Jessica Alba: ‘I have 1,200 cals/day, I also work out, so basically I’m starving’
August 3, 2011 in Celebrity Quotes, Jessica Alba by Versus
Jessica Alba is featured in Lucky Magazine this month (though the photo-shoot clearly took place many months ago) and she has quite a few interesting revelations. It seems that Jessica, whose figure is highly admired on our site, confessed that ‘it sucks’ to diet, starve and work out.
Post-partum girdle: “I wear a girdle around my tummy from the moment I give birth until it doesn’t feel loosely goosey anymore—that takes a good two to three months. It’s spandex with Velcro.”
No maternity clothes? “I generally don’t wear many maternity clothes…but I am wearing maternity pantyhose, because I can’t fit into the other ones.”
On her meal plan to shape up after the baby: “I have a hard time with portion control, so I have 1,200 calorie meals delivered. But I also work out, so basically I’m starving—it sucks. I drink a lot of water.”
On her post-baby workout: “Working out everyday for even just 45 minutes is good for my mental state. But getting dressed and actually doing it is the worst. It’s hard to get motivated.”
On why she likes to be distracted at the gym: “In the gym, I have like five things to distract me: TV, iPod, magazines. Working partners are good, too, so you can chat and not just drown in your own misery. Sorry, does that sound bad? I just hate working out.”
See 2 more shots from this issue next!
Uh, maybe this just didn’t happen to her, but what about breast feeding? Heard it burns a lot of calories (and also feeds your baby, could you imagine such a thing?).
How does it burns calories?
It does. My mother was breastfeeding both me and my brothers when we were babies, and so basically lost the babyweight over night. And she gained about 25 pounds all 3 times. I am not sure how it burns calories, but it does. Alot.
I think it just depends on the woman. My sister still has all her pregnancy weight, 3 years after she gave birth, and she was breast feeding. So I don’t think it has anything to do with the breast feeding, but the woman.
There’s going to be some variation, but breastfeeding burns hundreds of calories a day. It makes sense, since your body is burning all that energy to make food and the calories a baby needs to grow have to come from somewhere.
True that, it depends on the woman, but it does burn calories. But ye, there is a lot that depends on how your body reacts pre and post pregnancy.
Calories burning isn’t only something that takes place during exercise. Even sitting on our butts all day our bodies would still use approximately 1300-1400 calories (varies per person) a day for our normal bodily functions. The food we eat is distributed to our cells for energy just to function. So it makes sense that producing breast milk will require extra calories.
so i assume if it really helps women lose weight then it burns more calories than the extra that is needed to feed the baby?breastfeeding women need at least 300 extra calories a day.
My mother had the same experience.
ugh, jessica alba is annoying. she is always whining about her weight. in the latest allure she’s like “oh i’ll never be the same weight as i was before honor”….BULL…she is SKINNIER than she was before her first baby back when she was in “dark angel”. she’s one of those celebs who is always downplaying herself, maybe to seem more relatable, but we’re not buying it hun.i remember seeing pics of her with honor a while back and she was literally a bone, wasting away….i also saw her in person a few months ago and she was sooooo suuuuper skinny even though about 4 months prego u would never guess . she needs to stop complaining….she has nothing to complain about!
your body has to make milk, that requires energy, any bio chemical reaction does, that is all your metabolism is- the normal chemical reactions going on in your body. they estimate it uses up around 500 calories a day. but for some it also increases their appetite. at the end of the day you still have to eat less than you are using to lose weight.
Exactly.
‘prolonged lactation’ is a form of birth control. your body burns so many calories and proteins if you extend how long your baby feeds that you will not be getting your period right after giving birth. this then controls the number of children a woman has.
my source if anyone is wondering, before I get accused of pulling this out of my ass:
environmental determinist Marvin Harris
his books: Cannibals and Kings, Cows Pigs Wars and Witches
p.s. infanticide, like it or not, was quite common in ancient/medeival/hunter gather/etc societies. where food is not plentiful, and prolonged lactation is not ‘used’ (for lack of a better word) babies were often left out in the elements to die.
Yeah, this is true. It’s not the most effective birth control method, but it works!
I think it burns calories because, as we know, milk is produced by our bodies and consists of caloric content, like fat, protein and sugar.
If you are breast feeding, you are exhausting the stored up milk, and new milk has to be formed, so a part of whatever you ate that day is used to make milk, which will again be consumed by your baby.
they say it burn 400-500 cal / hour
that really good ,,i burn this amount after 1 hour on treadmill
You mean it burns 400-500 cal a day!
I have been breastfeeding my daughter and the weight fell off in about 9 months.
I ate like crazy!
8 slices of whole bread, fruit, candy, dinner, snacks and still I lost weight. It came to the point where I had to stop breastfeeding because I was getting underweight.
After I stopped breastfeeding it took me 3 months to be at a good weight again and now I am pregnant again :p So, we will see. I will start breastfeeding this time as well.
Breastfeeding also helps your uterus contract back to its original size.
No, I totally believe that she starved and worked out in order to obtain her pre baby body. However she took it too far. I actually saw her in person 5 or 6 months after she’d given birth to Honor and it was obvious she had taken the weight loss to far. In photos she was perfection but in reality she looked far to skinny. She was so thin that she had become unattractive. She definitely gained some much needed weight after that because such a low weight was obviously not sustainable for her.Thats the point I guess. These women can only be extremely thin for so long. Its just not sustainable unless you take adderal, snort coke and eat lettuce for the rest of your life which isn’t living.
“Its just not sustainable unless you take adderal, snort coke and eat lettuce for the rest of your life which isn’t living.”
Snort the lettuce and eat the coke. THAT’s living!
It’s funny because I’m exactly like her when it comes to post-pregnancy and working out. I find cardio workouts miserable. I doubt she’ll stay on the 1200 cal a day routine forever. She’ll loosen up once she loses the baby weight. Women who haven’t had kids just don’t understand how much pregnancy weight sucks.
I don’t know why she always wines about her wait…shes been skinnny for the past 9 yrs!! The last time she had more weight was in dark angel…. which seems like her natural body to me. And she looked gorgeous!
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee438/kaki33/jess01.png
Not that she doesn’t now….but shes always complaining about keeping her weight and her big hips and butt that I barely see anymore.
Whines*
weight….wow
i also loved how she looked in Dark angel (loved the show too of course) and i used to think it was also quite a natural weight for her even though i did know she was working out cos her character had lots of action stuff but i had recently found out that she developed an eating disorder while filming Dark angel…so i guess she whines cos she had to carefully watch what she ate (maybe even obsess about food) and workout since teenage years (or even earlier)
besided body-appearance issues lots of times don’t depend on what other people think of you but more on how you see yourself or how you think people see you which can be totally different from reality, so no matter how many people tell her she’s gorgeous and skinny she may not think so and pressure herself into unhealthy actions…
I know all the literature tells you moms burn 500 calories, but it just really It depends on what type of woman you are.There are some moms that can’t hold on to their weight because the breasfeeding causes them to loose it quickly. There are also mom’s, like me, who no matter how much you workout or watch what you eat hold on to their weight until they stop breastfeeding. I would work out for an hour and eat about 1400 calories consistantly and wouldnt loose an ounce. Right after I stoppped nursing(and I wasnt working out anymore) I lost 2 lbs and havent stopped loosing. The reason some woman keep on some of the weight is because the body needs fat in order to produce milk so their body holds on to it.
