Ok, didn't really know where to put this. It's not really about running, so I'm posting in this section. OK, I have a friend who is on a low calorie diet. She is easting something ridiculous like 1000 calories a day and exercising. She has been on this for two weeks and lost 10lbs so far but has plateaued. I have been trying to convince her that this is a stupid way to lose weight etc and when she asked me why she is no longer losing as much weight, I told her that her body has probably gone into a starvation type mode and is clinging to any calories it gets. However, her doctor has told her that her body will not go into starvation model if she is exercising. This doesn't sound right to me, but I don't have the scientific arguments to back up what I'm saying. Is this true? Could anyone who knows about this stuff give me the arguments that say her doctor doesn't know what he is talking about. He apparently approved of this "diet", which I find astonishing. I just can't imagine exercising 5 days a week (mainly long walks and some weights) on such a low calorie intake. This can't be good for my friend. Anyway, some one give me a good, evidence based argument so I can try to talk some sense into this woman. I really think she should join an exercise forum where people seem to know a lot about this stuff through experience, rather than relying on GPs who often don't know diddly squat about nutrition and exercise.

Anything less than this and the body will start to consume itself... vital organs will start to fail. I'm very much in agreement with you that's it's simply not healthy JBBury - and by losing weight so rapidly, she'll only find the weight comes back on once she returns to a normal eating style. Sadly I can't provide any more scientific evidence than things I can find on the net (such as that quoted above).

Have a look around for 'minimum calorie requirements' and you'll hopefully gather some evidence.

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Diets like these worry me. I have a friend you went on one that sounds very similar...she had to eat packet special soup and milkshakes and stuff and do exercise everyday and she lost loads of weight but after 4 weeks on this diet she ended up in hospital, aneamic and dehydrated. These diets may have the fast result to start with but they are dangerous.
Once you start eating properly again the weight will go straight back on or you enter a slippery slide to not eating properly again at all.

I have tried various diets in the past but can't do any of them now as I find myself getting obsessed with my weight. Now my diet is, eat a healthy 3 meals a day and run 2 to 3 times a week and enter lots of races. Through this I've lost a stone and a half in one year...I was a size 14 and am now a perfect 12. It's a slower process but realistically maintainable. Am so much happier now.

Sorry, I've rambled. I hope there is something in that waffle that you can use to persuade your friend to go healthy.

Good luck

Right, as a medic I feel I have to dispel this myth about going into starvation mode once and for all, weight plateaus are normal but there is no such thing as your body going into starvation mode by being on a severely reduced calorie intake, if that were the case, how do people become anorexic?, yes at some point your body will start losing muscle and not fat but this is why this Dr has recommended the exercise to keep the metabolism going, everyone has a BMR irrespective of the exercise you do and even if you were just lying in bed all day everyday and not eating anything, you would lose weight, you wouldn't go into 'starvation mode' and stop losing weight.

The current medical thinking regarding VLCD's is that these are the way to go for morbidly obese people to lose weight RAPIDLY, but they shouldn't be doing massive amounts of exercise in conjunction with a VLCD.

Having said all this, for someone who has just a few pounds to lose and is not morbidly obese, a general healthy diet and exercise is the key to long term weight loss and maintenance.

Everyones weight will plateau at some point, if you lose weight rapidly, you will plateau for a week or so as rapid weight loss shocks the body to some degree so it needs time to catch up, but by sticking to the VLCD, you will continue to lose weight over a period of time.

The reason why VLCD's are now recommended for morbidly obese people is that the focus is on getting the weight off quickly as it is so dangerous to health being so overweight, but once the weight comes down, you have to move back up the calorie plans carefully to start consuming more calories and reduce rapid weight loss to lead to a healthy calorific intake and weight maintenance, they should never be recommended for anyone who doesn't have a significant amount of weight to lose.

Hmm. I guess it is a complex issue. I can perhaps see the point of these drastic approaches if the patient is morbidly obese, but my friend is just a couple of stone overweight. I don't think a doctor should be recommending a diet such as this. I certainly don't believe this can lead to sustainable and healthy weight loss.

Rachelina, great post... could you just explain what BMR & VLCD mean for those not in the know...

BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate?
VLCD - ?

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Very Low Calorie Diet ????



Woohoo, I just looked it up on the great god Google and I got it right !!

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Sorry but I have to disagree with Rachelina, starvation mode is not a myth.

It's what happens when your body is not getting enough calories to keep going at it's metabolic rate.
If this happens over time the body in it's attempt to survive slows everything down so it can conserve as much energy as possible and exist for longer. This is starvation mode. A similar thing happens to people who consistantly skip breakfast.

If the body continues this way for a length of time and then there is a sudden increase in calorie input then the body will naturally store as much as it can in readiness for when there is a shortfall. This is why yo yo dieters always end up heavier.

The body is an incredible machine that is programmed to survive. I was anorexic in my teenage years, so I know quite a bit about how the body works with energy input/output etc.

I would say, for someone exercising regularly 1500 calories is minimum and she will still lose weight, and at a more steady rate. Plus it won't go straight back on when she starts eating 'normally'

I certainly think it isnt healthy to cut your calorie intake too low as it can make you ill. I couldnt eat for almost a week when ill with tonsilitis two years ago and lost a stone as a result. I also fainted twice and ended up on a drip in casaulty as I was so weak. I wouldnt wish that on anyone and certainly wouldnt want to do that to myself.

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