Tell me if you personally would gain or lose weight on this

[Timmy2023]

39yo, 5ft 4, 144lbs. Walk about 11,000 steps a day (4 miles).

An example of a usual day:

Breakfast: porridge measured out - 280cals

Snack: 2 ryvita with Philadelphia light. Approx 100 cal.

Lunch: Baxter's chicken broth 164cal. 1 slice of rye 120cal

Dinner: grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red cabbage, red onion, half a pitta bread. Approx 430cal.

Approx 1000 calories.

Would you lose or gain?

I wouldn’t lose on that, I’d be starving and grumpy and my body would cling onto my fat. I need to fast to lose weight and eat mainly veg, fruit, protein and fat.

That’s a minuscule amount of food!
I would eat three times that and add weight training in (and ditch the scales)

Loose fast

You would maintain on 1000 calories a day?

Literally every single person would lose weight eating 1000 cals a day.

Are you drinking tons of water? I've done very low calorie diets like this and if you don't drink a lot of water (like 3 litres a day) your body will hold onto a lot of water and it's harder to lose weight.

I do 1500 calories a day plus exercise every other day.

Have lost 2 stone but am not starving hungry all the time, as it's not sustainable. I am however, almost teetotal and have stopped snacking aside from a few calorie counted low cal snacks which are counted in my calorie allowance.

It is all very individual. As a comparison, although most weight loss surgery processes dont require calorie tracking, most sensible people still do because its easy to slip innto quite calorie dense foods unless you track, plus you have to track your protein etc anyway

Generally speaking (and again there are always variances) for the first 8 months or so, calorie intake is around 600-800 cals a day. In the very early days and weeks you're lucky if you're reaching around 400-500.

Later, people will move up to around 1000-1200, but it could be more if someone is very active.

And people who have had WLS lose weight very quickly. People think that the 'surgery' is the thing that loses the weight, its simply the lack of food!! (of course). So given that these levels are considered a VLCD and of course you're under supervision and support from your provider (or NHS if you were lucky), its something you have to be very careful about in terms of macros and supplements.

If you're not losing, I think you need to be more active. You can can you do a class or dvd or something three times a week? That is so few calories or is there another underlying cause? Or as other people have said, how much more veg instead of carbs.

I kept reading this thread hoping to find responses like this, among the many normalising disordered eating. When I was younger, I used to exercise too much (and therefore essentially under-fuelled in terms of calories) which stopped me ovulating, as my body tried to preserve energy. I was horrified when I realised.

I am no expert on nutrition clearly but if you have eaten so few calories for some time - and you are not losing weight rapidly with such a huge deficit - I imagine your metabolism could do with a reboot if such a thing. I’d consult a proper accredited dietician - not an Instagram nutritionist or something who is not adequately trained - so you can immediately eat far more calories than this and still maintain a healthy weight.

Please ignore the advice to eat even less. This is dangerous.

You are mis calculating your kcal. Your salad and curry sound about 1500 alone.

I would gain weight because realistically I’d be so fed up and hungry by 5pm that I’d binge eat about 6000 calories in one sitting.

If you’re being totally honest with the calories and weighing things correctly, anyone would lose weight on 1000 calories a day. If you really are eating only that and not losing I’d get to the doctor just in case.

I personally eat a cube of cheese, half an avocado, an apple and some dust each day.

At only 1,000 calories a day, I'd say your body has gone into starvation mode and you won't lose weight but you may cause yourself harm. So few calories is not healthy.

You should be eating closer to 1600 calories a day.

Although the wine is "only" 700 calories, if you're only aiming for 1000 total for other days it's almost like drinking a whole day of extra calories.

Personally I found it hard to lose weight post pregnancy but what made a difference to me was trying to reduce ultra-processed food as much as possible. I didn't actually think I ate much ultra processed food as I don't eat ready-meals, but turns out that a lot of things count that I didn't realise count. Like supermarket bread, the yoghurt I ate, the "healthy" granola for breakfast, and ham.

Low calorie diets are not dangerous if done for a limited amount of time and if you consult a doctor for advice.

Google ‘Fast800’ a concept by Dr Michael Mosely ( a medical Dr). Research suggests it’s a very effective way for people to lose weight safely and sustainably.

At your age calories in and calories out is totally the wrong way to look at weight loss and quite dated. Try intermittent fasting, FAST800 is a good one to try. Sort your gut bacteria out, nothing will work if that’s out of kilter as with stress/cortisol, you need to bring in things to calm that down like mindfulness etc, try weights to build muscle instead of cardio, or body weight exercises. Lots of leafy greens, try not to eat processed food it’s full of false crap. No diet products, increase healthy fats, flaxseed, chia etc

Respectfully Newyear, but a Dr. isn’t being consulted here; Mumsnet is. Hence I recommended a dietician’s advice is sought if possible, not someone merely interested in nutrition or someone who has lost weight. I understand that there are special diets for use in exceptional circumstances, though, which, like you say, should be monitored by a professional.

At only 1,000 calories a day, I'd say your body has gone into starvation mode

There is no such thing as starvation mode. It's a myth.

At only 1,000 calories a day, I'd say your body has gone into starvation mode

There is no such thing as starvation mode. It's a myth.

My first thought was it was a bit processed and quite carby (no judgement I ate 2 Turkish delights b2b yesterday).

Different strokes for different folks, I don't suit intermittent fasting. It puts a lot of stress on my body. I have done Zoe and I don't process blood glucose well so even healthy whole grain carbs need to be eaten in moderation for me.

Like you I'm not going to not eat carbs. One of the things I learned on Zoe was to add not take away and try not to count calories (as you can't really accurately measure them anyway!). So nice weekend breakfast is poached egg and avocado on toast with some pumpkin seeds. Calories way higher than I usually have but the knock in effect is I'm fuller and don't pick at crap as much. The Glucose goddess on Insta is good at this too.

Issue like anything is sticking tp it of course. If I do, eat mindfully and well I lose weight.

When I eat 2 bars of choc cos I'm stressed, tired and burnt out - not so much

How did a body ‘cling on to fat?’
Total rubbish statement. A bit like using toner to open or close pores on the face. All bollocks when you actually think about what you are saying.

Yes, all those starving people that remain fat 🤨

Why do people trot out this bilge about ‘starvation mode’ on here? A calorie deficit will always result in fat loss.

World famine and anorexia could be cured if only bodies held onto fat in a calorie deficit!!!

It's a well engrained myth probably from some weight loss marketing gimmick that appealed to humans rationalization of why they aren't losing weight.

Who wouldn't want to buy into a gimmick that tells you that you're starving so in order to lose weight you must eat more! 😂

The reality is boring and not so much fun as a gimmick that tells you to eat more!

The boring reality is if you're not losing weight, you're consuming too many calories.

I've never really tried to lose weight, so I'm not actually sure what my body would do. But it doesn't sound like a nice way to eat.

It's possible to eat too little sometimes that your body holds on to fat because your metabolism is so low.

I'd focus on eating lots of protein and fresh fruit and veg and stop calorie counting and restricting personally.