is 700 calories per day any good?

What are you intending to achieve with such a restriction? Think we need some more info please.

I don't know much about about the body, but can it get what it needs nutritionally speaking from just 700 calories? I suspect that the body would use up fat and muscle tissue very quickly which is not healthy.

I think I read somewhere that a 2 year old needs 1000 calories a day to meet its nutritional needs. That gives you some idea of the scale of the problem.

Seek medical advice is my advice.

Charlottee said:

hello!
what is the minimum of calories a man 110kg 5'10 can eat?
is 700 calories too low?
what will be the consequencies?
I am worried
thanks!

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To deal with these points in order:
1. The minimum calories that CAN be consumed is zero - i.e. fasting.
2. Too low for what? If you're talking about sustainability then yes - you can't do it for ever. But if it's weight loss/reduction in visceral fat you're after - then no, it's wearable for a few weeks. Don't forget that the Newcastle Diet (ND) is 600 calories/day for 8 weeks.
3. The lucky dieter will lose weight.
4. The dieter MAY show signs of T2 reversal or symptom mitigation.

There's plenty to research on the ND Here for example. But not necessarily a case for worry or concern.

Hope this helps

Charlottee said:

didn't know what, very interesting, thanks!
so I won't lose muscle? I train with heavy weights twice per week

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YOu will almost certainly lose muscle, as well as fat, on 700 calories per day. It will be pretty tough training with heavy weights on such a low calorific intake.

If you pop the numbers into Jenny Ruhl's diet calculator, it goes on to explain why a sub-1000 calorie diet is not advised: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/DietMakeupCalc.php

Look, you're probably just trying to get the weight loss done, which is an understandable and healthy attitude when working towards a goal when overweight or obese. Sub-1000 calories would certainly work, in my opinion it's good to diet aggressively if you have a lot of fat to lose, but it isn't good for a diet to be so extreme that you end up risking your capacity to lose fat or sustain weight loss in the longer term, which is ultimately the point you're trying to get to, right?

The problem with calorie counting is it can be easy to underestimate what is actually consumed i.e. the cooking sauces, the ones you forgot you ate, the cheat day food, the days where you just didn't count etc. so I'd emphasise that the numbers have to be *accurate* for what I'm saying to be valid here.

When I've lost fat, I haven't bothered to count calories. I just ate sensibly on a low carb diet, which resulted in calorie deficit.

Charlottee said:

hello!
what is the minimum of calories a man 110kg 5'10 can eat?
is 700 calories too low?
what will be the consequencies?
I am worried
thanks!

Click to expand...

Hey @Charlottee
In my opinion 700 calories is absurdly low. Just to give you an e.g. I am 6'2 and 216 lbs fully capable of eating 3000 calories a day and maintain on that while I can comfortably loose weight at 2500-2600 calories. Now if I'm exercising and drop to lower than 2500 calories I feel the symptoms of low energy (may range from person to person) and my quality of life drops. What I am getting at is that you can eat a far greater amount of calories, feel better, and still get results in a timely fashion.

Like @tim2000s said, you will certainly loose muscle and on my own note you increase risk of injury. If you lift heavy weights you definitely aren't giving your body much fuel and energy to repair the much needed tissues and muscles of your body.

Charlottee said:

hello!
what is the minimum of calories a man 110kg 5'10 can eat?
is 700 calories too low?
what will be the consequencies?
I am worried
thanks!

Click to expand...

It depends on whether you are type 1 or type 2.

The consequences for me, as a type 2, was that I lost about 25kg overall, by dieting, including the Newcastle diet, reversed my diabetes, and eat a fairly normal healthy diet.
Training tends to stop the muscle loss, and increases the fat loss for me.

In my option you should think very carefully before ever eating less than your BMR . Your TDEE for a day would be your BMR plus the energy expended during and physical activities. If you eat less than BMR your body will simple slow down your metabolism and you don't really want to do this long term. I've lost nearly 40kg this year by being in deficit of between 1000-500 calories as I prefer a life style diet I can simple adjust from cut , bulk and maintain to get the correct body composition. The difficulties are working out accurate physical activities as these Fitbit type devices are not accurate and give major over estimates.

Once you know your BMR, you can calculate your TDEE by multiplying it as follows
By 1.2 if you exercise 1 to 3hrs per week
By 1.35 if you exercise 4 to 6hrs per week or
By 1.5 if you exercise vigorously for 6 or more hours per week

The resulting number will be fairly accurate measurement of the total energy your body burns every day, well it worked for me at least. Assume everybody is different so may need adjusting, to find your own sweet spot.

Simple add/subtracted 100 calories per day for whole week before any further changes or increase/decrease physical activities and see how it effects your weight.

