a healthy weight.  You need to eat more.

Check out this calculator it'll give you a good amount to eat and burn in exercise to lose weight at a safe and steady pace. BMR/RMR Calculator

I have your settings already put in with very active as an activity level.

With this setting it says eat 2543 calories burn 1182 calories a day lose 2.68 lb a week.  This is amount will be safe and won't lead to the muscle loss so much.  The weight training will also help as well.  You can also select different activity levels if you don't want to do that much and it'll give you another calorie target.

Your way will work but at some point it will stop.  Also when you switch to eating more your body might gain quite a bit of weight fast because it thinks you've been starving it so its gonna store it.

Its a much better idea though because you won't kill your muscle and your metabolism, and other potentially worse side effects.

I'd like to point out the BMR of 2251 this is basically the amount your body needs to function so going lower than this is not good 700 is way lower as you can see.

Your body is probably in starvation mode eating your muscle for energy as we speak, thus making your body fat percentage increase... You have to eat to loose... Check for a message from the moderator.. That is crazy low calories. I reccomend doing a body fat test to see what all your numbers are www.bodyfattest.com  .. Once you findout your resting metabolic rate and your body fat  percentage can go from there...  Good luck...

 

Continue to eat 700 a day.... Have no energy, fail lose lose weight and bask in the beam of light as I continue to lose weight faster with a consumption of 2200 cals a day...

Then.... Post a thread about how it is failing and how people like roj47 are lucky they are able to lose weight and how the whole world is unfair.

bored.

Yeah, I don't know how anyone can eat that few calories consistently. It's only setting you up for failure.

well I did that...and I was so hungry when I reached my goal weight that the minute I started eating again I gained like 38lbs in 3 weeks.So you can try but if you want to keep the weight off try to make your body used to around 1200 and than you will not have trouble maintaining.Lets face it you will not be able to eat 700cal per day for the rest of your life!1200 is a bit more realisitc.I learned all of it here so my desire of loosing weight has gone into a desire of loosing and keeping :)GOOD LUCK

700 calories is too low. It is dangerously low and for your own health you should increase your calories immediately. Congratulations on the weight loss, and dedication to your diet, but eating so little for a long time could damage your health long-term.

1500 calories is the bare minimum for a man to eat per day and to remain healthy. In fact, it may even be too low for you as you are tall and are working out. But at least with a minimum of 1500 calories your organs will continue to function properly.

Upping your calories will also prevent your metabolism from slowing. In addition, by eating only 700 calories you are setting yourself up for an endless cycle of weight gain-weight loss (yo-yo dieting) as once you go back to your normal calories you will gain weight back.

Have you used the tools here on Calorie Count Plus to figure out the best target calories for your goals? Have you checked out the Weight Loss Forum Reources thread at the top of this forum? Also have you seen that we have a New Members forum which has a great thread The Unofficial Guide to Calorie Count - this will guide you through the process.

We encourage a maximum of a 1-2 lb loss per week. To achieve this healthfully you can maintain a 500-1000 calorie deficit per day. The Tools can help you do this.

From Mary Hartley, Calorie Count's Director of Nutrition: "By eating [so few] calories, you will not get enough energy, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other components of food. In time, you could become malnourished, which can cause severe health risks such as respiratory infections, kidney failure, blindness, heart attack and even death."

Here is a brief reason why never less than 1500 calories from the Advice section of Calorie Count Plus, under the Q&A tab:

Why must I eat at least 1,500 calories a day when I want to eat less?

In order to get the daily food servings you need for a balanced diet, it takes about 1200 calories a day (for a man it is 1500 calories a day). With careful planning, you could have a balanced diet on 1000 calories, but the restrictiveness of a very low calorie level can lead to binging and weight cycling, which will take you further from your weight loss goal. What's more, very low calorie diets can cause excessive muscle breakdown and metabolic adaptations, which can drive down your calorie requirements. In the end, you'll need fewer calories to maintain a higher weight.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

 

Uhh Try 1,700.

Honestly, I really though this was a joke post and that it would be moved to the lounge.

Apparently I was wrong.

700 is way too low. Your body will start eating muscle and it will be even harder to lose the weight. You need to ask someone how many calories to intake a day, and stick with it. You might have lost a lot of weight in a short time, but you will gain it all back plus more if you don't start eating right!! It sucks and it will take longer, but it will stay off and you won't have to worry about it coming back.

