Success on 900 calories a day?

[EastWest Gal]

The year I took a water aerobic exercise class 3xs a week for a year and didn’t lose weight. I read that water lowers your body temperature which slows down your metabolism.

Your body temperature is biologically set. Cold exposure induces shivering and increased energy expenditure in warm-blooded animals. Your BMR is mostly set by muscle mass and the amount of sodium potassium ATPase in your cell membranes, both which unfortunately decrease with age.

Excessive caloric restriction will reduce muscle mass. I would still ask about swimming. It is a non-weight bearing aerobic exercise. Exercise contributes much less to weight loss than diet, but controlling both are important.

 

[Rianne]

I would also put intermittent fasting and fasting out there as an option.

My wife and I do a 16:8 version most days, and I think my wife ends up eating less, I’m not sure I do. We also throw in two 22 hour fasts. We’ve done 36 hour fasts, which are supposed to do wonders for boosting your metabolism. While on these longer fasts I think the net is a lower caloric intake even if I eat a huge meal when done.
As long as I’m active, I don’t really notice that I’m skipping meals, drinking water helps as well when you are feeling hungry. I have also been able to exercise while on the longer fasts, biking to and from work, 17 mile each way, without feeling weak.

Good luck

I've been intermittent fasting for about 3 years. This article explains details about the benefits from Johns Hopkins.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hea...ttent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work

"One of Mattson’s studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed data about a range of health benefits associated with the practice. These include a longer life, a leaner body and a sharper mind."

“Many things happen during intermittent fasting that can protect organs against chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, even inflammatory bowel disease and many cancers,” he says.

"Here are some intermittent fasting benefits research has revealed so far:

Thinking and memory.

Studies discovered that intermittent fasting boosts working memory in animals and verbal memory in adult humans.

Heart health. Intermittent fasting improved blood pressure and resting heart rates as well as other heart-related measurements.

Physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining muscle mass. Mice who were fed on alternate days showed better endurance in running."

Diabetes and obesity. In animal studies, intermittent fasting prevented obesity. And in six brief studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting.

Tissue health. In animals, intermittent fasting reduced tissue damage in surgery and improved results."

 

[Dalmore]

DW and I started intermittent fasting the week before Christmas. We have been doing the 16/8 every day. For me it is the easiest way to diet as I don't count calories and I eat whatever I want during my 8 hour eating window. The one thing that we found is that we stalled in our weight loss at the end of January and beginning of February. We came to the conclusion that we had started eating a "boba" ice cream (they are delicious) for desert at about 7:30pm and it was affecting our weight loss. About a week after cutting them out, our weight loss started back up. It's been 15 weeks and I've lost between 15-20 lbs since we started. Yesterday I weighed in at 191, and my target is a solid 190! This has by far, been the easiest diet I've ever done. I do miss breakfast, and I do get hungry before noon, but it is very manageable.

 

[Scuba]

Your body temperature is biologically set. Cold exposure induces shivering and increased energy expenditure in warm-blooded animals. Your BMR is mostly set by muscle mass and the amount of sodium potassium ATPase in your cell membranes, both which unfortunately decrease with age.



Excessive caloric restriction will reduce muscle mass. I would still ask about swimming. It is a non-weight bearing aerobic exercise. Exercise contributes much less to weight loss than diet, but controlling both are important.

I did ask my doc re swimming. He told me to be patient, focus on his prescribed 30 minutes per day pool walking and stationary bike program for 3 months, and then we will reevaluate.

I agree that IF is helpful. I’ve never tried fasting for longer than 16-18 hours though.

 

[Aerides]

Excessive caloric restriction will reduce muscle mass. I would still ask about swimming. It is a non-weight bearing aerobic exercise. Exercise contributes much less to weight loss than diet, but controlling both are important.

Also, as a woman over 50, you can expect to lose 5-10 lbs of muscle mass per decade just by maintaining your diet/weight/routines, unless you actively work against that. So another reason not to go hyper-calorie restrictive, especially when your work out options are limited and rule out a lot of strength training for now.

