Just seen a few profiles that make it seem that eating next to nothing is the favourite choice for weight loss.

Just seen someone with a calorie intake according to traineo between 880 and 500

These people are risking malnutrition in thesearch for a little weight loss. Its crazy!

I obtained the following advice from someone who knows dieticans a wee bit too well for their own good (past sufferer of anorexia, and bulemia) and im just wondering if it is correct.

To lose weight safely you should calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) then take off 250 calories off of that, aim for that target each day.

In order to ensure a healthy diet however its preferable to maintain a 4/3/3 split between Protein/fat/carbs.

So my BMR is 2500 bang on.

I should be eating 2250 a day with a 4/3/3 split so that'd be

900 Calories of Protein a day
675 Calories of Fat (Not saturated!!)
675 Calories of Carbs

To me it seems like common sense, and providing I stick to that plan I dont get tired, and I am losing weight nicely Now I know everyone is different but surely it cant be that wrong?

I could not agree more Richard.

Severely restricted calorie intake or fad-diets are not sustainable by most people. People tend to lose weight in the short term, revert to poor eating-habits over time and put on weight again.

As a person who has experimented with both I think a life-long commitment to a sustainable, nutritionally balanced diet with adequate calorie-intake is the best approach to take weight off as well as maintain a goal weight.

I agree as well. I was on Nutrisystem for the first few months of my weight loss journey. I lost about 20lbs...but the target calorie intake was 1200. When I ate the 1200 calories per day, I didn't lose very much. So, I started eating extra servings of fruit and vegetables, having a little more than a cup of milk, a little more nuts that in a single serving...eating a few more calories helped me lose that first 20lbs and I'll never eat that small amount of calories ever again. But you know what, for some people who are seriously overweight, that kind of calorie restriction works--if under the supervision of doctors, etc... Now, I'm kind of doing my own "diet" thing. I try to eat between 1500-1700 calories and once a week or so, I eat nearly 2000 calories just to freak my body out and give it something to work with. It seems to work...I lost 3lbs last week. I also try to eat fruit and/or vegetables with every meal, don't add salt, drink a lot of water, eat breakfast, and don't skip meals.

Good luck to everyone in their weight loss journey. And have a healthy eating day today, not an overly restrictive one.

I agree that most people take the wrong approach to weight loss. A healthy lifestyle should be just that - a lifestyle, and it should be a plan that can be followed successfully for the rest of your life.

Also I think it also has to do with where you're starting from. I'm eating 1200 cals below my BMR... but that is still almost 2500 cals... hardly starving.

Can somebody recomend a tool/process to calculate one's BMR? I've been eating around 1200 calories a day, and my weight loss plateau'd after the first two weeks despite light daily exercise. I'm wondering if I can safely up my calories, make my exercise a bit more intense, and see if that would do the trick. But I have no idea what my BMR might be...

Can't guarantee the validaity of it, but a simple Google search netted:

www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

that calc seemed on the money, gave me the same result a machine did at my gym

Tom, great link. Thanks.

My doctor told me that an easy way to calculate waht your daily expenditure is to multiply your weight times 10...

This morning, I weighed 235.4... so i will expend 2354 calories today.

It is a good rule of thumb but the above link seems more exact.

Since weight loss is a simple equation of

Physical Activity calories + (body weight X 10) > calorie intake

If I want to lose weight, I will need to have an intake of less than 2354 calories. Or I will need to have physical activity to burn off the balance...