![Diet Plans and Nutrition [Home]](/images/everydiet5.png "Every Diet [Home]"){kind=small}
Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCD’s)
A Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) is a diet where normal meals are replaced with drinks, soups, or bars. The typical daily calorie intake is on or under the 800 mark – however the aim is to be as nutritionally balanced as possible.
Prescription Only
A VLCD is normally only used privately and in the medical profession to bring about rapid weight loss in the dangerously overweight person. These diets should be undertaken only under medical supervision. They are typically a high fat, high protein diet that will bring about Ketosis.
The diet is only undertaken for a short period of time (a few weeks). In some situations, the meal replacements may only be used for two meals a day – therefore bringing about slower but more manageable weight loss.
VLCD Diets
Medifast
This has been used by (apparently) over 1 million people, and is endorsed by John Hopkins University. It’s a meal replacement plan around the 800-1000 calories mark (which puts it outside the strict definition of a VLCD). It will put the body into a mild state of ketosis.
Optifast
Available at hundreds of clinics in the US and Canada. However many find it difficult to complete the program
The Cambridge Diet
Used in the UK, this diet has an even lower daily calorie level (400-600) and is a high protein, low fat, low carb diet.
I completed 6 months on vlcd low carb diet and lost 61 lbs.
im returnin to a low cal diet after havin ben on them before since around 2002 and for last year been eating basically wat i want iv gone up from 8st to over 9 st peviously iv been down in the 6st somethings and have to say i have never experienced this hairloss ppl are talkin about altho fainting and dizzyness was a symptom at my lower wieghts never have i lost hair that iv noticed… could this be because i have lots of bushy hair ne way lol or cause my bodies used to lack of vitamins due to being an unhealthy veggie eater most of my life lol??? just curious after reading so much about hairloss on here!!
I need a low calorie diet program.
Wonderful Diet!! I am getting fantastic results with an 800-1000 calorie a day diet. The first few days were kinda odd since I was figuring it out on my own and kept my calories low, but my nutrition was off. I have since figured out how to eat properly and maintain low calories. It’s all about balance. I can even eat a bowl of cookie crisp for breakfast with 2% milk! The key is to just have 1 serving. I cup of Cookie Crisp is 100 calories. 1/4 cup of milk is 30.2 calories. There you go! A delicious (and sweet tooth satisfying) cereal that will fill you up. I make sure that I drink at least 8 cups of water daily (I usually drink 12-16 actually) and I have SO much energy! I do Hatha Yoga for 30 minutes a day, get in a few minutes of pushups and bicycle crunches and 20-40 minutes on my elliptical and my body is shrinking like magic. I LOVE this diet. I have tried all the diet pills, the “miracle” cures and NOTHING is as effective as controlling your calories and upping your exercise, especially for people who have lots of weight to lose.
My husband and I started a VLCD (shakes/soups totalling 500-800 calories per day plus vitamin supplements) back in mid-August (my husband because his doctor made him, me for moral support and because I had a lot of weight to lose also). While on the VLCD phase for 14 weeks (thru mid-November) I lost nearly 50 pounds, as did my husband. I was NEVER hungry. In November I started adding back fruits and veggies (min 5 servings per day, now up to 6-7 servings per day). I also added 1-2 Lean Cuisine entrees per day, and I have now switched to a Slim Fast shake for breakfast (from the prescription shakes). Now I am in the maintenance phase of the program and plan to keep going for at least a year (much like Weight Watchers). The accountability of weekly meetings is important for continued progress for a former overeater like me.
Our calorie intake now averages about 1400 per day, and I have continued to lose weight at the rate of 1-2 pounds per week – We are both now down 65+ pounds from when we started (an average of 12 pounds each per month, since August), with about 20-25 more to go. This is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE, not a temporary fix – no more nachos or cheese fries EVER – there is no way to justify those types of food choices within a healthy eating plan. Plus daily physical activity is a must – when I consider having a treat (including an occasional bit of candy), I think about it in terms of ‘treadmill time’ to decide if it’s worth it. Sometimes I have the treat, sometimes it’s NOT worth it. But this is absolutely working; I’ve gone down 5 sizes and feel great and will NEVER go back to my old, bad habits. When people say they went back to ‘normal’ eatiing and gained the weight back, it’s because they went back to their old patterns of OVEReating. As the weight comes off, you can move to true ‘normal’ eating (meaning healthy, balanced reasonable portion sizes), with healthy, daily exercise and the weight will stay off.
