Hi Robbin, and welcome to your support group. That is a very good question. It is not good for you but it is possible to lose a hundred pounds in 2 months without going into the starvation mode.
Sportsdad has been having trouble eating more than 600 calories a day and he hasn't been taking in solid food and barely tolerating protein drinks.
Now I am going to take on the amazing feat of mathematics, at which I am no good. Please make sure the net is tautly stretched out under me in case I fall off this mathematical tightrope.
But first, a word from our pretend sponsor, the Mayo Clinic.
View attachment 3071
I noticed they applied the 3500 calorie formula to fat, not muscle or water. I have read that during weight loss, if not done correctly in such a way that you feed your muscles and burn stored fat from your organs, your body will start wasting by taking energy from your muscles, reducing their size and health.
My son is genetically tall, slim and muscular. He eats a ton of food everyday and most of the time he cooks, but sometimes we've gone through the McDonald's drive-thru when they had the 2 for 1 or whatever.
Typically he will get two Big Macs, one chicken sandwich, a large french fry, and a large fountain drink.
If he included a diet fountain drink he would be getting more than 1700 calories and 42 grams of protein. However, he always gets a regular fountain drink, so his meal goes up to almost 2,000 calories.
I'd be willing to bet there are people in this group who get exactly the same meal I just described.
In a lot of research about obesity, I have read that the super-obese which is about 300 lb in women and 400 lb in men, easily consume 10,000 calories a day. We have had one member here who managed to get up 2 more than 700 lb.
So, it is possible and even feasible that a super obese person could lose a hundred pounds in 8 weeks on a diet of 600 calories a day. And he wouldn't suffer, because he would probably still be getting enough protein.
But the toll that would take on one's body would be devastating. Rapid weight loss is always advised against because of the horrific effects it has on your organs. It is well known that rapid weight loss leads to gallstones and usually they are large gallstones.
The possibility of dehydration is also multiplied by several degrees.
Now, there are people here who are much more skilled at figuring this kind of stuff out but I just went to the USDA site,
FoodData Central, and entered in brand names and products and came up with these figures. I even underestimated because, for instance, the USDA site lists the Big Mac but in parentheses it says "(without sauce)."
You know that sauce contributes at least another 100 calories. Just read the side of your bottle of thousand island dressing in the refrigerator. And they base their caloric content at 2 tablespoons. I'll bet McDonald's puts at least four tablespoons of their Big Mac sauce on their product. So that would be an extra 200 calories, just for sauce.
Sportsdad also mentions that he is expending a lot of calories, perhaps more than he consumes in a day. That's not likely so there is probably some mathematical discrepancy there. But it doesn't matter. He has still managed to drop 90 pounds (I noticed the math error when I re-read his post above). If he is not being medically managed, he has nothing to look forward to except more disease and an earlier death. Sorry, Sportsdad. You might defy the odds and live to be a hundred.
Having an eating disorder that runs your life is exactly the same as being an alcoholic where booze runs your life. When you have no control over your habits and consumption, you have a serious disorder.
And the only way you can continue to have this disorder is to be able to go deeply into a state of denial about your habits. I cannot tell you how many potluck dinners and picnics I've sat at with my relatives and listened to them complain about how they just can't seem to lose weight no matter what they do, all the while chomping on a mouthful of potato salad.
So thank you Robbin, for asking that question. And Sportsdad, Robbin may have just saved your life. If you haven't been seeing your surgeon and nutritionist, you should do so immediately.
And please tell me, how is this Fair? I had lost about 90 pounds here and my junk food eating son was still buying bags full of fast food.
View attachment 3072