What's Up With The 500 Calorie Diet?

Do you go a bit overboard when you want to lose weight fast? If you do, then chances are you may have tried a 500 calorie diet. Cutting your calories to 500 is considered an extreme form of dieting; but it is highly popular.

A diet is considered low calorie if it involves ingesting no more than 1200 calories a day. The idea of a low calorie diet is to lose weight quickly. If not administered correctly it can be dangerous and as such it is important to plan your 500 calorie diet with a professional dietician or nutritionist before starting. But is it right for you?

It is well known that the way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. However, a very low calorie diet can actually do more harm than good. When your body is craving more calories (energy) it can affect your metabolic rate. This means your body can actually start to eat away at your muscle mass.

It will do this for the purpose of converting the muscle mass to energy since there are no food reserves to take from. Because gaining muscle is the path to losing fat, this can have a highly detrimental effect on your body.

500 calories per day can possibly be sufficient for some people depending on:
- gender
- activity level
- height- body type
- overall health

For other people though, particularly overweight people, consuming only 500 calories a day is almost like starving themselves. Their body is more than likely used to taking in over 2000 calories per day and up to 5000 or more. If they all of a sudden drop to 500 calories or less their body moves into starvation mode. Metabolism then slows down to conserve energy.

If you are on a 500 calorie diet your body eventually learns to live with fewer calories. That means if you go back to your old high calorie habits (and it happens) you will have a sudden gain in weight - more than what would have occurred, had you not gone on your low calorie diet.

The only real way to determine your ideal daily calorie intake is by using a bmr/amr calculator. You will then know how many calories you need to be healthy and to support your lifestyle. If you take 500 calories away from this number then you have the ideal number of calories, to take in per day to help you get your weight down.

As men and women are different, their ideal calorie intake is also different. This means while the average woman may need only 1200 to 1300 calories a day to survive, her male counterpart may need from 1500 to 1600. It is so important for you to consult with your physician before starting any diet.

In conclusion, a 500 calorie diet can be dangerous. However, if proper precautions are taken, such as the okay from your doctor and spending only a short time at 500 calories, you can lose weight quickly.