Update. This is my 13th week on vlcd low carb and I’ve lost a total of 40lbs. I have 5lbs more to loss and I begin maintance – exercise & making the lifelong lifestyle changes to keep the weight off. I’m so motivated. Can’t wait to get to the gym!
I used to be on a VLCD…VERY low calorie diet (200-300 kcal/day)…it made me lose a LOT of weight but it is true…once you start binging like a fatass you gain weight back…i gained 50 pounds in a year…i am overweight right now and instead of STARVING myself i am on another VLCD that consists of about 500-700 kcal/day and i am losing weight just fine…i take a multivitamin and i am on supplements…i am making an effort to CHANGE MY LIFESTYLE…i don’t plan on EVER consuming more than 500-700 calories per day ANYMORE…i am not going to get off this diet once i lose the weight and start eating like a fatass again…its not worth it…i look at food now as something i have to eat for nutrition and i stopped getting PUMPED for food…hah because its just food…
Basically, if you go on a VLCD stick to it even after you lose the weight, or see a nutritionist if you want to UP your calories for some reason without gaining weight…but yeah…i’d make it like a lifestyle change…if you think about it famous people are on VLCD for their careers…you CAN live off of 500-800 calories per day…you just need will power and supplements…
there is a peptide secreted by fat cells and it decreases the food intake by stimulating a special area in hypothalamus. loss of fat directly lowers the volume of secreted leptin and untill the concentration of leptin is not brought back to previous measures, person keep on eating more to bring the fat levels back to what our bodies percieve as normal. If you watch what you eat… even if you’ll eat upto 2000 calories a day your weight will not increase. At the time of starvation our bodies are not very selective of what to utilize…..almost equal amount of muscles are also lost this way, as branched chain amino acids. Loss in muscle volume decreases the BMR and even fewer calories are required than before. It is a good idea to start high intensity exercises after VLCD and its usual course of recovery. there was study published in 1994 by Trmbley et al. and it showed that high intensity exercises produced 9 fold decrease in fat than low intensity high volume diets.
I’ve always eaten a low calorie diet, 700 to 900 a day. It’s healthier for you and slows the aging process way down. Everyone should be eating only this amont everyday. Well, thats a lie. Men should eat what ever they want, because a skinny man is gross.
all you with your theories this diet does work you say about putting the weight back on at the end .. you stuff your fat face like you did before the diet you dumb ass then you will put weight on .. hello you ate too much in the first place you diet you have to live on the maintenace plan after if you put weight on its cause you ate as much as you did before this diet is brilliant i lost 4 stone its changed my life and probably saved it i have never put any on , as for hair loss you obviously didnt do as you were told mild hair loss occurs in the obese who have rapid weight loss over 5 -6 months and its mild and return s to normal if you have what you r told instead of messing around with it you wouldnt be fat now .. you lied to get on it lets face it you talk crap .. do it properly and learn from real experiance…
they work, but question is if you want to live like that, after 1 year of something like this, eating 1k, then 1400, im going back with a more normal cal intake for my phi. effort, around 2500/day based on a balanced menu so to speak, no junk food and things like this tho.Is funny how tough it is to eat that many cals eating healthy.
I have been on vlcd (800 calories) for 8 weeks. I’ve lost 27lbs. The plan WILL WORK; just follow the plan. Unlike the slimfast diet I did five years ago, I don’t feel hungry with this diet.
This diet sounds like it would only work for a short period of time. Once you get off the diet and go back to eating normaly you will just gain the weight back unless your REALLY careful. I would reccommend WeightWatchers instead.
