Obese Surgeon General Good or bad?

[Nyoibo]

Well, of course. You need to be able to work, shop, go out, live your life. 1200 calories a day is for elderly, mostly bed-ridden people. No one here is suggesting you eat 1200 calories a day.

It might just be me, but I want my body to be capable of handling more than the basic abilties to function.

I'm on a 600-900 calorie a day diet, hasn't affected me at all, I still do clinic 3 days a week, martial arts once a week and circus once a week, still have all the energy I need for that, it has to do with what you're eating as much as how much you're eating.

[Boozy]

Why are you eating so little? I hope you realize that you're not able fulfill your body's vitamin and mineral requirements on 900 calories a day. And it's not sustainable.

[Cat]

For 1 pound to be lost, 3500 calories must be cut out in a week, so yes, 500 calories a day is about right. (Thank you personal health and obesity seminar I just finished taking over the summer) seriously, 3500 calories = 1 pound. Holy frak. No wonder my cousin lost so much weight just by eliminating Starbucks frappuccinos from her daily routine. There's 500 calories, right there.

Kind of boggled my mind when I read that in the textbook.

Yeah, I've stopped brining $$ to work, the evil vending machine monster doesn't tempt me any more. That was around 500 cals for me...eek!

[Nyoibo]

Why are you eating so little? I hope you realize that you're not able fulfill your body's vitamin and mineral requirements on 900 calories a day. And it's not sustainable.

Actually I can, calories and vitamin and mineral requirements are not the same thing, in fact they're not related, I'm eating a balanced diet, getting the RDI of everything I need, I'm not eating little either, the serving sizes are actually quite large and I'm doing it to lose weight, and no it's not sustainable past my goal weight because I would continue to lose weight, however that is when I increase my intake to what my body needs to maintain my weight.

[AFPheonix]

How far below your BMR is that? If it's way lower than, say 500 calories below, then you're not going to lose weight, or at least not very quickly.
The optimal diet plan is to make a small calorie deficit, when your BMR plateaus, then change your diet down again. Aiming for more than a few pounds per week lost is not healthy at all. I aimed actually for less than 1 pound per week and it's been effective.

Dieting is not supposed to be about eating a stick and a leaf of lettuce with some stale water. It's making a sustainable eating plan you can keep up for life.

[anriana]

Why are you eating so little? I hope you realize that you're not able fulfill your body's vitamin and mineral requirements on 900 calories a day. And it's not sustainable.

This.

The only way I can see that possible working is if you're obese now and only doing this for a week or two. It's not sustainable in the long term. I am curious as to what exactly you're eating that's letting you get all of your vitamines/minerals/protein/fat on so little calories and how expensive it is.

[Nyoibo]

Dieting is not supposed to be about eating a stick and a leaf of lettuce with some stale water. It's making a sustainable eating plan you can keep up for life.

This.

The only way I can see that possible working is if you're obese now and only doing this for a week or two. It's not sustainable in the long term. I am curious as to what exactly you're eating that's letting you get all of your vitamines/minerals/protein/fat on so little calories and how expensive it is.

Ok I'm going to post one day out of the diets menu plan and the nutritional count.

Breakfast: Melon trio with fresh lime and yogurt
100g rockmelon (cantaloupe for you yanks)
100g honeydew melon
100g watermelon
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup skim milk flavoured yogurt
Nutritional count:
0.8g total fat (0.1g saturated fat)
137 cal
25.4g carbohydrates
5.3g protein
2.6g fibre

Lunch: Dijon chicken and salad wrap
100g chicken brest fillet
coocking oil spray
1/2 tablespoon skim milk natural yogurt
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 rye bread wrap
10g baby spinach
1/2 tomato
1/2 carrot
Nutritional count:
3.8g total fat (0.7g saturated fat)
223 cal
17.9g carbohydrate
27.4g protein
3.2g fibre

Dinner: Spiced lamb cutlets with coriander pumpkin
100g butternut pumpkin
62.5g chickpeas
1/4 cup baby peas
1 tablespoon fresh coriander
2 french trimmed lamb cutlets
1 teaspoon curry powder
cooking oil spray
1/6 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon chicken stock
1/2 clove crushed garlic
Nutritional count:
9.3g total fat (5.7g saturated fat)
234cal
16.6g carbohydrate
18.2g protein
5.4g fibre


The initial cost is a bit high, theres two of us doing the diet, so double all those things for a days food, but things like buying 700g of chicken lasts for 3 weeks, which is how long the diet is designed to go for, although you can repeat it, once you've bought the meat you really don't need to buy any more for the 3 weeks, same with a lot of spices and herbs.

