Will A 500 Calorie Diet Help Me Lose Weight?
I am 6′0, 145lbs, and I really want to lose some weight.
I don’t want to lose any more than 20 pounds, so for about a week I have been eating not much more than 500 calories a day, sometimes more, but never more than 900 calories a day.
Also I burn roughly 300 calories a day working out.
I realise that the faster you lose weight the faster you can gain it back.
But can I lose weight from my diet?
I read somewhere I can lose about 20lbs in 5 weeks with a 900 calorie diet, so with my current diet can I lose it faster?
Only answer this question if your going to be helpful, don’t tell me I don’t need to lose weight. I’m skinny, but I really just want to get rid of some of the fat on my arms, thighs, and hips/love handle bits.
Actually, you are not eating enough. If you only eat 500 calories a day, and burn 300 a day, then you are only getting 200 calories a day. This will put your body into “starvation mode” and it will STOP losing weight. When your body is in starvation mode, it keeps everything you put in…all the fat, sugar, everything. You’re not giving your body enough food.
According to your BMI, you are currently on the low end of normal weight – almost underweight. A safe range for you is 800-1200 calories per day. You will lose weight this way, without putting your body into starvation mode. Remember, if you don’t eat enough, you will NOT lose weight. It’s not about “how little can I eat?” It’s about finding the RIGHT amount…just enough to keep you from going into starvation mode. 500 calories is definitely putting your body into starvation mode, so you need to be eating more calories. (I know it seems backwards, but it’s true!)
However, you mention that you are skinny, but you want to target specific areas. Dieting is actually not the way to do this, it will make you lose weight everywhere (and reduce your breast size if you are female). If you do exercises to target those specific areas, you have a much greater chance of reducing the size of those areas without making yourself even more skinny overall.
So eat a little bit more than you’re eating now, and EXERCISE. You will definitely see results!
Sorry but you’ll gain it back =/ its too little.
Ive been there and it was so emotional when I suddenly gained every single pound back plus extra.
It isn’t fun..
I do roughly 800 to 900 calories now I think, sometimes 700. I burn around the same amount of calories as you but sometimes double =] plus I do crunches alot. Try doing that =]
Oh and I lose really fast because im on the Atkins diet, id search it if I were you, its great =] high protein and you feel full.
I wouldn’t think that would be a healthy way to go about it. You’re body will go into starvation mode, and start storing fat. Sounds to me like you should just do some good exercises on the areas that are bothering you. It’s not your weight that is the problem per say, its the areas you don’t like.
500 cals is not enough to survive on. You may not feel hungry, but your body is currently in starvation mode, so basically whatever you eat is going to be stored as fat!!
900cals is nowhere near enough either – you need to be eating a minimum of 1500 cals a day.
also 20lbs is not realistic for you
Hi, it’ll help your weight, but not in a healthy way. This is so, because the more you eat, the higher your metabolism, and the higher your metabolism the easier it is to lose weight!
So enjoy and lose weight, feel great, and meet fate!
Haha!
yes, you’ll lose weight on this diet. and when you go back to eating what a healthy person your height should eat, you will gain it back, and probably more.
that amount of calories is not healthy to eat each day. You should be eating at the minimum 1200 especially if your exercising alot
I don’t know whether you need to lose or not as I haven’t worked out the height/weight, but you will not lose any fat on that diet.
When the body has as little as 500 calories a day, it is in starvation mode, which means it tries to access energy from the body in the quickest possible way. The quickest way is by burning muscle, not fat (fat takes longer to metabolise), so you will lose muscle but the fat will all remain. The body will also slow down metabolism (rate of burning calories) as much as it can, so when you start to eat normally again you will gain the weight more easily as your metabolism will take a while to rise. You will also have more cravings – this type of diet is fast track to bingeing and yoyo weight.
It is also dangerously low – you might pass out, have problems with your heart, and damage your internal organs permanently.
If you burn 300 a day working out you do not need to reduce calories much from the daily amount of 2000 for women and I think 2500 for men. Women dieting should go for 1500, never lower than 1000.
I hope you won’t think that this isn’t being helpful. It wouldn’t have been helpful for me to lie and tell you that you can acheive your goals the way you are. I only answered because I didn’t want your collapse on my conscience!
I’m really glad you are boosting your intake (almost definitely!) – I just thought I ought to add that on a really low intake you shouldn’t drive as concentration and other factors are compromised.
You’ll lose weight, but you’ll be tired, get sick easier, look & feel weak, then you’ll gain it all back.
If your looking for the RIGHT way to lose weight, 500 calories is WAY too low! Trust me, been there, done that. You’ll gain it back because you slow down your metabolism. Increase your calories by 100 a week to get up to at least 1,200 calories a day. When you don’t eat enough, all you’ll do is starve your body & slow down weight loss. If you eat enough, eat right, & do both cardio & weight training 3 or more time a week, you’ll lose weight the healthy way, & be able to keep it off.
Btw, 145 at 6′0 isn’t a bad weight at all. You’d probably be better off forgetting about weight, & focusing on gaining muscle & losing fat if you want to improve the way you look.
Its a good thing that you only eat 500 calories a day but dont starve yourself. The best thing to do is to excersise.