If you are someone that is considering a low calorie diet, it is essential that you first talk to your doctor about it before moving forward. Low calorie diets can be classified in two main ways. First, you have the standard lower calorie diet which is a simple reduction in the intake of calories to a level of 1500 to 1800 calories per day. The other diet is the very low calorie diet, or VLCD, which considers only consuming a mere 800 calories upwards to 1500 per day. As you can see, this is a drastic decrease in the number of calories you can consume.
Why You Need A Doctor
Why do you need to bother a doctor? The first thing you should do is to get a physical to insure that there are no health conditions that you may not have known about effecting you that could restriction the number of calories you should be consuming per day. On the other hand, you should find out if you are in the right shape for this type of diet. If you are not physically capable of losing weight by reducing the number of calories you are consuming, you are not going to find the right type of weight loss nor will you be able to maintain your overall health.
Your doctor will find out, too, what the best number of calories for your body to consume is. Remember, if you are not consuming many calories, your body will not be able to preserve itself and maintain its function. You may have trouble accomplishing the things that you need to do or you may become more susceptible to illness. Each of these situations is something your doctor can help you to prevent if you seek out his help.
Finally, seeking out that doctor’s help is more than just something to do to get the all clear. If you place yourself on a very low calorie diet, how will you actually know that you are getting the nutrients that your body requires in the right amounts? And, if you don’t, your body could be susceptible to all types of problems including depletion of the nutrients that your body needs to maintain your health and activity.
For this reason, consider talking to your doctor. He or she will help you to plan the proper low calorie diet for your specific needs. With their help you can succeed.