Its stuff like this that i read that totally triggers me…
Stuff like this gets more coverage than anything she does for charity. No wonder we all beat ourselves up. I got home from work today and changed into workout stuff so I guilt myself into doing something.
Perhaps you should try avoiding websites that focus on body shapes for a while if you’re worried about triggers, it might help to dodge anything that might trigger unhealthy comparisons or behaviors.
Ideally, yes. But I think it’s a little more complicated than that, maybe? If just telling someone to change their behavior were effective, well, we’d all be self actualized and highly functional, I reckon
If only.
me too, honey. doesn’t take much, does it
Yeah, me too.. Am I the only one who thinks it’s a little strange that she would actually say in an interview she restricts to 1200 kcals AND works out every day? I know she’s allowed and she should be able to say whatever she wants, but this is not a healthy restriction and she should know a lot of girls adore her body and want to look like her…
Honesty here is good, though.
Most celebrities perpetuate the idea that all teenagers are super-skinny no matter what they eat, and that having a body like Jessica Alba/Keira Knightley is simply a matter of eating healthy food and exercising. This is unrealistic.
Being thin is not unrealistic. If everyone dropped their calories to 1200 and exercised, 99.99% of women would be Jessica Alba sized or thinner. The other 00.01% would be slightly smaller than Kate Winslet.
The danger is that people are being led to believe thinness is attainable without hunger, and that those who are not thin must be stuffing their faces, instead of eating normally.
I don’t think you understand that not every one has the same bone structure and it’s not physically possible for most to get that thin
Being skinny as heck is possible for anyone. I am not advocating it, I am aware it is difficult, unhealthy and unwise, but absolutely everyone could be very thin if they were perpetually hungry.
Thankfully, most people (correctly) view this as a bad trade-off.
I would never actually look skinny even if I completely stopped eating because of my bone structure. A wide ribcage and wide pelvis is not very conducive to the skinny look
It is if said ribcage and pelvis are visible through skin.
I don’t mean everyone could attain the exact same measurements/weight, I mean everyone could be extremely thin.
To clarify, I don’t think extremely thin is a good look. But all bodies become extremely skinny in response to starvation.
I have a wide pelvis too – when I’m thinner it sticks out, when I’m not is doesn’t…. I don’t get what you mean?
But thinness is attainable without hunger. None of the slim people I know starve themselves. It’s silly to perpetuate the idea that slimness is only attainable through starvation and misery, when that is completely false.
Certainly being on the slim side of “normal” is attainable without starving. However that’s not what I mean – extremely thin people (high fashion models) are probably hungry most of the time.
If by trigger you are referring to disorder eating, then I agree with the other poster. It would be really wise to avoid sites where potential triggers lie. I know it can be kind of like sick curiosity…you want to spend time on this site because of the obsession and because of the potential for triggers, but I think in that case, for your own well being, it would be better to put a lot of effort into avoiding it altogether.
Me too. Makes me feel totaly bad about myself.
I’m loving her honesty!
But I don’t think she is honest all of the time. At the very least she contradicts herself. She was going on the other month about how she’s a feminist (since the age of 5 apparently lol) and how she wants to give her daughter a healthy body image. What she is doing here is publicly admitting that she starves herself to conform to a patriarchally-dictated ideal of feminine beauty. That’s hardly a feminist or body-positive message for her daughter.
In particular her comments here:
http://www.skinnyvscurvy.com/jessica-alba/jessica-alba-i-1200-calsday-work-out-basically-i’m-starving.html#comment-478886
http://www.skinnyvscurvy.com/jessica-alba/jessica-alba-brings-quotes-day.html
I understand what you’re saying Edith, but feminists can’t always practice certain things in their personal lives because of outside pressures, though they can still critque the culture that causes that pressure. I’m a feminist and a member of the fat acceptance movement, but I have anorexia. That doesn’t mean that I’m contradicting myself, merely that I live in the kyriarchy and I’m dealing with it as best I can.
It’s not a great message for her daughter, I agree, but JA has been rumoured (may have admitted?) in the past that she had an ED and/or body image issues, so frankly I’m not judging her.
What I do judge is our system of beauty that says the thinner you are, the prettier you are, and especially our culture’s weird moral obsession with food and weight.
But yeah, I hope Jess and her kids are not too damaged by these tropes.
Marya Hornbacher is a feminist, and always was. In fact, she was criticsed by some senior male journalists for her easily-riled temper and feminist political views.
Myra Hornbacher has psychiatric disorders; those don’t prevent her being a feminist.
progressive elements – yes I understand what you’re saying, but my understanding of feminism is that even if you aren’t living your life according to feminist principals (as humans we are bound to contradict ourselves), that is what you should be striving for. There’s little point espousing a belief if you don’t *try* and put it into practice.
Importantly, though, anorexia is separate from dieting. Jessica Alba is talking about dieting here; anorexia is a psychiatric condition, which is separate from a “lifestyle” which dieting falls under.
Back to Jessica Alba, though, she isn’t even trying to challenge the status quo so that is why it annoys me that she identifies with labels such as feminism.
that’s what i meant – feminists can have body image problems too…
I definitely agree, I guess the part where I’m unsure is because Jessica has said in the past that she has struggled with an ED. Even when “recovered,” it’s difficult enough just to keep things together, let alone act as a role model in that area.
I agree with that
There are very, very few ‘naturally thin’ people.
Having said this 1,200 really is very low so I think she’s under-reported her caloric intake a little but. But not much.
I love that she is honest about her diet and work out. Others make it seem like “oh, I just did nothing and the pounds just fell off”. Total B.S.
At least she said what she did and how much is sucks.
This makes me mad. Yes, she is being honest. But seriously… 1200 calories while working out? What a bad example. I guess I’m annoyed because I admired her before…
What people don’t realize. Is the women whose photos we all admire are about 10-15 pounds lighter in real life. Photographs and Video (Especially video) add weight. Which means slim on TV can often be scary thin in reality. In order to look slim on TV and in Photos, women often resort to extremely low calorie diets, diet pills, and other unhealthy methods so that they become scary thin in real life.
Yeah, I think it was Mila Kunis who said she looked great on screen in “Black Swan”, but just plain scary in real life, after she lost all that weight for her role.
