Quote:
Originally Posted by
PolePosition 
Also I only read the first and last pages and on the first page you said you only ate 1100 kcals/day...that is way too little. Your body has adjusted itself to operate in a several caloric deficient environment so unless you just starve yourself you won't be losing any more weight with that.
http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html
That's a pretty good read on basal metabolic rate and all that.
Looking at Ancel Key's Minnesota starvation study:
Quote:
...This was followed by a 6-mo semistarvation period, beginning on February 12, 1945, in which they received 1800 kcal (7531 kJ) of food/d, with the starvation diet reflecting that experienced in the war-torn areas of Europe, i.e., potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, dark bread, and macaroni. The final 3 mo were a nutritional rehabilitation period, in which the men were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 energy intake groups; each energy level was subdivided into 2 protein levels, and each protein level into 2 vitamin levels.
During the study, participants were assigned to various housekeeping and administrative duties within the laboratory and were allowed to participate in university classes and activities. The participants were expected to walk 22 mi (35.4 km)/wk and expend 3009 kcal (12552 kJ)/d....
So, they ate a lot more than 1100cal/day but they also expended more calories than the OP would, yielding a similar caloric deficit. 6 straight months of this yielded roughly a 50% degradation in RMR, IIRC, and the main source of calories appears to have been carbs. Cutting my RMR in half and adjusting for exercise means that I would still be losing weight(slowly) even at that point.
Metabolic slowdown definitely exists but it seems to me that ultra low calories can work especially if one gets plenty of protein and EFAs. I know that Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss Handbook is based on this idea and I'm sure that there are others. I'd love to hear other viewpoints on this as it seems like a lot of people are still stuck in the "eat 6 times a day and don't cut many calories!" mode.
