Unrealistic 600 calories a day?

I'm 5ft3 and weigh about 200 lbs. Last year I was referred to a  weight loss consultant at my local hospital (I'm from England BTW) and had some tests undertaken at the chemical pathology lab and was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome or syndrome x as it is sometimes called. I've been told I'm borderline diabetic with insulin resistance and have to have an insulin tolereance test every year.

I have to go to the hospital every month for check ups but the only advice they have given me so far is to try and limt my calorie intake to 600 a day, which to be honest isnt exactly very helpful. I know I'm over weight, but if it was as easy as limiting my calorie intake I would have done it before.

But surely 600 a day is ridiculously low, the doctor said it was a semi starvation diet, and that all of the various tests I had had showed my metobolism was so slow it was the only way I could lose any weight. They also said to cut out carbs because of my insulin problems.

I suffer from severe migraines, and if I dont eat carbs they just get worse, when I do eat carbs I make sure that I only eat granary bread with added pumpkin, linseeds etc, so it takes my body as long as poss to break down, and I dont eat potatoes, and only have brown rice. I have to avoid sugar all together as high sugar foods give me a really bad migraine. Obviously my body just doesnt cope well with really low or high blood sugar.

Does anyone now how I can speed up my metabolism without using caffiene, because I think 600 calories a day is just totally unrealistic advice

What about Green tea? I think 600 is pretty redilculous.. I am 5'3 also, I weigh 160lbs...  And I also suffer from migraines...  I had Gestational Diebetes when I was pregnant... I wouldnt CUT out the carbs, but definitely cut them Down a bit.. Like eating Whole grain breads (Rather than white) Try to eat tortilla wraps and pita wraps rather than bread... Cut down as much as possible on sugar... Try using Splenda.. When I went on the Low carb - Low sugar diet when I had GD, I lost 12 lbs in 6 days!!!!! It was all my own fat.. not the baby's.. I was starting to blow up, aroudn the face, neck, arms, every where for that matter.. and once I started this diet, I was droppin the Bulge every where.. Im going to do it now.. Im not a diebetic, but I know that the diebetic Diet works well.. and its healthy for you.. Cuz large amounts of carbs and sugar can create diabetes when you dont have it.. I would definitely jus try to cut back on the carbs and sugar as much as possible... and eat TONS of vegetables, and small amounts of fruit (As fruit also contains ALOT of natural sugars...) and LOTS of proteins! i also I noticed when I had GD, was say I ate a whole wheat sub from subway... And sat around after eating it, I would check my blood sugar level, and it would be Just at, or a little over my Max level... But if I ate that exact same sub, let it digest for about 30 minutes, then went on a Power walk for 15 mins or so, My levels would be exceptionally low... Cardio exercise (Getting your heartrate up) balances out carbs... same with protein.. If youve noticed youve aten more carbs then you should have, try eating a couple eggs, some fish, lean meat, and going for a walk.. Hope I helped some!

600 calories is like... 6 slices of bread, thats insane! They are your doctors, so I suppose they know what is best for you. I think that's impossible to do for along period of time, your body may take it at first, I just don't know. If they are keeping watch of you, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

I know it all sounds really absurd but the doctor knows what he is on about. Trust me. As you are suffering from Reaven's syndrome, you probably already have a resistance to insulin, making it impossible to be treated successfully with traditional insulin therapies. This diet, also known as a ketogenic diet, has been used for years to help Type II diabetics reduce their dependency on insulin. It's a horrible existence but I can assure you that if you can make your way through it, you will come out a far healthier version of yourself in the end.

More information on ketogenic diets on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet.

And a study on the efficacy of ketogenic diet in treating Type II diabetics: http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content /2/1/34.

Some things to bear in mind:

1. This is NOT a weight loss programme - your doctor has recommended this diet to you because of your diabetes, borderline or otherwise, and metabolic deficiencies
2. You will very likely lose a considerable amount of weight, however, this is NOT the sole purpose of the diet - you should expect to re-gain some weight afterwards
3. Starches should be effectively eliminated from your diet whilst you are being treated - no breads of any kind should be consumed

If your doctor has not outlined a meal plan and been more precise than to just say "cut carbs and consume 600 calories a day" you need to demand a referral to a nutritionist. This diet is unsafe when it is not being closely supervised and damn difficult to do without proper guidance.

