Expert: Reverend Abbott - 1/10/2008

Question
Hi My Name is Joelle. I am 20 years old and i weigh 108kg. I know that I am very obese and have decided to lose weight. (hopefully 15-25kg before my 21st birthday) I have to do this because diabetes is in my family and I dont want to develop diabetes because i see the effect it has on my dad. Anyway I have been looking at websites on the internet and for the past few days I have been using a calorie calculator for foods. I know that to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you eat per day. My fitness level is quite low and i can only do 1 hour tops on an exercise bike per day. That is approximately 800 calories burnt and it is the only exercise per day that i have time for because i work and study at university. So because of this I have restricted my intake to about 800 calories - 1000 calories per day. I usually burn between 800-850 calories per day. Will I go into survival mode doing this? Also the food that I eat is very filling so i never feel hungry. Before this "diet" i was consuming about 4000 calories per day with no exercise. Please let me know, because i really want to lose weight. and if i am doing the wrong thing, do you have any suggestions. I do 125 situps per day and lift 100 of 2kg bars of weight as well to tone the fat around my arms.

Answer
There's no reason to complicate things like this, or to take any chances with your body reacting to starvation.  A calorie intake this low isn't good and ultimately you'll not only re-gain any weight loss, but 20% MORE (that's the average).
 
Also, certain foods are necessary for different things. Some foods work to stimulate the digestive system, other foods break down into various vitamins and minerals. The balance is essential.

Your exercise plan is great if you LIKE it.  If you don't like it, it will quickly become tedious and you'll find reasons to avoid it.  

Keep in mind that you didn't become overweight in a few weeks (or months), it's years of poor eating habits that won't resolve magically.  What happens when you try to return to "normal" eating?  Are you going to restrict your calorie intake forever?  That's no way to live is it?
 
Did you know that nearly 100% of all diets fail? Even the most popular, high profile, big advertising ones. If you read the teeny tiny print you'll see "results NOT typical" or they'll add "average weight loss .5 - 1.1 kg per week with daily exercise program and diet".  

 .5 to 1.1 kg loss per week is something you can expect with ANY reasonable eating and moderate exercise, including just two 15 minute brisk walks a day (the number 2 overall exercise; swimming is #1 ).  

 Your daily calorie intake shouldn't be less than 1,200 cals per day and you must include whole grains, lots of fruits, vegetables/legumes and protein.  Even fats are necessary for a well working machine, but ideally plant or fish sourced fats.

Take a look here for more ideas and an outline of foods (not a diet and it's all free) www.GetTheReal.info

Keep up your good work and stay strong!