the calorie war thread intrigues me. it has been proven the base metabolic rate calculated by sites such as fitday, is probably pretty close to a persons true bmr.

problem is, i have been fighting with my body to barely palate more than 900 calories, though i supposedly have a bmr around 1700 calories. i have been eating this way for months now.

my question is, am i doing permanent damage to my body, and if so what are the consequences? or will eating 1700 calories per day fix me up without a hitch?

thanks

man I eat between 1500-2500 I'd say and my chart said 4251!!!! no way! I want to know how I could do that staying under 20 carbs...

No permanant damage is being done!
Your body has a way of telling you when you are full, and if you tune into that you will no doubt consume as many calories as you need no matter what the math says.
I ate 900 calories a day for months and ran 50 min 5 times a week and dropped weight faster than I have doing atkins. I kept the weight off as well by continuing to run when I was at my goal weight and just eating until satisfied. I had an accident and couldnt run for over a year-ate way more calories than I needed and put pounds on fast.
The bottom line is I did not do permanant damage at that rate, and I dont plan on going that low on calories again! If you fluctuate your calories up and down, eat smaller portions and no big meals at one time and more importantly if you get exercise to be your number one priority you will be successful.

No one can answer this question for you with 100% accuracy. All we can tell you is that calories below your RMR for sustained levels can lead to a permanent slowdown in metabolism. What this means to you is that when you do reach Maintenance you will have to eat less than most people to sustain your loss.

If you keep eating 900 calories eventually even that will not work for losses, and you'll have to go lower still. You eventually run out of calories and eating 'normal' amounts will lead to gain. This is how yo-yo dieting happens; you eat too little, you lose 'weight' and slow your metabolism and when you can no longer handle eating so few calories you begin to gain eating 'normal' amounts of food. Why? Loss on low carlories is not just fat loss, it's also a loss of lean mass which is what slows your metabolism. Gains after prolonged periods of low calories are mostly fat gains. So you lose fat and muscle initially but what you put back on is just fat. You might weigh the same as when you started dieting down, but in reality you're fatter.

What you want to do now is slowly increase your calories over weeks to get back up to a level that will allow your body to sustain itself w/o causing too much a blip in the scale. What you also want to do now is pay more attention to measurements, as increased food intake and increased protein in particular will lead to your body engaging in some catch up work - it has some tissue to rebuild. Remember muscle is more dense than fat, so while it weighs the exact same, it takes up less space.

This would also be a good time to begin an exercise program if you have not already done so - and I highly recommend one that involved resistance work.

Wenzday, you can increase calories by adding fat to your diet. Mayonnaise, olive oil, flax oil, butter, chicken skin - fat is calorie dense and is carbless in most instances. A few extra tbsps of fat will get calories up without adding a whole whack of food.


-Nat

This is very misleading, fairchild. LCing robs most of their appetite, they do not really know if they are hungry.

Going for long periods of time w/o eating is definitely going to slow metabolism. Eating below RMR is definitely going to slow metabolism. Doing these things over extended periods of time will permanently slow metabolism.

How long is too long? It's an individual thing - if you've done this type of thing in the past your window of opportunity is going to be a lot smaller. If you're older it's going to be smaller. If you've got a lot more fat to lose then it's going to be smaller.

I bet you did. I will also bet that you didn't just lose fat.

The goal of LC is not to lose the 'weight' the fastest, IMHO. It is to learn how to eat so that the fat lost is permanent. You have to make a behavioural change if you want to affect a permanent change. Losing the fat isn't the hard part here, keeping it off is.

-Nat

heh i am going through my kitchen looking for stuff to eat.

i already had 23 carbs today AND my fill of cheese (4 oz) already, so i dont think ill be eating anything more with carbs.

that leaves some mayo (which has carbs, but a negligable amount) and chicken. i put 2 tbsp mayo on 2 chicken thighs. i feel like im going to vomit now .

i really need recipes for some high calorie - very low carb atkins friendly food. any suggestions?

Nat
you are not me, and you have no idea what kind of shape I was in when I was running and limiting calories-you are going by what you are reading not something you have tried to do, so when you get actual experience yourself you can comment. You have no right to judge what I did and to in effect judge me.
I was trim and lean, was doing weight training and running 50 min. on a treadmill, 5 days a week and when I got off the treadmill I was not out of breath, and my pulse was normal.
I am not telling anyone to limit themselves to 900 a day, I am saying I did do that, and lost weight and kept it off and did not lose muscle, but gained muscle and lost fat. Thats a fact, if you knew me and saw me you would know that to be true. That was the best shape I have been in in my life.
This plan should teach you to self limit-without counting calories-to eat until satisfied-to let your body tell you when you are satisfied. Not to go too long without eating not more than 4 hours-all of those things together are what I am advocating.You should eat when you are hungry until satisfied, and then if you find you are not hungry go by the 4 hour check. Few people have been reported to be starved on atkins. I am still looking for one.
How do you make sure your metabolism is in good 'shape'? Exercise, the more you do the better your metabolism will be.
How do you increase your metabolism by 10%? Eat smaller meals more frequently, no large ones and make sure to eat breakfast.
Losing weight quickly or slowly is something that is up to an individual to decide that they want to do. I am going a slower more healthy route than I did last time. But last time I felt much better about myself more quickly which helped me to stay motivated to work out long after I'd stopped counting calories and probably went up to 2000 a day but kept if off with the running.
Again, do not make assumptions about what I did when I was losing at 900 a day because of things you have read about metabolism. In my case it worked, and I did not lose muscle but did lose fat and looked and felt my best. I am not doing that now and am much more conscious of whats good for me health wise, but that doesnt negate my success when I did do that. How did I keep the weight off? I exercised, ate all the carbs I wanted and stayed at goal until an accident put me in bed for almost a year. No exercise-eating while depressed from my injury and the weight came back on.
Best way to make weight loss stick? Exercise 5 days a week at something that will challenge your body and get your heart rate up.

I am sorry you feel judged, but I cannot do anything about how you feel. Of course I am reacting to what I read - what esle is one supposed to do when one reads posts on a forum? As for my personal experiences, we have a case of the pot calling the kettle black here, wouldn't you say? I was replying to information that, as stated, is misleading, and I said so in my first sentence. I am sorry you are so offended.

You have to do specific exercise, actually. Resistance work with enough weight to cause muscle growth, and if you're doing cardio, it must be HIIT- otherwise you are simply creating a calorie deficit and not increasing RMR. You can also drink green tea - it will raise metabolism by 4%. While we're at it, you can take up smoking - but that isn't something I would recommended. Just as eating 900 calories is not something I would recommended. I am simply stating facts - not making judgement calls.

I was making statements based on the facts, as you stated them. You exercised 5 days a week and you ate 900 calories. Very Low Calorie Diets have you eating between 600-800 calories a day, pretty close to 900 calories minus exercise minutes. VLCD are notorious for lowering metaoblism, muscle wasting and rebound weight gain.

I beg to differ. The best way to make fat loss stick is to change your eating habits for good. The results you get from any exercise plan are 70-80% derived from the food you eat, the actual exercise part isn't as important as the fuel you feed your body. This isn't to say that exercise is not important, it is.

Woo, best advice is to slowly increase calories - don't be stuffing yourself to reach a calorie number. Eat more meals, eat smaller meals and eat more pure fat. And don't stress either Stress is a nasty thing and you want to avoid it as much as possible!

-Nat