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The under 600 calorie diet?

I no everyone says on here that if you eat under a 1000 calories a day ull go into starvation mode, but how come on television programmes and tests people who have ate 600 calories or less every day for a period of time they have lost a huge amount of weight? does this work?

just wondering! haha

melissa xxx

Laura, it depends on a lot of things. Generally speaking, a 1000-calorie deficit is the maximum and 1200 calories is the minimum intake (for a woman) so if you're burning less than 2200 on average, it would be 1200; if more than 2200, then it's whatever you burn minus 1000. But these are just guidelines and averages, so if you end up eating 1175 on average, it's probably okay, and if your deficit is, say, 1050, any harm would be negligible as well. And some people actually need less, especially older and/or smaller women; if a woman is 60 years old and just trying to lose 10 pounds, and in otherwise good health, she could probably go a bit under 1200, but should check with a doctor or nurse practitioner first to make sure it's okay, and possibly a nutritionist to ensure that the resultant diet is as complete as possible.

Sometimes doctors will approve very low-calorie diets for the dangerously overweight, when the health benefits of getting some of the weight off quickly outweighs the dangers of taking in too few calories, with medical monitoring.

One or two days of few/no calories are not harmful for people without serious health conditions. Occasional, short fasts (a couple of days) are safe for them and can even be beneficial, although they're not going to noticeably help with weight loss; they're more for flushng toxins out of the body and giving one's digestive system a brief rest.

There's a world of difference between saying "Hey, what you want to do is unhealthy and here's why." and "Hey, what you want to do is unhealthy and you're an idiot."

We STRONGLY prefer people stick to "Hey, what you want to do is unhealthy and here's why" WITHOUT the personal attacks. That's what 'being supportive without necessarily agreeing' means and the kind of atmosphere we prefer to have on the forums.

Everyone's got a right to their own opinion. We just ask everyone to state it fairly and without personal insult.

- HK, Volunteer Moderator

One of the things that I really liked when I founnd cc is the educational side. I have learned alot about how to change my diet lose weight and live a better life. There have been alot of misleading and misconceptions about how to lose weight and keep it off and if there are still people out there falling for some the gimmicks we should try to inform and educate them to the best of out abilities. If we start attacking people in such rude ways they may not come back and we will have lost the chance to help someone achieve there goals  in a healthy way.

I have seen more fitness/weight loss misinformation on this site than I ever imagined I would see. I have never called anyone a name; in fact I have gone out of my way to provide good information, links and data. The fact remains many people are overly sensitive and any contradictory information is a "personal attack".

Ultra low calorie diets are used under medically controlled conditions.  By this I mean that the patient is in the hospital.  There are a lot of reasons why an ultra low calorie diet for the kind of weight loss most of us are trying to achieve, is a bad idea.  Here's some reading material.  I hope you find it informative.

Dieting & Metabolism
quote from this article "

"Why does a very low calorie intake slow down weight loss? Quite simply, your body goes into 'starvation mode'. This mechanism, which is thought to have evolved as a defence against starvation, means the body becomes super efficient at making the most of the calories it does get from food and drink. The main way it does this is to protect its fat stores and instead use lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This directly leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolic rate so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight loss slows down. Of course, this is the perfect solution if you're in a famine situation. But if you're trying to lose weight, it's going to do little to help you shift those unwanted pounds."

Obesity at 700 Calores a Day
Quote from this article:  "Why Is She Not Losing Weight?


"First, let me tell you why she's not losing weight. Then I'll tell you what she has to do to fix the situation. With a chronic (months and months) intake of less than 1000 calories per day and a 185-pound body weight her metabolism is suffering greatly. It's running cool, not hot. It's basically running at a snail's pace. Think of it this way. Her metabolism has matched itself to her intake. She could, indeed, lose body fat but she's in that gray area where she is eating too few calories but not quite at the concentration-camp level yet. If she were to consume 100-300 calories per day her body would have virtually no choice but to begin liberating stored body fat. This is NOT the solution. It's unhealthy and, in fact, quite stupid. Not only has her metabolism matched her intake, her body has maximized production of enzymes that are designed to help store any additional calories as fat. Anytime additional, immediately-unnecessary calories are consumed the enzymes are there and waiting to store the additional calories as fat. Her body is starved nutritionally and it has one thing on its mind - survival. "

The Body Neglected
Quote from this article "

"There's a narrow window of time to accrue bone mass to last a lifetime," says Diane Mickley, MD, co-president of the National Eating Disorders Association and the founder and director of the Wilkins Center for Eating Disorders in Greenwich, Conn. "You're supposed to be pouring in bone, and you're losing it instead." Such bone loss can set in as soon as six months after anorexic behavior begins, and is one of the most irreversible complications of the disease."

"But the most life-threatening damage is usually the havoc wreaked on the heart. As the body loses muscle mass, it loses heart muscle at a preferential rate -- so the heart gets smaller and weaker. "It gets worse at increasing your circulation in response to exercise, and your pulse and your blood pressure get lower," says Mickley. "The cardiac tolls are acute and significant, and set in quickly." Heart damage, which ultimately killed singer Karen Carpenter, is the most common reason for hospitalization in most people with anorexia."

I have seen more fitness/weight loss misinformation on this site than I ever imagined I would see. I have never called anyone a name; in fact I have gone out of my way to provide good information, links and data. The fact remains many people are overly sensitive and any contradictory information is a "personal attack".

This website is designed to be a support system.  It doesn't work if someone feels threatened.  What you may see as someone being "overly sensitive", the person asking for advice may see it as insulting, demeaning, or that you may be talking down to them.

All we ask is that you be considerate.  We appreciate your advice, but it needs to come pressure free.

You're absolutely right - a 600 calorie diet is silly, but the original poster doesn't know that until she asks.  You've got to remember, some of us are new to this and haven't had the experiences we have.  There are no dumb questions.

I agree robtucker430