Mend Your Diet

What are the dangers of a 600 calorie diet?

Is it really THAT horrible? I plan on going on a 600 calorie diet for nine weeks starting tomorrow. That gives me exactly nine weeks until Thanksgiving. It doesn't seem so bad to me, but people make a big deal out of it. So, enlighten me. I weigh 130 lbs, I'm 4'11, 14 years old, and trying to lose 20 pounds by Thanksgiving.

Public Comments

1. i did that too its really easyy if you eat the right servings and stuff
2. It will make your body go into starvation mode. Then it messes up your metabolism and your health will be affected.
3. the question is what ISN'T bad about that!?!!?!?
4. Well, if you're only eating 600 calories, then you're probably not getting most of the vitamins and nutrients that your body requires. Also, your body will eventually run out of excess fat on the body to take energy from, so it will stat to eat away at your muscles, including the heart and other vital organs.
5. it's starving yourself. your body needs so many calories just to be ALIVE- i don't think starving yourself is the answer- you'll just either end up binging and messing up the diet, or you'll create an even bigger problem like an eating disorder.
6. Well, I've read that if you don't eat enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and stores all the fat you eat. A 600 calorie diet is basically starving yourself though and that's really bad. If anything, you'll probably gain weight. I'm on an 1000 calorie diet. Maybe you should try that! It may take slightly longer but it works =] What do you weigh and how tall are you exactly? How much are you trying to lose?
7. Well you will lose energy, because calories do give you energy. Also, your not getting enough vitamins.
8. Okay, here's what going to happen. Yes you will loose weight. want to know why? because you're not giving your body the fuel it needs to survive (breathing, heart beating, walking, digesting all burns calories and requires food) so your body will start to break down the proteins inside you so that it won't die. basically, you start digesting your muscles, eating yourself from the inside. outwardly, you will not feel energetic or up to doing anything at all because you don't have the required calories to function. just lying around doing absolutely nothing all day burns about 1200 calories. So, don't think of food as an enemy that will make you overweight... think of it as a completely natural source of nutrients and energy. Just like a car needs gas to run, people need food to function. also, when you send your body into hyper-starvation-mode, it actually stores up as much fat cells as it can, thinking it is undergoing a famine of some kind. this is a survival mechanism that is to protect you from dying in an emergency. Your body was made to be healthy. if you eat enough throughout the day, get enough sleep, and drink enough fluid, (and exercise) your body will get healthier, because that's what it "wants" to be. human bodies are made to survive, and that means it has no reason to keep you overweight (which, judging by your pic you are not)
9. actually it can cause some of the same symptoms as anorexia, just not as severely. i know because i've been there. it causes your hair to go thinner, your body to be less energetic, and possibly puts your body in starvation mode.