Uhh those who experienced hairloss, that’s because you weren’t taking vitamins. If you take vitamins when on the diet, you won’t lose your hair. I took a vitamin everyday when eating 800 calories and my hair was fine. Common sense, people.
Ugh those people saying it doesn’t work, they really irritate me. TRY IT before judging it. I lost on average 5 lbs a week for 3 weeks and had no consequences. I slowly increased my intake after I lost 15 lbs, from 800 to 1000 to 1500 over the span of 4 weeks. You can’t just go from 800 to 2000, in that case you probably will gain weight because for one thing your metabolism needs to adjust and if you want to maintain your weightloss, don’t go back to your old eating habits as with any diet. I totally agree with this person:
” L.P.
My whole lifestyle is extremely low cal. It DOES work. You just cant go back to eating like a pig afterwards. Otherwise it doesn’t work. Self control people.”
EXACTLY.
Anyway, before listening to all the idiots who think you can’t possibly lose weight, let alone keep it off, try the diet for youself. Then SLOWLY increase your intake to a healthy calorie intake. Being thin is hard, don’t expect you can go back to eating whatever you wanted before dieting. IT DOES WORK PEOPLE!!!!
Anytime you decrease intake of calories you will lose weight, especially if you INcrease calories burned- ex. You can eat 1000 cals everyday and run for 30 min maybe take a walk and some situps/pushups by the end of the day you will be in the negatives. Meaning you took in 1000 and burned off lets say 1300 so you would be 300 calories negative. This causes quick weigh loss and tones ur body while u get slim. This is MUCH better than starving yourself and not having energy to exercise bc after your starvation drives you to eat, you will overeat, and potentially form a eating disorder- you know eat, purge, starve… If you can keep eating low cal and exercise your appetite will decrease b/c exercise causes endorphins so you will feel positive about your diet and your body rather than getting down on yourself. anyways you all be careful and I highly recommend eating 4-5 200 cal meals- well more like snacks a day with moderate exercise. You can do it and you will look and feel great!
I went on a low cal diet for about 2 months and lost over 45 pounds..yes i gained it back…but only after going back to my bad eating habits.
Theres a couple things your going to want to do if you do decide to try this. One…take a multi-vitamin..two drink alot..and i mean alot of water..and 3..dont be afraid to down a gatorade or two every day…you need to keep your body functional..even if your not eating as much as you should.
vlcd’s do work if stuck to properly. you wont regain the weight if you stick to the maintence programmes afterwards
I was on a low cal diet about 550-800 a day. I lost 10 lbs and kept it off, by watching what I ate.
hi i eat like a pig i was wondering is this a good diet
WTF JHON, AT 6’3 116 LBS. YOU SHOULD BE IN A HOSPITAL.
im am a male reconvering annorexic im 6’3 116 pounds and this diet is kinda working for me
It does work on the long term. I was eating under 1000 kcals a day for about 6 months. The only trouble was that I lost my periods, I was very underweight and I was constantly cold.
Even when I ate like a pig for 6 months after that, on average about 3000 kcals a day, I only gained 2 stone.
It shouldn’t be done. But still I would easily do it again.
two words. hair loss. low cal is terrible for you.
as a recovering anoexic these diets do work but with severe side effects strongly recomend not to try unless your doctor advises
My whole lifestyle is extremely low cal. It DOES work. You just cant go back to eating like a pig afterwards. Otherwise it doesn’t work. Self control people.
LOW CALORIE DIETS DO NOT WORKKKKK!!!
Ditto. Hair loss!
When I was fifteen, last year, without consulting my doctor, and lying, saying I was 18 and my doctor had told me to go on it when buying these drinks, I did this sort of diet for a five weeks, and lost on average 12 pounds a week.
However, at the end of the diet, after slowly returning back to a ‘normal’, but healthier diet, I gained all the weight again. Also, I had extreme hair loss, resulting in me having to go on medication do make it grow back.
I agree with this diet.I prefer that note amount of calorie of food daily.:)