Doesn’t that affect have something to do with the women being made to look more 2D than 3D on camera? I read somewhere that as 3D technology develops we can expect to see actresses gain a little weight as that method of filming is more ‘forgiving’. To be honest though I think that last bit is B/S. I mean if you watch HP Deathly Hallows in 3D and 2D Emma Watson looks no different, I don’t think.
Weird industry.
That’s exactly right. When I look at you in real life, I’m seeing you with two eyes, or two lenses. My brain compiles the image into one, giving me all kinds of fancy depth perception. When I take a photograph of you, I’m only looking at you with one lens (through the camera) and I lose the level of depth perception I had. Suddenly, you’re a little flatter and a little fatter-looking.
It would be interesting to see how weight is affected by 3d. I hadn’t thought of that before. Hopefully, it will result in more healthy weights!
Forgot to add that the type of lens you use can really add weight, (make you look more attractive!), and the lighting probably has the biggest impact. The difference in 2d to 3d probably isn’t as big a difference as the one between studio lighting and the real world.
you are flattened out on a magazine page too. this is why models are often tall b/c in a 2d image your body is compressed and clothing does not look as good on a *relatively* short/fat body type
i think i’m slim in real life but on camera i always look chunky! its so weird, i hate cameras now! lol
film isn’t as bad as photographs as the movement creates the illusion of depth, which we are adept enough to assimilate. Plus because there are points of reference, such as other actors, objects that have standard sizes, we have some prespective which is often completely lost in photos. Ever seen someone appear to lean against a bottle of beer? Or hold a house in the palm of their hand? Photos can really play with size and persepctive in wierd and sometimes very cool ways. 3D at the moment is ineffective as it isn’t truly three dimensional but mostly operates by appearing to make the object pop out the screen. I don’t know the technical terms. Also, perspective is still skewered in that we are watching twenty foot actors, or conversely 28inch actors! Even distance can affect how you perceive someone or lens, lighting as someone else pointed out. I think the point basically is to remember it isn’t real. Some people really seem to have trouble with that idea!
tl;dr
I always think this is so weird. I mean, when I get photographed or filmed I look the same in them right? At least I think so. So why does the camera add 10 pounds on those people? Don’t get it.
I don’t get it either. If anything I think I look thinner in photos and film than I look in the mirror, or than people seem to think I look IRL.
I’m sorry but this just isn’t a fair argument. Discounting personal photos- perhaps you are a rare photogenic soul- we’ve all seen plenty of photos where stars look virtually unrecognisable, where pear shapes look straight up and down, where someone with small boobs looks unexpectedly busty, where dark skins look pale etc. we know because we see it every day that people can and do look different in photos to the extent that they are unrecognisable. 10lbs didtributed over your entire body is not that dramatic, we’re arent talking about it all going on the belly or thighs, just a slight plumping and rounding out over your entire silhouette, with the help of bad clothing, posture and lighting in the case of some paparazzi shots.
Although the one thing i would say is that it isn’t always the photos that are the problem but the people looking at them. They seem to have some eye disorder that makes them see fat where there is only skin stretched over bone.
tldr again lolz
She’s actually crash dieting. But the headline makes it sound like she does that all the time (not responsible, Versus?)
I don’t think my title is irresponsible, considering that if you read the article, it’s pretty clear that she is talking about dieting.
Yep, it was an idiotic comment and isn’t she supposed to be a role model? *shakes head in disbelief*
It’s appalling how many people on this site think it’s perfectly healthy to eat 1200 cal and work out. People should note she said “for even 45 minutes.” Granted, she probably doesn’t care that she is wasting away her muscle because she just wants to be skinny but still! I’m 4’11 and ate a little more than that while working out (and trying to lose weight) and I got to the point where I felt faint just picking up weights. Crash diets ARE NOT OKAY. Who are any of you kidding? People think she’s just doing this for a couple weeks and then she’s gonna go out and eat 2000 every day after she loses the weight? I’m not a nutritionist but I constantly research and buy books, because I’m a runner and I don’t wanna screw up my body. My only advise to people who think that what Jessica Alba is doing is okay is go to a doctor or nutritionist–ask them if eating 1200 cal and working out is okay for HEALTHY weight loss. I wish celebrities would stop spreading nonsense because it’s obviously (even from this site) that people believe it. /end.angry.rant
I’m 4’11 like you, small framed, and even while exercising heavily, I feel absolutely no faint or anything bad and 1200 is the max that I eat. I think if you are between 90-93 pounds, with an office job, and aren’t doing sports competitively, there is absolutely nothing wrong with 1200-1300 calories a day. For fat loss, and not even extreme fat loss, based on my height and weight, I could get away with only eating a 1000.
Long response but I wanna fully explain:
I run 30 miles a week, weight train, and practice pilates/yoga. Obviously 1200 is not okay for me. I care a lot about fitness/nutrition, so much so that I am majoring in biochemical engineering/minoring in nutrition in college. I weigh 110 lbs, but am near an athlete’s body fat percentage. That’s where my opinion is coming from, so that’s why my response was kinda angry lol.
Of course, everyone has a different idea of what “working out” includes and have different lifestyles. My point wasn’t really about height–for us, I personally believe 1200 calories with a relatively sedentary lifestyle is okay. I think a lot of people have misconceptions about how much they actually eat, but I think it’s also fact that we don’t need as much as others. Without moderately intense exercise, I’m sure us shorties could get away with it (though I’m not gonna go and advise people). When I felt faint I was going to the gym for 1.5 hours a day.
However, google tells me Jessica Alba is 5’7. Your body is put through enough stress when you’re pregger… Plus “even just 45 minutes” of what can be very intense exercise…. Plus she’s an actress…. That can’t be healthy for her, nor should she be promoting it/talking about it nonchalantly. She feels like she’s starving because she is not eating enough. D: Furthermore, most people talking about calories on this site are probably not 4’11, though I could be wrong.
I don’t find eating 1,200 calories to be “starving”. I thought 1,500 was a good amount to eat for someone her size so 1,200 would just be average? Correct me if I’m wrong though, I’m curious to know.
I mean below average, oops.
its normally at least 2000 calories per person. i mean, a person in a coma needs like 1200 calories merely to function!
we have the same name
eh, 2000 is an estimate but for most women it’s really less depending on your size, age, and activity level. You can get an idea of your BMR on plenty of websites.
Amy I think the average woman who is moderately active (i.e. exercises 3-5 x week) will burn around 2000 calories. For lightly active or sedentary women it will be less and for highly active and athletic women it will obviously be more.
