650 kal a day

[Differentstarts]

For 2 months iv been on a vlcd consuming 650 kcal a day and lost 2 stone - AMA

Because I knew it would be harder to lose weight with hypothyroidism and I needed to do it quickly as my cardiologist wanted to put me on statins and up my bisoprolol. So I made a deal with him I said give me 6 months and I will lower my cholesterol and bp naturally then if I haven't I will take them.

😂 literally.

@stealthsquirrelnutkin do you make all your own fermented foods or buy them? I don't like cooking so would probably want to purchase stuff, but is that advisable?

I don't have anything good to say about any diet so restrictive as 650 calories a day, it may jump start you, but then you have to eat a lot lot more to make sure you have all the healthy fats, oils, protein, fibre you need every day. The trouble is once you then go back up to normal calories, your body is likely to pile it all on, given it's been very hungry.

Also, this whole very low calorie talk is inspiring the next gen of eating disorders. I've seen what low nutrition low calorie diets do to skin and hair and bones and your immune system- this is why all lower cal approaches (surgery, injections, diets) need such careful management, you have to eat the 'good stuff' first and full up on essential nutrients, and I don't believe eating a fake brownie with added vitamins is doing that.

Yesterday I had a cookies and cream shake for breakfast, for lunch mushroom soup and a bag of cheeses tortilla chips and for tea spag bol and maple syrup pancake for supper

That sounds really unhealthy.

So there are times when a very low calorie diet is medically required and it should always be supervised by a doctor. I do not know the OPs situation but such a low calorie diet can potentially reverse conditions like type 2 diabetes, the weight isn't necessarily expected to all stay off but it can act like a metabolic reset which is why it can reverse T2D.

The downsides of such a diet are that eating so few calories a person will lose muscle mass, bone density and other tissue, not just fat. It will also cause metabolic adjustments and likely a slower metabolism which is also impacted by muscle loss. Muscle loss is not good because for women especially it isn't easy to regain it once lost and bone density loss is also a major concern. Many women who followed highly restrictive diets in their younger life now deal with osteopenia and osteoporosis. In my view nobody should be eating so little without regular Dexa scans.

As I said before if medically required such diets when they achieve their aim can be ceased and calories gradually increased along with increased exercise and strength training until a normal calorie intake is resumed. However this process is often poorly tolerated and disordered eating and rapid weight gain is not uncommon. Over a longer time frame this can even be the case for people undergoing bariatric surgery which is one of the most successful interventions we have.

For most people without a pressing medical need for a VLCD this kind of weight loss is usually a bad idea and it is much better to lose more slowly over a longer period of time losing 1 - 2lbs a week at most. However this is also very difficult for people who often tend to be demotivated by slower results and the inevitable ups and down of long term weight loss.

However as the OP says she is being supervised by her GP I am assuming she has a pressing medical requirement for such a restrictive diet and should be getting regular checks and scans.

🤣🤣🤣

But all as milkshakes, not bags of crisps or pancakes etc? Sounds absolutely rank. A spaghetti Bolognese milkshake 🤢

But so is obesity, and this is only for 12 weeks.

Well done @Differentstarts & keep going! I did similarly on a fasting plan. Found it hard going but once I lost most of the weight, I've upped my plan to 1200 a day until my target weight's been achieved.

Their not all milkshakes the only one that was a milkshake was the cookies and cream shake

Thankyou this is my plan going forward 🥰

Sorry @Differentstarts I've got a shopping list of questions for you

Are you drinking a lot of water so you feel full, or do the 'meals' fill you up?

What can you drink - tea/coffee/juice/milk? Or just water? I'm guessing no alcohol..

How much did you lose in the initial 21 days?

I've got at least 3 stone to shed but can't exercise and I'm already feeling permanently exhausted on a normal diet. Did you have more energy from day one or did it take a while to increase?

Yes but what is it.

