Very low calorie diets...

I'm at the end of my teather with my weight.  Since I've moved to the UK I've gained about four stone and I can't seem to lose it.   I've been on Reductil, but was taken off as it raised my blood pressure/heart rate.

My friend at work is on a VLCD where she eats drinks shakes and soups and loves it.  The only downside I can see is the cost - 50/week!

So, has anyone ever tried a very low calorie diet?  Any recommendations?

I would say that overall health is the most important, not weight. As long as you exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet, I would not worry about the weight.

Low calorie diets would likely cause more health problems in the long run, IMO. I would suggest going to the GP to discuss your concrens to see if there is anything medically going on that hasn't been accounted for.

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/healthyweight/

Best of luck.

I wouldn't do it, to be honest. It's the equivalent (in terms of physical effects on your body) of starvation, and common sense tells me that's not good. From what I've heard and read, when you don't provide your body with enough fuel to survive, it holds onto what fat it has to conserve energy. Doesn't it also lower your metabolic rate? I admit that I don't know the science behind of this, but my brain tells me it wouldn't be a healthy way to lose weight.

I wouldn't do it, to be honest. It's the equivalent (in terms of physical effects on your body) of starvation, and common sense tells me that's not good. From what I've heard and read, when you don't provide your body with enough fuel to survive, it holds onto what fat it has to conserve energy. Doesn't it also lower your metabolic rate? I admit that I don't know the science behind of this, but my brain tells me it wouldn't be a healthy way to lose weight.

I fully agree with you. When you starve your body, your metabolic rate is slowed down dramatically to conserve what you have and what you do take in. Starving yourself is not a healthy way to lose weight. Not to mention, when you start to eat normally again your body will go nuts and all the weight will come back.

I never see the point in them because unless you plan to eat low cal for the rest of your life, you'll just put it back on.

When I was home in the States last Nov my 4th sister suggested to me that I should try a low calorie diet & some diet pills because that is what she was doing an it was working for her. when I told I didn't want to do either she got kind of snippy with me I told her if I did try it her way as soon as I stopped the weight would just pile back on. so I told my sister I would stick with what I was doing eating a healthy diet & going to the gym 4-5 a times a week. my sister has a maybe 5-10 pounds to lose if that she is a string bean lol I have alot more weight than that to lose lol.       

Forgive me if you've already done this, but I would say that gaining a huge amount of weight in a short period of time requires going to the doctor and insisting on a complete physical exam and complete bloodwork, including thyroid hormone levels.

I agree with what the others have said about the drawbacks of a low calorie diet.

One of the huge drawbacks of a very low calorie diet is that when you are calorie restricting, your body will consume both fat and muscle to survive.  If your dietary intake of protein isn't high enough, this could mean some vital muscles (such as your heart muscle) could be damaged by this diet because it won't have the adequate material to rebuild any damage.  The loss of lean muscle mass compounds the problem of a lowered metabolism, because your base metabolism rate is influenced by your lean body mass.  Lean body mass burns a lot more calories than fat, that is why some very obese people have a lower BMR.  Fat really doesn't take that much to maintain.

I've been on crash low cal diets, and I've had some serious contraindications.  In the very least talk to your GP if you're going to go under 1200-1500 calories.  Talk to your GP anyway, really.

I wish you the best of luck no matter what you try.

Here's some studies on the effects of VLCDs.  I didn't read them through, but I figured you'd want more than a "I was on a crash diet.  I lost a lot of my hair.  I looked like crap. I lost all muscle tone.  I ended up in hospital.  I gained it all back" testimonial.

Instead of focusing on calories, my folks went on a low fat/cholesteral/sodium diet due to Dad's health issues.

When I saw them four months later, mom was down two pants sizes and dad was slimmer than I've ever seen him.

Mom cooks everything *mostly* from scratch and subsitutes ingredients according to low/no status and taste.  Lots of raw or lightly steamed veg.  Portion control, in that you can't eat more than you need.  Everything she makes is tasty and hearty, and you never feel like you've been deprived.

They are as active as they were previously (which is pretty active).  Mom was cooking daily for a few months, which got tiresome for her.  I tried a more 'ready-made' approach a few years back and got good results too.

If you're gonna restrict something, seems like a good way to go.       

 

I do keep track of my caloric intake just to make sure I'm not going too high but also not too low either. When I go below 1200 calories a day, I tend to stop losing weight. It's like my body freaks out and wants to hold on to everything. I also keep track of my fat and protein intake. The website thedailyplate.com has been really great for tracking all of this. I find that I do best at about 1400 to 1500 calories per day but if I go over some one day and under some the next, I don't worry about it. I don't obsess over it, just keep track. I don't try to stick to any particular diet, I just try to eat a balanced diet. I find that if I'm on a diet plan, I'll eventually go off and I'll gain the weight back. I eat everything but just a lot less of it.

So, has anyone ever tried a very low calorie diet?  Any recommendations?

Be careful!!  Five years ago I needed to shed a bit of weight, about 30 pounds, so I started exercising and counting calories.  40 minutes every morning of strenuous walking or exercise bike and writing down EVERYTHING I ate.  And the weight came off...  10lbs, 20lbs, 30lbs.  It was great!  And I started thinking "I wonder how much I can lose if I just keep going.  40 or 50lbs?"  I didn't want to stop. 
I recently found some of my old food journals and there were a lot of days when my total calorie intake was between 400-600 calories.  I was always careful to have some protein, dairy, fruit & veg, starch every day (and LOTS of water) but basically I was starving myself. 
Once I got past the 40lb mark people started getting concerned and commenting that I was too thin.  I'm not sure what caused me to stop, maybe it was the holidays and my favourite time of feasting, but I eventually levelled off at that original 30lb mark, the weight I've been most of my adult life.  Now I just try to be sensible, eat a balanced diet, reasonable portions, drink water, and it still helps to write everything down.  1200 calories is plenty for me.
Good luck!!   

I'd be careful. You need to eat to lose weight and keep your metabolism up.
What worked for me, 90lbs lost, was the Insulin resistance diet, and exercise.Oone of the authors is mary kay grossman. You get to eat, but it shows you a different way in eating. cheap book off of ebay and amazon! good luck xox