Kateuk is correct. 2000 calories is the average output for a moderately active person. 1500-1800 is recommended for sustainable weightloss. 1200 is low enough to throw the average metabolism out of whack.
yes but enables a moderately active woman to maintain what? Our healthy weight ranges across about a 2 and a half stone difference. what i eat to maintain at the high end of a healthy bmi is very different to what I eat to maintain at the low end. I can eat above 2000 for the first, quite a bit above, and for the latter I eat around 1800. i consider myself moderately active. I think the thing to remember is that 2000 is a guideline, not an exact and inflexible necessity. I agree 1200 is low, but i sincerely doubt the majority of celebrities eat much more than 1500 as a daily average. There is a magazine in britain which does a calorie count of a day in the diet of celebrities- I’m not suggesting it is completely accurate in the least, but it is quite informative and backs up what i have observed with very thin friends- none of them are getting anywhere near 2000.
I plateaued on 1800 calories a day and mild exercise. It wasn’t until I raised my calories that I started LOSING weight. You can eat 2000 calories and still lose weight. 1200 is too low, I’m sorry. Once your body adjusts to that, you’re going to start gaining once you start eating a more realistic amount of calories. Sad, but true. That’s why it’s a bad idea to diet in the first place.
Exactly! NO-ONE ever considers their weight loss may have stalled because they are eating too little…nooooo, because that wouldn’t be logical would it?? But sometimes if you are not eating enough the metabolism plummets and you need to kickstart it again by eating more!
“Exactly! NO-ONE ever considers their weight loss may have stalled because they are eating too little”
So true. So people start eating 1500 to lose weight, and the next thing you know they’re gaining at 1500 and need to go even lower…it becomes a bad cycle.
The worst part is, if they increase their food, they begin to gain weight and freak out and then go back to eating ridiculous amounts like 1100 calories.
To all the ladies who may be doing this: UP YOUR CALORIES, UP YOUR METABOLISM. You may gain 5 pounds by doing this, but it’s only SHORT TERM gain…it will melt off once your metabolism kicks up again, and you will be able to maintain the same weight at 1700 that you were at 1100, except you won’t be nearly as miserable.
She’s talking about her post baby crash diet. Not maintenance. 1200 is barely enough to survive for a 4 week crash diet, but any longer would cause deficiencies. It would also have to be extremely low carb in order to get in all the protein one needs to keep ones lean mass from disappearing too. 1500 a day for an exercising person would also be enough to lose weight fast. I don’t know why she feels she has to lose weight that fast. But I think that headline is misleading and a bit irresponsible!!
I’m a certified personal trainer. I actually try to keep my caloires between 1200 to 1500 and I work out, I”m short 5’1 so I don’t need that many calories. The 2000 is actually based for a man.
I cannot imagine only eating 1200 calories a day, but I guess a lot of it has to do with how many calories you’re burning. I run 7 – 10 miles every morning, so I’m burning at least 700 – 1000 calories extra per day…If I eat less than 1500 calories/day I’m starving!
It depends on your height as well. Like Libby, I’m also short, only 4’11 and small framed. 1200 is like the max I should eat in order to maintain my current weight and not end up gaining. And no, I’m not starving at all
The problem is rather that in the past when I noticed I was gaining and seemingly “not eating too much”, it might have been that I only ate twice a day, but the calorie content of the meal was much higher. Eating multiple times but meals with a smaller amount of calories is the way to go because it keeps your metabolism up, you feel that you are eating frequently, but you can still maintain your weight without gaining. IMO its really as simple as more in than you consume=gain, just that its sometimes really hard to know for a fact that there are xy calories in something, not to mention hidden calories.
I’m with you on that Mia. I run quite a bit and I am 4’11. It would be incredibly unhealthy for me to eat 1200 calories daily. How much you eat depends on activity level for sure! Jessica Alba probably isn’t sitting on her butt all day and she is definitely not 4’11 >.<
Lala either you are maintaining a weight that is too low for your height, underestimating calories or have an extremely low BMR and/or inactive lifestyle. Even a small build 4ft11 female should be able to maintain a REASONABLE weight on at LEAST 1500 calories….so this means not under 90lb.
Which man? Not any man I know. This is quite wrong. Do some research.
to be honest, I’ll never think it’s ok to eat 2000 calories every day for me. that’s 6′ tall man calories as far as I know. I prefer to sit between 1300-1600 calories. I’m 5’4″ for reference. and I feel like I eat to much and according to the tracking site I use I’m getting usually more than double the recommended protein i need for any given day
Chrissy, a 6 foot tall man would probably have to consume 2500 to maintain.
An average sized woman who wants to maintain would need 2000. To lose, 1800+exercise.
Going below 1500 is never, ever, ever a good idea. Even gastric bypass patients are not put on diets below 1500. The only time 1500 calories may be okay is if you are really short, which at 5’4, you’re not.
Sorry it cut me off…to add…
The only thing you will do by eating 1500 is consume less than your basal metabolism, causing your overall metabolism to slow down to compensate. And then you will find yourself gaining weight even by eating 1600, which is not normal. Slow metabolism is okay for short term but it can have other damaging effects on health in the long term.
Libby, a reputable personal trainer would never make such a ridiculous claim. I’m 5ft2, 115lb and MAINTAIN my weight on 2000 calories (moderately active).
Most men burn well over 2000 calories unless they are completely sedentary and have little lean mass.
My mother IS a qualified and experienced personal trainer and fitness instructor who has been in the industry for nearly 30 years.
I’m not saying everyone should. I said that’s what I do. But if I’m feeling hungry I will eat more. I just might not eat as much the next day. It’s all about balance. Everyone is different so you can’t say that its a ridiculous claim.
Kateuk, my weight is usually between 41-43 kg. Of course its at the lower end of my BMI, but like you said, I’m not exercising anything, I have an office job as well, so yes, my BMR is really low. Also, of course I can maintain a reasonable weight, I’m never below 90 pounds.. but for me, I look the best for my frame when I’M between 41-43 kg. If I go above it, you can see that it doesnt really look right and is just excess, and I also feel much more sluggish. Btw, according to this site: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
If I give 21 years, 43 kg( which I am currently), 4’11, and choose little exercise/desk job as activity level, it says for maintanance I have to have 1321 calories, for fat loss 1057 calories, and for “extreme” fat loss it would be 792. If I would have the same settings except for when I’m naturally at a lower weight its even less. Ok an online calculator is not the most accurate tool, but according to this I’m on the right track. Of course to a normal person 1200 calories or below does sounds extremely alarming, but being so short really does make it acceptable, just like being size 0 or even 00 when you are 4’11 cannot be compared to being 5’11 and the same size, it doesn’t look alarmingly thin at all.
I’m 4’9 and I eat roughly 15-1600 and am 40-40kg. I’ve maintained this weight for the most part, except for when I got sick and dropped to 37kg. I was still eating around mid 1400s because my activity level changed, It is different when you’re short, because you feel it when you put on a pound, but I still don’t think it’s good to go below 1200 even if you’re sitting around a lot. For our heights, our BMR is around 1200 even when sedentary.