As for your migraines, I have been unable to find any information about the impact of a ketogenic diet on migraine sufferers. Not to say there isn't bound to be something out there for you. Has your GP also treated you for your migraines or have you self diagnosed? Are you taking abortive or preventative medications? Could be that your doctor could change your medication to solve that problem.

I've known three morbidly obese (not using the term morbid loosely) that underwent hospitalization for their problem and they still weren't to go under 1000/day on a carefully supervised diet.  I think the 600 had to have been a misunderstanding between you and your doctor, or you need a second opinion.  At 5'3 you are too heavy and probably need to lose weight for your health, but you are not that bad off.  If you have insulin resistance, carbs are a serious problem.  You probably do need to seriously restrict them in order to keep the insulin levels under control.  Try brown rice and other carbs with lots of fiber.  If you go for bread, get whole wheat and grain types.  Honestly though, it sounds like you need a nutritionist to assist you.

I've had migraines since I was 8 and can understand how the dietary shifts affect you.  However, I would suggest that it isn't the lack of carbs that trigger them, but probably something else associated.  I thought I couldn't eat lunchmeats at all because I would frequently get migraines in conjunction.  Turns out, it was the sodium nitrate preservative in the lunchmeats.  When I ate lunchmeat preserved only with salt or fresh meats, it didn't happen.  Could be something a little more obscure and random than just a lack of carbs for you.  I've got a Maxalt prescription for mine as well, which is great.  It is used as a diagnostic tool because it will ONLY treat migraines.  This helped me pin down some of the triggers and to realize that sometimes I get headaches as bad as the ones with migraines that just aren't migraines. 

Best of luck!

I can't help you from the medical standpoint -- although I agree with atsetti, you definitely need more information than "just eat less than 600 calories per day and no carbs.... -- however, exercise CAN help boost your metabolism. 

Doesn't have to be anything earth-shattering to begin with -- just more than you are doing now.  walk for 5 mins straight for a week, then walk for 5 mins, alternating 30 secs all out, 1 min easy -- do that for week; 5 mins walking, alternating 1 min all out, 30 sec easy.  Then spend a week at 10 mins straight, follow the same pattern at least until you can do 30 mins alternating 1 min fast, 30 secs easy.  Your fast and my fast won't be the same, but you should feel a definite difference in speed (and breathing).

I'm 5'2'', and I started trying to lose weight about two years ago. I started at 245, lost 30lbs because I restricted too much, and then gained a good 20 of it back before I started to lose weight again in March, because I couldn't stand to see me back at my heaviest.

I now weigh 213lbs. My metabolism is a little wonky, but I think that 600 calories a day should only be done if you're going to be under strict medical supervision. I have lost 20lbs or so completely on my own, without the help of doctor's advice, on around 1500-1800 calories a day.

If you wish to increase your metabolism, additional exercise may help you increase it. Staying more active and perhaps building muscle or strengthening what muscle you do have will help you raise your metabolism a bit. I also second the suggestion of going and getting a second opinion. Exercise and watching what you eat/how much you eat should help you lose weight, no matter how stubborn your metabolism is, in the long run.

I would really try to avoid going as low as 600 calories a day, however. =/

It sounds like you're going to have a very difficult period of time to work through.  In your case, I'd definitely seek a second medical opinion and try to consult a nutritionist.  Your doctor may be right about the 600 calories a day or that may be a number that is being used because they may think that if they tell you 600 you'll really end up closer to 1,000.  Most people are really bad at tracking what they eat and most do eat more than they tell their doctors when they're trying to look good.  So there may be some reasoning behind your doctor's approach which isn't apparent or your doctor may not be a specialist in this area in which case you're going to want a specialist.  If you like your doctor, make another appointment and go in armed with facts and figures from your own research and ask why the advice conflicts with what you've researched.

You'll probably be wanting to look at foods for a while by their glycemic index, here's a good but simple article on glycemic index that also links to the glycemic index and the free for glycemic purposes foods.

