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Setting target to eat only 800 calories

I have decided to follow Dr Michael Mosley's 8 week sugar diet to lose weight and control my blood sugar. This is a diet with a sound medical basis (just in case anyone thinks it's a fad crash diet!) but it proscribes that you eat only 800 calories each day based on a mediterranean diet, concentrating on low carb meals. I tried to set my target calorie intake on my fitbit zip to 800 so that I could track what I eat, but the app tells me that I have to set a target of between 1000-1500 calories which is not what I require. Is there a way I can override this to enter only 800 calories?
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72 REPLIES 72

@800cals wrote:
I have decided to follow Dr Michael Mosley's 8 week sugar diet to lose weight and control my blood sugar. This is a diet with a sound medical basis (just in case anyone thinks it's a fad crash diet!) but it proscribes that you eat only 800 calories each day based on a mediterranean diet, concentrating on low carb meals. I tried to set my target calorie intake on my fitbit zip to 800 so that I could track what I eat, but the app tells me that I have to set a target of between 1000-1500 calories which is not what I require. Is there a way I can override this to enter only 800 calories?

This does not sound like a healthy way to lose weight to me. I don't know any doctor in their right mind that would recommend a diet like that, and any diet that recommends losing more than 2 lb. per week (1,000 calories less per day) is unhealthy. Even 2 lbs. per week (unless you are extreamely obese) is getting into the unhealthy area.

 

Most doctors recommend 1 lb. per week (500 calories less per day), and most good doctors recommend a combination of exercise and diet to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight with the emphasis being on exercise.

 

I was obese a year ago (75 lbs. overweight), and started having health issues (diverticulitis) when I got into my 50's. I wound up having to have surgery which uncovered more health issues (heart & lungs). I met many doctors along the way, and every one of them told me I needed to start exercising, and emphasized walking.

 

I got a fitness tracker and started power walking every day (sometimes 2 & 3 times per day). I set my tracker to lose 1 lb. per week (recommended by my doctors). I logged my food and power walked. In a year (52 weeks) I lost 55 lbs., and not only that but I eat more than I used to and still lose 1 lb. per week because of all the calories burned from power walking. Now I am within a couple lbs. of being at the top of my healthy weight and if I lose 20 more lbs. (my goal) I will be right in the middle of my healthy weight range. I was on the verge of going into a size 40 pants, and now I'm in a size 32 pants.

 

I recently had a checkup with my doctor and my heart is fine now, I increased my lung capacity by at least 20 percent, blood work is good, and my doctor is amazed with my improvement.

 

So, if you want to set yourself up for failure, lose a bunch of weight real quick and most likely gain it back (and then some), and deprive your body of the carbs (and other nutrients) that it needs to maintain lean body mass, then go ahead and do that diet that you mention.

 

If you want to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight there are no shortcuts. Nature happens very slowely, and you should lose weight slowely, and use that time to turn bad habits into good habits.

 

You should probably talk to your doctor about this, and if you go to the CDC website, they have a lot of great information about maintaining a healthy fitness level and body weight.

 

Good luck with whatever you do.

Best Answer

Fitbit will not allow you to override it. If you set up My Fitness Pal to track your food and sync with your Fitbit you should be able to set it to 800. Good luck!

 

 

Edit: It will allow apparently, I tried before and couldn't set my daily calorie goal. Must have changed.

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It's not recommended to eat below your caloric intake or avoiding vital nutrients unless you are following a plan by a doctor and dietitian. You can override the In VS Out by going to the icon on the dashboard, settings, and where this pane says, click on the set my own calorie target. Note this removes your In VS Out monitoring.

 

I follow advice from a dietitian and a doctor to ensure I remain healthy. Removing any non-dietary foods like donuts and beer, adding cardio and strength training programs to burn off fat, adding dietary foods necessary to remain healthy like Fibercon pills and Vit D pills and 2-3 gallons of water (diverculitis).

 

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While you can override this, it is not recommended for you to do so; as the estimated caloric budget you're currently getting accounts for your BMR, past history and caloric deficit goal. 

 

Please consult your doctor for your sugar condition and a registered dietitian for weight loss as this is a very low calorie diet that will cause damage to your body in the long run. 

