Very Low Calorie Diets
- Thread starter August
- Start date
Just think of eating pickled pearlfish or drink water.
As an update the loss has been about 900g - 1kg a day. Energy levels are super low - this is a hard cut, won’t be able to maintain this level of weight loss for too long.
Mine has been consistent with 22 kg lost in the past year or so. The deficit has been hell and I actually gain wait during training events as my calorie count per day goes from under 1800 to over 4000 during those times. The hardest part has been my recent attempts this past month to cut caffeine and sugar.
My neighbor/work friend went full keto, and eats massive amounts of meat and eggs every day. Personally I love carbs too much to go full keto.
Agent_Mothman
Space Marshal
I cut WAY back. I switched to hard liquor, as there are no carbs in it.
That and you don't have to keep pounding a bunch down to get a buzz on.
The scale died a couple weeks ago, and I just put some new batteries in. I'm down 30 pounds now.
Don't believe this for an instant. I'm a hard liquor guy and and tend to indulge. Even working out five days a week doesn't counteract booze in sufficient quantities.
Agent_Mothman
Space Marshal
You are mistaking carbs for calories.
You can still take in too many calories, but keep your carbs in control.
It all depends on your macros.
Just skimmed through this so my apologies if I repeat stuff that has already been said. The stuff I'm gonna write might not apply to your case, but I thought I would share it in case some of it does.
Cutting beer for hard liquor will cut carbs, but is still full of calories! As all alcohol, it also dehydrates you and strains your system, so you will feel even more week and tired. Without the support of eating fats, it makes things even worse (harder to break down for your system). So just drop alcohol intake as much as possible.
Vodka is supposedly the best option for hard stuff, as it's purely water and ethanol, just keep in mind that 2 shots of vodka can be as much calories as a pint of lager!
Personally, when I have to cut back, I go for a 1-2dl (1 small glass) of cheap Australian dry red wine. It certainly tastes way better than the expensive crap we make here...
I'v been on an IR* diet (180g carbs/day version) for over a year now, because of a family member. I don't need it medically, but as I'm the cook, I'm too lazy to make another meal just for myself. So far I've lost a good 8-12 kilos without even trying, and still occasionally indulging in stuff that someone on an IR diet shouldn't.
*IR stands for Insulin Resistance, a Pre-Diabetes state, and can lead to diabetes unless "treated" with the diet and some meds. There is no "cure" currently. The point is to cut out some "bad" stuff that messes up your blood sugar levels, thus lower the need for insulin production, and stabilize blood sugar levels by eating a set amount of carbs spread out to 6-8 smaller meals a day.
As per our "nutritionist" ( it's called something else when it's an actual Doctor. I thought that was way too much bullshit to warrant an actual title...):
Eating only one type of food won't be beneficial in the long run. While you may lose weight, you might lose some organs as well.
Not eating fibers will mess up your intestines and might lead to more serious issues, so keep eating your salads! Just don't eat your salad with a ton of dressing...
Not eating any kind of carbs will mess with your head after while, general lack of energy will be an issue, and unbalanced sugar levels which can lead to serious stuff like diabetes. Not good either.
Use some common sense. Aim for some balance.
Some things I learned along the way, that could apply to any diet:
- fruits are supposedly "fast" carbs, and full of sugars, so not a great idea to use them as the sole source of a diet. They won't fill you up for long enough, and will unbalance your blood sugar levels, making you even more hungry not too long after consumed. So when snacking between proper meals, you should eat something else as well, preferably with supposedly "slow" carbs/fibers in it, like veggies or wholegrain digestive biscuits and such.
- as with fruits, not all veggies are created equal. Some have tons of sugar in them, like corn and carrots, so keep in mind how much you eat of each. They are more suited to serve as snacks in between meals as they are heavy in fiber and thus only slowly elevate your blood sugar. So you should feel hungry much later after a bunch of veggies than you would after fruits.
- cut back (if possible, completely) on stuff made from white flour, potatoes, and common white rice. Those are useless carbs made up of useless starch. Also, this ofc includes anything that contains high amounts of modified cornstarch and such crap (this basically includes anything in the shops that is a thick liquid, like sauces). Using wholegrain flours, and brown rice is supposedly okay. You gotta eat something afterall...
- "natural" sugars, like glucose (incl. maple syrup, honey) are still sugar! Count em as such in your diet! Or just don't eat them at all if you can!