You're not feeling bad now, but don't worry, you will in a few years when eating yourself from the inside out for energy starts taking a toll on your health.

 

I tried that for a while back when I was stupid. I lost a lot of weight, sure, and at first I could work out no problem and I felt terrific.. until I crashed and started faining and I could barely walk. It took a lot of work to get my metabolism back up to normal, too. But trust me, you don't know it yet, but this is going to really hurt, but you'll be so weak you won't be able to move for a while or ask anyone for help. Try eating 1700 a day, if you weight as much as you say you do you should still lose weight AND you'll be healthier.

Original Post by roj47:

Continue to eat 700 a day.... Have no energy, fail lose lose weight and bask in the beam of light as I continue to lose weight faster with a consumption of 2200 cals a day...

Then.... Post a thread about how it is failing and how people like roj47 are lucky they are able to lose weight and how the whole world is unfair.

bored.

Let's remember some people are not as knowledgeable about nutrition as Roj47 the Almighty, and they're not here to be judged.

Mike, I think you should input your information on your Tools (it's one of the features here), they even test you to see what type of dieter you are. They will give you an estimate of how much you need to eat. Congratulations on the weight loss, but it will probably continue more effectively if you eat at least a bit more than 1500Cal (the site will probably recommend a lot more). Right now you have a depressed immune system. No one wants that.

Please eat more than that! We all want to lose weight, and I damn, I sure do! But even with 700, I know in my head I would think I'm doing myself a favor but really, I know this really isn't the best way to go. It's okay to eat at your daily calorie intake since you are going to the gym and burning those calories. 4 times a week is pretty good, especially the fact that you are weight training. Don't let your body turn against you, because one day it will. It may not be now...or the next few months but all of us here do want to let you know to lose weight the proper way =D

And remember, you are a GUY; therefore, guys NEED more calories. So eat up! Eat fresh, eat healthy! You will feel better about it. Shoot, I know I want to drop all of this weight asap but at the same time I don't want to spark up another problem like my organs or what not. Umm...okay, that's about it though.

Have a good day &eat more that 700!

Like everyone else said, 700 is too low.  And I don't think anyone said this, but I might have missed it.  Losing that much that quickly is hard on the skin too.  Your skin has to shrink, but does it at a rate much slower.  The recommended amount is 2 lbs a week.  So, losing really quickly leads to all this excess skin.  A lot of people that get gastric bypass or lapband surgery wind up needing cosmetic surgery for the very same reason.  I know I'm trying to lose the weight for both health and appearence, although concerns for health didn't start until more recently as I've gotten mom like.  So before now, it was all appearence (which for me was obviously not a good enough reason when offered anything with chocolate).  So, if you're all about appearence being the motivator, remember the excess skin.

You are not doing yourself any favours eating so little....you really do need to make yourself eat much more than that even if as you say you are not hungry......it's in your own best interest to make the effort......

First, that's awesome that you're working to improve your health. I myself started at 319 and I'm now around 177-182 depending on the day. When I started, I cut down to the 1200-1500 range and slowly worked my way back up, using a vigorous workout routine to assist in speeding up my metabolism. I now am back up to 2,000-2,500 kcal a day.

 

But please, I'd go back up to 1200 or definitely more. For your level of activity, you need those calories. And also, I cut back during one week to 800--bad idea. I felt even worse, and I later suffered for it because I had gallbladder attacks due to my body not being used to processing fat anymore. And the extra calories don't have to be bad ones -- eating nuts like peanuts or pistachios (my personal favorite) will help you supplement your nutrition, plus fill you up.

Ya I have been starting to take in 1000-1300 calories per day and I feel alot better. thanks for all the great tips. :) am at 262 lbs atm <3

Original Post by mike_23:

Ya I have been starting to take in 1000-1300 calories per day and I feel alot better. thanks for all the great tips. :) am at 262 lbs atm <3

I hope this is just a first step and your upping your intake in steps because 1000-1300 is a bunch better but your still too low.  Large amounts of weight loss through huge calorie deficits is not a good idea.

Xicarneimi>>

Roj47 the Almighy. I like the sound of that! Wish I could change my login, but ah well…

Given you have only 5 posts, I would guess you are probably fairly new to the boards. After 2 years of seeing the same question over and over again complete with random trolls you will understand the attitude.

For the moment in answer to being all knowledgeable…. I use the search function on here. Pretty easy for anyone with basic knowledge of language. Would do wonders for lazy posters just looking for quick fix answers into their mailboxes.