Starvation Diet

I know a lot of the way I think was heavily influenced by Mrs. So and So. One of the things she did regularly was try to lose weight. She would try any fad diet she heard about. One time, she tried the lettuce diet. All you eat is lettuce.

As a result, the only diet I ever considered was a sensible one and I've never tried to eat less than 1800 calories a day.

A new acquaintance told me recently she'd lost 40 pounds by eating nothing but Lean Cuisine. The story she told me originally was that she did this for one year, lost 40 pounds and learned "portion control". Yesterday she told a group of us that she was "starting on her diet plan" again. She told us that she ate nothing but Lean Cuisine and 40 pounds dropped off in two months, she learned portion control and her body would no longer allow her to eat too much food and she was able to begin cooking her own food and eating small portions. She intends to lose another 20 pounds by Christmas. This is in part due to the fact that she has regained 5 pounds that she lost. I was quiet as usual, but the other women were curious about her plan. She also told us she walked on her treadmill for 40 minutes the night before. Her choice of exercise and she hasn't used her treadmill in some time.

Her plan is to eat 3 Lean Cuisines each day, plus one handful of almonds. She says the almonds help your metabolism in some way.

This woman strikes me as intelligent. She is a hard worker and conscientious. But she's embarking on a starvation diet.

Most Lean Cuisines contain 200 to 300 calories, with a minimum of 140 and maximum of 400. One handful of almonds, approximately 1 ounce or 23 kernels, contains 160 calories. Even if she managed to eat only the LCs which contain 400 calories, three of those plus the almonds equals 1360 calories.

The University of Michigan's website had this to say about low calorie diets:

It is harmful to reduce your daily calorie intake lower than 1400 calories per day. If you reduce your calorie intake too much, your body adjusts to a semi-starvation state and looks for alternative sources of energy. In this case, in addition to burning fat, your body will eventually burn muscle tissue. Since your heart is a muscle, prolonged starvation will weaken it and interfere with its normal rhythms. Extreme low-calorie diets lack protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals. Without these nutrients your body cannot function normally. Extreme low-calorie diets are not recommended.

Since most LCs contain between 200 and 300 calories, it is more likely she's going to be getting 600 to 900 calories each day, plus the almonds. Some days, she will be ingesting less than 1000 calories.

Two of the other women she was talking to were diabetics. Both obese. Both wish they could lose weight. Both made comments indicating they could get on board with this "diet".

I estimate the dieting lady to weigh 160 pounds. Losing down to 140 is not unreasonable. It's not like she's 125 trying to get down to a size 0 and weigh 105 pounds. However, she does not look overweight by any stretch of the imagination. She looks healthy and beautiful.

Each person's body expends a specific number of calories in a given day, based on the exercise level which is called the Basal Metabolic Rate. According to this BMR calculator, my acquaintance's body burns 1468 calories each day. I'm basing this on her age (41), my estimation of her weight (160) and height (5'6"). She needs to eat at minimum this number of calories (1468) to sustain her body. This is what her body needs at complete rest while awake, not counting any other activity. An estimation of her daily activities, calculated at Calories Burned comes to 682.

I based this on these activities:
Activity Calories burned
3 minutes to Brush teeth 9
10 minutes of Cooking (how long can it take to nuke a Lean Cuisine?) 33
30 minutes of Reading 40
20 minutes Washing dishes 56
30 minutes of Driving 79
60 minutes Talking on phone 79
30 minutes of Housework 109
40 minutes Walking 2 mph 139
60 minutes Studying 139

So 1468 just to keep the ol' body going, plus a minimum of an additional 682 calories. 1468 plus 682 comes to 2150 calories.

If she eats three of the highest caloric Lean Cuisines, she's getting 1200 calories, plus the almonds, 160, bringing her to a total of 1360 calories each day. Since most of the LCs are 200-300, she's more likely to ingest 760 to 1060 calories each day.

It is said that in order to lose one pound each week, you have to take in 3500 calories less per week. 500 calories less each day. This is less than you normally take in. Meaning if you normally eat 2500 calories a day, a reduction in calories of 500 per day should result in 1 pound each week. However, our bodies aren't machines. There are many other factors that determine weight loss. Genetics for one thing.

My acquaintance plans to lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks. That's more than 2 pounds each week. Going about it in the way she is will probably result in the desired weight loss. But is she doing her body a service by starving it? Is she losing muscle? Which could include muscle to her heart, the muscle which pumps blood through her body and keeps her alive?

I wish her luck, in more ways than one.

Until next time.