 

[Teacher Terry]

For me personally water aerobics doesn’t work no matter how hard or much I do it. Fast walking has helped me lose weight and maintain it. It’s probably individual like many things.

 

[tmm99]

I imagine that water aerobics cause less stress on your knees and joints and keep you cool. If you're very heavy, I imagine water aerobics may be better for your knees until you lose some weight. Swimming is probably better than water aerobics, but if you have a problem with your neck, swimming may be hard.

 

[Highbeam]

Prior to my appointment, I was doing things like playing pickle ball for an hour and going for 4 mile walks or 12-15 mile bike rides. These activists were burning 300-400 calories per day. Back when I was really fit, I was doing 5+ mile hikes or swimming a mile and a half or doing intense treadmill workouts and usually burning 500-800 calories in a workout. The exercises he has me doing now are so low impact that I’m burning only 125-150 calories per day doing them.

My BMR is around 1,250. If I want to lose weight, say 1 LB per week, and I’m only going to burn 150 calories per day doing exercise, that puts my calorie consumption goal at about 900. I’m not sure how to eat that little.

I have a theory that your BMR is not 1250 and also that you are burning nowhere near as many calories as you think you are with the exercise. It is also becoming clear that you are not accurately measuring your caloric intake. People always think that they are burning so many calories with exercise.

Start with this... Measure and log everything you eat and your corresponding weight change. Exercise, or don't, it doesn't really matter that much.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My Fitbit tells me the calories burned and it’s not much. Walking 45 minutes fast only burns 269 calories.

 

[braumeister]

If I want to lose weight, say 1 LB per week

I just saw this thread, and I haven't read it all, but I have to say that a pound a week is a remarkably aggressive weight loss goal for the average person.

 

[aja8888]

I just saw this thread, and I haven't read it all, but I have to say that a pound a week is a remarkably aggressive weight loss goal for the average person.

A pound is about 4,000 calories, give or take. To lose a pound a week, you have to cut back that much, which is roughly 2 days normal food intake. And, of course, if you actually starve yourself for two days a week, your body will notice and not let that weight go that easily.

 

[skyking1]

It's a battle for sure. I am doing 4 pounds a week so far, after that huge initial week with all the water losses.

 

[Scuba]

I have a theory that your BMR is not 1250 and also that you are burning nowhere near as many calories as you think you are with the exercise. It is also becoming clear that you are not accurately measuring your caloric intake. People always think that they are burning so many calories with exercise.



Start with this... Measure and log everything you eat and your corresponding weight change. Exercise, or don't, it doesn't really matter that much.

So do you think the Apple Watch doesn’t measure calorie burn accurately? My BMR came from my scale’s calculator but I just checked it with an online BMR calculator and it’s pretty close.

I used to measure my caloric intake quite accurately by measuring everything and logging it into MyFitnessPal. I did get away from tracking food intake for a while and have recently resumed. I’m sure I was consuming more than my BMR and I agree that tracking again will help.

When I was at my most fit, I tracked my intake with MyFitnessPal and it was around 1,300 calories. My daily exercise burn was averaging about 500 calories per my Apple Watch. 300 on a light day (1 hour on stationary bike) and 700+ on a heavy day (5-8 mile hike with 1,500-2,500 ft elevation gain, or 70 minute swim). I was maintaining my weight at this level, not losing.

For now, since I can’t do much of a calorie burn if I’m going to follow my doctor’s instructions, I’ll just keep doing the mild activities he recommended which means I have to really watch what I eat. I set my daily target caloric input at 1,200.

 

[Scuba]

I just saw this thread, and I haven't read it all, but I have to say that a pound a week is a remarkably aggressive weight loss goal for the average person.

I’ve always heard that 1-2 lbs per week is a safe rate of weight loss that most docs recommend. I just googled it and seems to still be the consensus. This means a 3,500-7,000 calorie deficit per week. Not easy for sure!

