<p>I didn’t want to hijack the weight loss thread, so I’m asking this separately.</p>
<p>I was recently appalled to discover that I weight 270 lbs. That got me thinking about crash diets. (Just thinking, not doing!)</p>
<p>I’ve always heard that a person can live about 30 days without eating. I’ve also heard that one must burn 3,500 calories in order to lose one pound of fat. Fine. If a guy like me needs about 2,400 calories a day in order to maintain his weight, and I eat nothing at all, thenassuming that my metabolism remains constant, which I know it wouldn’tin 30 days I should lose 72,000 calories’ worth of weight, or about 20.5 pounds.</p>
<p>THE MATH: 2,400 cal/day X 30 days / 3,500 cal/lb</p>
<p>Really!? If I ate nothing at all for a whole month, I would lose only 20.5 lbs.??? By the same figuring, and supposing my starved-to-death weight is about 150 lbs., then it would take me nearly five months to starve to death!</p>
<p>That can not be right. Can someone please tell me what I’m missing?</p>
<p>Your algebra is okay with the exception of some probable missing variables and your variables contain a lot of assumptions that likely aren’t accurate.</p>
<p>The numbers relating to the calories it takes to sustain the weight and the calories equivalent of a pound of fat are gross approximations with variables themselves (including individual metabolism, chemical balance in the body, makeup of the body on fat, muscle, ambient temperature/humidity, etc.).</p>
<p>I’m sure you’d lose a lot more than 20 pounds if you ate nothing at all given your current weight but if you try it as an experiment there’s a good chance you’d end up in the hospital and eventually heavier than you currently are once the rebound takes place. It’s good you’re only looking at this academically. </p>
<p>Maybe you should send this one into Dr. Oz.</p>
<p>Your weight lost from crash dieting is pretty hard to maintain, plus, your metabolism will suffer. Why don’t you take the slow and steady approach? Eat 1200-1500 calories a day and your weight should come off, but slowly.</p>
<p>Try to exercise more as well. At least 30 min a day.</p>
<p>1200 to 1500 calories a day is too low for most guys. That would be well below the baseline energy needs just to stay alive while doing nothing. That is the recipe for an unsustainable diet.</p>
<p>Most guys will want to aim for 1750 to 2000 calories a day for sustained weight loss.</p>
<p>Mantori:</p>
<p>I’ve been there. I started at 250 pounds (maybe a little more). My advice would be to not let the enormity of the journey become a psychological barrier – as your pondering crash diets suggest it may be. Forget all that. Just focus on losing five pounds. Even if you want to lose a hundred, you’ll never get there until you lose five. So worry about that goal. It’s easily achievable and it will give you the first victory. Then, lose five more.</p>
<p>I find that if I want to lose weight rather easily and quickly…</p>
<p>Atkins…</p>
<p>Breakfast…eggs and some kind of meat.</p>
<p>BIG Salads made Atkins Style (romaine lettuce, cut up chicken, chopped eggs, parma cheese, Caesar dressing, …or with cut up steak, cheddar cheese, red onion, ranch dressing…this sort of thing…</p>
<p>And…lots of unsweet iced tea (herbal is fine)…and water.</p>
<p>AND…I ride my recumbent bike everyday for at least 60 minutes. I’m actually typing this while riding my bike.</p>
<p>You can drop weight rather quickly with this method.</p>
<p>You did not say eating nothing. You said your calculations included 2400 calories consumption.</p>
<p>You can eat really well on 2400 calories and not be starving. You can be healthier, lose weight gradually (which is healthier), and attain your desired weight. This should become your lifestyle.</p>
<p>But if this is only a diet and not a life style change, YOU WILL GAIN IT ALL BACK. GUARANTEED!</p>
<p>I starved my self for 3 days. Got a migraine and a cold. Lost a half a pound. I am drinking lots of green tea and water. I started ATkins, ugh. </p>
<p>The good thing is that I don’t crave food now. I don’t feel like eating much–get nauseted if I do. One of the issues I have is that I will over eat anything I really enjoy. Can’t stop at one piece. I’m better off not touching something like that rather than trying to limit it.</p>
<p>I did Atkins for a solid year in 2004-05, only cheating on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I exercised at Curves for 30 minutes 3 times a week (not overly strenuous) and I lost 55 pounds. I lost it quickly at first and then, of course, the weight loss slowed down. I FELT FANTASTIC. I found that the more lettuce I ate, the more I lost, and I ate mostly lean meats and lots of green veggies. I don’t like eggs, so for breakfast I ate one of the Atkins Advantage bars. It wasn’t that hard to do, once I got going. It was much better than starving!</p>
<p>Forget starving yourself, forget fad diets. Just eat like a cardiologist would tell you to eat. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins. Ditch the cookies, potato chips, processed foods, and trips to McDonald’s. Your heart will be better, and the weight will come off naturally, and sustainably.</p>
<p>Just as it took a while to get to 270, it will take a while to come back. You may be able to get some short-term results by crash dieting, but I promise you the weight will come back. To be successful, you can’t “diet”; you must change the way you eat, permanently.</p>
Also, just wanted to point out, your death would quickly be sped along by your lack of nutrients, and the body function failing that come with that. A very fit person with an efficient metabolism and little activity might last two months (as previously stated, the most is three), but no way would you last five, even if your weight-loss rate was accurate (which others have doubted). Your organs would fail well before that.</p>
<p>Mantori, come on over to the health/wellness/diet/exercise thread. My husband is starting from almost exactly the same point as you are. You will get lots of great advice over there. I have lost over 70 pounds but it didn’t happen overnight. You can do it. Do it the right way and it will stay off.</p>
<p>My wife has a very successful personal training business and here is her main advise- you do not need to exercise to lose weight and maintain the weight loss. You need to move. Garden, clean the house, take the dog or your husband for a walk. Do not sit for long stretches of time.
You also can not defeat a poor diet with exercise.</p>
<p>I believe the OP is just musing on this from a mathematical viewpoint, and is not asking for weight-loss advice, per se. I like to put things in mathematical terms too. </p>
<p>His equation is saying: If I (hypothetically!) DON’T eat my normal 2,400 cal/day for 30 days (that I otherwise WOULD have been eating), then I would have a deficit of 72,000 calories over that time period. That deficit would translate into 20.6 pound loss. </p>
<p>But I’m guessing that the problem with his equation is his intake assumption. 2,400 to maintain 270 lb. seems way too low. Heck, I don’t eat much less than that, and I weigh 120! So if you’re really eating, say… maybe 3,000 calories/day, you’d lose 25.7 lb! (And this doesn’t take into account that the more you lose, the less you have to maintain, and the higher a deficit you need to continue losing). </p>
<p>If I were you, mantori, I’d make an honest assessment of my daily caloric intake and hopefully get a less discouraging value! (and, oh yeah, don’t test it by really fasting for a month!). Good luck to you!</p>
<p>You’re right, it was just hypothetical. I’m not going to go on a starvation diet! I think the answer I was looking for, the point I was missing, was DolorousEdd’s point about lack of nutrients killing me before weight loss does. That makes sense.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll check out the health/wellness/diet/exercise thread, thanks. I can’t keep going this way, or I’ll be waddling instead of walking! Thanks for all the answers.</p>