I want to lose 20 pounds of fat. I discovered recently, to amazement, that I can feel completely full just 600 calories a day. so I decided I would just consume 600 calories a day, plus weight training to maintain muscles. of course, this would mean I'm consuming very little protein.
Will I be able to maintain muscles if I lift hard each day?
Thank you very much in advance for any advice.
Low Protein + Weights
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: Low Protein + Weights
Maybe, but eating that amount of calories is extremely undesirable.
You could risk anemia from low iron intake, poor immune function from low consumption of things like vit c and zinc and more importantly your intake of things like vit c, magnesium, calcium, vit k2, phosphorus, copper etc, could be low, causing bone thinning, (osteopenia), or even possible osteoperosis.
If your bone got so thin that the impact of cardiovascular activity, or the mild flexing / shearing forces applied to bones through weightlifting, became intolerable to the bones, you could risk fractures to the bone or hairline cracks.
Eating enough protein might spare muscle yes, but 600 calories a day is completely a no-go for me.
Your metabolism would suffer too, owing to you being below your BMR, (Basal Metabolic Rate), the minimum level of calories deemed necessary to keep your metabolism functioning correctly.
I can't tell you how to calculate that, as it's a bit fiddly, but you can use fittracker to do it, or there are internet sites with BMR calculators on, that could help you do that.
Your calories would be better at 3 times what you're consuming, for a whole raft of reasons, including the ones mentioned and carbohydrate consumption regulates blood sugar and stimulates insulin and insulin is responsible for helping to convert around 40% of your protein intake into glycogen and in particular helping to replenish muscle glycogen stores post-exercise.
Don't ask me how that all happens, as I'm not fully compus mentis up enough about it to adequately explain
Your carbohydrate levels from 600 calories a day could be inadequate as well.
You also need to realise that your oxygen intake could be affected, particulary from low carbohydrates, but storage issues could occur from low iron, as iron plus 2 b vits, is used to create Erythrocytes, (red blood cells), that carry oxygen around your body in the haemoglobin and Iron is also used to make myoglobin that stores muscle oxygen.
ATP the phosphate energy that helps muscles flex, is an oxygen carrier, so your diet could possibly be causing substandard oxygen storage and transportation potential to the muscles and the brain, which wouldn't be beneficial for exercise and could increase lactic acid production, (the burn), which results from muscle glycogen being used without oxygen present.
Also iron can be affected depending on how much non-haem from plant matter and haem from animal matter you consume, as differing foods have differing amounts of both and the latter is about 20% absorbable, versus the former which is around 5%-10% absorbable.
Apologies if this is possibly making your brain a little tired, but I needed to really point out the significant physiological risk of weight training, on just 600 calories a day.
Hopefully I've made some sense at least
.
You could risk anemia from low iron intake, poor immune function from low consumption of things like vit c and zinc and more importantly your intake of things like vit c, magnesium, calcium, vit k2, phosphorus, copper etc, could be low, causing bone thinning, (osteopenia), or even possible osteoperosis.
If your bone got so thin that the impact of cardiovascular activity, or the mild flexing / shearing forces applied to bones through weightlifting, became intolerable to the bones, you could risk fractures to the bone or hairline cracks.
Eating enough protein might spare muscle yes, but 600 calories a day is completely a no-go for me.
Your metabolism would suffer too, owing to you being below your BMR, (Basal Metabolic Rate), the minimum level of calories deemed necessary to keep your metabolism functioning correctly.
I can't tell you how to calculate that, as it's a bit fiddly, but you can use fittracker to do it, or there are internet sites with BMR calculators on, that could help you do that.
Your calories would be better at 3 times what you're consuming, for a whole raft of reasons, including the ones mentioned and carbohydrate consumption regulates blood sugar and stimulates insulin and insulin is responsible for helping to convert around 40% of your protein intake into glycogen and in particular helping to replenish muscle glycogen stores post-exercise.
Don't ask me how that all happens, as I'm not fully compus mentis up enough about it to adequately explain
Your carbohydrate levels from 600 calories a day could be inadequate as well.
You also need to realise that your oxygen intake could be affected, particulary from low carbohydrates, but storage issues could occur from low iron, as iron plus 2 b vits, is used to create Erythrocytes, (red blood cells), that carry oxygen around your body in the haemoglobin and Iron is also used to make myoglobin that stores muscle oxygen.
