Do you think this is healthy?

I did the 600 calorie a day diet under a doctors supervision at a weight loss clinic. She also gave me diet pills to supress my appetite AND I got b12 shots every week to keep my energy level up. If you don't have the b12 shot, you will tire out after 3 days. This diet is impossible without the b12.

I was losing a pound a day, but the first week I lost 14 pounds. I did get down to my target weight. I kept the weight off for years, but I also kept getting the red b12 shots, they are addicting! They make you feel great, even without the diet, the doctor administered the shots for $40 a week, and they are worth it.

Since then I have had 2 more kids, and I am doing 1200 calories a day now because I can't afford the clinic diet pills or shots. Basically I am doubling up on the original diet, 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast, 1 piece of toast and 1 piece of fruit. Lunch and dinner are the same, 6oz of meat, 2 servings of veggies and 2 servings of fruit. If you cut that in half it's only 600 calories a day so I am guessing that doubling it makes it 1200. Also, to not go into a carb shock, I am doing this diet every 3 days, day 1 I take 100 grams of carbs, day 2 50 grams of carbs and I do the strict diet on day 3, under 30 grams of carbs.

Does this sound healthy? I came up with this idea myself and I am not a professional and I need opinions on this because I want to stay healthy.

From my pov this looks like a very sparse diet, 1200 really is the bare minimum; use the tools here on CC (burn meter etc) to see how much you should be eating :)

Also, what is this 'carb shock' thing? And under 30g of carbs is very very low...carbs aren't bad! Things like white bread, white flour, refined sugars etc. aren't as good for you as whole-wheat bread etc., but if you have them once in a while and not in huge quantities, they won't be detrimental to your health :/

There are lots of people on here who will be able to give you very good advice; good luck with staying healthy!

Would you be able to post your current stats... e.g. height, weight, age... and an idea of how much activity you do.  1200 cals is the absolute bare minimum a rather lightweight, sedentary adult woman needs to survive.  The diet as you describe it is probably sub 1000 cals and, by cutting out carbohydrates a lot of the time, you're not getting a very good balance and could experience problems. 

Try using the CC food log for a few days rather than guessing your intake.  If you check the 'analysis' function you'll be able to see if it's a good balance

Would that 'diet' happen to be that Dr. Bernstein diet thingy?

~H~

I didn't how else to put the carb shock into other words. A lot of people crash from not eating enough carbs, that's what I meant. I only eat complex carbs, I was thinking about eating only brown rice as main carb.

Thanks for your advice.

I am 37 years, 5'4" 159 pounds as of this morning, I weighed 164 last week on Monday so I lost 5 pounds in 8 days. I go to the gym at a minimum of 3 days a week and I am a very active mom of 3 children. Most of my activity is housework and chasing a toddler all day.

Oh ok, that somewhat clarifies it, thanks :)

I was just thinking that you needn't go overboard with cutting down carbs, as you need fuel for your body and carbs keep your brain going. I've porridge or toast and eggs with a serving of fruit/veggies for breakfast most mornings, keeps me going until noon.
There are a lot of other complex carbs you can have though, if you're looking for whole grains, things like wheat grains, quinoa etc. are good options too, legumes are great for protein and carbs...variety is the spice of life eh :)

My replies are in order, I don't know why I can't post them directly under the original post I am responding to so I will copy paste the original.

"Would that 'diet' happen to be that Dr. Bernstein diet thingy?"

The main diet of 600 calories I got from the weight loss clinic, dr. Barmoda (spelling?) she is an indian woman based in dublin ohio. When I saw her years ago, she said that the b12 shot was her own secret stuff but I later found out that is this a health supplement that a lot of people get injected.

Original Post by marytraj:

My replies are in order, I don't know why I can't post them directly under the original post I am responding to so I will copy paste the original.

You can use the "Quote" link, which will put the original message of the sender in a box like above. You can edit the message as well.

Anyway, your diet sounds a little extreme to me. Seems like you are quite active, so I would use the tools on CC to figure out what your needs are.

From the stats you provided it seems your BMR is 1395 kcals. That is the amount your body burns if you do absolutely nothing all day. I plugged in your stats into this site: www.phord.com/cc (clicking on this link will show the stats I entered - adjust as necessary).

Losing weight too fast is not healthy. In the beginning of a diet people can lose a lot of weight but as all sensible diets tell you, losing 1-2lbs a week is what you should aim for.

I have a low carb diet and the "carb shock" works like this...at least this is how I did it...

Days 1-5 :  Carbs stay 30 or below (no breads, grains, or sugars unless its natural in fruit - fruit is limited)

Day 6 :  Load on carbs to replenish what you deprived yourself of.  This more or less "shocks" the body and it kicks into overdrive because it was used to running on very few and it doesn't know what to do with them. 

Day 7 : Carbs shoul be cut back down to around, but no more than 100.

You'll notice if you're weighing yourself every day that you'll average 5 to 8 lbs a week and about 3 lbs of it actually comes off during day 6 when you load on the carbs because the body works so hard because of the excess carbs.  At least thats how it worked for me.  I also made sure to walk 1 mile every day after dinner on most days so that also helped.   