The reason I kinda don't hate an IR diet as much as all the rest of em, is that the whole point of an IR diet is that you must never feel hungry. Cos hungry means your blood sugar levels have dropped too low. So, it is a sustainable way of losing weight. It is rather slow ofc, but 10-15 Kg a year is easily possible (even more depending on your original weight and intake), and you won't bounce back after, even if you start indulging in "not so IR friendly" foods. At least not as much.
Little sidenote:
Good luck with your diets guys! Stay hydrated, and try to stay healthy!
Cutting beer for hard liquor will cut carbs, but is still full of calories! As all alcohol, it also dehydrates you and strains your system, so you will feel even more week and tired. Without the support of eating fats, it makes things even worse (harder to break down for your system). So just drop alcohol intake as much as possible.
Vodka is supposedly the best option for hard stuff, as it's purely water and ethanol, just keep in mind that 2 shots of vodka can be as much calories as a pint of lager!
Personally, when I have to cut back, I go for a 1-2dl (1 small glass) of cheap Australian dry red wine. It certainly tastes way better than the expensive crap we make here...
I'v been on an IR* diet (180g carbs/day version) for over a year now, because of a family member. I don't need it medically, but as I'm the cook, I'm too lazy to make another meal just for myself. So far I've lost a good 8-12 kilos without even trying, and still occasionally indulging in stuff that someone on an IR diet shouldn't.
*IR stands for Insulin Resistance, a Pre-Diabetes state, and can lead to diabetes unless "treated" with the diet and some meds. There is no "cure" currently. The point is to cut out some "bad" stuff that messes up your blood sugar levels, thus lower the need for insulin production, and stabilize blood sugar levels by eating a set amount of carbs spread out to 6-8 smaller meals a day.
As per our "nutritionist" ( it's called something else when it's an actual Doctor. I thought that was way too much bullshit to warrant an actual title...):
Eating only one type of food won't be beneficial in the long run. While you may lose weight, you might lose some organs as well.
Not eating fibers will mess up your intestines and might lead to more serious issues, so keep eating your salads! Just don't eat your salad with a ton of dressing...
Not eating any kind of carbs will mess with your head after while, general lack of energy will be an issue, and unbalanced sugar levels which can lead to serious stuff like diabetes. Not good either.
Use some common sense. Aim for some balance.
Some things I learned along the way, that could apply to any diet:
- fruits are supposedly "fast" carbs, and full of sugars, so not a great idea to use them as the sole source of a diet. They won't fill you up for long enough, and will unbalance your blood sugar levels, making you even more hungry not too long after consumed. So when snacking between proper meals, you should eat something else as well, preferably with supposedly "slow" carbs/fibers in it, like veggies or wholegrain digestive biscuits and such.
- as with fruits, not all veggies are created equal. Some have tons of sugar in them, like corn and carrots, so keep in mind how much you eat of each. They are more suited to serve as snacks in between meals as they are heavy in fiber and thus only slowly elevate your blood sugar. So you should feel hungry much later after a bunch of veggies than you would after fruits.
- cut back (if possible, completely) on stuff made from white flour, potatoes, and common white rice. Those are useless carbs made up of useless starch. Also, this ofc includes anything that contains high amounts of modified cornstarch and such crap (this basically includes anything in the shops that is a thick liquid, like sauces). Using wholegrain flours, and brown rice is supposedly okay. You gotta eat something afterall...
- "natural" sugars, like glucose (incl. maple syrup, honey) are still sugar! Count em as such in your diet! Or just don't eat them at all if you can!
The reason I kinda don't hate an IR diet as much as all the rest of em, is that the whole point of an IR diet is that you must never feel hungry. Cos hungry means your blood sugar levels have dropped too low. So, it is a sustainable way of losing weight. It is rather slow ofc, but 10-15 Kg a year is easily possible (even more depending on your original weight and intake), and you won't bounce back after, even if you start indulging in "not so IR friendly" foods. At least not as much.
Little sidenote:
The hardest part of an IR diet is coming up with what to cook, so as usual I turned to the internet, specifically, the English speaking sites on the net, mostly from the US. I gotta say:
Dear ppl of the nets: Your "understanding" of the IR (and diabetes) recipes is Nonexistent, to put it mildly.
You have no fucking clue!
First of all, you treat IR like it's diabetes, and thus you give advice like "eat plain salads"... Nothing could be further from the truth!