Now if I doubled those amounts it would be fairly sustainable for me, but that's a hell of a lot of food, 4 lamb cutlets, 2 chicken wraps, a pound of fruit for breakfast, the only vitamin suplements I'm taking are Zinc and vitamin B and that's because I have a deficiency of those already.

And as I said, I have more than enough energy for clinic, martial arts, circus and working around the property, things like chopping wood, fixing fences, that sort of stuff.

Oh, and I've lost 2kg, or 4.5lbs this week, which before anyone says anything, yes it is a sustainable weight loss, and no it's not unhealthy.

[BroomJockey]

no it's not unhealthy.

Depends on what doctor you talk to. I've always been told 1-2 lbs per week is as fast as you should go. Sounds like you know what you're doing though, so I'll assume you've cleared it with some form of professional (doctor, nutritionist, someone). Good luck. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it.

[Nyoibo]

It is fiddly, that's my only complaint, there is a fair bit of measuring, and when you're someone who usually cooks by feel and instinct it' takes some getting used to, I'm used to a pinch, dollop or handful, not teaspoons tablespoons and cups.

[BroomJockey]

I'm used to a pinch, dollop or handful, not teaspoons tablespoons and cups.

I'm used to "rip, dump, slide (in to the oven)" Being in a dorm for nearly 4 years greatly atrophied my cooking skills. I'm slowly improving. One day, I hope to actually make something requiring measuring spoons.

[anriana]

Since you say this amount of weight-loss is sustainable, I assume you've been doing this low-cal diet and losing that amount per week for a period of time. How long have you been getting those results?



I did a super regimented low calorie diet created with a nutritionist/personal trainer. I ate 1200 calories/day, did an hour of cardio/day/6X a week and lifted weights (low weight, high rep) an hour a day/4Xweek for six weeks. I went from 170lbs to 160 in those six weeks and I wanted to kill myself. I was constantly hungry, I dreaded exercising, and I didn't have the energy to sit at my desk for eight hours. I gave up on that and gained about 20 pounds back over the next three months because I was so fucked by it. Now a year later I'm at a weight I like after having lost about a pound a week through eating about 2000 calories a day, lifting 4X a week for 25 min (high weight, low reps), and doing enjoyable, low-intensity cardio 3X a week. The idea that I should have just gotten some responsibility/accountability and eaten half of what I was initially eating until I got to my current weight is hilariously sad/ignorant.

[Cat]

I measure stuff now, except when I make my sh*t in a pot soup....then its more "Hmm....haven't used this spice in a while....*dump* Oh noodles!! I forgot I hod those....*dump* etc. Always comes out yummy

I do survive on 1200-1500 cals "diet" easily...but that works for me.
If you want to break it down I can, haha, but I am only half awake now.

Yesterday I did eat more then I normally do, but I'm looking a multi-hour hike today, so I was "stocking up"


Weekends I'm not so picky about cal-counts...just because I do tend to go out and get a few drinks, but as long as I am active I am not to worried


But anyway, I really couldn't care less what the SG looks like, as long as she does her job right.

[BlaqueKatt]

a pound of fruit for breakfast.

yup people easily forget fruits and veggies are really low in calories-but really high in nutrients-as due to society they're reduced to "side dishes"

for example:

apple-44 calories
orange-35 calories
tomato-9 calories
strawberry-3 calories
peach-35 calories

(per 100 grams-it takes 450 grams to make a pound-so you're looking at a quarter pound here)
Carrot-32 calories
cucumber-10 calories
red pepper-18 calories
sweet corn-24 calories

sure beats the heck out of those "100 calorie snack packs" now doesn't it? which will keep you full longer from the following choices all about equal in calories-2 apples, 3 oranges , 33 strawberries, 10 tomatoes(I eat tomatoes like apples) or maybe 10 crackers?

I was almost shocked when my favorite local restaurant posted the nutrition info for their veggie wrap-I normally can't eat more than half of one, the entire thing is 300 calories-it weighs over a pound. And it's fantastic-you don't have to eat "sticks and lettuce"

[Flyndaran]

...
And as I said, I have more than enough energy for clinic, martial arts, circus and working around the property, things like chopping wood, fixing fences, that sort of stuff.

Oh, and I've lost 2kg, or 4.5lbs this week, which before anyone says anything, yes it is a sustainable weight loss, and no it's not unhealthy.

Holy crap! Are you a leprechaun?
I ate boat loads more than that as a sedentary bean pole at 151 pounds, with a heavy frame, and 5'11" tall.

[anriana]

Holy crap! Are you a leprechaun?
I ate boat loads more than that as a sedentary bean pole at 151 pounds, with a heavy frame, and 5'11" tall.

Silly poster, everyone has the exact same metabolism and calorie needs as nyoobi. You must just be gluttunous.