 

[skyking1]

Fitbit grossly overestimates calorie burn. It looks like IFIT does a better job.
My current rate is about 14K a week deficit when I multiply fitbit's numbers by .66

 

[Aerides]

I’ve always heard that 1-2 lbs per week is a safe rate of weight loss that most docs recommend. I just googled it and seems to still be the consensus. This means a 3,500-7,000 calorie deficit per week. Not easy for sure!

Pretty sure that's week one, then it's a half to one pound per week after that.

And all these are averages - which is US health/medical speak is for a dude around 35, 5'10" and a 170ish frame.

They don't properly adjust up or down or to women, in a lot of cases. No I would not trust apple watch to be tailored to you. Certainly not to be considered precise for a 60+ woman. (or a 40+ one either). Remember your 20's? I could easily drop 5lbs in a week if I needed to, or 10 in a month. After about age 35 that became impossible.

I remember watching a piece on apple health features on Axios maybe 3 years ago? The reporter went around their testing facility with Tim Cook, and they stopped in a room of about 20 people running on treadmills, testing new stuff. All of the "testers" were taller, fit looking not-old men.

All in all, caloric "burn" rates aren't that reliable. You know yourself, if you're on a run, the first mile you're doing great, but by your last mile you're kind of slogging along, not raising your feet as high, breathing heavier, leaning forward a little more for better momentum. And yet an calculator is going to have you with the same burn rate for 10 mins or 45 mins.

 

[msieweke]

Losing 2 lb/week is not unusual on a low-carb diet. In 2008 I lost 18 lbs in 8 weeks by lowering my daily carb intake below 80 grams. I did not count calories or go hungry, and I did not limit fat.

This doesn't work for everyone. My sister has done low-calorie diets many times in her adult life, so her metabolism runs slow. She loses weight very slowly on a low-carb diet.

 

[Bamaman]

900 calories are just too low for most people. My wife's taking in about 1200 calories and she's not exactly enjoying her meals.

We eat salads most days and take in veggies and some protein at night. We're not big breakfast eaters, however I do slip and fall for McDonalds from time to time with a sausage biscuit.

 

[Scuba]

Pretty sure that's week one, then it's a half to one pound per week after that.

And all these are averages - which is US health/medical speak is for a dude around 35, 5'10" and a 170ish frame.

They don't properly adjust up or down or to women, in a lot of cases. No I would not trust apple watch to be tailored to you. Certainly not to be considered precise for a 60+ woman. (or a 40+ one either). Remember your 20's? I could easily drop 5lbs in a week if I needed to, or 10 in a month. After about age 35 that became impossible.

I remember watching a piece on apple health features on Axios maybe 3 years ago? The reporter went around their testing facility with Tim Cook, and they stopped in a room of about 20 people running on treadmills, testing new stuff. All of the "testers" were taller, fit looking not-old men.

All in all, caloric "burn" rates aren't that reliable. You know yourself, if you're on a run, the first mile you're doing great, but by your last mile you're kind of slogging along, not raising your feet as high, breathing heavier, leaning forward a little more for better momentum. And yet an calculator is going to have you with the same burn rate for 10 mins or 45 mins.

Actually the Apple Watch does adjust calorie burn for intensity as measured by speed, heart rate, etc. I’ve compared it to the Lifecycle and other electronic treadmills, bikes, etc where you enter your age and weight and have found the calorie burn metrics to be pretty similar.

There are many links that recommend 1-2 lbs per week as a safe, sustainable rate, not just for the first week. I just googled “what is a safe rate of weight loss?” Multiple links came up that all said 1-2 lbs per week, ongoing. I’m not saying it’s easy. It certainly isn’t for me! But according to the experts, it’s a reasonable target.

Excerpt from Mayo Clinic:
Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week.