That calculator estimated too low for me personally, but then again I’m probably more muscular compared to the average woman my height/weight. It said 1750-1850 to maintain 115lb at 5ft2 with 5 x week exercise, but I usually consume around 2000 calories. Using the Katch McArdale formula which takes into account body fat percentage my BMR is actually closer to 1300 rather than the predicted 1200 from the other calculator hence why my calories are needs are somewhat higher.
But I just think people are better off be a little more active rather than going too low on calories. Just 3 x week exercise and you can up your calories to 1500 and still maintain a 90lb-95lb weight.
oops, that should say 39-40kg.
They say that an extremely rough estimate is to add a 0 to your current weight in order to maintain that weight (idk if this also works for men). So if you weigh 100lbs and want to stay a 100lbs without working out, then you consume 1000 calories (I think Basal Metabolic Rate). If you consume more, you gain, you consume less, you lose.
Of course, this is highly error prone bc it doesn’t take into consideration muscle burning more cals than fat, general activity during the day and metabolism differences.
I reiterate, ROUGH estimate
It really depends on how much you work out. You burn calories just by living, so her net calories is probably in the negatives, which means pretty much she is starving (kinda).
It is kind of hard to explain but tectonically she needs to eat a bit more
I can understand this, but if your net calories are in the negatives, does it not just mean you will lose weight? Your body needs a certain amount of calories to carry out its functions but is 1200 that number?
lol @ “tectonically.” Hopefully she isn’t causing any earthquakes! :p
But no, having a net negative of calories *is* what it takes to lose weight. It would be exercise bulimia, for instance, if she was working out so that she burned 1200 calories to nullify the amount of food she’s eaten.
Most women can eat at 1500 a day and still maintain a caloric deficit if they are working out as well.
@Hays – if she didn’t work out, 1200 might be okay, still low though. But to work out 45 minutes every day and only consume 1200 calories pr day, that is just insane and unhealthy.
Unhealthy? Maybe if that were her every day routine but to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. She seems to just be talking about losing the baby weight, not suggesting a lifestyle.
Lifestyle or not, eating only 1200 calories is still not healthy. And wanting to do it right after giving birth, is definitely not healthy. You need to rest after giving birth, not go on a strict diet.
I disagree. Eating a restricted diet is only unhealthy if you do it for an extended period of time. Consuming less than that could put your body in starvation mode which would be unhealthy, but a few weeks on 1200 cal would be fine as long as you’re getting enough nutrients.
thats not true! youre putting your body through too much stress by changing your diet all the time! sticking to one to let the metabolism function properly is the best way to loose weight in the long term
Who said anything about changing your diet all the time? I’m simply talking about going low cal post pregnancy.
People always seem excessively wary of cutting calories to lose weight but when it comes to losing weight it’s a more powerful tool compared to exercise.
Exactly. Cutting calories has hormonal repercussions that can cause stubborn weight GAIN over time (and in the wrong places). Not only that, but it ALWAYS eats muscle tissue too, which causes one’s metabolism to dip and dip.
Anybody who relies on extreme (and 1200 cal is extreme) calorie cutting to drop weight will therefore find it harder and harder to get results over the years. Not a good way to go.
45 mins a day and 1200 is fine if you are trying to lose weight. if you are on the go and moving, make it 1500. . shes actively trying to lose weight, not maintain. if this was a diet to maintain her weight, that would be awful. eventually the weight loss will level it out and she can increase calories again. i could never live off of 1200 calories a day, must be awful.
If she works out a lot, yes it is low. I was on a 1200 calorie diet while working out and I got to the point where I was in a constant brain fog and close to passing out. I think 1200 calories for someone who doesn’t work out is okay, depending on their natural size and your body type. I think it would be hard for a mesomorph to consume such low calories.
If you are anything more than sedentary while on a diet, then you are probably getting too much of a calorie deficit, which amounts to ‘starvation’. For example a highly active woman burning 2300 calories a day should be getting no less than around 1800 in order to lose weight. A sedentary couch potato burning only 1500 calories could safely go down to 1200 calories although they’d be far better just sticking with 1500 and exercising moderately. Weigh loss is not supposed to happen over night, big calorie deficits lead to fast weight loss but with massive loss of lean tissue as well as fat.
it depends on your weight and how active you are. Ask your doctor about it he/she can give you more reliable info than anyone on this site;)
I think it is good she is honest.I love Jessica because I heard she started working out two weeks after she had her daughter so I did the same after my daughter it motivated me.Jessica is right its hard sticking to a diet though.
Wish I could have meals delivered like theses celebrities it kinda makes things alot easier.
Jessica Alba has really grown on me. I like her a lot now. This new & improved post-kids personality in interviews actually accentuates her beauty – and that’s a good thing.
I want to workout now after reading this.
what a lovely message to send to her children.
can celebrities just stop complaining about working out and how it’s so terrible and how they starve themselves? if your workout sucks then go find something that’s better. there’s so many possibilities that it shouldn’t be a problem to find something you like. it’s just everyone’s mindset that exercise is so out of everyday routine that it has to be so darn difficult to like. she looked better before like after dark angel. no one cares much about her anymore anyway. it’s not like she looks like she used to because that’s really the only thing that got her name noticed. now she’s just another skinny actress who really can’t act but try so hard to remain relevant in today’s entertainment society.
I don’t think the work out is the problem, is working out and starving at the same time that makes her so miserable. Anyone will hate the idea of working out when you have just enough energy to live. I agree with the last part though.
i dont see how that is extreme.. i eat 1200 calories average, and i gained 4 lbs in past 3 months because i didnt have time to workout religiously like i normally do. 1200 sounds like a lot to me actually. its easy to stay in that range and be more than full. if i eat more, i gain.
i guess to each their own though. some lucky women eat a bunch and gain nothing
Sounds like you’re either extremely short or have a medical issue. I genuinly don’t mean to scare you, but have you talked to your doctor about this? Since I was a kid, I would eat around 2500 – 5000 kcal everyday, and I never gained a significant amount of weight. Actually, if I gained any at all, it would be gone by the next two days, and I never worked out or did anything at all to “burn” the calories. I’m 23, soon to be 24, and I can still eat an insane amount of food over a long period of time without getting overweight.
I’m aware of the fact that it’s not that common, but it certainly isn’t common to gain weight if you only eat around 1200 kcal per day without there being some underlying issue. I would check with a doctor, just to be sure.
Good luck.
i’m 5’5. i dont think i have a problem but i would love to know if i did. i do feel like i eat too little to be gaining weight. and i dont carbs.. or sweets really. i eat pretty clean. when i work out i maintain around 108 lbs, but when i dont i go up 5 lbs. as soon as i stop watching closely what i eat, i gain.
but everyone is different with that. some people eat nothing and gain right away. some people eat everything and stay tiny. my friend is former Ms.Nicaragua and shes always eating something yummy yet she has a body of a goddess. I wish!