Fitbit Community ModeratorHelena A. | Community Moderator, Fitbit

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Since I am licensed nutritionist, I would suggest not doing this. Anything under 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode, which in return lowers your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight.

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I haven't had to override the recommended calories on the FitBit. It will just show you a daily caloric deficit, which is what I guide myself by. I think that seeing that defecit is better than overriding the recommendations because it gives you a better perspective of how much your consuming.

I personally didn't lose weight counting calories though. I just lost it eating real food, no grains or sugar. I am naturally deficient about 500 to 600 calories daily but have absolutely no hunger and I eat to satiety with every meal. There have been some days where my calories have gone as low as 800, with no hunger.

Just make sure this is something you are comfortable with. You never want to be hungry or you won't be able to continue it. You also have to make sure you are meeting your nutritional needs as well so make sure your food is whole and nutritious. If it is, you won't be hungry, as calories are not indicative of nutritional value. You can meet your daily caloric goals eating Snickers bars but you will be hungry all day since they have 0 nutritional value. Eat your good fats and eat well.

Listen to your body and good luck!
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@800cals wrote:
a mediterranean diet, concentrating on low carb meals

Sorry to say, but as someone quite familiar with mediterranean cuisine (from Spain, Southern France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and North Africa), this sounds like an oxymoron!

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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This is an awful, awful idea. Sounds like just another fad diet that will end in major diappointment.

 

It is very bad for your body to go below your BMR. Everyone's BMR is very different, so there is no set lower limit that will work for everyone. While "no less than 1200 calories per day" is a good general baseline, 

 

Also, for the majority of the population, going low-carb is also just an unrealistic fad. Eat a healthy, balanced diet of REAL food (the less processed, the better) within a healthy limit to your BMR.

 

A really great website to help you plan out your caloric requirements is here:
http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/fitness/bmr_meal_calculator.php


Also note that depending on how much weight you have to lose, it may not be healthy to aim for 1-2lbs per week. You may have to dial that down.

 

I know for me (and many other people), that not eating enough (yes, you read that right) can be as detrimental to losing weight as eating too much. I had been eating very little and I was actually gaining weight. When I upped my calories to a healthy BMR level, I started losing weight steadily and met my goal with ease!

 

Good luck!

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@bcalvanese wrote:


This does not sound like a healthy way to lose weight to me. I don't know any doctor in their right mind that would recommend a diet like that, and any diet that recommends losing more than 2 lb. per week (1,000 calories less per day) is unhealthy. Even 2 lbs. per week (unless you are extreamely obese) is getting into the unhealthy area.

 



It's gradually changing.  Gerentology Professor with the UCLA Longevity Center and funded by the National Institute on Aging, Valter Longo has what he calls a fast Mimicking diet that recommends 800 calories a day.  Dr. Jason Fung, a kidney specilist, recommends 3-7 day fasts for weight loss and even diabeties prevention.  One member on this board reported her personal doctor in conjunction with her nutritionlist recommeneded she try Intermittent Fasting.

 

Doctors recommended the low fat diet for decades, but now we learn high fat is actually better.  This advice was predicated on a correlation study which was highly flawed.  I just watched a documentary that showed the competition between heart scanning for calcium deposits in the heart that indicated blockages and the now famous stint.  The first could possibly prevent heart attacks, the latter was after damage was done.  The only reason the stint won out is money.

 

The medical profession, while well meaning, isn't above the influences of politics and money.  Most doctors are also not nutritionist.  Even nutritionist hold on to long held beliefs that science has or is in the process of refuting.  We say something is unhealthy based on what we know, but I believe we must always ask if those beliefs are based in fact.  Given our current obestiy epidemic and the research I've conducted that everything we thought to be true needs to be turned on it's head.

