What's the lowest calorie amount I can eat to safely lose weight?

Question

I'm currently eating between 1400 and 1600 calories a day. I have an active job, and I'm on my feet and walking most of the day. In addition to that I also do at least an hour of either running or elliptical (or a combination) each day. I lift weights a few times a well as well.
But I'm discontented with my weightloss. I'm losing 1-3 lbs a week. I want to lose faster. Would 1000-1200 calories still be safe? I've eaten less than that before with success, but I've struggled with an eating disorder in the past (EDNOS, I lost weight rapidly and then gained even more rapidly) and so is difficult for me to differentiate between what my body seems to be comfortable with and what's slowly killing me. I've been recovered for a year now but I'm still in the process of losing the rest of the weight that I had put on because of my ED.

Photonaut · Accepted Answer

Restricting your diet to calories is going to cause you to have dieter rebound. A better approach would be to change your diet to accommodate the body you are trying to form.

At a minimum, you should be consuming at least 4 ounces of quality protein (meat, fish, fowl, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds), and 8 ounces of quality produce (especially dark pigmented fruits and deep green vegetables). If your protein sources do not provide fats, or minimal fats, you will need to add up to 1 ounce of quality unsaturated oils (ie. coconut, olive, sunflower) to maintain skin and venous elasticity, and lubricate your gastrointestinal tract. This is truly a minimum to provide the proteins, amino acids, fiber, natural sugars and carbon necessary to maintain a 64", 118 lb body and brain at 3% activity for 12 hours a day (reading, watching TV, sleeping, etc).

DO NOT consume products that have been artificially reduced in fat content, or use a laboratory rendered fat substitute. The residual ammonia used in most of these processes, or chemically rendered indigestible fats will screw up your body's natural digestion of them as it doesn't know what to do with them, so your metabolism stores them.

Then add 1/2 ounce of protein / complex carbohydrate for every hour of lightly strenuous activity, 1 ounce for every hour of moderately strenuous activity, 1.5 ounces for heavily strenuous or bulking exercise. This is a base line that you shouldn't drop below, or you will be consuming the very muscles that burn what you consume.

If you insist on the caloric based diet, start with 800 calories. Add 50 calories for each hour of lightly strenuous activity, 100 calories for every hour of moderately strenuous activity, 185 calories for every hour of heavily strenuous activity or bulking exercise. Again, this is just a baseline. So based on your counts, 800 calories + (8 hours x 50 calories [work] ) + 100 calories [exercise] = 1300 calories.

dogbert444 · Accepted Answer

Don't try to lose more than 1-2lbs a week. That is sustainable long term. This is why fad diets don't work. You lose weight, but your food becomes so boring, you start to revert to the old habits and you regain what you've lost.

Don't diet. Go, instead, for a change in eating habits. Chose low fat products always. Avoid pure fruit juice as it's full of fructose, fruit sugar. Have 3 meals a day, equally spaced as far as possible. I don't think you should go any lower than about 1500 cals a day.

Azara · Accepted Answer

You should not lose more than 2 pounds a week. So you're doing fine, As for how little you can eat. Everyone is different. some people can fast for weeks and come out clearer and healthier than going in. other people pass out if they eat breakfast too late. You are supposedly not supposed to eat less than 200. but obviously ion you're 4 feet tall, 1200 is not as low as you can go. point being everyone is different. you definitely need minimum of 100 gram, ms of glucose for your brain because thats what brains use. so never go below 400 calories, but thats not an amount you should live on unless you're on a supervised fast,. which judging by your desperation, you are not in the right state of mind to embark upon.

Why are you so interested in losing weight? are you ever weight. if so how do you end up getting there? i ask bc you sound concerned with weight. why did you gain weight beyond where you wanted it? is it bc thats where your body wants to be, or did you over eat?

FOOLibra · Accepted Answer

You should eat AT LEAST your BMR (Basal metabolic rate) because that's what your body needs to function at complete resting mode. You could even have a bit more because of your active lifestyle.

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

And seriously, if you don't feel stable enough and fear relapsing then talk to your therapist or get some kind of professional help. It can happen before you even realise it.

SlimBad · Answer

You're doing exactly what you should be doing.
With the active lifestyle and the consistent exercise of both cardio and strength training (which is GREAT btw), 1400-1600 is just about the right amount.
1-3 pounds per week is what you should be losing. Don't fall into the trap of thinking there's some special way to make weight loss faster. Sure there are SOME ways but they're not healthy and will just leave you worse off in the long run.
So basically, no, you don't need to consume less calories, you need them to function properly. Keep doing what you're doing :)

teawrecks · Answer

I eat less than that a day, and only recently started a small form of exercise to boot. I know I'm messing up my metabolism by only eating around 300-400 calories a day, but there's not much I can do about it because all of the foods I have available to me are just SUPER low in calories.

That being said, within a few months I lost 20lbs but I've plateaued.

If you're still steadily losing those lbs, I'd stick with it. It might seem unsatisfactory, but at least you haven't hit a plateau yet.

BellePepper · Answer

Losing weight faster is going to make your body sick. 1400 is the least you should be at.

If you're worried you're slipping into dangerous habits again, why not make an appointment with a therapist? Then you can have someone help keep you on a good track and you can work on training your body to learn the difference.

Anonymous · Answer

stop calorie restrict become vegan (I'm not vegan) but if u really wanna lose weight just keep out all the animal foods and stuff and try to eat more vegetables and fruits but don't calorie restrict please I used to calorie restrict and then I started to starve myself I only drank water and I exercised and then later I couldn't continue cause my parents got worried and I basically had to eat with them and they had to see me eat but then I became bulimic and I just vomited up every meal that I ate and they never knew about it. But now I'm slowly getting healthier so please don't And I'm only 15 turning 16

AustinMan · Answer

With your medical history, you should be under a doctor's care, IMHO.

VirginiaBeachBum · Answer

Especially considering your medical history, this is an issue on which you should be advised by a medical professional, not a bunch of anonymous people on a website. Good luck to you!

9mfeo · Answer

1-3 lbs per week is the healthy rate of weight loss. Do you have a therapist? It might be useful to speak to someone about this right now.

abramsdriver25 · Answer

1 to 3lbs per week is a healthy pace. And if you are active as you say you are, you need at least 1400 calories a day. Anything more than that per week or less calories per day with that activity level can be dangerous.

RobAtomic · Answer

wow... you must be hungry right now... I would say 1500...

truthhammer · Answer

google caloric intake calculator.

Prince_teddy4u · Answer

Ice cubes.

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