800/900 calories a day diet

[radiobedhead]

Can it be done?

Went to the doctors for something unrelated on Monday but had said I was struggling with my weight (am morbidly obese). I mentioned I'd only really had success with those liquid diets, about 500 calories a day but that I just don't want to do that again.

She said I should eat 800-900 calories a day and not do a 'crash diet'. Is this not a crash diet?! sounds like hell. MyFitnessPal calculates my calories at much more than that to lose weight (as im so fat) and a thinner friend did 1,200 calories a day with success. At least with the liquid diet you don't feel hungry all the time.

So, can a 800 calorie a day diet be done? Have you done it? Any tips please? Current lifestyle and work etc means I eat out a lot, although I do try and make healthy choices when doing so. The thought of 800 calories a day is making me quite anxious and I already know I will fail! I suspect though that the answer is that I deserve to be hungry and miserable for a while having gotten so huge.

Did she specifically recommend 800-900 calories? Could you go back and ask her to help hou write a meal plan for that?

It doesn't sound right to me and I worry you have misheard her.

If you don't feek hungry on the liquid diet, can you up your water intake on a more sensible calorie limit to mimic the full feeling you get from juice diets?

I have PCOS. If I want to lose weight I have to eat about 800/900 calories a day. Still is slow though. You basically only eat the things you know the exact calories of. I have weetabix, porridge, tins of soup like scotchbroth/minestrone etc. Small yoghurts. Weigh everything etc. Low sugar stuff. It's not fun but it's not for the longterm however. I have to start again in January and am not looking forward to it. I can't imagine having to do it when I was eating out. It would be impossible.
My friend who doesn't have the complications of PCOS has had great success with slimming world. Where you can eat as much as you want of certain things. It appears to be low sugar, low fat.

Yes definitely heard right. I double checked.

Thanks PTA. I guess it is all about weighing and counting. Was thinking maybe I could do two fast days a week and average out the other calories...

Christ on a bike that sounds miserable. Have you tried low carbing?

I am very surprised a GP is suggesting such a low daily calorie intake. The usual recommendation is not to drop below 1200. Why don't you start with that, very strictly, and see how you go.

Of course it can be done. Get onto my fitness pal and record every calorie you eat until you reach 800/900 for the day. The "starvation mode" is a myth, ask all the people out there actually starving if their bodies are holding onto the weight.

On 1200 a day I would put on weight so at about 800/900 I start to lose weight. Just means there is zero room for sugary treats or fatty foods.

If you're morbidly obese then even eating 2000 calories a day you will lose weight. 800-900 calories a day sounds miserable. I am a size 14 and if I stick to 1300 calories a day I lose weight slowly but steadily (including 1 or 2 days off a week to eat sociably). I log it on My Fitness Pal and I hate going over my target!

The trouble with crash diets is they aren't sustainable in the long term - you're not learning new habits which you can keep up.

Not sure if any of that is helpful?

If you can't do that every day, I recommend alternate day fasting or the 4:3 version of the 5:2 diet. You'd have to have 5-600 Cals a day every other day (or I used to do Monday, Wednesday, Friday), then you could have 12-1400 Calories every other day. It is hard at first, but much more doable if you're eating out (provided you do that on your non-fast days). It really does get you used to feeling what actual hunger feels like and really, it's not that bad - it goes away! It will also shrink your appetite.

Hey, I was anorexic for about a year and I was purposely eating 800 to 900 calories every day this is what anorexic girls do, its a terrible habit to get into and it actually can cause heart related issues if you lose to much weight to quickly. Please be careful

800-900 calories is terrible advice and mot sustainable at all. Calculate your BMR online. This tells you how many calories your body needs to maintain weight. People often forget your body needs a basic amount of calories just to run itself!

Subtract 200-500 calories from your BMR. Eating at that many calories will still see you lose weight. It has to be done at a pace that's realistic and sustainable.

Sorry, *not not mot!

Honestly not as mad as it sounds. I think your GP may have been recommending Dr Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 diet. It’s excellent for type 2 diabetes and believed to have many other benefits. You need to read the book though to understand the principles behind it. The proportion of protein is slightly higher and that helps with hunger.

Yes it can be done.

I lived abroad in my 20s and when I arrived I weight around 11.5 stone. I stuck to 800 Cal's a day and dropped to 8.5 stone within a year. So I went from overweight to underweight during my time overseas! I was the happiest I've ever been when I reached 8.5 stone. BUT!! .... I'm in 40s now and have never managed to stick to an 800cal a diet since!!! BUT .. I'm on day 7 of a 1000 call a day diet now and so far so good!!

Good luck!!!

I've been doing 1000 calories per day since lockdown (so over two months now, weighing everything accurately and writing it down and I've only lost 7lbs. Why so little?

I'm keeping going as I like the slightly slimmer me but I thought I would lose weight more quickly. Does anyone know why.

My husband lost 11lbs in a few weeks with my cooking. Now he's stopped as he's fine. It's a little annoying!

Doctors can cause real problems with metabolism no way avoid anyone eat below 1200 calories it will screw up your body

Also weightloss should never be a diet it has to be a lifestyle something we can and will do forever and you’d never ever last that long in 800 calories a day it’s very bad unhealthy advice

You need to find your TDEE

You then need to weigh measure every single teeny thing you eat and drink that has a calorie

You then have to track - write it all down everything even milk sugar sauces nibbles at picked at foods no mindless eating

I think a plan like WW is better for you as it’s more structured

I’ve lost 7 stone I’d not function on 800 cals I’ve done those stupid meal replacements and they mess my body up I do WW and calorie counting

I was exec owing loads on 1200 and plateaued so much a personal trainer upped my calories to 1665 at 156lbs and I then started losing weight again

Also it’s the quality of the foods you eat will help fat loss a good amount protein 0.8gram x every lb weight you are And carbs 150 grams a day and some healthy fats

Please don’t eat 800 cals a day you will feel exhusted poorly and your immune system will rocket

@Target10

Honestly not as mad as it sounds. I think your GP may have been recommending Dr Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 diet. It’s excellent for type 2 diabetes and believed to have many other benefits. You need to read the book though to understand the principles behind it. The proportion of protein is slightly higher and that helps with hunger.

Awful plan that bloke is not a practicing doctor for decades he is a TV doctor a author

You don’t eat below 1200 calories for fatloss your body will eat it’s muscle and your ruin your metabolism believe energy I did it !!

I’ve lost almost two stone in lockdown on 1,200 a day. I’m 5”10 so this is the lowest I should probably go. MFP has been a total revelation.

However I’m hungry - and literally can’t stop thinking about food - from about 8pm.

I think 1,200 has lead to a bit of a binge problem - as when I have fallen off the wagon it’s been in a big way.

I think actually 1,500 would be better for me as I wouldn’t be as miserable.

800-900 sounds totally impossible. I couldn’t do it, nor would I try.

I have been doing it for 4 days. First few days hideous then it got quite easy. I stopped being so hungry. Fingers crossed I can stick it out.

Reading the comments below, Michael Moseley does say very clearly that this diet is ONLY suitable if you are obeses, and should not be done by anyone who is not obese.