For those or you who like it short and sweet my my question is:
If I eat only 500 calories a day, comprised of a good balance of protein, fat and carbs, how soon will I die? Or will I just waste away and continue living as a shadow of my former self?
For those of you who want the “backstory” here goes. . .
I presently have veneers on 10 of my upper front teeth (evenly 5 on each side of center.) I got them years ago, and now they are looking pretty dingy, so I decided to have them replaced and crowns placed on my lower teeth. I went to a (new to me) dentist who advised crowns for the top teeth (same price as veneers and more sturdy.) However for my lower teeth she advised strongly against crowns and that I would save money bleaching them and wearing braces to straighten them.
I have a bit of an overbite (I can place two drinking straws between my teeth with my jaw closed.) Also my lower teeth are somewhat crooked. Over the years other dentists have suggested braces but I have always said I was happy with the way I looked when I smiled except for chipped teeth on top (main reason for veneers.)
This dentist explained that many of my teeth are turned and after spending WAY too many hours smiling at myself in the mirror I agreed to the Invisaligns.
Now to my problem. I’ve had them for 3 weeks. I have almost made peace with the freak’n excessive salivation, but I just can’t eat in 2 to 4 hours.
They recommend that you wear them 20-22 hours. I am a grazer. I eat little amounts frequently throughout the day so I eat at all. I never have an appetite and am never hungry; (even before the braces) so I always have healthy tiny portions around and remind myself to eat. But you can not eat with the invisaligns in. You can only drink cool water. I can not eat a larger meal 3 times a day. My stomach is way too small. So I have been mixing up a drink of plain protein powder (soy or whey) or egg whites (pasteurized) with a “greens” powder some evoo for fat and juice for the carbs. Just for the fun of it I counted up the calories and the total is only about 500.
So I guess when this is all over if I stand behind a telephone you won’t be able to see me. But if you walk around I’ll have an awesome smile.
Take a quick look at theMinnesota Starvation Experiment methods and results. I had to read it last semester and write a paper on it. It was a fascinating study.
It is unlikely you will be able to keep up a 500 calorie a day diet for a significant length of time without experiencing some unwanted side effects.
The way such diets are successful is that they utilize the body’s excess fat tissue as an energy source during severe caloric restriction; thereby resulting in significant weight loss. However, the diet itself must be carefully structured in order to assure that you are getting enough nutrients, fat and protein to remain healthy and this is why a doctor’s supervision is important.
How hard is it to take them out for the 10 or 15 minutes it would take you to eat your smaller portions? People do it with these all the time. Take them out, eat, bam, put them back in.
NO, you’re not. I’m saying HOW a 500-cal/day diet is successful and advisable and that is when a person is significantly overweight and they can use their excess fat tissue as an energy source during severe calorie restriction. If a person isn’t significantly overweight, then they wouldn’t have this energy supply and doing such a “diet” would be unadvised and dangerous.
Are you sure you have to wear them for 20 uninterrupted hours? If you eat normally, the amount of time you spend with them off surely won’t exceed 4 hours.
Your post had a bit of a logic jump that was clear to you but not the reader. You didn’t finish the thought, which “so, if you’re not overweight and restricting calories to lose weight, you probably do not have the excess fat to be safe”. WhyNot (and my) confusion on your point was understandable.
The question was “how soon will I die?”. Your answer was “It can be done but it’s best to be under doctor supervision (as well as be significantly overweight in the first place).” Forgive me for missing the train of thought when it jumped tracks.
Well, I may not have outright said why such a diet would be unsafe if one isn’t significantly overweight but, as you can see, I clearly addressed the OP’s question. Or at least I thought I did. I thought it was implied that, since it was said that success of such a diet depended on the dieter having excess fat tissue, if the dieter didn’t have that excess tissue, the diet wouldn’t be successful.
One of the reasons I got metal braces because I didn’t want to deal with Invisalign when trying to eat. Good luck, and you definitely need to eat more.
I know I am over weight. I do the NT each day because it makes me feel energized. Before the braces I was drinking homemade protein shakes to ensure I get some nutrition throughout the day because I am a junk food junkie.
A real pain. You have to clean them, brush and floss before reinserting them. I have timed myself and it hasn’t worked. That is why I went to liquid only so I could gulp it more quickly and not care about the taste satisfaction.
I was too much of I wimp/vain to get metal ones at my age
I don’t get the “I have no appetite/tiny stomach/I do 30 minutes of cardio a day” scenario and the fact that you are 40-50 lbs overweight even if you “graze”. If you are eating enough to weigh 190 you have quite a significant appetite. If you stopped continuously grazing junk food you might rediscover that you do have an appetite. If so this should be a win-win for you. Unless you have a medical condition of some kind the stomach can normally contract and expand considerably. You did not mention it but have you had some kind of stomach stapling or gastric bypass surgery?
Based on your weight and activity level and an (apparently) fairly slow metabolism your daily burn rate will be approx 10-12 calories per lb of body weight per day. Assuming your weight target is 150 if we average to 11 cals you need approx 2090 cals daily to maintain your current weight. If you drop to 1500 cals per day on a restricted diet you will have a 600 cal per day deficit and you will initially lose approx one lb per week. You can easily get all the calories and nutrients you need with protein shakes and vitamins. Roughage is a different issue. Your braces diet should carry you through about a year of weight loss.
Your rate of loss will obviously slow as your weight decreases which is taken into account below so using 160 lbs of maintained weight as the average over time = 1760 per day
3500 cals per lb of fat lost. Adjust as needed for your actual realworld target goals.
1500 cals per day - loss = .89 lbs per week
1000 cals per day - loss = 1.52 lbs per week (over time)
(not advised) 500 cals per day - loss = 2.52 lbs per week
