Magdelen

Hi ladies.

I'm 5'2, 166lbs and need to lose about 20lbs. I'm not in any rush, but I've been big all my life and I want to change. The problem is that I just get so frustrated with exercising, I never see any results and eventually I get so tired I give up. I work from home too which makes it difficult to focus. So I devised a plan to help me slowly lose weight without too much physical activity.

I thought if I cut down to about 1000 calories per day that I would be burning between 400-600 calories per day to keep up with my RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), theres 3500 calories in 1 pound, so thats about 1 pound every 6 days. Sounds good, right?

Well I went to my local gym and bought APEX: Resist appetite control supplements. (btw any testimonials about these would be helpful). When I told one of the trainers there what I was planning on doing he was pretty concerned. He said 1000 calories per day was just not enough to keep my body from going into starvation mode and clinging to fat. He said at the LEAST 1200-1250 calories a day in 6 small meals.

What do you guys think? Is 1000 calories too little?

Little

The trainer is RIGHT! If you don't eat enough calories, you'll GAIN weight, not lose. So if you're already eating 1000 calories, begin to eat MORE NOW.
The trainer doesn't get paid by whether or not you lose weight; he gets paid if you're satisfied with your success, come back to the gym, and continue to keep the business afloat. So LISTEN to him/them.

sourpuss

1000 is a bit low. 1200 with a brisk walk everyday would be much better.

I wouldn't recommend the pills though. Just teach your self good eating habits. Plan every meal and snack and stick to it. No sense in putting who knows what's in those pills in your body.

If there is a health food store where you live you can ofter find herbal teas that suppress appetite.

The key to losing weight (and keeping it off) is to make lifestyle changes that can last forever. You need to burn more calories than you take in.
Can you do 20 mins. of exercise in the a.m. and then another 20 in the p.m.?

Yogigirl

1200 calories a day is the lowest women should go....and if you DO incorporate a good amount of exercise...make sure your getting enough protien too!! Good luck to you! Make sure that some of those calories your eating are first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going

jess_83

I agree, don't cut your calories lower than 1200 a day. Going lower than that actually has the reverse effect on your body and slows down your weight loss process since your body goes into "survival mode" because you dont have enough nutrients. Once this happens, your body actually starts storing fat because you have no other energy sources. If you eat small balanced meals 4- 5 times a day, it keeps your body running healthy all day. If you go online, I think 24 hour fitness may have one, they have an online calculator that determines how much your body burns all on its own a day, with out doing anything (usually 1200+) and it varies depending on your age, height, and weight. There are also calculators that determine what your calorie intake should be. To lose weight healthy you want to burn about 400- 500 calories less. So you dont starve yourself, burn the majority of the calories with exercise (one cycling class at the gym burns like 450 calories alone!). I am not a fan of appetite suppressents but there are teas that aid in this. A natural way through food is to eat plenty of fiber ( a good snack or for part of a meal are apples and healthy grains- great for loosing weight), protein (yogurt, protein powders that you can make smoothies with- great after a workout, legumes, lean meats- turkey or tuna sandwiches are great too.) Another trick is I like is to eat a medium to large salad before lunch or dinner if I'm really hungry with a little non fat dressing or just red wine vinegar and a little olive oil and pile on the veggies! I used to not be a big fan of salads, and I kinda had to teach myself to eat veggies again, but now I actually crave them! Always eat a small amount before a workout (usually a piece of fruit or some nuts) and eat a little after. After a good workout, your body's metabolism will actually keep burning up to 24-36 hours (nice, huh!) but you have to keep giving it "fuel". Some things to stay away from are high sugar foods (high fructose, corn syrup, ect), anything that has the word hydrogenated, high sodium foods (try to eat 1000 mg or less a day), white flour (try to eat whole or sprouted grain breads and wheat or brown rice flour- like in pastas or rice), full fat dairy (low fat or skim is good for you), be careful with juices as they are mostly sugar and water anyway, and high fat content (but, just keep in mind that you need good fats too like avocados, unsalted nuts, extra- virgin olive oil, certain fish, ect.), and try to buy things that you actually have to expend energy and cook for meals (this helped me a lot)- it helps to be more aware of what you eat, and buy healthy snacks like fruits (seasonal is always good- grapes are awesome for diets too), cut veggies like baby carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, dried fruits- organic with no added sugar, luna bars are great, trail mix- low sodium, and hard-boiled eggs (I will usually pre- portion out baggies or containers so I can can grab quick for work or anytime)...
Always portion your food, sometimes keeping a diary helps, and eat favorite foods in moderation (try narrowing it to once a week and one meal). Sorry, I know that's a lot if information I just gave lol, but I have recently started doing this too and I've lost like 8 pounds already (I gained like 15 lbs. since last year, I was eating whatever I wanted and not exercising enough) after almost two months with just moderate exercise. I'm stepping it up now that my energy level and endurance is better and the flab is almost gone! and hope to loose the rest before the holidays! Oh! and also remember that muscle ways more than fat, so you may look leaner and thinner and wear lower clothes sizes without so much a dramatic change in the scale, so always trust the clothes, lol. Good luck!

jazzygal72

I ate 800 calories or less (usually about 500) for 3 months and lost 56 lbs. I didn't go into starvation mode- and I wasn't hungry. Some call it unsafe, in fact my Dr was not very happy with me, but it worked.

I have added back foods that I didn't use to eat in moderation and I have not gained back a pound.

I am in no way suggesting that this is what you should do- I'm just say that although people talk about starvation mode and how you'll stop losing weight, it's not true for all people.

I do want to tell you though, that it's not a "safe" way to lose weight and can be very hard on you.

lilly41

yes its alittle low go to 1200-1300 and don't take any pills for it just do the natural way and i agree what your trainer said drink lots of water and execiseing and more vegetables fruits you just need to lose your weight slowly as they say the more you lose to quick the more you put on weight.

commonsense

I read that even people on bed rest need at least 1200 calories a day.
Also, you're not suppose to immediately drop your body down to a low calorie like that. You should start at around 2000 and decrease by 10% every 2 weeks. This will give your body time to adjust, shrink your stomach and make it easier to keep it off. Remember you are going for a lifestyle slim down not a quick fix. On the exercise thing, what encourages me is to do target exercises. What I mean by that is if you have a problem area, work on exercises that target that area for now. As you see that getting better it will encourage you to work on other parts. The body does respond to exercises so you need to be sure you are doing effective exercises for what you are trying to change.

commonsense

Congratulations and this was good advice!

sourpuss

Great advice Jess_83. That is exactly how one should eat...all the time. Of course you can splurge every week and treat your self. A balanced diet, along with portion control is good and it is something people can maintain as a lifestyle change (as opposed to a diet where you are right back to unhealthy ways as soon as the weight it off). Great advice, and congrats on your weight loss.

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