You are maintaining a weight that is too low for your body. That is why you gain even at such a low amount of caloric intake. Your body wants to be normal weight.
Exactly what uma said. If you try to maintain a weight that is too low for your body then of course you’ll practically have to starve yourself for life to maintain it!
Yes Uma! You are so right! I’m really glad you pointed this out.
You’re probably counting your calorie intake wrong. Sometimes things have calories that you wouldnt even notice or remember about. I saw this on tv once, a woman really & truly thought that she was eating a limited amount of calories, it turns out (according to the doctor) that she was actually eating much more than she expected.
I understand. All the responses are plausible causes as to why you gain even though you have a low calorie intake.
Your weight is too low for your body/height, your calorie intake is incorrect, your metabolism may be affected by the low calorie intake and rigorous training or you might have thyroid problems. Either way, I would get this checked out. It’s better to be safe, than sorry.
Hopefully there’s nothing wrong, and you’ve only calculated your calorie intake incorrectly.
Good luck – again.
I also wonder if you have a hypothyroid issue. Gaining (true) weight while only eating 1200 calories is not normal for pretty much anyone. Perhaps you just gain water weight?
Another thing that could have been happening was that eating more calories allowed your body to actually put on muscle. Eating at any deficit makes it a lot more difficult to maintain current muscles, let alone putting on muscle.
It’s a possibility.
Anyway, people get too concerned with what the scale says (though, I obviously have no idea how you measure weight gain, this is just a general statement) measuring through clothes really is the best way to do so.
I so agree… I worked out quite a lot for the past 4 months and i became visibly more toned than i was. My weight also got settled at around 102-103 lbs for 5’4 even though my personal ideal weight is 100 or 99 lbs. My clothes are definitely not too small, some are even slightly larger. I know that the muscle mass makes the difference, but frankly it still irks me. I know the whole logical and reasonable part, yet when i weigh myself i still get scared. It’s just my irrational part of my mind that screws with me.
instead of thinking about your weight/BMI try finding out your body fat % (taken from height, neck, waist and hip measurements)
It’s probably very low.
Also, even if you’re five foot nothing, 103lbs is pretty low. So you’ve got nothing to worry about, unless you want to worry about being too low.
I don’t think it fair that you comment on someones weight when their bmi is higher than yours and you are talking about wishing to be even lighter.
I did not realise that. I was just making a point on fat muscle mass can do. I felt if i used real numbers it just seems honest not talking out of my ass. I really did not want to brag or be patronizing or anything. I apologize if i offended anyone.
on what muscle mass can do, not fat, lol*
I can’t imagine how this is possible. Some people do underestimate the calories they are taking in though. Best get it checked by a nutritionist.
You can screw up your body to the point where it is so used to surviving on such a low amount of calories that if you eat slightly more you’ll gain weight quickly.
there is no evidence that crash dieting or yo yoing causes any long term effect on your metabolism. Metabolism is just the normal functioning of your body. People need to stop referring to it in such general, all encompassing terms. specific conditions have their own names, their own symptoms and treatments. Unless you are experiencing ill health or witnessing worrying changes, you are fine and your metabolism will be functioning within normal limits which do not vary greatly from person to person. If alex d is eating healthy and happy with her weight, its better than a lot of people out there. Her bmi does not seem significantly underweight unlike many others on here, maybe she is doing what so many commend Jessica for and simply being honest.
I”m like you. If I don’t have time to work out religiously I gain. I work full time and go to school full time. So certain things get put to the side. My best friend on the other hand can eat whatever she wants and gains nothing.
1200 calories and gaining? Your metabolism is wrecked.
2000 is the NORMAL amount – not the abnormally thin “lucky” women’s amount.
You’ve made a mistake with your calories, or you are really, really thin.
Overweight people often use more calories per day than thin people.
In practical terms a healthy person’s “slow metabolism” differs from a healthy fast one by very little.
I’m really sorry but you’re not ‘unlucky’.
Well dug
she sounds like my mental twin.
She says she need FIVE things to distract her at the gym and then only lists three (four if you include the workout buddy). Perhaps all that starvation is making her stupid.
Yeah, I noticed that as well.
She said “I have LIKE five….” The “like” implies that she’s not being overly specific.
I really like her body in that red dress, but it kind of screams photo-shop since her boobs aren’t that big and she doesn’t have a waist.
this isn’t unhealthy if she’s trying to lose weight…if it was over a long long period of time that she was eating like this then it might be considered unhealthy. I’m sorry but not everyone needs 2000 cals a day. It’s unnecessary for most . I’ve seen plenty of girls work out religiously and complain that they aren’t losing or toning up, but the truth is it’s because they were eating too much. If you’re only exercising moderately say 3-4 times a week 1200 cals is fine…2000 cals is what an athlete who trains hardcore would need.
from what I’ve read, a full grown man working hard all day requires 3000 a day. so for a woman to eat 2000 a day *standard* without exercising – good way to get fat unless your metabolism is ultra fast
This just simply isn’t true and it makes me sad, given your previous posts here, knowing you sort of have issues with food
A “full grown man” of about 180lbs at 5’11″ would require around 2500 kcals for doing nothing. If he was doing something hard for work, like moving and heavy lifting, you bet he would need an increase in calories.
Women have a really terrible idea of what it takes to be thin or to eat. You don’t have to suffer and you should rarely eat 1200 calories or below. In fact, that is a good way of screwing your metabolism up.
Another thing women seem to not realize is that when you restrict yourself severely and then you eat something abnormal, you don’t gain 3 pounds over night, no, what you’ve gained is pure water weight as your body deals with something it hasn’t dealt with for some time.
It just makes me sad so many people have such backwards ideas on what it takes to be healthy and/or slim.
You are so right!
Look, I’m 20 yo, 5’8” and currently around 125lbs.
And have no idea how much calories I normally get, but if I had to guess, I would say about 2000. And I don’t put (or loose) weight easily, I tend to always have this weight no matter what! This girl probably has a thyreoid issue or maybe she just screwed up her metabolism so badly that now her body is functioning as though she was living in some nazi concentration camp – it HAS to spare calories in order to survive!
how can you form an argument with ‘I have no idea what calories I get?’ you could be eating 1200 for all you know!
No, I’m pretty sure i’m eating much more than 1200, because I eat like twice the amounts diets recomend.
This isn’t true.
Incorrect. Athletes need a lot more than 2000 calories.
Most people who actually workout need more than 2000 calories unless they are trying to maintain/get to a weight that is too low naturally for their body
Michael Phelps when he was in tip top shape and preparing for the Olympics ate 7000-8000 calories a day. 2000 cals is nothing for a hardcore athlete. It stands for breakfast maybe.
That is really not true. Sorry. I work with athletes. They eat eat 6000 a day. Even non professional sports people need well over 2000 (and they tend to eat 5 or 6 meals a day).