Original Post by abunaimah:

Original Post by marytraj:

My replies are in order, I don't know why I can't post them directly under the original post I am responding to so I will copy paste the original.

You can use the "Quote" link, which will put the original message of the sender in a box like above. You can edit the message as well.

Anyway, your diet sounds a little extreme to me. Seems like you are quite active, so I would use the tools on CC to figure out what your needs are.

From the stats you provided it seems your BMR is 1395 kcals. That is the amount your body burns if you do absolutely nothing all day. I plugged in your stats into this site: www.phord.com/cc (clicking on this link will show the stats I entered - adjust as necessary).

Losing weight too fast is not healthy. In the beginning of a diet people can lose a lot of weight but as all sensible diets tell you, losing 1-2lbs a week is what you should aim for.

Thanks so much! What is BMR? According to the stat's I wasn't too far off of 1200, I most certainly don't mind eating more food to reach the 1395 calories! Or am I reading it wrong, should I be eating 1395 calories a day?

Original Post by vtomlin13:

I have a low carb diet and the "carb shock" works like this...at least this is how I did it...

Days 1-5 :  Carbs stay 30 or below (no breads, grains, or sugars unless its natural in fruit - fruit is limited)

Day 6 :  Load on carbs to replenish what you deprived yourself of.  This more or less "shocks" the body and it kicks into overdrive because it was used to running on very few and it doesn't know what to do with them. 

Day 7 : Carbs shoul be cut back down to around, but no more than 100.

You'll notice if you're weighing yourself every day that you'll average 5 to 8 lbs a week and about 3 lbs of it actually comes off during day 6 when you load on the carbs because the body works so hard because of the excess carbs.  At least thats how it worked for me.  I also made sure to walk 1 mile every day after dinner on most days so that also helped.   

 

Yeah, that sounds similar to what I have been doing and I did lose 5 pounds the first week. This is great, I am going to switch up to this diet plan for a week because I don't want my body to get too adjusted to just one way of losing weight.

Original Post by marytraj:

Original Post by abunaimah:

Original Post by marytraj:

My replies are in order, I don't know why I can't post them directly under the original post I am responding to so I will copy paste the original.

You can use the "Quote" link, which will put the original message of the sender in a box like above. You can edit the message as well.

Anyway, your diet sounds a little extreme to me. Seems like you are quite active, so I would use the tools on CC to figure out what your needs are.

From the stats you provided it seems your BMR is 1395 kcals. That is the amount your body burns if you do absolutely nothing all day. I plugged in your stats into this site: www.phord.com/cc (clicking on this link will show the stats I entered - adjust as necessary).

Losing weight too fast is not healthy. In the beginning of a diet people can lose a lot of weight but as all sensible diets tell you, losing 1-2lbs a week is what you should aim for.

Thanks so much! What is BMR? According to the stat's I wasn't too far off of 1200, I most certainly don't mind eating more food to reach the 1395 calories! Or am I reading it wrong, should I be eating 1395 calories a day?

Your body is going to need more than 1395 cals, as that is only the amount of cals you burn to exist basically. So you get to eat more :D
You can calculate your bmr here (or use the phord link), along with your daily calorie needs. A woman with your bmr and a light activity level needs around 1920 cals to maintain weight. For losing about a pound a week, a daily deficit of around 500 cals is recommended, so 1920 - 500 = 1420.

I think youre new and improved diet sounds very sensible, but keep in mind that eating 1200 calories per day you will continue losing weight. if that is your intention than the diet sounds reasonable just keep in mind the more active you are the more calories you burn so remember to replace the burnt calories with something healthy to eat, in order to keep you calorie total from dipping below 1200; if you eat less than 1100 your body thinks it's starving itself and will begin to take the nutrients away from your muscle- the lbs you will be losing will no longer be pounds of fat only, but also muscle so be careful.

Well, at my size and weight, if I did a 600 calorie diet, I would die. Right now I am working on keeping it under 3000, and I have been doing quite well. I am 6'4"-6'5" and I weight about 300 pounds... so its not like I over eat that much (at least anymore) but the food actually goes places.... Considering I burn about three times 600 before noon is a good reason for me to do it. One day my max may be 2000, and I have done under 2000 a few times, but yes, 600 sounds very unhealthy, and Im not really sure about injecting anything into my body, although it makes you feel good. (Like most drugs... Weed makes you feel good, but it isn't good for you per say.)

vtomlin13 how long did u stay on this diet or is this a longer term thing? how much did u have to loose if u dont mind me asking? on the high carb day did u do lots of cardio?

Original Post by harriet1988:

vtomlin13 how long did u stay on this diet or is this a longer term thing? how much did u have to loose if u dont mind me asking? on the high carb day did u do lots of cardio?

 Her diet isn't healthy.  Shots should not replace food.

no i was not asking the original poster, i was asking vtomlin13.

