Should i be worried?

Question

My coworker is worrying me. She is 62, 5-3, 119 lbs. She is desperately trying to lose weight, supposedly she has never been thist heavy. She wants to go down to 105lbs. What's worse, she started this low-carb to almost no-carb diet. She tries to exercise daily (moderately), but only eats 350 calories?? That's crazy. I tried to tell her she'll get sick, because her BMR is much higher than that. I said to her she doesn't need to burn all the calories she eats, duh, but she says it's the only way she'll lose wait. That it worked for her before... Makes no sense to me. I warned her. She said it's only temporary. Is it possible?

Answer 1

According to one calculator (http://www.24hourfitness.com/html/fitness/fit_calc/rest/) her resting metabolic rate is 1178 calories. That's how many calories she needs to do basic things like breathing, pumping blood, etc. A 350 calorie daily intake is, indeed, absurd.

Answer 2

Don't worry too much just yet. She is 5'3", age 62 and weighs 119 which is okay. The ideal body weight for someone 5'3" is 115 (plus or minus 10%) so she is 4 pounds over the mean. She could weight 103.5 and be perfectly safe (ideal 115 - 10%(11.5 pounds) I know you may think that is crazy because most people are over their ideal body weight but it is normal. Also she is older and older people lose muscle even if they work out everyday. You can maintain some muscle but i am sure she has more body fat than a 20 year old who is 5'3" and 119 pounds (plus or minus 10%). You say she only eats 350 calories a day but if that was the case then she would be losing a pound every 2 days and if she is not losing weight at that rate then she is eating more than that when you are not around I am sure. She may have an eating disorder or eating issues but many females do. If she drops under 105 i would be worried

Answer 3

The basis to losing weight is that you are burning more calories than it takes for your body to maintain whatever current weight you are.

By eating only 350 cal she is ruining her metabolism and sending her body into starvation mode which means it will store fat at a MUCH higher rate than normal. tell her she should be getting no less than 1200 cal a day all from healthy fats, veggies, fruits, whole grain carbs and lean protein. also suggest to her that she should be eating several small meals a day every 2-3 hours. this will ensure that her body is getting constantly fueled and is immediatly putting that fuel to work rather than storing it as fat. bodies typically achieve starvation mode if you've gone without food for more than 3 hours. her weight loss will indeed be only temporary because the normal person (meaning not anorexic or bulemic) can only keep up such a low caloric intake for so long and then they binge and thats where she will gain a ton more weight back.

Answer 4

fad diets are a terrible waste of time at best and possibly dangerous at worst - 350 calories is an absurd amount to exist on and all that will happen is this woman will be weak and undernourished whilst dieting and prone to rapid weight gain once she stops - however, this is a grown woman you're talking about and she probably knows her own mind. unfortunately all you can do is point out your very valid concerns and the evidence for them - then you have to leave it up to her, i'm afraid. you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...

Answer 5

at such a low caloric intake she will lose some water weight and lean body mass.

tell her that she might lose some weight on the scale but her actual body fat will increase essentially making her fatter in the long run..