Maddie, that is dead wrong sorry. I’m a moderately active 115lb female who MAINTAINS her weight on 2000 calories per day. A hardcore female athlete could easily LOSE weight on 2000 calories!
maddie isn’t necessarily wrong, it depends on your definition of “hardcore.” obviously michael phelps needs 7,500+ cals, because he is in the pool for 4 or more hours every day. now thats HARDCORE. but i also consider myself to a hardcore athlete…I train 90 mins/day 6 days a week, and i dont really go much over 2,000 cals. just depends on what kind of circuit you are doing, and the intensity.
ok so maybe i shouldnt have said hardcore but maybe a person who leans towards a more active lifestyle…and im sorry but 1200 calories isn’t undereating for me…maybe i should generalise but i’ve visited a dietician and doctor and had the ok on my diet. Do not feel bad for me Lee-la, it’s actually very insulting. I do not and have never had an eating disorder so don’t assume facts. You do not need to feel ‘sad’ for anyone, it’s kind of annoying: your holier than thou attitude.
shouldnt**
My second post was more directed to Wyndie who admitted to eating only 500 calories a day and the like.
wow you got crucified!! People are throwing a lot of numbers around here. I know quite a few dancers and they are fairly hardcore but their eating is very disciplined and I wouldn’t like to throw another number around but I doubt it is very high. i think the difference is whether you are trying to build muscle or keep your body fat low without bulking up. Muscle cannot be built from nothing, you need to feed it, but you also need to put the hours in or it just turns to fat.
<3
1200 calories a day is not starving. Don’t make me laugh. What an attention whore.
I actually really like this comment! It really does seem like she’s screwed either way. If she just said something like, “Oh, the weight just came off naturally from breastfeed, haha I have good genes”, we’d all call shenanigans on that. But when’s she’s honest, people freak cause it’s promoting a unhealthy habit. I’m sorry, but no celebrity has any bearing of what you do, unless you let them. Mine might not be a popular opinion, but I really like that she’s basically saying that in order for her to look that fabulous in photos, she has to ‘starve’ herself. It’s refreshing and I would say that it puts the authenticity of magazines in question.
Now, I’m going to go do some reverse crunches before I go to bed, so I don’t feel like such a failure.
dammm is this chick ever happy about anythng in her life?? is she always complaining about her life and body my god!
I agree with her. I’ve done what she’s doing and it is tough. It’s nice for her to admit that, especially when you consider how many people consider to be the epitome of attractiveness. She works hard for it.
FINALLY! A celebrity that’s honest! That’s why I like Jessica … she doesn’t usually BS.
Getting down to the weight she does after her pregnancies takes some suffering. I went from a US 8 to a US 2/4 a couple years ago by doing 1200-1300/day all vegetarian and doing 45-60 minutes of cardio PLUS an hour long exercise class class 5-6 days a week. It’s hard as hell!
While what she’s doing to herself isn’t exactly healthy, at least she’s being HONEST. I can’t stand when celebrities say “oh, I eat McDonalds and ice cream sundaes and the only exercise I get is chasing my kids around!” I’m sure those celebrities are dieting just like Jessica Alba (if not being even more restrictive). I wish people could just have “normal” relationships with food and exercise (and that includes me, big time!)
I really like her honesty – but her message is not very good! I guess no one should be surprised that she basically starves herself while working out a lot to lose her baby weight – she loses it fast. She is also very thin normally and most people can’t be that thin without a low caloric intake and lots of exercise. It’s the industry she’s in. If she was not a celeb, she would probably take more time to lose the baby weight and then be a couple of sizes bigger normally they we are used to seeing her – but she wouldn’t get so much admiration if that were the case. She’d still be beautiful though!
I totally love how she says she hates working out and has to distract herself in order to do it – I’m the same and it’s good to hear! So many celebs (and others I know) say they love it and can’t live without the high it gives them – when I just think it’s like doing the housework – has to be done, but not exactly my favourite activity!
honesty gets you nowhere jessica. she’s going to be crucified for this poor thing.
idk i eat around 1200 calories and i’d feel sick if i had any more than that. i am at a healthy bmi and weight range, just low metabolism i guess.
Terrible lifestyle. I’d rather be happy than thin. I usually eat-1800 to 2000 cals a day and work out when i feel like it, usually averaging 30 mins a day. I’m really quite thin too. If you have to go to these extremes maybe its not a good weight for you! She is very pretty but she’s always looked a little too thin to me.
Same here and totally agree!
Spot on. If you have to work that hard to maintain, you are at a weight that is not natural for your body type.
i definitely think 1200 is low. I read a site that says if your body temp is low it means your metabolism might be lagging. it makes sense from a biological standpoint. Apparently most people rarely reach 98.6 anymore. Mine has gone up from not restricting my cals so much and without gaining weight. I feel much better as well. Testing in the morning is said to be best. mine is up to 98.4 from 97.3ish when I first wake up. 1 degree makes a huge difference in how I feel!
Hey, maybe that’s why I don’t gain weight even when I eat a lot – I am actually so warm most people think I have a fever when they touch me! Wouldn’t know in Fahrenheit, but I’m usually about 37/37.5°C
normal body temperature.
In all liklihood, you don’t gain weight because you eat less / do more than you think.
Ugh, people in the western world…
A millionaire actress restricting herself from food to look good to comply to awful standards of beauty- and she’s calling it “starving”.
Honestly, that makes me so mad. Open your eyes, the majority of the world’s population is starving for real and not for the sake of looks.
I’m American and I agree with you. I think she’s a bimbo and this quote represents something seriously wrong with this society all around.
Well said!!!!
I saw her interview on ‘The Talk’ where she said she worked out 6 hours a day to lose the baby weight. That’s pretty extreme.
1200 calories for someone that exercises is not right. At all. Yes everyone is different and has different caloric needs but come on, who are we kidding here. 45 minutes of cardio every other day would lead her to need at least 16-1800 calories a day for weight loss, and even more to maintain her weight. 1200 calories is for someone that does not work out or is very short and inactive.
I understand that while it is refreshing to hear a celeb not say they can “eat whatever and have a lightning fast metabolism” (because in most cases this is BS) it is not healthy to spread that message. Jessica Alba has body and food issues, and is not recovered at all from her past ED. Not every teen or grown woman out there is strong minded and people can be influenced to think that in order to lose weight and be skinny they must starve.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Learn about health and nutrition, get help see a doctor or a nutritionist. And if you cannot afford either of those go to the library. Research and READ.
ED’s are not the result of ignorance and the lack of a ‘strong’ mind.
A girdle?!
Well, at least she’s honest… I like the fact that she’s always been open about the fact that it doesn’t come naturally to her.
Haha, the last part (about drowning in your own misery) can relate to. Working out is a necessary evil.
Her body is gorgeous, my ideal body really!
