vlcd no weight loss in second week!

[lemon_elmo]

hi everyone just joined the site today after reading the forums for the last couple of days. very good site and the people on it have some good advice so thought I would get registered and put some input into it myself. starting with a question!

been on a 600 calorie diet since the 1st june and from then until the 8th i lost 8lbs and was pretty pleased. but since then...3 days have passed and ive not lost even a pound :sigh:

i dont know what to do. my plan is the stick at this diet and hope its just a hiccup and water retention or something but im getting scared by stories Ive read saying if you eat too little you ownt lose weight cause of "starvation mode"

but in all honestly im very overweight (256lb) and thought 600 calories is more than enough for a kickstart diet. I exercise for between 30 mins and 60 mins every day at speed 3.5 on the treadmill so really thought I would be getting results.

I just want your guys advice on whever this is just a weight loss plateu that I will overcome in a couple of days or if I need to drastically change my calorie intake which is something I really dont want to do.

any comments would be much appreciated cause im feeling really disheartnened right now as I was expecting much better results.

thanks!!

xxx

 

[lemon_elmo]

please anyone got any ideas?

 

[flumpy]

Hi lemon_elmo! Well it could be either because you've toned up at the gym and muscle weighs more than fat and if you measure yourself you'll see you've lost inches instead of pounds. If not then 3 days isnt very long and we do get told not to weigh ourselves every day as weight can fluctuate so after a week you prob will have lost something.

Are you having at least 2 litres of water to prevent water retention? x

 

[lemon_elmo]

hi thanx for your input. yeah i have about half a litre every hour.thnx for ur advice about not weighing every day. each night i tell myself i will not weigh myself in the morning but I just cant help myself. i think ill weigh myself tomorrow morning and if no loss think ill leave it until monday cause its getting really disheartening seeing the scale not move and even GAIN one pound a couple of days ago which has now been lost! phew! one a lighter note im feeling much healthier and i know it sounds odd after only 8lbs weight loss im feeling much thinner so fingers crossed what your saying is correct! if my the time i reach the end of my third week and i STILL havent changed then i know theres some drastic changes to be made in my diet. until then i think im best to just stick this 600 calorie malarky out and give it a chance to prove itself x

 

[KD]

Hi lemon.

I hate to tell you this, but 600 calories is no where near enough unless you are a formulated vlcd diet

I know it's tempting, but in the long run it'll give you much more trouble than you'd like.

And by the way, the muscle weighing more that fat saying wont apply to you anyway as you will be losing muscle, not gaining it.

Please rethink your diet

 

[lemon_elmo]

hi kd. thanks for your help it was very insightful. after considering what youve said my thoughts are...

do you think having only 600 calories a day is hindering my weight loss? cause i would feel so bad if i up it to say 800 or 1000 but some people seem to be saying that sometimes having more means faster weight loss (obviously not like 3000 calories a day) but as i said somewhere in the region or 900?

im thinking if you tell me that would be more suitable then ill give this 600 another week or so then up it. obviously i realised ill put a bit of weight on at first upping it(i presume anyway).

 

[lemon_elmo]

oh and VERY well done KD with your weight loss and maintenance. makes me want to listen to you! x

 

[KD]

do you think having only 600 calories a day is hindering my weight loss?

Not immediately, but there will come a point when it will might. More importantly, you will be losing too much muscle and be short of nutrients. Guess you'd like to be slim and healthy, no slim and half dead

cause i would feel so bad if i up it to say 800 or 1000 but some people seem to be saying that sometimes having more means faster weight loss

Yes, it can work that way, especially if you had even more than that. The good thing with starting off higher, is that it'll be easier to do long term, and you'll have some flexibility if you plateau. You can reduce your cals.

Starting off so low given you no options.

(obviously not like 3000 calories a day) but as i said somewhere in the region or 900?

Should be more than 900 if possible.

im thinking if you tell me that would be more suitable then ill give this 600 another week or so then up it. obviously i realised ill put a bit of weight on at first upping it(i presume anyway).

Yes, you may well put on a little, but it's unlikely to be fat. Your metabolism wouldn't have reduced enough yet.

If you want to do a VLCD, then you need to be looking at a proper formulated one that's controlled and proven to be safe. There's a few around. Lipotrim, lighterlife, Cambridge etc.

