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My Very Low Calorie Diet

I am 5ft 5 female and am 57 kg.
I'm currently under a VLAD (very low calorie diet) in order to go back to the weight I was in last summer, which was 52 kg.

This is what I do everyday:
5 AM - wake up and go jogging for an hour
6.30 AM - get dressed for school

Breakfast: 10 pieces of almonds and a glass of semi-skinned milk

7.40 AM - walk to school (takes 40 minutes)

SCHOOL
Break - an apple
Lunch - berries and an orange
SCHOOL

3.30 PM - walk from school (takes 40 minutes)

Dinner: 1 roti and a packet of baby spinach leaves from Sainsbury's (obviously it's not the same meal everyday but it's similar)

6.00 PM - evening walk for an hour

9.00 or 10.00 PM - sleep

Because of this diet, I'm losing 2 kg every week. My weight was 60 kg before this diet. I think it's good since I'm doing exercise as well - it's not only cutting down my food intake. Plus I've substituted things like crisps with vegetables.

I've received so much criticism though from my friends and I just don't see the problem with it. I know that my current weight at the moment is still healthy under the BMI but I want to feel more confident in my body, which is why I'm doing this.

What do you all think?
If what I'm doing is wrong, can you point out why?

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It doesn't sound like a lot of food to me. Don't you find that you lack energy? especially if you're jogging and walking?
Reply 2
Original post by Tiger Rag
It doesn't sound like a lot of food to me. Don't you find that you lack energy? especially if you're jogging and walking?


It may sound weird but I don't get hungry at all nowadays.
I feel like I have the same amount of energy as well.
Lol I feel so refreshed to be honest since I feel more ready for the lessons and more enthusiastic in my learning.
So how many calories does that work out as?
How much daily protein, fibre etc? Are you bothered about nutrition and health?
How old are you?
Are you doing this under a Drs supervision?
Have you done this before?
Do you have an eating dirorder?

You just sound like you are starving yourself crash dieting
(edited 7 years ago)
Coming from someone who is going to study dietetics, this diet is not good at all. Personally, I think you should never restrict calories, just restrict where they come from. This diet does sound healthy, and you would loose weight on it- you just need to eat about 20 times more!

Just be careful because not eating enough will put your body into starvation mode and you will end up wasting away or not getting the results you want

Posted from TSR Mobile
Not even whole almonds, just pieces? And theres no such thing as semi skinned milk.

"What do you all think?
If what I'm doing is wrong, can you point out why?"

Are you anorexic?
I think you may have an eating disorder.

Maintaining that diet long term will kill you.

In the short term that diet is very unhealthy and will potentially cause you longer term health problems.

Not feeling hungry after eating that little food is not a good sign, nor does it mean that you have had sufficient.

Diets this severe are not good tools to reduce weight, they lead to muscle wasting and deficiency in key nutrients before any reduction in body fat.


(Fat is easy to store, while muscle, which is also a reserve source of energy for a starving body, also takes energy to maintain. As such while under stress it is muscle that goes first.)
(edited 7 years ago)
this is really not good, if i tried this i would be dead in 2 days lol

you might have an eating disorder because your weight is perfectly fine. i can speak for most guys in saying that being skinny isn't attractive, if you are doing it for body image, start squatting and increase your calories/protein
Reply 9
Original post by 999tigger
So how many calories does that work out as?
How much daily protein, fibre etc? Are you bothered about nutrition and health?
How old are you?
Are you doing this under a Drs supervision?
Have you done this before?
Do you have an eating dirorder?

You just sound like you are starving yourself crash dieting


I don't know to be honest. I've never been the one to count calories since my calculations will be too inaccurate XD I used to but I don't anymore.

I'm 17

Nope this is not under a Drs supervision.

I did this diet last summer for a month and I got from 56kg to 54kg. This was for prom. I should've maintained this weight but I started going out a lot more so I ate unhealthily unfortunately.

No I don't have any eating disorder as far as I know.

Original post by KatieAlicexxx
Coming from someone who is going to study dietetics, this diet is not good at all. Personally, I think you should never restrict calories, just restrict where they come from. This diet does sound healthy, and you would loose weight on it- you just need to eat about 20 times more!Just be careful because not eating enough will put your body into starvation mode and you will end up wasting away or not getting the results you wantPosted from TSR Mobile

The problem is that I have very low metabolism so unless I do crazy amounts of exercise, my weight won't really decrease at all. With the school timings as well, I can't fit any more exercise than I want to. In the summer holidays, I'll probably add on an extra hour of swimming in the afternoon.

I've tried eating a bit more but then my weight increases so suddenly and it's fustrating when my hard work is suddenly gone to waste.

Thank you though for your advice - I'll keep it in mind.

