A very low-calorie diet is a medically supervised eating plan used to promote rapid weight loss in the very obese. Those following these diets typically consume liquid shakes, bars or lean protein foods for several weeks or months. Daily intake may be 800 calories or fewer for 3 to 5 lbs. of weight loss in a week. Your doctor must supervise this diet, and you should also undergo behavioral therapy and include physical activity in your daily routine.
Step 1
Follow the plan that your doctor has prescribed very carefully. Your plan has been carefully formulated to provide you with needed nutrients. If you alter your plan, you risk nutritional deficiencies. You may experience less appetite after the first four to five days, but do not cut calories further.
Step 2
Avoid creating your own very low-calorie diet. Very low-calorie diets must be doctor-supervised. Meal replacements found at stores, such as bars, entrees or shakes, should not make up your entire diet.
Step 3
See your doctor every two weeks to alert her to any side effects, such as fatigue, constipation, nausea or diarrhea. She will also want to monitor your progress. Talk to your doctor about taking a potassium supplement.
Step 4
Talk to your doctor about medications that prevent gallstones, which may occur with rapid weight loss. Call him if you have symptoms of gallstones, including pain in your right upper or middle upper abdomen, a fever or yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes.
Tips and Warnings
- Work with your doctor to make a healthy eating plan for when your low-calorie diet is completed. You cannot go back to your regular eating habits and maintain weight loss. Without a plan, you risk gaining back all the weight you lost.
- Very low-calorie diets are not appropriate for pregnant or breastfeeding women and children or adolescents, unless they are enrolled in specialized treatment programs.
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