500 calories a day?

Question

apparently you can lose 20 pounds in a month..no excerise!!
is this possible?

Answer 1

I've lost 20 pounds in two weeks. First I gained about 10lbs in four days by constantly stuffing myself. Then I ate about 1000-1500 Calories a day while walking about 10 miles each day carrying close to 100lbs, sleeping about 2 hrs a night. After 10 days of all that walking and starving I had lost about 20 pounds. I know a lot of guys who lost 30-40 pounds in two months.

However, you are probably a high school girl and not capable of this yet. Therefore do not do what I have.

Answer 2

Well, assuming your body needs the average 2000 calories a day, subsisting on 500 is a cut of 1500 per day, or 45,000 calories in a month. And there are 3500 calories in a pound. 45,000 divided by 3500 = 12.86 lbs in said month.

Theoretically.

In truth, you'll lose water weight first. Then muscle. Fat will remain as the body's last defense to survive because on 500 calories a day it'll think it needs to hang on to every last fat cell.

I've had 3 eating disorders and as appealing as it sounds, don't tempt fate with a 500 calorie diet. First off, if you're not predisposed to an eating disorder, you'll likely find 500 calories far too little food and give up. And all that'll do is make you feel bad about yourself. And if you are predisposed to an eating disorder, it could *very* well take root in this experiment.

I would never, ever wish it on anyone, and strongly isn't a powerful enough word to say I don't recommend cutting back to 500 calories a day.

If you want to lose weight, your body would be significantly better served to do it more healthfully with around 1500 calories a day (the opposite math, if you'll notice) which, by calories skipped alone will result in a pound a week. And I know, trust me I know, that that doesn't sound like much. But your body will thank you for losing it slower. The slower you lose it, the more long-lasting the loss will be.

Drink a whole lot of water. Strange as it sounds, it will help you flush out any retained water which will also help with some extra weight. Funny how the body works, huh?

Just take care of yourself and resist the urge to go so low on your calorie intake. A lot of people cannot handle this low a number in daily life. Fainting, dizziness, headaches, nausea, a confused internal temperature regulatory system and hypoglycemia are just a few of the things that could go wrong.

Answer 3

Probably not.

The reccomendation is no less than 1200 calories a day, sometimes more if you are over a certain weight. Reason for that is, anything less and your body will go into starvation mode. Basically, our bodies are programmed so that when there's not enough food they have a way to save EVERY calorie you eat, to keep you from starving to death. They use less calories than normal, and everything you eat gets turned into fat.

The trick you need to do is to figure out what number of calories you can cut out, without going into starvation mode. 1200 calories (minimum) a day is a good rule of thumb.

Spread these calories out over 3 small meals and 3 snacks a day, make sure to eat veggies, protein, and carbs (good carbs, whole grains etc), and you'll loose about 1-2 lbs a week. That's 8 lbs a month, which while it doesn't SOUND as good as 20, is MUCH better because you'll be able to keep it off, stick to your diet, and you won't feel as tired while you do it.

OH, and keep in mind, if you eat 1200 calories a day, but you exercise enough to where you BURN 1200 calories in exercise, then your body will STILL go into starvation mode. The 1200 calories is AFTER you subtract the calories you burn from exercise.

For instance - you eat 2000 calories a day, BUT you exercise and burn 800 calories a day. That means your net calories a day are 1200, which is perfect.

Hope that answers your question.

Answer 4

A 500 calorie diet is possible, but has a lot of bad side effects, such as muscle loss and tooth and bone mass reduction. You will also have to take a lot of supplements with will cause you to have stomach problems because you will not be able to eat enough foods. In the end you can lose the weight but it is really unhealthy.

A better diet would be to try a 1500 calorie diet every other week. With exercise on the off weeks. You will lose a good amount of weight (depending on your body type) and it will not lead to bad health later.

Answer 5

Limiting your calories to 500 a day would be starving yourself. You might loose weight this way, but it is not healthy and probably would not be permanent because once you started eating real food again your body would hold on to any nutrients it got and just gain weight again.
If you are so anxious to loose weight, why not do it healthily? Exercise and eat a balanced diet and those pounds will come off. If you do that you might loose 2 pounds a week, and which is a much healthier way to go about it.

Answer 6

What's the point of losing weight with no exercise, you'll just be a skinny sack of much instead of a chubby one. Just eat three healthy meals a day, thrown in a couple snacks and get yourself some exercise. You don't even have to go to a gym, just go take your dog for a walk, or jog around the block (or the local high school track) a few times, ride a bike to work, I mean, there are much healthier options than starving yourself.

Answer 7

It's possible...if you don't move! LOL!!

How much you lose depends on how much you eat *and* exercise.

For me, I ate 1200 calories and walked a mile or two a day, and I lost 1-2 pounds a week, for a total of 40 pounds. 2 years later, I've still kept the weight off.

Answer 8

Yeah. I am on the weight watchers diet and lose several pounds a week. it doesn't involve excerise just eating sensible and keeping track of what you eat. Eating only 500 calories a day isn't healthy for your vody. Be extra careful what you put in your mouth and eat lots of fruits and veggies.

Answer 9

Probably pretty close. basal metabolism is about 2000 calories, and there are 4000 calories/ pound of fat. Some of what you loose is water though. Hard to get proper nutrition (or fiber) in a 500 calorie diet. In an emergency, it probably would work, but get the help of someone with experience. (not a doctor, of course)

Answer 10

Knew a guy once that drank a six pack of beer and took three "one a day" vitamins - but, I guess that would be MORE than 500 calories.......

Just drink a LOT of water between meals - at LEAST 5 eight ounce glasses of cold water a day PLUS 8 ounces MORE for every 25 pounds that you over weight. It can''t be soda or coffee or tea - WATER. The cold water lowers your body temperature so the body has to "burn" more to get your temperature BACK to 98.6!

Not a very wise choice!