when does low cal become starvation?

[legendarytroy]

Alright, I’ve heard of low calorie, very low calorie, starvation, and other names for diets. Some seem to be healthy while others seem like fad diets. So how do you know the difference between them all?

Are there official categories of some kind, like from a certain calorie count upward is considered healthy, but is there a certain calorie count downward that you should never do?

[suzie]

That pretty much depends on your body weight. As a female of average height and on the heavy side, I consider anything to be under 1200 to be pretty extreme. I wouldn't go below that. I find that you can really tell if you've been on a diet with too few calories if you pay attention to the way that your body and mind are reacting.

It's natural to feel a bit tired because you're not getting as much energy as you're used to. But if you are feeling light headed, shaky, or if you are finding that you're not hungry when you normally would, that probably means that you're eating too few or that you've even flipped into starvation mode which means that your metabolism slowed down and it's going to be even harder for you to lose weight.