 

I personally am on day 8 of a calorie fast.  I have water, tea, black coffee and some bone broth (defatted).  I've had no loss of energy and I am monitoring both ketones and blood sugar with a blood test meter.  My blood sugar was quite normal the first 6 days, then it dropped a little after I ran out of bone broth.  The broth provided me with about 20 calories per day.  I added a little half and half to my coffee this morning and my blood sugar is back into the normal range.  My ketone level has remained above 3.0 since day 3, peaking at 6.6.  This clearly shows I'm burning fat at a high rate.  I've continued to exercise moderately during the fast walking 10-14k steps per day and adding in some pushups, situps and deep knee bends.  I've dropped at least another belt notch in this past week.  All the clinical research I've read shows that when fasting, the body uses ketones and other fat components to preserve muscle and not waste it.  Given my glucose has remained at or near normal during the process shows we don't have to consume carbs or other food to provide energy for those cells that require glucose such as red blood cells and brain stem cells.  Other studies show that while fasting, stem cell production increases as does growth hormone allowing you to actually add lean muscle mass.  This same phenomenom may be responsible for slowing or stopping the progression of alzheimers and parkinson by adding new neurons in the brain from the stem cells.

 

We are often quick to place a judgement on something that goes contrary to our beliefs.  We trust in groups such as the medical profession to give us the correct information.  But even the medical profession relies on such organizations such as big pharma, big food and even the legal industry for a lot of their knowledge as well.  I wouldn't blame our doctors, but the rather the source of their information as well.  They are not always right and it's your health.  It's my health.  Ultimately, only we have control over it, but must chose to seize that control.

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin
Best Answer

@800cals wrote:
I have decided to follow Dr Michael Mosley's 8 week sugar diet to lose weight and control my blood sugar. This is a diet with a sound medical basis (just in case anyone thinks it's a fad crash diet!) but it proscribes that you eat only 800 calories each day based on a mediterranean diet, concentrating on low carb meals. I tried to set my target calorie intake on my fitbit zip to 800 so that I could track what I eat, but the app tells me that I have to set a target of between 1000-1500 calories which is not what I require. Is there a way I can override this to enter only 800 calories?


 


But to answer your question, not that I know of, but you can use the food log to watch your calories in and when you get to 800, stop.  That should give you what you need.

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin
Best Answer
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@nutritionnerd wrote:

Since I am licensed nutritionist, I would suggest not doing this. Anything under 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode, which in return lowers your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight.


I agree.  I don't see why anyone would starve themselves to lose weight.   The original poster should be asking what type of foods to eat that's low in fat, high in fiber and protein.  What type of foods increases one's energy to be able to exercise an hour or more.    

 

My diet consists mostly of grilled fish, baked chicken, brown rice, spinach salad, quest protein bars, lots of water and  cookies and cream ice cream.  Once a month, I purchase a fruit bowl so that day is the only time I eat fruits.  

 

I cannot live without pizza. So what I do is purchase  pizza from a chain pizza store and immedately place individual slices in sandwich bags to freeze them.   I do that to keep from making  pizza my main meal because its fattening.  Whenever I get a craving for pizza I grab slices out of the freezer to have as a snack.  During holidays, I relax my eating routine and become human again.  

 

I think my profile picture shows whether or not  my fitness and eating routine is working.  

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@divedragon wrote:

@bcalvanese wrote:


This does not sound like a healthy way to lose weight to me. I don't know any doctor in their right mind that would recommend a diet like that, and any diet that recommends losing more than 2 lb. per week (1,000 calories less per day) is unhealthy. Even 2 lbs. per week (unless you are extreamely obese) is getting into the unhealthy area.

 



It's gradually changing.  Gerentology Professor with the UCLA Longevity Center and funded by the National Institute on Aging, Valter Longo has what he calls a fast Mimicking diet that recommends 800 calories a day.  Dr. Jason Fung, a kidney specilist, recommends 3-7 day fasts for weight loss and even diabeties prevention.  One member on this board reported her personal doctor in conjunction with her nutritionlist recommeneded she try Intermittent Fasting.

 

Doctors recommended the low fat diet for decades, but now we learn high fat is actually better.  This advice was predicated on a correlation study which was highly flawed.  I just watched a documentary that showed the competition between heart scanning for calcium deposits in the heart that indicated blockages and the now famous stint.  The first could possibly prevent heart attacks, the latter was after damage was done.  The only reason the stint won out is money.

