However, other studies show that while consuming 1,000 calories a day may result in significant weight loss, most people cannot sustain it and often experience significant weight regain . The reasons include regaining lost muscle mass and increased appetite. Also worth noting is that the human body can adapt.
An increase of at least 500 to 1000 calories each day will promote a one to two pound weight gain per week. It takes an extra 3500 calories to gain one pound of body weight.
The diet doesn't have enough calories
Eating too little — say, 1,000 calories a day — can prevent you from losing weight, too. "When you don't eat enough, your body is starving and it's not going to lose any extra weight" because it needs those energy stores to keep you alive, Fakhoury said.
This phenomenon is called “starvation mode,” and while your body isn't actually starving, it will naturally hold onto whatever calories it receives in an effort to help you maintain your energy balance.
If you've been consistently eating 1,200 calories and working out for at least a month, you may be trading fat for a bit of muscle weight. Check how your clothes fit -- you may notice that despite the lack of change on the scale, the waistband is looser and pant legs fit less snugly.
So, if you're eating 1,200 calories and not losing weight, it could be that your body is really struggling to function on so little fuel and your metabolism is not functioning well enough to respond to a deficit in the way you'd like.
Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight.
Most adults need a minimum of 2000 calories to sustain metabolism, muscle activity, and brain function. However, too many calories can lead to weight gain and a variety of diseases.
Too few calories can hamper your metabolism, sabotaging any goal to lose weight. Although some combinations of macronutrients or types of foods may affect weight loss synergistically, when it comes to dropping pounds, there's no denying that calories matter.
However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day in women or 1,500 a day in men, except under the supervision of a health professional. Eating too few calories can endanger your health by depriving you of needed nutrients.
Women will lose 1-1.5 kg and men will gain from 1.5-2.5 kg more if diligently following a 1000 calorie daily diet. However, 1000 calories is a fairly low diet, you should consider and consult with medical experts on nutrition to come up with a long and healthy diet plan.
Effective At Weight Loss
If you need to shed pounds fast and don't expect the long-term result, the 1000 calorie meal plan may help you with that. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, this diet can help you lose 2-3 pounds (1-1.5 kg) a week, which is quite fast.
The people assigned to the 1,000 calorie diet lost more weight than the 1,500 calorie group. However, other studies show that while consuming 1,000 calories a day may result in significant weight loss, most people cannot sustain it and often experience significant weight regain .
According to studies, for every 1 kg of weight loss, 7700 calories are needed, or 1000 calories are lost 0.13 kg.
Short-term risks of eating 1,000 calories a day may include dizziness, hunger, gallstones, nausea, fatigue, headaches, and nutrient deficiencies. It can lead to nutrient deficiencies, slow metabolism, and make bones weaker if you exercise along with a low-calorie diet.
Factors like age, decreased activity levels, loss of muscle mass, a slower metabolism, and even your menstrual cycle can all cause you to gain a few extra pounds. So unexplained weight gain isn't always something to worry about, especially if you can pinpoint the reason after thinking about it for a few minutes.
If 1,200 calories a day is more than 500 calories lower than your weight-maintenance calories, you can expect to lose more than 1 to 2 pounds per week. If it's less, then you might lose fewer pounds a week.
Consuming at least 1,200 calories per day has often been touted as the minimum for basic bodily functions and to stay out of starvation mode, but the amount is actually too low. A healthy amount of calories for adult women ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day and for men it's 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day.
“On a 1,200 calorie diet, your body has to make adjustments. You can't live optimally on that. If you are young and active, you would lose weight and fat over time, but your body would make metabolic adjustments. "You might get cold hands and feet more easily, and you would be preoccupied with food a lot of the time.
When you eat too few calories, e.g., a 900-calorie diet, it interrupts your metabolism. As stated above, your body thinks that you are starving, and thus, it signifies to your appetite hormones that something is wrong. They slow down your metabolism, which means that you will no longer be burning calories.
When you fast for shorter durations, your body doesn't have enough time to go into ketosis. This means it won't burn stored fat, and there won't be significant weight loss. As one study concluded, a fasting window of 18-19 hours is more effective in terms of weight loss than those between 12-17 hours [11].