Is it factual medical advice or just the general public sharing experiences. Is it just a script on the phone calls? Because the Web site is full of disclaimers so if anything bad actually happens to you as a result off following this plan they aren't really liable.

If you were to post " my hair is falling out and my weight loss has stalled" would you get a medical professional offering professional advice ( impossible on a face book group without seeing the patient and being aware of your medical history)

Or a bunch of long termers telling you to take a multi vitamin and reduce to 3 packs a day.

And how, as a non medical professional, do you determine who's ideas you put into practice without risking your health?

Yes I have multiple medical conditions and all my consultants have advised weight loss, and have been for a while it's just that now I'm actually listening as my health was actually starting to decline and my test results where showing this due to obesity.

No, not as milkshakes.

I had a look at the website. It’s still a bowl of spaghetti bolognaise, for example, but it’s not food you cook from scratch. It’s essentially a dehydrated version that you add water to and then heat up. Same for all the other meals and soups.

Some of them sound utterly grim, tbh (sorry OP!!) and the photo of the “cottage pie” honestly looks like vomit. Others don’t look as bad and are probably quite palatable.

Obvs there are a lot of processed ingredients and there’s zero fresh fruit or veg - I’d struggle without having any fruit or veg tbh. There are dried/dehydrated veg in the meals but that’s not the same.

I guess if you desperately need to lose weight, this isn’t the worst thing you could do but it really would have to be for a very short period only. And the worry for me would be how you transition to healthy eating habits after, even with “support”.

Absolutely, but there are healthier ways to lose weight that don’t come with the risk of gallstones and then a potential gallbladder operation. You have mentioned you are hypothyroid, I also have hypothyroidism. Very low cal/fasting can lower thyroid function so make sure the doctor is keeping an eye on your thyroid levels. You mentioned that you thought your weight loss would be slower as you are hypo. There is no reason this would be the case unless (like many people with hypothyroidism) you are under medicated.

A stone a month is a lot. If one pound weight loss equals a 3500 calorie deficit, then you need a 49,000 calorie deficit to lose one stone. Which across one month would equal a 1600 calorie deficit a day. So if she's burning 2250 calories and eating 650 calories each day, that sounds just right.

@Differentstarts I am glad to hear it is going well for you! Perhaps some people don't understand that these diets are sometimes medically necessary and if they are done under the care of a doctor they can be safe and beneficial. My only point to others would be not to do this alone without the supervision of a doctor.

You say you’ll be ‘keeping the weight off by eating ‘healthy’?

Why not eat healthy now? 650 cals of crisps, brownies, pancakes and chocolate a day isn’t a diet, its a recipe for disaster. And what kind of spag bol fits in there for so few calories?

You say the gp is monitoring you. Is this junk you’re consuming a product like the Cambridge diet or ‘Lighterlife’ that at least has vitamins and minerals added.

I find it hard to believe.

I drink between 2.5 and 4 litres of water a day. You can have up to 250ml skimmed milk allowance for tea and coffee. Alcohol only if you up your calories for a week prior to drinking and honestly I learnt the hard way of how important that rule was 🙈. I lost just under a stone but I have seen people lose much more. I have hypothyroidism so am a bit slower at losing. I started to get loads of energy on day 4, day 2 and 3 where horrific but once you past that it's very easy and you will feel better then you ever have. Good luck in whatever you decide to do 🥰

exactly this

no way have you been eating 650 kcals a day... especially if you are overweight as your basal calorie consumption itself will be very high

you would have had a medical emergency within a few weeks of starting

and no real doctor would sign off on this

This is actually really dangerous to be posting, it’s a very severe diet which for particular health issues under medical supervision may be of benefit but for most people would be terrible for their health.

This is why you need to do it under medical supervision as if anything goes wrong it will be your gp you go to

This just seems crazy to me. You do t need to do this. Why do t you just eat healthily. There is no need to have your calories so low. Stop eating chocolate and crisps for a start. Eat only healthy things. Meat or fish with veg for dinner. Fill up on the good stuff lots of it.