I found tons of recipes, and most of them were useless from the start! Roast Honey Chicken with Baked Potatoes is NOT an IR combatible dish! Unless you don't eat the chicken covered in honey (sugar) and potatoes (high amounts of fast carbs in the 2nd worst possible form of starch). Just because you add honey instead of white sugar, that doesn't make it right!
When it comes to sweet foods, It's ridiculous how you think that substituting plain sugar with maple syrup (90% glucose, which is sugar) somehow makes it okay for someone with insulin resistance to eat it! It's still sugar, which is Bad. Period!
Green salads with more green salads is also not an IR diet compatible dish! It has zero carbs, which means it doesn't do shit to your bloodsugar, and thus it is an utterly useless filler in a diet, where one of the main problems is that you already have to eat more of "meh" foods than you want to!
Because on an IR diet, you Have to eat the right amount of carbs at every meal (of the right "type" of carbs), and plain salads have almost none!
This covers about 98% of recipes I found related to IR diets, which is appalling. No wonder you'r all fat... j/k
Dear ppl of the nets: Your "understanding" of the IR (and diabetes) recipes is Nonexistent, to put it mildly.
You have no fucking clue!
First of all, you treat IR like it's diabetes, and thus you give advice like "eat plain salads"... Nothing could be further from the truth!
I found tons of recipes, and most of them were useless from the start! Roast Honey Chicken with Baked Potatoes is NOT an IR combatible dish! Unless you don't eat the chicken covered in honey (sugar) and potatoes (high amounts of fast carbs in the 2nd worst possible form of starch). Just because you add honey instead of white sugar, that doesn't make it right!
When it comes to sweet foods, It's ridiculous how you think that substituting plain sugar with maple syrup (90% glucose, which is sugar) somehow makes it okay for someone with insulin resistance to eat it! It's still sugar, which is Bad. Period!
Green salads with more green salads is also not an IR diet compatible dish! It has zero carbs, which means it doesn't do shit to your bloodsugar, and thus it is an utterly useless filler in a diet, where one of the main problems is that you already have to eat more of "meh" foods than you want to!
Because on an IR diet, you Have to eat the right amount of carbs at every meal (of the right "type" of carbs), and plain salads have almost none!
This covers about 98% of recipes I found related to IR diets, which is appalling. No wonder you'r all fat... j/k
Good luck with your diets guys! Stay hydrated, and try to stay healthy!
For context I’m at the gym pretty regularly for strength training. I’ve found that as long as I have broccoli and asparagus in the evenings I’m keeping the digestive system doing what it should be, and the weight loss has slowed to a more reasonable level.
Hunger is pretty much under control and energy levels are stabilising. I’m still taking in about 3,500 kilojoules so I’m in quite a heavy deficit, but will keep this up for another few weeks to get to my goal weight.
Gym has suffered a lot, specifically energy but also in max weight. Once I’ve lost the weight and stabilised, that can be rebuilt. I knew there would be some strength and definition loss, but I needed to take control of my diet and weight again and half-measures are counter-productive.
Once, about a year ago we had a bunch of asparagus that was about a week or 2 old. I didn't want it to go to waste, so I cooked it up and made a big meal out of it and it was great. My pee had the strongest asparagus smell for like 2 days.
Fat Bastards, be advised our glorious leader is concerned for your longevity!
Less longevity means less time to drink beer. This is against the code (which I’ve just made up)
If this fat bastard can make headway, you can too.
As an update, Breakfast is actual food, dinner is actual food, and capacity at the gym is returning slowly as my caloric intake is higher.
I’m no longer hungry between meals
Breakfast - porridge with half a cup of oats and 3/4 cup full fat milk. No sugar, honey, fruit.
After gym - 30g WPI
Lunch - VLCD bar
Tea - Chicken breast, steak, or fish, and low starch veggies like broccoli and asparagus.
Portion sizes are under control, I fit into trousers which I couldn’t a few months ago, and I am feeling pretty healthy.
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Radegast74
Space Marshal
Sugar I can see cutting out, but, caffeine? NEVER!
Congrats! Very impressive self-control & outcomes! If I may ask, what is your goal weight?
At this stage I’m aiming for 85kg. I’m reasonably wide across the shoulders and want to maintain the muscle, but my diet has been bad for a long time so I need to get rid of a lot of body fat. The weight is less important to me than body fat % which I’d like to get to 17-19%
Good going! I need to get more active and burn more. I need to start harvesting more of this mass I've cultivated.