If you want to calorie control, you need more cals.

oh and VERY well done KD with your weight loss and maintenance. makes me want to listen to you! x

Thankyou very much.

I hope you find a way that keeps you safe and that you can keep up and lose consistently with.

Take care hun

 

[Braveheart]

It's three days, you won't be loosing anything in a short period of time, rather things happen over a longer period of time. Such as getting fat, it doesn't happen over night does it! You cannot expect it to come off any quicker.


You have to listen to these stories, because they are true. Low calorie diets are very dodgy and half the time are a waste of time. Let me tell you why:

1. You will want to eat more when you finish because you've been depriving your body of the food it NEEDS. Thus there's a risk of putting everything back on you just lost.

2. Your body NEEDS food and water to work, then and only then will it go to using fat as fuel. But if it does not get what it needs to even function properly, it will store EVERYTHING you eat as fat as a backup source of calorie rich fuel in case of a total blackout of food.

Up your calories to what you need, then subtract 500. You should NOT be eating any less than 1000 of your daily needs. I'd need your age and height to fully calculate this however.


Again with the exercise, your body will not use the stored energy for fuel until it is getting a steady supply of food throughout the day.


Don't be so expecting! That's the first step to disappointment, instead, be determined and focused. Your change in weight shouldn't be the main drive in this venture, your goals and reasons SHOULD. Start with being a lot healthier, feeling better and looking better!

 

[KD]

It's three days, you won't be loosing anything in a short period of time,

Actually that isn't true, though doing a DIY vlcd isn't safe, on 600 calories, you wouldn't stop losing weight.

Low calorie diets are very dodgy and half the time are a waste of time

Umm, well everyone who wants to lose weight needs to restrict their calories in some way, so can't really say that low calorie diets are dodgy. Or do you mean very low calorie diets?

 

[lemon_elmo]

thanks for both your comments. im listening to what you say and what your saying is making me think i might change my diet tomorrow cause the health aspect is quite worrying. as for my age ive just turned 20 and im 5 foot 5. but yes i didnt get fat overnight so why should i expect to lose it overnight too!! going to have a very good think about this tonight.

 

[Braveheart]

Actually that isn't true, though doing a DIY vlcd isn't safe, on 600 calories, you wouldn't stop losing weight.




Umm, well everyone who wants to lose weight needs to restrict their calories in some way, so can't really say that low calorie diets are dodgy. Or do you mean very low calorie diets?

Given this example, she's already lost weight and her metabolism has adapted (or will soon enough) in order to stop it because it's dangerous!

And yes, I mean very low calorie diets. Of course you need to lower your caloric in-take to loose weight, but I don't agree with people willy-nilly taking up these VLCD. Only someone with a lot of experience or under good guidance should ever follow one.

 

[KD]

Given this example, she's already lost weight and her metabolism has adapted (or will soon enough) in order to stop it because it's dangerous!

That's incorrect (not that I'm advocating lemons diet . The metabolism would have slowed a tiny bit, due to the smaller size (just a bit). There then would be the adaptive component that would reduce it even further.

the maximum the two components will reduce is 40% and that is that most ever recorded and on a person with less than 5% bodyfat.

Otherwise 600 will never be too low not to lose weight on.

Having said that, in many cases reducing to 600 cals can be unsafe in many ways, but the weight will still come off.

I don't agree with people willy-nilly taking up these VLCD. Only someone with a lot of experience or under good guidance should ever follow one.

Agree with that

 

[KD]

thanks for both your comments. im listening to what you say and what your saying is making me think i might change my diet tomorrow cause the health aspect is quite worrying. as for my age ive just turned 20 and im 5 foot 5. but yes i didnt get fat overnight so why should i expect to lose it overnight too!! going to have a very good think about this tonight.

Excellent. The advice from braveheart about reducing by 500 cals (rather than to 500) is good (even if I don't agree with other things said)

 

[Braveheart]

Otherwise 600 will never be too low not to lose weight on.

You are right, but you're being vague. You will loose mostly muscle and bone mass on 600 calories a day, fat will be the last thing you'll loose. And there are several health risks.

Not only that, keeping that up for a prolonged amount of time will cause you to store more fat when you return to your normal eating habits.

