# Negative calorie diet, experiences, myths, facts?



## adamjh3 (May 29, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with a "negative calorie" (foods that supposedly take more calories to digest than they can provide) diet? 

A nurse at a facility we frequent recently went from 315lbs to 178lbs by starting with 21 days of a "negative calorie" diet followed by a five month period on 1800 calories a day then another 21 days on the negative calorie dealio. 

I don't have the 100 plus pounds to lose that he did, and I'm already about 40lbs into my total goal of 75lbs of weight loss (yeah, yeah, I was a super fatty). But I am thinking about doing a negative calorie diet for a couple weeks just to kind of cleanse my body out and try to get rid of some of the cravings that I occasionally cave to. 

Anyone tried this? Any positive or negative experiences with this? 

BTW, it's mostly a fruit and veggie diet, I've found a couple soup recipes and the like, I'm basically just looking for any input anyone might have before I start on Tuesday.


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## Meursault (May 30, 2011)

adamjh3 said:


> Does anyone have any experience with a "negative calorie" (foods that supposedly take more calories to digest than they can provide) diet?


Not only is that probably impossible (celery, the archetypical "negative calorie food" isn't, though I can't find a peer-reviewed source for that), it wouldn't be a good idea if it were. I'd guess that the "negative calorie diet" is probably based on lots of high-water-content, high-fiber foods, which allow you to eat a large volume of food with a low calorie density. 



adamjh3 said:


> to kind of cleanse my body out and try to get rid of some of the cravings that I occasionally cave to.





			
				Morbo said:
			
		

> *TOXINS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOODNIGHT!*


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQg8JKo_3ZQ)


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## abckidsmom (May 30, 2011)

It's probably better to eat a varied diet of real foods (non processed), with lots of fruits and veggies.  With gimmick diets, you can almost always count on there being, well, a gimmick.


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## adamjh3 (May 30, 2011)

Eh, guess I'll just keep on keepin' on and add more fresh fruits and veggies in place of some stuff I'm doing now.


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## Aidey (May 30, 2011)

They lost 5.2 lbs a week? I'm really tempted to call BS. Either it took them longer than they told you, or there was something else going on. They would have had to have been burning over 18,000 calories more a week than they were eating, or 2600 cals a day. Depending on how tall and old this person is that would likely take 4+ hours of cardio a day on an 1800cal/day diet.


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## Aerin-Sol (May 30, 2011)

adamjh3 said:


> Eh, guess I'll just keep on keepin' on and add more fresh fruits and veggies in place of some stuff I'm doing now.



That sounds much healthier


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## abckidsmom (May 30, 2011)

adamjh3 said:


> Eh, guess I'll just keep on keepin' on and add more fresh fruits and veggies in place of some stuff I'm doing now.



I do count ice water as a negative calorie food.  I drink around 120 oz/ day of cold, cold ice water.  That's got to burn some calories just holding my body temp.

Now, I'm not losing 5 lbs a week doing that,  but it tastes good, and I'm all hydrated.


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## adamjh3 (May 30, 2011)

Aidey said:


> They lost 5.2 lbs a week? I'm really tempted to call BS. Either it took them longer than they told you, or there was something else going on. They would have had to have been burning over 18,000 calories more a week than they were eating, or 2600 cals a day. Depending on how tall and old this person is that would likely take 4+ hours of cardio a day on an 1800cal/day diet.



Naw, not BS, the dude was like a deflating balloon, just getting visibly smaller every time I saw him (about once a week). He did do 3 hours of cardio a day, every day so he said. Started with just walking with a 50lb backpack on, then eventually running on the beach


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## bigbaldguy (May 30, 2011)

I just switched to eating only melon after 5 pm and I'm down 15 pounds in 2 months. My problem was I eat lots of junk in the evenings when I'm on the comp so now the only thing in my fridge after 5 is a huge container of cut up water melon and honeydew. I can gorge to my hearts content and it's still less then the 3 cupcakes and bag of chips that was my previous late night snack.