Original post by SalazarSlytherin
Not even whole almonds, just pieces? And theres no such thing as semi skinned milk."What do you all think?If what I'm doing is wrong, can you point out why?"Are you anorexic?


No they are whole almonds. I eat 10 almonds. Lol I see it could come as alarming if it was only 10 pieces.

What do you mean by 'theres no such thing as semi skinned milk?'

No I'm not anorexic.

Original post by tanyapotter
I think you may have an eating disorder.


Which eating disorder?

Original post by Nefarious

Maintaining that diet long term will kill you.

In the short term that diet is very unhealthy and will potentially cause you longer term health problems.

Not feeling hungry after eating that little food is not a good sign, nor does it mean that you have had sufficient.

Diets this severe are not good tools to reduce weight, they lead to muscle wasting and deficiency in key nutrients before any reduction in body fat.

(Fat is easy to store, while muscle, which is also a reserve source of energy for a starving body, also takes energy to maintain. As such while under stress it is muscle that goes first.)

I'm only doing it for about a month until my weight is where I want to be then I start eating normal again which maintains the weight.
Will my muscles waste away though? It's not like as if I'm only eating less, I'm doing exercise as well.

Original post by Alextaylor6
this is really not good, if i tried this i would be dead in 2 days lolyou might have an eating disorder because your weight is perfectly fine. i can speak for most guys in saying that being skinny isn't attractive, if you are doing it for body image, start squatting and increase your calories/protein


Lmao I would say the same things months ago. Sometimes throughout the year, I hit a point where I just don't want to eat anymore.

I'm not skinny though - I'm far from it.
The annoying thing is that even though my weight might be normal, I look fat. I have an extremely chubby face and small eyes so it makes me look fat even though I'm not.

Yeah I feel like it's girls really that are more judgemental than guys regarding weight. But I always feel my self-confidence go down whenever I meet new people. I was perfectly fine and confident last year since I felt like I looked good.
I think, no sorry I know, that this diet is awful and I highly suggest you start consuming more calories
Original post by TheFarmerLad
I think, no sorry I know, that this diet is awful and I highly suggest you start consuming more calories


But how? Eat which types of food?
I can't fit anymore exercise into my routine and if I eat anymore, my weight is going to increase even if I do exercise.
Original post by Anonymous
But how? Eat which types of food?
I can't fit anymore exercise into my routine and if I eat anymore, my weight is going to increase even if I do exercise.


The type of foods you eat are okay, but where's the protein and carbs? Can't just rely on fruit and veggies. Secondly what's this obsession with weight - that is a crap indicator of how good/fit you look. Focus on burning fat and gaining muscle and strength/or getting 'toned' as you might say, the weight will take care of itself.
Original post by Anonymous
But how? Eat which types of food?
I can't fit anymore exercise into my routine and if I eat anymore, my weight is going to increase even if I do exercise.


I'm no expert on nutrition/diet/whatever, but a couple things to consider (that you probably already know, but still):

- Muscle weighs more than fat.
- Often a lot of the weight you lose whilst on a diet, initially at least, is just water.

Basically going by weight alone's a pretty inaccurate way of going about things (disregarding all the other factors that people have already covered). If I were to offer any advice at all maybe speak to a doctor? Not in the 'you're not eating enough so you obviously have an eating disorder' way - if you're worried about your low metabolism it might be worth a discussion with them, and they may be able to give you some pointers on how to go about things more safely. Your GP's probably not a nutritional expert either, but they might at least be able to point you in the right direction.

But yeah, I'd agree with everyone else that what you described in the OP doesn't sound healthy - sorry I couldn't give any more helpful advice (if I had any I'd look like a supermodel myself, but sadly no).
This is an easy way to kill your metabolism...

Your body will soon adjust to living on low calories and eventually you will stop losing weight, even on such a low calorie diet. The fact your doing cardio too will only speed this process up.

You're going to gain all of the weight back as soon as you increase your calories. What I've learnt is that you need to slowly reduce your calories and then slowly increase them once you've finished the diet
Original post by TheFarmerLad
The type of foods you eat are okay, but where's the protein and carbs? Can't just rely on fruit and veggies. Secondly what's this obsession with weight - that is a crap indicator of how good/fit you look. Focus on burning fat and gaining muscle and strength/or getting 'toned' as you might say, the weight will take care of itself.


I've got protein from my beans and carbs from my potatoes and roti (sometimes rice)

Ok so what you're saying is to keep eating what I am but add in protein and more carbs as well. This will increase my calorie intake but I should focus on muscle rather than fat burning?