The bottom line is, unless it's a proven VLCD program, do NOT follow it for your own good.

 

[KD]

You are right, but you're being vague. You will loose mostly muscle and bone mass on 600 calories a day, fat will be the last thing you'll loose.

Not for a while she wont. It'll be fat with some lean mass, then gradually less fat, more lean. She will keep losing weight. As for me being vague. I don't believe I am. I think I've been very clear with my answers

The bottom line is, unless it's a proven VLCD program, do NOT follow it for your own good.

Yep, which lemon has already appeared to understand and will hopefully adapt her diet accordingly :clap:

 

[Chuffy_29]

Lemon restricting calories yourself to a very low level is not going to be good for you. Your body needs certain vitamins and minerals to function properly. The packaged VLCD products contain the nutrients you need, at a very low level of calories. Even then some recommend taking a vitamin. There is no quick fix, when i lost 4 stone on a VLCD i thought i had cracked it, how wrong. i was the same age as you and didn't realise that i looked good and needed to put in as much work to maintain as i did to lose! I put all the weight and more ack on over a period of time. I am now old enough (unfortunately) to know what went wrong, and whilst i have decided to go for a slower weight loss i have a different "head" on now. I want to lose the weight and be slim and i know this means i will have to think about what i eat the rest of my life, but i no longer feel guilty if i say i'm having a pudding and then eat just that pudding..that's what a normal person does...and that's what i want to do too. if you think a VLCD will help you go for one of the known brands and then see how it goes, and remember eating is something you'll have to do forever so small changes will help you to get it right. Good luck whatever you choose to do

 

[Braveheart]

Not for a while she wont. It'll be fat with some lean mass, then gradually less fat, more lean. She will keep losing weight. As for me being vague. I don't believe I am. I think I've been very clear with my answers

You are being clear dear! I just meant vague on saying "you'll loose weight". Because weight can mean fat or muscle. Or even water or bone mass!

You're right she will loose fat in the beginning, and it can happen quite fast and you're right it will slow down due to metabolic adaptation.

Generally on the subject of VLCD's:

It's not a good approach because simply you'll hit a brick wall with fat loss and you're more likely to regain all the weight again (think of the body rebuilding itself when you start eating normally again) and again it has health risks. You'll only end up with less muscle mass and still quite a high level of fat. So you WILL have lost weight, but I've yet to find an average person who wants to loose muscle and not fat!


That's why I dislike VLCD's and wouldn't recommend them to anyone unless with proper guidance (from a doctor). It's much easier to lower your body fat percentage and keep it off with other programs.

Being into muscle building I often have to switch to a fat burning phase - which I'm on in at the moment - (often called "cutting" in the bodybuilding world) and I have and continue to burn fat without a drastic cut to my caloric in-take.

 

[KD]

You are being clear dear! I just meant vague on saying "you'll loose weight". Because weight can mean fat or muscle. Or even water or bone mass!

Glad you agree I was being clear :clap: I referred to it as losing 'weight' because that is the term you used. I mentioned loss of lean mass.

Generally on the subject of VLCD's:

It's not a good approach because simply you'll hit a brick wall with fat loss and you're more likely to regain all the weight again

Depends on what VLCD. I have no intention of gaining the weight back even though I lost 8 stone with a VLCD. My body fat is good for my age, my muscle mass aint bad either.

I can't comment on lemons way of losing as I'm not sure of the exact macro nutrients that she is eating, her age, her dieting history, so have no idea of her leptin levels etc.

So you WILL have lost weight, but I've yet to find an average person who wants to loose muscle and not fat!

I think we all know this BH

Being into muscle building I often have to switch to a fat burning phase - which I'm on in at the moment - (often called "cutting" in the bodybuilding world) and I have and continue to burn fat without a drastic cut to my caloric in-take.

Yes, I'm aware of the term cutting and what it entails. I'm glad you've found a way that suits you.

But anyway, I'm not sure whether your last message is directed at lemon or me. We both agree that DIY VLCDs aren't generally a good way to go. That was agreed much earlier in the thread. I was just mentioning that her metabolism wouldn't slow enough to stop weight loss (actually...not even fat loss), which you indicated would happen.

 

[flumpy]

Oh sorry I thought you meant you were on a meal replacement plan, didnt know you were just cutting your calories down.