I do know that for diabetics that cinnamon is one of the essential spices for helping to regulate blood sugar and it also give you a bonus for cholesterol too.

I agree that 600 calories is a unreasonable goal. I can't see how anyone could maintain that restrictive a diet for very long. My wife did it because she had WLS. She still barely eats 1000 cal. a day. Her stomach just won't let her eat more. 1 cup meals are her max. She has lost over 40 lbs.  My wife's best friend had all kind of issues that you mention. Her doctor recommended what the American Heart Association suggests:

My wife's friend was a borderline type 2 diabetic. With weight loss all these health issues were resolved. Notice that the recommendation states" healthy eating habits." I would get a second opinion.

I'm not a doctor and I don't know about your metabolic disease,  My one question is are you sure that the doctor didn't say to reduce your calories BY 600 because that is the deficit that is usually recommended to lose weight.  I would definitedly do what some of these ladies recommended.  Make another appointment, armed with facts, a lot of them you can find right here on this site and see if he didn't really mean reduce by 600.  Also the excercise and the ideas about changes in diet these are all good advice. 

As far as the borderline diabetes, consider this a warning and do something about it before it gets worse.  Thousands of people every year who have diabetes - have lost weight and their diabetes is under control (they have nearly no symptoms)  I know several people who lost the weight by just not eating any sugars and white flour.  They were insulin dependent diabetics and no they say their doctors say they have no signs of the disease.  No more insulin and as long as they keep the weight of they will keep the disease at bay.  

There is hope, you just need to do a little research to find out what is going to help you. 

My mom was diagnosed with insulin resistance a few years ago.  I attended a seminar through the local hospital with her on how to eat to treat the illness and prevent it from progressing to diabetes.  The program stressed replacing processed carbs with whole ones and eliminating straight sugar, as you have done.  They also talked a lot about cardiovascular exercise.  They really didn't even talk about calories, except to say to keep it under the usual requirements, don't overeat.  All this, and my mom was 5'3" and around 250 lbs!  That sounds waaaay different from what you are getting.

Have you considered a second opinion?  I don't see how anyone could keep up this kind of diet.  I know I couldn't!  Success needs to be doable, I think.

Good luck!

Wow,

It's really great to see all of the replies to my post. I only found this website by accident the other day when I was trying to find a review on that new "Flat belly diet" book to see if it really works. Its great to see all the support out there.

This Dr I have been seeing actually runs a weight loss clinic at my local hospital. I was referred there by my GP. They had prescribed me weight loss medication reductil that is supposed to reduce my appetite, but that had no affect. After that I had something else that is supposed to stop your body from digesting 30% of the fat you eat (cant remember what its called). But that made me really ill, as I suffer from IBS anyway.

For my migraines I was taking beta-blockers for the past 3 years, but they started giving me hallucinations recently, so I am now taking Topamax twice daily which is a anti-epileptic drug, and then I take sumatriptan when I actually get a migraine. They are quite severe and often, so I am under the care of a nuerologist for those. I should get discounted hospital car parking!

I am normally quite good with my diet, but when I get a headache I know that if I eat something the headache goes, so I crave starchy foods.

honey, you will have to eat more. you will gain weight at first, and i know that's scary- but trust me, as soon as your metabolism speeds back up it will all come off. you need to google your bmr- basal metabolic rate, the # of cals you need daily just to keep your vital organs functioning- and NEVER EVER eat below that. you then need to find a daily calorie calculator and add your bmr to your daily activity to find out your daily requirement. the more you eat, the higher your metabolism will be- as long as you are eating the required # of cals, you won't gain or lose weight. the initial weight gain is from the surge of glycogen your muscles store after being starved- they can store up to 3.000 cals worth, and every gram is worth 3-4 grams of water. so it is really water weight, plus the weight of the food in your digestive tract- you will digest very slowly, you may be a little constipated at first. but what i'm saying is that it's not real weight, it will come off- but you need to eat more. if you get your metabolism back up, you could be at the same weight eating a hell of a lot more cals. so good luck sweetie!