Question concerning "low-calorie" diets

Hello,

I was wondering what the calorie limit is for these low-calorie diets.
Currently, I consume anywhere from 1,200 calories to, at the highest, 1,600
calories a day, the majority of which is protein and fiber-based
carbohydrates.

Thanks for your time,
Anthony

On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 11:40:44 -0600, "Anthony"
wrote:

Hello,

I was wondering what the calorie limit is for these low-calorie diets.
Currently, I consume anywhere from 1,200 calories to, at the highest, 1,600
calories a day, the majority of which is protein and fiber-based
carbohydrates.

The original very-low-calories diets developed by Cambridge Nutrition
and Micro-Diet about 15 years ago used to be based on 330 calories a
day.

After a lot of bad publicity about the dangers of VLCDs, they now seem
to regard the minimum as between 650 and 700 calories a day.

Chris,

This type of diet is for weight-loss, and isn't meant to be a long-term
commitment, correct? I'm not overly concerned about loosing weight (I've
lost quite a bit already), but I'm more interested in the medical studies
which imply that mice and other animals that live on the minimum necessary
caloric intake live longer and have greater vitality. Surely this caloric
intake would be more than 700 calories.

Anthony
"Chris Blunt" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 11:40:44 -0600, "Anthony"
wrote:

Hello,

I was wondering what the calorie limit is for these low-calorie diets.
Currently, I consume anywhere from 1,200 calories to, at the highest,
1,600
calories a day, the majority of which is protein and fiber-based
carbohydrates.

The original very-low-calories diets developed by Cambridge Nutrition
and Micro-Diet about 15 years ago used to be based on 330 calories a
day.

After a lot of bad publicity about the dangers of VLCDs, they now seem
to regard the minimum as between 650 and 700 calories a day.

It seems that under 1200 cal/day, your body has a very hard time to get the
nutriments (not really the macro- ones, but micro- and oligo-nutriments) it
needs from your food. Then, it depends if you want to eat naturally, or if
you want to start getting vitamin pills and nutriments pills. Be also
careful not to cut fat too much, there is a lot of good stuff in fats that
your body needs (vitamins A and D, HDL cholesterol, essential fatty acids,
and even regular cholesterol). If you "need" to go bellow the 1200 line, I
would advice to stay at that line and work on the other part of the equation
: how many calories you burn.
If you want to keep a stable weight, you don't have much choice anyway. Your
calorie intake will be whatever you need to keep that stable weight for a
given activity level. If you didn't **** up your metabolism completely with
diets, that should be around 1800-2000 calories if your sedentary. Reducing
your activity so much that you could keep a stable weight with less calories
would not exactly be healthy. If you exercise a lot, you might actually need
much more calories than that. People who did heavy physical work (like
mining 14 hours a day, working in the field...) used to stay stable on a
much larger calorie diet (estimations are around 3000-4000 calories; most of
Europe used to eat more than 1kg of whole bread a day).

"Anthony" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was wondering what the calorie limit is for these low-calorie diets.
Currently, I consume anywhere from 1,200 calories to, at the highest,
1,600
calories a day, the majority of which is protein and fiber-based
carbohydrates.

Thanks for your time,
Anthony

Aug 15 2004 I weighed in at the Dr office at 297 lbs
( 6 ft tall, Male, 45 years old, large bones )
Since then I target 1200 calories a day
(frequently pass that target, but try to stay close to it)
typical day...
210 cal Zone bar in the am
salad with low cal dressing for lunch
210 cal Zone bar mid afternoon
300 to 400 cal Lean Cuisine meal for dinner
beverages...
Coffee with a small dose of sugar
water
Occasional red wine, or mixed drink

I do not have a regular workout program
but I do fish three or four times a week from a small boat that is
pedal powered, I mow the yard and wash the car once a week,
and since I sit at a computer to work, I walk the parimeter of the
(large) office building on my breaks and after lunch,

I hit 242 ( lost 55 lbs ) about a month ago, and seem to be in a
holding pattern.

it seems like the more weight you loose, the less energy it takes to
propell you around from place to place, so if you do the same stuff,
you get less results.

guess I'm going to have to increase my activity.

OB1 -- seems like you're doing great!

I think your details might be slightly in terror -- On August 15, 2004
you weighed 297?

But getting down to 242 a month ago -- losing 55 pounds -- is
terrific!

Jeez! Keep at it! In trying to figure out my calorie needs I have to
change the weightx(calories per pount) number because of weight lost.
It's not fair butI have to work harder at losing weight now than I did
when i was in the 270's. Oh, well!

Keep chugging along!

Yours,

Caleb


(OB1kenOB) wrote in message ...
Aug 15 2004 I weighed in at the Dr office at 297 lbs
( 6 ft tall, Male, 45 years old, large bones )
Since then I target 1200 calories a day
(frequently pass that target, but try to stay close to it)
typical day...
210 cal Zone bar in the am
salad with low cal dressing for lunch
210 cal Zone bar mid afternoon
300 to 400 cal Lean Cuisine meal for dinner
beverages...
Coffee with a small dose of sugar
water
Occasional red wine, or mixed drink

I do not have a regular workout program
but I do fish three or four times a week from a small boat that is
pedal powered, I mow the yard and wash the car once a week,
and since I sit at a computer to work, I walk the parimeter of the
(large) office building on my breaks and after lunch,

I hit 242 ( lost 55 lbs ) about a month ago, and seem to be in a
holding pattern.

it seems like the more weight you loose, the less energy it takes to
propell you around from place to place, so if you do the same stuff,
you get less results.

guess I'm going to have to increase my activity.

Gee, you're doing really great, and it seems like you have a sensible plan.
How long did it take to lose the 55 pounds?

Holding patterns are common when losing weight*I'm in the midst of one
myself. Remember that most weight is burned by basal metabolism, and that to
burn off significant weight with exercise can take a lot of time. A good
place to calculate cals burned by various activities is he

http://www.caloriecontrol.org/exercalc.html

I believe a lot of folks who exercise to lose weight forget to stretch. They
burn calories, build muscles, but forget that flexibility is part of fitness
and wellness too.

Three cheers on your progress; keep it up, and let us know how you progress.

Lazy

On 8/24/04 10:56 PM, "OB1kenOB" wrote:

Aug 15 2004 I weighed in at the Dr office at 297 lbs
( 6 ft tall, Male, 45 years old, large bones )
Since then I target 1200 calories a day
(frequently pass that target, but try to stay close to it)
typical day...
210 cal Zone bar in the am
salad with low cal dressing for lunch
210 cal Zone bar mid afternoon
300 to 400 cal Lean Cuisine meal for dinner
beverages...
Coffee with a small dose of sugar
water
Occasional red wine, or mixed drink

I do not have a regular workout program
but I do fish three or four times a week from a small boat that is
pedal powered, I mow the yard and wash the car once a week,
and since I sit at a computer to work, I walk the parimeter of the
(large) office building on my breaks and after lunch,

I hit 242 ( lost 55 lbs ) about a month ago, and seem to be in a
holding pattern.

it seems like the more weight you loose, the less energy it takes to
propell you around from place to place, so if you do the same stuff,
you get less results.

guess I'm going to have to increase my activity.



--

yeah, I mistyped
I was 297 on Aug "2003" (a year ago)

I've done a lot of things in my life, but actually loosing 55 lbs in a
year (while not sounding like much when you view it as about a pound a
week) has been literally "life changing"