I've lost very little muscle in this process following above, but it does take time.

If you want to loose weight simple make your calorie intake 20-25% less than your TDEE and remain in deficit until happy with result.

I was 144.9kg until recently . I lost 20kg in the gym 6 nights per week and with an intake of approximately 2400kcal per day. I then looked into the Newcastle diet and now I'm on week 6 of that. This is 800 kcal per day, on day one I was 127kg now 115kg. I was able to deadlift and squat 140kg for 10 sets of 10 and bench press 95kg for similar . At the moment I'm down to 130 for deadlift and squat and 80 for bench press. I can actually see some muscles now though and I'm off metformin for now.

I think the general point is that you can't expect to retain peak performance on a starvation diet.

However if your main aim is to lose visceral fat fast, and to improve BG control, then a starvation diet in the short term could be far more effective than a more managed weight loss by a small reduction in calorie intake.

Maintaining an exercise regime should minimise the amount of muscle lost and maximise the amount of fat burned.

If you go Low Carb High Fat [LCHF] then with luck you should maintain your energy levels. This involves switching from burning glucose to burning ketones (from fats) for most of your energy. You must go really low carb, though.

There is allegedly a zone when you go lower carb and higher fat where your body is still relying on carbs but not getting enough and you generally feel dreadful. You have to go all the way and switch your metabolism over to get the real benefits. 700 kcals per day should push you well into nutritional ketosis as long as it isn't 100% carbs.

I weigh 91kg - 6' tall desperate to reduce my blood glucose to avoid medication can survive on 700 calories a day any suggestions to reduce my weight by 15 lbs. Help please

Michael4450 said:

I weigh 91kg - 6' tall desperate to reduce my blood glucose to avoid medication can survive on 700 calories a day any suggestions to reduce my weight by 15 lbs. Help please

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If you are looking to reduce your blood sugar quickly then cut all carbohydrates from your diet (or at least try to).

Michael4450 said:

I weigh 91kg - 6' tall desperate to reduce my blood glucose to avoid medication can survive on 700 calories a day any suggestions to reduce my weight by 15 lbs. Help please

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Very low calorie diets may well help you lose weight, it is what they are intended for. However, they are unsustainable in the long run and after a period of time (say 6 or 8 weeks) you will have to increase these calories. It is how you do that which is important. Adding back calories = adding back weight.

Before you consider such a diet, I suggest you try a low carb diet. This will certainly reduce blood glucose levels (no doubt about that) and as a bonus, your weight should also reduce. By low carb I mean around 50g carbs daily, or less. In order to replace the energy lost from low carb eating, you need to increase your fats by ditching any low fat products in favour of the real thing. The fewer carbs you eat, the more fat you need to maintain a healthy balance whilst keeping proteins to a normal level for you.

However, you haven't stated what diabetes meds you take. If you use insulin or one of the insulin-promoting drugs, you have to test very regularly to make sure you don't go too low, and discuss all this with your medics.

Cutting out carbs should reduce both bs and weight.

I eat about 1000 cals a day. Very low carb. I make sure all my food is high quality and nutrient rich. I also make sure to get the right amount of protein and then fill the rest in with healthy natural fats. Avocado is very healthy and keeps the hungries away. A few above ground veggies and some nuts. No processed foods or frankenfoods.
If you're going low cal choose quality over quantity. Make each bite count. Personally I don't count cals. I count carbs and protein and eat just enough fat to satisfy. In the absense of carbs, fat does not make us fat. However fat + carbs = body fat.

Charlottee said:

hello!
what is the minimum of calories a man 110kg 5'10 can eat?
is 700 calories too low?
what will be the consequencies?
I am worried
thanks!

Click to expand...

Michael Mosely who devised the low carb diet suggests 800calories per day, but only for 8 weeks, then he has devised a 2 day fasting per week. Works a treat, I lost 3.5stone, and my BG dropped dramaticaly, I feel great.

Your calorie intake depends on your personal level of physical activity, your metabolic rate and your BMI

Your GP will be well placed to give you a recommended guideline.

Trebor2516 said:

Michael Mosely who devised the low carb diet suggests 800calories per day, but only for 8 weeks, then he has devised a 2 day fasting per week. Works a treat, I lost 3.5stone, and my BG dropped dramaticaly, I feel great.

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Hi sorry but Michael Moseley in no way devised the low carb diet. His 8 week blood sugar diet isn't especially low carb anyway and is based on the work of Professor Roy Taylor at Newcastle University and his diet is a very long way from being Low Carb.

Why not just eat low carb and lower your blood glucose levels?
It has worked so well for me and been so easy - why put yourself through the stress of eating low calorie when low carb is just so laid back a way of eating?