 

The medical profession, while well meaning, isn't above the influences of politics and money.  Most doctors are also not nutritionist.  Even nutritionist hold on to long held beliefs that science has or is in the process of refuting.  We say something is unhealthy based on what we know, but I believe we must always ask if those beliefs are based in fact.  Given our current obestiy epidemic and the research I've conducted that everything we thought to be true needs to be turned on it's head.

 

I personally am on day 8 of a calorie fast.  I have water, tea, black coffee and some bone broth (defatted).  I've had no loss of energy and I am monitoring both ketones and blood sugar with a blood test meter.  My blood sugar was quite normal the first 6 days, then it dropped a little after I ran out of bone broth.  The broth provided me with about 20 calories per day.  I added a little half and half to my coffee this morning and my blood sugar is back into the normal range.  My ketone level has remained above 3.0 since day 3, peaking at 6.6.  This clearly shows I'm burning fat at a high rate.  I've continued to exercise moderately during the fast walking 10-14k steps per day and adding in some pushups, situps and deep knee bends.  I've dropped at least another belt notch in this past week.  All the clinical research I've read shows that when fasting, the body uses ketones and other fat components to preserve muscle and not waste it.  Given my glucose has remained at or near normal during the process shows we don't have to consume carbs or other food to provide energy for those cells that require glucose such as red blood cells and brain stem cells.  Other studies show that while fasting, stem cell production increases as does growth hormone allowing you to actually add lean muscle mass.  This same phenomenom may be responsible for slowing or stopping the progression of alzheimers and parkinson by adding new neurons in the brain from the stem cells.

 

We are often quick to place a judgement on something that goes contrary to our beliefs.  We trust in groups such as the medical profession to give us the correct information.  But even the medical profession relies on such organizations such as big pharma, big food and even the legal industry for a lot of their knowledge as well.  I wouldn't blame our doctors, but the rather the source of their information as well.  They are not always right and it's your health.  It's my health.  Ultimately, only we have control over it, but must chose to seize that control.


Most people fail at dieting alone even trying to lose 1 lb. a week. You think the success rate is better starving yourself?

 

The guidelines laid out by the CDC, doctors, and nuitritionists have always been pretty much correct. It's people that over eat. It's people that sit on their butts all day. Sounds like you are blaming the guidelins for what people do.

 

There are only two things you need to do to achieve nad maintain a healthy body weight.

 

1. Exercise enough to maintain a good fitness level.

2. Eat a variety of nuitritious food without over eating.

 

It's that simple, and should be done over a longer period of time to allow for developing good habits, and if you do more of number 1, you can have a little more of number 2.

 

The reason over 60% of Americans are over weight is because most people over eat and do not want to exercise, and has nothing to do with guidelines or studies.

 

I wish you luck on your radical new venture, but most people have a hard time sticking to a basic diet let alone something like this.

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Having a calorie intake under 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode and you will never lose weight like that.  Everything you eat will be stored as fat.  You will constantly feel fatigued, naseaus, weak, the list goes on.  I will never reccomend anyone going under 1200 calories, and even that for most is way too low!  Eat clean, fresh foods, exercise 5-6 days per week, limit carbs and sugar, and you should do ok.  Use a meal replacement shake if you choose, I do each day to help maintain my weight.  Good luck, be careful.

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@800cals wrote:
I have decided to follow Dr Michael Mosley's 8 week sugar diet to lose weight and control my blood sugar. This is a diet with a sound medical basis

As far as I can see, the only "medical basis" of that diet is the fact Mosley himself happens to be a doctor. That in itself doesn’t prove much (there are wacky people among doctors too). Where are the long-term studies that show this diet is effective and has no adverse effects?

While I think some of his other diets (eg. 5:2, which is just a form of intermittent fasting, which at least has been researched extensively) are sensible, the 8-week / 800 calories a day "sugar diet" doesn’t feel so to me.

