is 700 calories per day any good?

[L'Cham]

Sorry to gatecrash someone else's thread but having just signed up I don't want to create a new one when there are so many others talking about VLCDs. I've been DietNow shakes for just over a week now and I've lost over 6kg (almost a stone). Problem is my late morning glucose checks are frequently coming out lower than 4 mmol/L but I'm not getting any hypo symptoms. Anyone else experienced this?

 

[Resurgam]

Without knowing what medication you are on it is difficult to conjecture about what is going on.
If you aren't taking anything to reduce your glucose levels artificially then low glucose is probably due to your VLCD clashing with your rather problematic metabolism.
How long do you intend to go on losing at that rate?
Does your doctor know you are doing this to yourself?

 

[L'Cham]

I was on Metformin and Sitagliptin. But I stopped taking both at the start of the diet.

I don't have any intention of staying on this diet for longer than 12 weeks at the most. I'm aiming on losing 2 and a half to 3 stone to get my BMI back to 'overweight' instead of 'obese' and then I'm going to gradually increase my carb and calorie to a 'healthy' level.

Tried getting a Dr's appointment before starting this but couldn't get anything until the end of this month and to be honest every check up I have I get patted on the head and told my HbA1c is 'that of a non-diabetic' despite the constant month on month increase in my weight. When I speak to the dietitian about hypos they just advise eating more carbs which is contributing to the weight gain.

I know there's a lot of talk on here about the clinical trials held in the North-East and I've been through the supporting papers multiple times. I'm checking my blood pressure, heart rate, ketone level, and weight on a daily basis. I drink 3-4lts of water a day and I check my glucose level about 5 times a day. There's not much else a Dr could be telling me bar a HbA1c result or liver/kidney function. Oh, and I had my gallbladder out last year so there's no chance of gallstones.

 

[Resurgam]

I had the ongoing effects of Metformin for some time after stopping taking it - about a month, so there could be some residual symptoms. I know there are huge time lags when working with the NHS and you do seem to be monitoring yourself as well as you can.

I've gone under 5 mmol/l just doing low carb, so it isn't unusual to go low when insulin resistance drops.

 

[L'Cham]

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!

Oh and to add something to the answers given to the opening post. The DietNow shakes provide less than 600 calories a day and stress that you should only have very light exercise. You will lose muscle as well as fat unfortunately if you don't train and if you do train you'll struggle to recover and have enough energy to get through the day.

 

[Resurgam]

one reason I do low carb with few restrictions is that it maintains my muscle mass without much effort. What weight I lose is fat or water.

 

[Freema]

If it is only for the 8 week of the NewCasttle diet I Think 700 calories are okay , if not ill in many other ways

 

[jd58]

Waist of time counting calories as they do not mean a thing to the body. Only eat when hungry and eat until not hungry. I have a bulletproof coffee for breakfast , one black coffee for morning break, one black coffee for lunch and then a main meal in the evening. LCHF does not count calories.

 

[JRTwalker]

Waist of time counting calories as they do not mean a thing to the body. Only eat when hungry and eat until not hungry. I have a bulletproof coffee for breakfast , one black coffee for morning break, one black coffee for lunch and then a main meal in the evening. LCHF does not count calories.

I'm on a steep learning curve here jd58.
Surely LCHF diet can contain more calorific energy that a person burns in a day so therefore weight may increase rather than result in a loss. Correct?
If I need & consume X and I burn X+Y that leads to weight loss irrespective of the sugar/carb content?
I must admit that I struggle to find what X might be for me if I wasn't to exercise especially and even on a low carb, low cal regime I'm sometimes surprised that weight hasn't decreased by very much?

 

[Erin]

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.

Yes, I think 700 calories per day is very low. Mind you a person can tolerate that but on the other hand the risk is hypoglycemia. I think the average low is 1300-1500.

 

[douglas99]

It depends on your goal.
I did the newcastle Diet, 800 calories a day, for 8 weeks, to reverse my diabetes.
No problem at all for 8 weeks, and now I can eat pretty much anything, so long as I watch my weight.