Link to CDC article:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

 

[Scuba]

Update - the discipline is hard, but so far I’ve been able to keep my intake to right around 1,000 calories per day and even with reduced activity, I’m losing weight. I’m tracking everything I eat or drink in MyFitnessPal, sticking to mostly lean proteins and green veggies with a small amount of healthy fats, and eliminating alcohol except for special occasions of which there have been none recently. Based on how full I feel after meals now compared to before, I was definitely eating a lot more calories before. I would often feel very full after eating before, and now feel a bit hungry but just force myself to drink some water and find something else to do to distract myself from hunger.

When I can increase my activity level, I’ll increase my caloric intake, but as long as I’m limited to doing PT and virtually nothing else, I’ll keep up what I’m doing now until I reach my desired weight and then re-assess.

I find intermittent fasting more challenging than I thought. I am not usually a big breakfast eater so thought it would be easy for me to do a 16:8 window. What I’m finding is working well for me instead is adjusting my eating schedule depending on social plans. For example, I had a fairly early dinner out both yesterday and today, so instead of skipping breakfast, I ate a late breakfast and skipped lunch. Eating two meals a day seems to work well for me.

 

[skyking1]

I used to use myfitnesspal and found it quite useful.
congrats on the progress. I fill those hard times with some celery or the like. Pickles are also free if you are careful with your overall sodium intake.

 

[Scuba]

Update - I’ve continued to do my PT exercises every day, log all consumption in MyFitnessPal and am averaging around 1,000-1,100 calories a day. My stomach continues to shrink and I’ve now lost 15 lbs.

My hope is that I’ll be able to resume a more normal level of fitness activities and increase my caloric consumption accordingly, because sticking to this low of a caloric intake for me is only possible if I eat all meals at home and avoid alcohol. This has been easier with DH’s heart attack but eventually we will eat out again and the caloric control will be harder.

 

[KarenF]

Update - I’ve continued to do my PT exercises every day, log all consumption in MyFitnessPal and am averaging around 1,000-1,100 calories a day. My stomach continues to shrink and I’ve now lost 15 lbs.

My hope is that I’ll be able to resume a more normal level of fitness activities and increase my caloric consumption accordingly, because sticking to this low of a caloric intake for me is only possible if I eat all meals at home and avoid alcohol. This has been easier with DH’s heart attack but eventually we will eat out again and the caloric control will be harder.

I agree that very low caloric intake is only sustainable for so long, and there is a risk of getting so hungry you overeat and gain it back. I have had great success with Intermittent Fasting so you may want to look into that for long term sustainability. Gin Stephens has written 2 good books called Delay Don't Deny and Fast Feast Repeat and Jason Fung's The Obesity code is good too. Every time I ever logged my food (and I did it for years, on and off) I lost weight but then yoyoed back up. I don't log a thing with IF, I am not hungry and can live like this forever. Kicking MyFitnessPal to the curb was so freeing for me!!

 

[Scuba]

I agree that very low caloric intake is only sustainable for so long, and there is a risk of getting so hungry you overeat and gain it back. I have had great success with Intermittent Fasting so you may want to look into that for long term sustainability. Gin Stephens has written 2 good books called Delay Don't Deny and Fast Feast Repeat and Jason Fung's The Obesity code is good too. Every time I ever logged my food (and I did it for years, on and off) I lost weight but then yoyoed back up. I don't log a thing with IF, I am not hungry and can live like this forever. Kicking MyFitnessPal to the curb was so freeing for me!!

Thanks. I did try IF but had a couple of challenges with it. One was that shortly after going on IF, I was prescribed a med that required taking it every 12 hours with food. The other challenge is that my schedule is quite variable. What does seem to work well for me is keeping my intake low in anticipation of meals out and/or social outings. So, if I know I’m going out to lunch, I may skip breakfast and plan for a light dinner. The next day, I might be going out to dinner so I need to eat light before dinner to keep my intake in balance.

I’m not saying IF doesn’t work and/or isn’t a great lifestyle for some. It was just really difficult for me to limit food intake to a six or eight hour window.

 

[skyking1]

Are you getting regular blood work done? I am on monthly blood work, and today's results are a little off. It will be interesting what the doctor does with that.