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## DesertMedic66 (May 30, 2011)

I lost 21 pounds in 2 weeks at a wildland fire academy. Limited amounts of food mixed with training all day 18+ hours per day. And very little sleep. It can be done but it's not the safest or smartest thing to do.


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## abckidsmom (May 30, 2011)

bigbaldguy said:


> I just switched to eating only melon after 5 pm and I'm down 15 pounds in 2 months. My problem was I eat lots of junk in the evenings when I'm on the comp so now the only thing in my fridge after 5 is a huge container of cut up water melon and honeydew. I can gorge to my hearts content and it's still less then the 3 cupcakes and bag of chips that was my previous late night snack.



Oh, yeah.  I eat 3 watermelons a week in the summer.  They're just now getting all the way to delicious. 

1 cup of watermelon= 40 cal.  With fiber and micronutrients, you can subtract a few calories, and live happily ever after.

I think it's better than the box of girl scout cookies I'm indulging in currently.


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## JD9940 (Jul 21, 2011)

calories deficiency is a simple concept

calories consumed < calories burned = weight loss
calories consumed > calories burned = weight gain

read this for more information on gaining muscle and burning fat than anyone on this board could provide you with
http://www.liamrosen.com/fitness.html


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## Handsome Robb (Jul 21, 2011)

Rapid weight loss diets = rapid weight gain equal to or greater than what you lost as soon as you stop the diet.


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## mycrofft (Jul 21, 2011)

*OP, watch out for any food related info with these words:*

"Cleanse", "detoxify", "toxins", "burn", "melt", "silly trick", "incredible" (although the last one is porbably fair warning).

Congratulations on your weight loss so far, make the changes to keep it that weigh (haha), but do not start with fad stuff. Fads will work for some percentage of the peepul, not well for most, and will harm some others; it's a bell curve.

Start with realizing that Ronald McDonald and his posse are not your friends.


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## Uma1010 (Sep 8, 2011)

I think a diet should contains the necessary supplement in an adequate level , not the extra elements .


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## tommyG (Sep 27, 2011)

Michael Phelps eats 12000 calories a day...something to think about.


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## CHEPINC (Sep 27, 2011)

*Worry less about negative calories and more about nutrition heavy*

Losing weight is tough. Often is best not to get wrapped up in quick solutions and stick to what you know works. It sounds like you are already on a good start with the 45lb weight loss. 

Perhaps including an emphasis on the nutrients that you intake as well as the calories will help you shed those few extra pounds. The idea is to get nutrient dense foods, providing your body with the things it needs and not bogging it down "empty" calories. Eating fresh as opposed to processed foods will aid in this transition. Being color conscious will as well, the more colors on your plate the happier your body. 

Below are a few 100 calorie( or less) food items provided by the cdc's fruit and veggies matter page. 

•a medium-size apple (72 calories)
•a medium-size banana (105 calories)
•1 cup steamed green beans (44 calories)
•1 cup blueberries (83 calories)
•1 cup grapes (100 calories)
•1 cup carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories), or bell peppers (30 calories) with 2 tbsp. hummus (46 calories)


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## adamjh3 (Sep 27, 2011)

tommyG said:


> Michael Phelps eats 12000 calories a day...something to think about.



Muscle Burns more calories at rest. And he's stacked


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## Underoath87 (Oct 12, 2011)

adamjh3 said:


> Muscle Burns more calories at rest. And he's stacked



That would be a good explanation for say, a pro bodybuilder.
For Phelps, it's more the 10 hours in a pool every day.


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## Hunter (Oct 12, 2011)

tommyG said:


> Michael Phelps eats 12000 calories a day...something to think about.



He also has a 9-5Job in which all he does is Cardio via swimming, so I'm assuming the insane amount of cardio probably influences how much calories he uses...

Simply put:



JD9940 said:


> calories consumed < calories burned = weight loss
> calories consumed > calories burned = weight gain


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