ATP the phosphate energy that helps muscles flex, is an oxygen carrier, so your diet could possibly be causing substandard oxygen storage and transportation potential to the muscles and the brain, which wouldn't be beneficial for exercise and could increase lactic acid production, (the burn), which results from muscle glycogen being used without oxygen present.
Also iron can be affected depending on how much non-haem from plant matter and haem from animal matter you consume, as differing foods have differing amounts of both and the latter is about 20% absorbable, versus the former which is around 5%-10% absorbable.
Apologies if this is possibly making your brain a little tired, but I needed to really point out the significant physiological risk of weight training, on just 600 calories a day.
Hopefully I've made some sense at least
.-
lowprotein3222
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:49 am
Re: Low Protein + Weights
Thank you for your enormously thoughtful and helpful response. I really appreciate it.
I was hoping I could add a few more details and get advice on a specific plan.
I'm 5'10, 160lbs, wanting to lose lose 20 lbs. A week ago, I got the "Lose It!" app which suggested I eat 1500 calories a week. So I started counting calories. And to amazement, I could stay full on just 600 calories/day.
Here’s what I’ve done over the past week:
600 calories/day of Healthy Choice soup.
If I ever got hungry… carrots (never more than 200 calories/day).
I started taking vitamins.
Workout every day
Results
I slimmed a lot in just a week.
Problems
1) I've learned this is unhealthy.
2) I feel week and lethargic. Could this be a sign that this diet will cause problems?
Questions
What should I do? Should I just eat more calories (which I’m not really hungry for), perhaps with vegetables?
Many thanks for any advice!
PS
I like healthy packaged foods (i.e. Healthy Choice Soup) because they make portion control easy.
I was hoping I could add a few more details and get advice on a specific plan.
I'm 5'10, 160lbs, wanting to lose lose 20 lbs. A week ago, I got the "Lose It!" app which suggested I eat 1500 calories a week. So I started counting calories. And to amazement, I could stay full on just 600 calories/day.
Here’s what I’ve done over the past week:
600 calories/day of Healthy Choice soup.
If I ever got hungry… carrots (never more than 200 calories/day).
I started taking vitamins.
Workout every day
Results
I slimmed a lot in just a week.
Problems
1) I've learned this is unhealthy.
2) I feel week and lethargic. Could this be a sign that this diet will cause problems?
Questions
What should I do? Should I just eat more calories (which I’m not really hungry for), perhaps with vegetables?
Many thanks for any advice!
PS
I like healthy packaged foods (i.e. Healthy Choice Soup) because they make portion control easy.
Re: Low Protein + Weights
I would eat more. Like boss man said... 600 calories is about three times less than you should eat.
Feeling weak and lethargic is a side effect of the diet. Your body isn't getting the fuel it needs so it is going into starvation mode. Using every bit of energy it has to keep your vital organs operating, leaving less energy for everything else. Over time, this can lead to permanent damage. Might I suggest you lookup "malnutrition"
I'm 6`1" and about 185lbs. With current workouts and diet, I'm eating about 2500 calories a day and losing weight. About 2lbs/week. I hope that puts it in perspective for you
Feeling weak and lethargic is a side effect of the diet. Your body isn't getting the fuel it needs so it is going into starvation mode. Using every bit of energy it has to keep your vital organs operating, leaving less energy for everything else. Over time, this can lead to permanent damage. Might I suggest you lookup "malnutrition"
I'm 6`1" and about 185lbs. With current workouts and diet, I'm eating about 2500 calories a day and losing weight. About 2lbs/week. I hope that puts it in perspective for you
Re: Low Protein + Weights
Agree with all post's!! You might have lost weight at first, but eating 600 calories means you will eventually go backwards and your metabolism will suffer. You need to eat a lot more, maybe plan on eating every 2 hours so you can get all your food in. Vegetables are great in any diet but it sounds like you need more solid foods.
Re: Low Protein + Weights
You definitely do need to eat more as stated. You will help yourself not to suffer potential problems like sleeplessness, repressed immune system, thin bones, anaemia, metabolic damage etc.