Friends and Low Cal Dieting?

Question

I have a couple of friends that are doing a low cal diet (1000calorie a day). We've been going to calorieking.com to get a good estimate of the calories we eat. This has made me very aware of what I'm eating. But now all the things I thought were healthy don't seem to be good for this diet. What are things I can eat for meals and snacks that will keep me at least close to the goal?

Answer 1

That's just another dangerous fad diet. My advice: Get off of it.

The basic rule in fat loss is to consume less calories than you use. This doesn't mean that you have to do something radical like eat 1000 calories a day. It just means that you have to adopt an active lifestyle and eat healthy. 1000 calories isn't healthy and I know that there is no way that you can have an active lifestyle on 1000 calories.

Answer 2

eating under 1200cal/day (which is how much body needs if its in coma) causes water weight and muscle loss not in fat loss and also slows down metabolism and as soon as your body gets used to this low amount of calories or you start eating normal you will gain back more.
to lose weight you have to make permanent lifestyle changes
find daily calorie intake calculator on the net, enter all your stats and it will tell you how many calories you need a day to maintain, take off 300-400cal off that number and thats how much you need to lose.
eat 5-6 small meals a day (eat every 2-3 hours - it optimizes your metabolism)
5-8 servings of fruit and veggies a day
8 glasses of water
have complex carbs for breakfast - they give you energy
have protein (lean meat, legumes etc) for dinner - repairs muscle
cardio exercise 4-6 times a week for 30-50min (ideally 45min because the first 20-30min body burns carbs and only then starts burning fat), light weight training (more muscle=faster metabolism)
dont consume foods that are made of white flour (white bread, cakes, pasta etc.), sugar loaded foods (cookies, icecream, candy etc) and nothing fried, oily.
ofcourse you can spoil yourself once in a while with a little treat:)