I'm 21, female, and overweight. I'm 5'4, and used to weight a comfortable 135-140lbs. After moving to University last September (lived at home for the first 2 years) I gained over 50lbs. I was on my own, so I ate fast food A LOT! Not an excuse at all, I just became quite lazy. I'm a Nursing student, I should really know better.. go figure.

I get headaches EVERY DAY. I'm weak, I can't go up a flight of stairs at my house without becoming out of breath. I don't fit into any of my clothes, which means i've resorted to wearing my brothers sweatpants, or t-shirts. I look horrible. I weight 190lbs. My mother had diabeties, and I fear if I keep this up, i'll develop it as well. Not to mention other health problems related to being overweight.

I go back to University for my last year September 9th, and I really want to lose as much weight as I can before then. I do a lot of walking around campus, I take the bus, walk to the stores, etc. and I really don't want to always be out of breath and gasping for air anymore.

I know it can be unhealthy to eat under 800 cals. a day, but short-term, meaning only doing it for a month, how much weight can I lose? After that i'll be under advisment by my doctor on how to maintain the weight loss safely. I just want to lose as much as I can before school starts so i'm not carrying around all this extra weight, which in turn will make me feel a whole lot better.

Thank you.

I don't think you'll find anyone here (at least anyone who cares about health) to advise you on eating 800 calories a day.

If you want to really achieve long term weight loss and health, there are a lot of people here who will be more than happy to give you advice and help and support.

I'm 5'7'', male, 240 lbs. I chose to reduce my calories from who knows how much to 2000 a day. Keep track of what you're eating, maybe make a journal and write it down.

I used to eat until I was stuffed, bags and bags of food.

If you go too low on the calories, your body will think its starving itself and hold onto the weight. Maybe someone else can chime in on what would be a healthy restricted calorie intake for you..as I'm not sure. I'm guessing 1200-1500

At 190 lbs currently, a healthy calorie level that will allow for weight loss would be around 1700 to 1800 calories a day.

I know it's said that if you restrict your calories by too much, your body will hold onto the fat your currently have, and I understand that to a degree, but, I know people who have gone on a 800-1000 calorie diet, short-term, and lost the weight, gained the flat stomache they were looking for, and felt much healthier, and better about themselves.

I know long-term, eating that many calories can do significant harm, but I really don't see any issues in the short-term. I have already spoken to my doctor, and he advised me that a month, to a month and a half MAX, while taking all-in-one vitamins. He told me it's not advisable at all, but because of me carrying around all the extra weight, getting out of breathe, etc. It is do-able short-term. Afterwards i'll visit him again, and discuss my progress, and transition to a higher calorie diet.

Obviously when your eating that little, weight is going to drop like no tomorrow. It's not correct to say the body will hold onto your fat, and you'll never lose it. Weight will be lost, and a lot of it at that, it just isn't somthing that should be done long-term.

Uh huh.

I think you'll find that by lowering your calories that much, your metabolism will stall out and when you raise your calories again, you'll wind up gaining weight back.

But it's your choice and no one can stop you from making unhealthy choices.

If you're going to toy with this sort of crap, I highly suggest Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss book.

I've used it personally for myself (primarily for experimentation) and a few clients. But these were very specific instances.

I wouldn't ordinarily turn to something like this b/c most can't manage their expectations well enough (during and after the diet) which screws them more than it helps them.

Then when they finally ate healthy for the 1st time in months they packed on weight like they were eating raw lard and rebounded, no?

IT'S. NOT. AT. ALL. ADVISABLE!!
reread the above 30 times please.

Yes, lots of weight will be lost. Lots will be fat but plenty will be muscle too, and possibly plenty of water weight. The body doesn't not lose fat, it just tries to sacrifice as much muscle as possible first. This is because muscle costs more calories per day to maintain than other tissues, it is "expensive" in a metabolic sense, and in a deficit you cut expenses right? This results in lost weight, but the same body composition at the lower weight. Hence the term "skinny fat".

So really, your goal is to lose bodyfat regardless of your weight. Lost weight is not automatically healthy.

BTW, it is also unsafe because you are not only taking less calories in than you are spending, but you are taking in too little to fund your body even at rest. Basically it is starvation for a flat belly. Unhealthy. Weak. And most likely to rebound hard as your body fights back. Have fun with that and holler when you are ready to eat sane and sensibly.

I recall a quote on these forums from about 3 years back, one that stuck with me, where some RN said 1200 cals a day is what they feed to coma patients. Food for thought maybe.

I posted a thread here a few weeks ago ... Nazi concentration camps fed their inmates between 700 and 1400 calories a day, depending on the level of physical activity they were doing. And we all know what those people looked like when they were rescued, right? The ones who didn't die first.

I've seen Lyle McDonald's program for rapid weight loss - I got it after someone else here mentioned it as justification for eating ultra low calories. His program is EXTREMELY specific and designed to minimize muscle loss as much as possible. It's also not designed to be a long term diet - but a jump start for those losing a lot or a way for competition type body builders to cut fat below "normal" bodyfat levels.

And Kara is exactly right. Which is why I said, if you're going to pull this crap, at least to it "right" and do something like PSMF.

And if you do, realize it's only a temporary way of eating.

And if you don't understand it fully and don't manage your expectations well enough, said temporary way of eating will only lead to temporary results.