Extreme diets: Life on 800 calories a day

I am not a fan of these diets. It is not just because I like to eat or that I have a few pounds to drop. They just seem to be so extreme as to be unhealthy.

“Very low-calorie diets have been used to help obese and severely obese patients lose weight for more than two decades. “Next to bariatric surgery, nothing is more effective for weight loss than a VLCD, including pills and other diets,” says Dr. John Hernried, medical director for OTC Medical Weight Loss Group, a weight-loss clinic in California.

But the diet “is not indicated for someone who wants to lose 10 pounds.” Most programs screen potential participants to ensure they are psychologically and medically stable enough to begin the process.

Gordon Heitman, 46, a California man, lost 233 pounds in just over a year on a VLCD that allowed him to eat an average of 800 calories a day.”