Original post by lightwoXd
I'm no expert on nutrition/diet/whatever, but a couple things to consider (that you probably already know, but still):- Muscle weighs more than fat.- Often a lot of the weight you lose whilst on a diet, initially at least, is just water.Basically going by weight alone's a pretty inaccurate way of going about things (disregarding all the other factors that people have already covered). If I were to offer any advice at all maybe speak to a doctor? Not in the 'you're not eating enough so you obviously have an eating disorder' way - if you're worried about your low metabolism it might be worth a discussion with them, and they may be able to give you some pointers on how to go about things more safely. Your GP's probably not a nutritional expert either, but they might at least be able to point you in the right direction.But yeah, I'd agree with everyone else that what you described in the OP doesn't sound healthy - sorry I couldn't give any more helpful advice (if I had any I'd look like a supermodel myself, but sadly no).

Ok thank you. That sounds good. It's better to talk to a professional or discuss things with my gp.

Original post by TajwarC
This is an easy way to kill your metabolism...Your body will soon adjust to living on low calories and eventually you will stop losing weight, even on such a low calorie diet. The fact your doing cardio too will only speed this process up.You're going to gain all of the weight back as soon as you increase your calories. What I've learnt is that you need to slowly reduce your calories and then slowly increase them once you've finished the diet



Won't doing exercise increase my metabolism instead?

It's mentally hard for me to put any more food in my mouth since I feel guilty to even after reading everything here. I won't promise that I will change just now but I will slowly try to add in more calories.
I've done this kind of diet numerous times in the past and managed to lose a stone in four weeks and felt so happy and proud of myself but then suddenly, you end up eating vast amounts of food because you feel so hungry and its hard to stop so you gain all of the weight back quicker than you lost it.
Original post by Anonymous
I've got protein from my beans and carbs from my potatoes and roti (sometimes rice)

Ok so what you're saying is to keep eating what I am but add in protein and more carbs as well. This will increase my calorie intake but I should focus on muscle rather than fat burning?



Depends how serious you want to take your transformation. If your goal is simply to lose weight then what you're currently doing will achieve that though it won't be doing your insides any good. If you want to look better then you have to eat more and exercise more.
Original post by Anonymous
I am 5ft 5 female and am 57 kg.
I'm currently under a VLAD (very low calorie diet) in order to go back to the weight I was in last summer, which was 52 kg.

This is what I do everyday:
5 AM - wake up and go jogging for an hour
6.30 AM - get dressed for school

Breakfast: 10 pieces of almonds and a glass of semi-skinned milk

7.40 AM - walk to school (takes 40 minutes)

SCHOOL
Break - an apple
Lunch - berries and an orange
SCHOOL

3.30 PM - walk from school (takes 40 minutes)

Dinner: 1 roti and a packet of baby spinach leaves from Sainsbury's (obviously it's not the same meal everyday but it's similar)

6.00 PM - evening walk for an hour

9.00 or 10.00 PM - sleep

Because of this diet, I'm losing 2 kg every week. My weight was 60 kg before this diet. I think it's good since I'm doing exercise as well - it's not only cutting down my food intake. Plus I've substituted things like crisps with vegetables.

I've received so much criticism though from my friends and I just don't see the problem with it. I know that my current weight at the moment is still healthy under the BMI but I want to feel more confident in my body, which is why I'm doing this.

What do you all think?
If what I'm doing is wrong, can you point out why?

Spoiler


People will critsistise you because it is not healthy... But people will make comments regardless . If you are happiest at that weight and don't feel faint/still have energy for normal activities them I don't see the problem. Although, take vitamins if you are not getting it from food and try to up your protein instead of eating fruit
Original post by TheFarmerLad
Depends how serious you want to take your transformation. If your goal is simply to lose weight then what you're currently doing will achieve that though it won't be doing your insides any good. If you want to look better then you have to eat more and exercise more.


This is only achievable really in the summer holidays when I don't have school so I can fit more exercise into my timetable.
I'll be changing my diet in the summer to fit what people have said here.

Original post by jessyjellytot14
I've done this kind of diet numerous times in the past and managed to lose a stone in four weeks and felt so happy and proud of myself but then suddenly, you end up eating vast amounts of food because you feel so hungry and its hard to stop so you gain all of the weight back quicker than you lost it.

I don't really binge though. I do it rarely which is e.g. going to a buffet with my family, christmas, my birthday, etc. Me binging is about once every two months and it's only for a meal as well.

Original post by yodawglol
People will critsistise you because it is not healthy... But people will make comments regardless . If you are happiest at that weight and don't feel faint/still have energy for normal activities them I don't see the problem. Although, take vitamins if you are not getting it from food and try to up your protein instead of eating fruit

One thing I forgot to mention is that I take my vitamin tablets every morning which really has a lot of the vitamins my diet is lacking.
I eat fish once a week and chicken once a fortnight. My mum's a vegetarian so it's not often we eat meat. I eat beans a lot and a glass of milk everyday.

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