living on 500 cals a day

a good friend of mine is trying to lost weight. both of us started in may, i've lost ten pounds (been cheating), and she's gone from a size 13 to a size 3, and is working on a size 0.

i asked her how she's lost so much: she eats no more than 500 cals a day, uses weight loss pills, and runs.

please, someone tell me what i can say to her to get it through that this is NOT a healthy way to lost weight. i know that if you're consuming under 1200 cals a day, then your body goes into starvation mode. what else can i tell her?

How about telling her what "starvation mode" really means? Your body needs 1200 calories to keep you alive--just to maintain the existence of your tissues and keep your heart beating. On top of those 1200, you need calories to deal with your everyday activities, like walking around, typing, talking, cooking, using the bathroom, etc. It is going to get those calories, regardless of whether you feed it, from breaking down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

Carbohydrates are the most readily available source of energy for your body, so if those are available (i.e. if you're eating enough to keep your body running) it will break them down. If you don't get enough calories to keep your body going, your body has to burn what is available to it. At first, it will burn fat--that's what stored fat is for, after all, a source of energy when there is no food to be found. After too much time spent undernourished, however, your body will come to the conclusion that you are in the middle of a famine with no end in sight, and will conserve the fat for later to prolong your life, since it assumes that you can't find any food at all. From your body's point of view, if you're not eating food, there must be no food available--there's no other logical reason, so far as it's concerned, for not eating. So it becomes convinced that you've just entered some kind of barren wasteland and clings to the fat you've got left. Welcome to "starvation mode." It will also more readily convert the food you consume into fat, for the same reasons--it's concerned with keeping you alive as far into the future as it can, and it has no idea how long this famine could last.

Your body has to burn SOMETHING for energy, though, and if it can't use food or fat, it's going to turn on itself, consuming muscles and eventually even organ tissue. Your body will literally eat itself in order to keep you alive, if you reduce its calories enough for long enough. Your skin will turn a dull, listless gray, your hair will fall out, and your muscles will atrophy and waste away, since your body doesn't have enough spare energy to maintain them AND keep you alive.

Obviously, this is a VERY SEVERE SCENARIO--it's not going to happen overnight. But when we say "starvation mode," this is what we are referencing, and it ain't good for you.

Maybe tell her that?

maybe print it (elmfraser's response) out and give it to her!

ohh...i don't see what the bif\g problem is once she goes to a size 0 she might be happy and start eatting proper again

The big problem is she is STARVING herself...if she "starts eating proper again" she will gain it all back.  Starving yourself is a big deal!!! 

If your body believes you have been starving for the past x amount of time, AS SOON AS you start feeding it normally again, it is going to convert all that food right into fat in case the famine comes back. Which means that you're going to start starving yourself again to take it off, and then it's going to come back again, and you will eventually ruin your health continuing along this cycle of losing and gaining until something snaps.

That's why it's bad for you.

Your friend is showing many of the classic signs of anorexia. She the information above is quite correct, however she may not care or want to listen.  She needs help and badly, but don't be suprised if your attempts to help her are met with anger and negativity. Anybody who wants to be that skinny so bad they are willing to risk thier lives to do it, needs intervention and professional help. The damage she is doing to herself, is in part irreversable.

At this point her body is desperate for calories, and she will gain weight by eating normally which will unfortunately probably freak her out. As skinny as she is, she may infact still see herself as fat, people with eating disorders often also tend to not see how they really look. Even when she gets to O, (if she lives that long), she will most likely still continue with the extreme dieting.

Are there any relatives or friends you can talk to with your concern, the more concerned people who are willing to be there for her the better, and the more likely she may be to get the help she needs.  I would also recommend contacting someone with knowledge of eating disorders on the best way to approach her and get her the help she needs.

I wish you luck.

eating under 1200 calories is bad? oh crap.

Be there for her, let her know that you're willing to listen if she needs to talk, don't put pressure on her.
Support her, but know what you can do.
She needs to figure out for herself that what's she's doing is harming her, you can guide her but please don't tell her what to do.
Don't force her to eat, don't blame  her for her problems, just be supportive and gently encourage her to get some help.
She might get angry with you, but that's the disease talking, don't give up on her, she needs you.
Just know that you can't help anyone who doesn't want to help themselve, when the time is right, she will listen to you.
Try to get her to read up about ED's, knowledge is power, and she will need the power to be able to change.

thanks everyone, i'm just not sure how i'm going to get through to her. she told her mother that myself and a friend of ours think she's too skinny, and her mom just said we were wrong and then pointed out all the places where she was still "fat." on top of that, most of her family is russian and don't speak much english. i just feel like i'm at a loss right now.

Your friend has anorexia !

The only one who was wrong was her mother.
She has no idea what negative affect that comment can have.
That is such a negative thing to say and it won't help your friend.
I understand that it must be difficult for you, you know she needs help, but you don't know how to help her.
Ask your friend If there's something you can do for her, If there's something she wants to talk about.
Maybe you won't be able to get through to her, but you can always try, just don't force anything.
Try reading up  about ED's, it will give you some clues as to what you can and cannot do.

I'm Russian too and when I gain weight my parents will definately tell me. My Russian friends' parents also tell them if they are getting too fat and are harsh about it. It's just a different culture but you have to let her know that this isn't the way to go. Tell her she will probably gain it all back  or her skin and hair will started to dimish.

I'm also sure if her mom knew she was using pills, she would stop her.