Wow!  Your doc was making a killing on those B12 shots!  My doc prescribes it.  I pick it up at Walgreens in a 30ML vial with a three dozen syringes and inject it myself once a week.  Total cost for 30 weeks/30 shots is less than $15!  And you are right...they are awesome.  Ask your regular doc about it...I'm sure you could do the same if you are able to give yourself a shot.  (I know the thought of that really freaks some folks out.)  I actually learned how to do it from a YouTube video, if you can believe it!  I can find you the link, if you like.

As far as your calorie intake, I am from a different camp than most.  I say it sounds fine, but I would add in a "cheat day" once a week where you eat anything you want (within reason, of course) so your body doesn't acclimate and go into starvation mode and start canabalizing your muscle as an earlier poster stated.

I maintained a 600-800 calorie diet for over six months with no issues, and I'm 5'10".  I was getting heavily into cycling during that time, too, so I really had to listen to my body.  I went from almost 250# to about 170# before I started lifting weights, which has gotten me back up to about 190#.

I'm not going to tell you that my experience was typical, by any means...you just need to really pay attention to your body, your energy, and make adjustments when your body dictates.  You need to plan your eating so you get in plenty of protein.  If you are going that low on calories, remember that there are 4 calories in a gram of protein or carbohydrate, and 9 calories in a gram of fat when you are planning your meals/snacks.

I've been a MAJOR slacker the last few months on my eating, for the most part compensating with exercise so I didn't put on too much fat.  So I'm glad I came across your thread.  I'm going to go back to this plan for a bit so I can drop my body fat percentage to where I want to be.

Of course, I'm no doctor.  It sure wouldn't hurt to talk to yours about this.  There is a good chance that you will meet with opposition to this plan, though.  I'm fortunate in that I have a very progressive doc who has a lot of athlete patients here in DFW, so he is extremely current and willing to think outside the box.  He was in the loop the whole time I was eating this way, and never advised against it, but instead advised how to do it wisely.  It has been my experience that most docs do not work this way.  "Old School" mentality still prevails, even in the youngest of docs.

No matter what you decide on, good luck in your efforts and get plenty of exercise!

Original Post by texasfire:

Wow!  Your doc was making a killing on those B12 shots!  My doc prescribes it.  I pick it up at Walgreens in a 30ML vial with a three dozen syringes and inject it myself once a week.  Total cost for 30 weeks/30 shots is less than $15!  And you are right...they are awesome.  Ask your regular doc about it...I'm sure you could do the same if you are able to give yourself a shot.  (I know the thought of that really freaks some folks out.)  I actually learned how to do it from a YouTube video, if you can believe it!  I can find you the link, if you like.

As far as your calorie intake, I am from a different camp than most.  I say it sounds fine, but I would add in a "cheat day" once a week where you eat anything you want (within reason, of course) so your body doesn't acclimate and go into starvation mode and start canabalizing your muscle as an earlier poster stated.

I maintained a 600-800 calorie diet for over six months with no issues, and I'm 5'10".  I was getting heavily into cycling during that time, too, so I really had to listen to my body.  I went from almost 250# to about 170# before I started lifting weights, which has gotten me back up to about 190#.

I'm not going to tell you that my experience was typical, by any means...you just need to really pay attention to your body, your energy, and make adjustments when your body dictates.  You need to plan your eating so you get in plenty of protein.  If you are going that low on calories, remember that there are 4 calories in a gram of protein or carbohydrate, and 9 calories in a gram of fat when you are planning your meals/snacks.

I've been a MAJOR slacker the last few months on my eating, for the most part compensating with exercise so I didn't put on too much fat.  So I'm glad I came across your thread.  I'm going to go back to this plan for a bit so I can drop my body fat percentage to where I want to be.

Of course, I'm no doctor.  It sure wouldn't hurt to talk to yours about this.  There is a good chance that you will meet with opposition to this plan, though.  I'm fortunate in that I have a very progressive doc who has a lot of athlete patients here in DFW, so he is extremely current and willing to think outside the box.  He was in the loop the whole time I was eating this way, and never advised against it, but instead advised how to do it wisely.  It has been my experience that most docs do not work this way.  "Old School" mentality still prevails, even in the youngest of docs.

No matter what you decide on, good luck in your efforts and get plenty of exercise!

 

 

I can't believe it! I am going to ask my doctor for an rx for the b12 shots. My husband doesn't believe that it's true because it's doping if a person competes while it's in the system.

Thanks for the support, I didn't have a problem with the weight coming back until after I had 2 more kids in my mid 30's. I lost the weight from the first child on this diet and b12 in my early 20's and I did keep it off. Those b12 shots help cut down a lot of cravings and give a great jolt of energy that lasts a week. I can't believe it isn't more popular in the dieting community.

Im no professional but thats similar to what im doing... I have oatmeal for breakfast.. lunch some soup  a few low cal gronala bars for snacks and after my 30-45 min on the elliptical machine i have a good supper to reward myself... It comes out to about 1100-1300 cals a day... been doing it for about 3 weeks or so and all seems to be going well...  i was at 225 and now im at 190.. going for 175 and im on a half pound to a pound a day loss at the moment... I prob should be taking in a little more cals since i work out hard for 30-45 min but i seem to have enough energy to not be tired so i think its ok :)