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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@bcalvanese wrote:

@800cals wrote:
I have decided to follow Dr Michael Mosley's 8 week sugar diet to lose weight and control my blood sugar. This is a diet with a sound medical basis (just in case anyone thinks it's a fad crash diet!) but it proscribes that you eat only 800 calories each day based on a mediterranean diet, concentrating on low carb meals. I tried to set my target calorie intake on my fitbit zip to 800 so that I could track what I eat, but the app tells me that I have to set a target of between 1000-1500 calories which is not what I require. Is there a way I can override this to enter only 800 calories?

This does not sound like a healthy way to lose weight to me. I don't know any doctor in their right mind that would recommend a diet like that, and any diet that recommends losing more than 2 lb. per week (1,000 calories less per day) is unhealthy. Even 2 lbs. per week (unless you are extreamely obese) is getting into the unhealthy area.

 

 


After bariatric surgery it is normal to be instructed to eat below 800 calories.  Sometimes as low as 500.

Just saying.  It's certainly NOT unheard of.

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@nutritionnerd wrote:

Since I am licensed nutritionist, I would suggest not doing this. Anything under 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode, which in return lowers your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight.


That is completely untrue. If you are a licenses nutritionist, you need to do a little more research.  Please stop spreading such old wives-tales.

Spoiler
 

 

 

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@Tisten23 wrote:

Having a calorie intake under 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode and you will never lose weight like that.  Everything you eat will be stored as fat.  You will constantly feel fatigued, naseaus, weak, the list goes on.  I will never reccomend anyone going under 1200 calories, and even that for most is way too low!  Eat clean, fresh foods, exercise 5-6 days per week, limit carbs and sugar, and you should do ok.  Use a meal replacement shake if you choose, I do each day to help maintain my weight.  Good luck, be careful.


No no no.  Will you people stop spouting this garbage??

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@bcalvanese wrote:


Most people fail at dieting alone even trying to lose 1 lb. a week. You think the success rate is better starving yourself?

 

The guidelines laid out by the CDC, doctors, and nuitritionists have always been pretty much correct. It's people that over eat. It's people that sit on their butts all day. Sounds like you are blaming the guidelins for what people do.

 

There are only two things you need to do to achieve nad maintain a healthy body weight.

 

1. Exercise enough to maintain a good fitness level.

2. Eat a variety of nuitritious food without over eating.

 

It's that simple, and should be done over a longer period of time to allow for developing good habits, and if you do more of number 1, you can have a little more of number 2.

 

The reason over 60% of Americans are over weight is because most people over eat and do not want to exercise, and has nothing to do with guidelines or studies.

 

I wish you luck on your radical new venture, but most people have a hard time sticking to a basic diet let alone something like this.


Much of what you say is true, but overly simplistic.  Overeating or over calorie indulgence.  Plus, too much empahsis on exercise for obestity.  I understand that stance as I shared it for many years.  Turns out that exercise only accounts for 10 to 15% influence on weight control.  That makes it 85 to 90% on diet alone. 

 

Now, our abilty to feed the world is fantastic, but unfortunately we do it with high carb, high calorie processed foods that strip the fiber from it.  This doesn't begin with manufacturing, but with our agrarian processes.  Wheat has gone from a dwarf plant to a plant 4 times its natural size.  Yeild has increased astronomically.  Fiber and nutrients has decreased significantly.  But with all this, the recommendations by the CDC and other is eat more grains.  It's just plain wrong!  (BTW, I have a degree in agriculture, so I know of what I speak).  I strongly disagree that the CDC, doctors and nutritionlist have it right.  I believe they have it exactly, 180 degrees wrong!

 

It is because of the recommendation people have such a difficult time sticking to a diet.  Protiens and fat trigger the satiation response which prevents us from getting hungry too quickly.  The whole low fat fad of the 70's through the 90's has caused the tendancy to overeat.  This continued recommendation in spite of the science to eat more whole grains and less meat and fat is what is driving the obestiy epidemic.

 

You're totally correct, we eat too much.  And we eat too much of the wrong foods.  If we eat less often and more fat's and protiens, we'll be healthier.  It's a difficult concept to grasp as it goes againt everything you've been told for years.  But the facts are, the science just doesn't support the current main stream postion.  Please, send me your email and I'll be glad to send you the clincial trials I've found that dispute this by proving the position of IF as a way of life.

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin
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don't do 800 kcl.

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