I guess the 1200cals + work out sounds very heavy.. But it’s probably just a crash diet to lose her baby weight. She does have this insane pressure on her by the media, and she’s getting older so it’s probably harder for her to lose weight than when she was 21.
Anyway I love her body and she’s being honest – I’m sure she’s being monitored by nutritionists all the time.
she is such a hypocrite,this is what she said in one interview a few months ago : “Diets are for the birds. I’m not a big workout person. Every single day, I tell my girlfriends we’re starting a regimen. And then it’s, like, ‘Want to get dinner? Want a glass of wine?” the only way she can get attention is to talk about her food and workout,she is supposed to be an actress,she should talk about her work,but then again she can’t act.if she really wanted to be famous for what she does,she would not have talked about herself constantly,instead she would try to improve her acting
whatever…but DAMN she looks good. And I love the blue dress!
I bet she’s a pain in the ass to live with. Every interview is of her complaining about being famous in some way, she always looks miserable, and she’s hungry!
Haha! I always think the same thing. I bet poor Cash (her husband) has to run in circles to keep Jessica happy. He’s so adorable, but she always seems to kind of treat him like an acessory/assistant when they’re in public. He’s always the one lugging the bags and the baby while she scowls for the paps and sips an iced coffee. I guess the money, perks and her trophy status is worth it to him.
Idk why, but for some reason Cash strikes me as the kind of guy who likes a little T&A on a woman, so Jessica being so skinny and miserable must not be fun for him either. lol.
This comment made me LOL!!!!!!!! how the hell do u know wat cash likes? and the stuff u said?? do u live with them to know all of that?? My God.
If you see any of their paparazzi photos you will see Cash carrying around ALL the stuff. She usually only carries her purse and he often is pulling the car around for her and opening the door like a chauffeur. Most married men don’t bother to do that crap. So it’s not hard to deduce that she kind of treats him like the help and he accepts it because of her money and status.
As far as my opinion on what he likes, they met on the set of Fantastic Four where she was thicker and was basically popular only for her little bubble butt and pretty face. So again, it’s not hard to deduce that Cash likes some T&A. A guy who likes curves usually doesn’t usually pursue the girl who’s flat on both sides no matter how pretty her face is.
I’m not really a Jessica Alba fan but I gotta admit I think it’s pretty cool for a celebrity to admit she doesn’t look like that by doing nothing
I can relate to hating to work out too!
Glad I’m not famous, love my food too much. I would rather be happy wit my appearance, even if it ment not living up to the Hollywood standards, (but still being at a healthy weight of course) then being hungry all the time with a less hollywood figure, u know wat I mean. I tried the very low cal and huge amounts of exercise and I wad so unhappy. We are ment to eat and be satisfied, not too much n not too little
yeah, breast-feeding does help you lose the baby weight. My mom was really careful with her eating when she was pregnant with me, but of course everyone gains weight, but afterwards the breast-feeding combined with her diet/exercise, she was 10lbs thinner than she was pre-baby.
Seeing a lot of layperson diagnoses here.
Let’s say those of you dispensing medical advice to each other are all M.D.s: it’s sight-unseen & therefore still unethical.
the closest to medical advice I’ve seen is, “go see a doctor or a nutritionist”
“Seeing a lot of layperson diagnoses here.
Let’s say those of you dispensing medical advice to each other are all M.D.s: it’s sight-unseen & therefore still unethical.”
Agreed, but a person with general knowledge can still probably tell and point out when something doesn’t sound right. There is no good reason why an average sized female, while breastfeeding, is consuming less than 1800 calories a day…in fact, 400 calories less than that. There’s no way that sounds right and I would be the first words out of most doctors is, “Why are you eating so low? You should be eating more.”
She may have some rare condition that we are not aware of, but I think it’s likelier that like most celebrities she is not very educated on nutrition and is eating as little as possible because she wants to stay slim and feels that’s the way to do it. In which case, “she should be eating more,” is pretty valid medical advice as that’s what any real medical practitioner would say.
You don’t need a medical degree to comment on Jessica’s Alba’s diet and exercise routine. Many people on here have degrees in nutrition, kinesiology, or exercise physiology. Most MD’s are not even required to take a nutrition class.
the whole deficit thing can be kind of confusing. let me try… sorry if this is long.
my bmr was 1420 last i got it checked. i was pretty surprised it was so low. i got it done at a hospital medical weight loss clinic bc i worked there and was curious. i’m 5’6” and was 15lbs overweight, and 40lbs over my ideal. the nutritionist said my bmr would go down as i got closer to my ideal.
so, since bmr is a measure of only the calories i need to survive, i’d need 1420 to maintain plus the 300 or so that everyone burns just from walking around the office, going to your car, working, basically the daily non strenuous activities. so i’d need 1720 to maintain.
i took a nutrition and weight loss class given by physicians at that hospital and they said a few things- never go below 1000 cals/day no matter how skinny or fat (obviously! 1000 is so low) and never burn more than 2-3 lbs a week if you are overweight, and never more than 1 to MAYBE 1.5 lbs a week if you are a normal weight (according to BMI standards). so, if you have a calorie deficit of more than 500-750 a day, and you are a normal weight, you are going to be losing too much weight too quickly.
so, here’s how i see it applied to jessica alba. since she is skinnier than me, her bmr might be lower than mine. her bmr might even be in the range of 1200. but then if she’s only eating 1200, she already has a 300 calorie deficit from just daily activities. Then add on top exercise, and that’s hundreds of calories more. so, say she works out for 1-2 hrs and burns 600-1200 calories (that’s an extreme workout but i’m just guessing), then she has a 900-1500 calorie deficit.
so, depending on her exercise and bmr, she might be unhealthy. i’m thinking it’s likely since she said she’s starving, i’ll take her word for it. she could possibly be healthy with 1200 but it would mean that she either has a really low BMR or she doesn’t exercise very rigorously (yeah, right!). also if she’s breast feeding that burns hundreds of calories on top of that so that would make it even less likely that she’s being healthy.
ok i tried, sorry for the essay!
It might be water weight, but I can “gain and lose” at least 4 pounds in just one day. It’s a bit hard to tell whether you are actually losing fat/muscle/water or all three and what your “true” weight is.
ya thats true i always forget about damn water weight!
Your weight fluctuates up to 5 pounds during the day depending on what is in your body at the time. All the food and water you consume adds weight to your body plus what waste your body has created but not got ridden of yet.
If you are overfat (in the technical, more body fat that is healthy sense – I’m not saying you are, I’ve never seen you but you claimed to be in your post) and lightly active (i.e. don’t exercise) you will use about 2000 calories a day.
So for an overfat person to slowly but surely lose weight, light to moderate exercise and 1700kcals a day would see you shed a pound of fat in about two weeks.
You’re right about jessica – although I applaud her for being honest. Thin women who claim to ‘eat lots and ocassionaly practice gentle yoga’ are lying.
That’s pretty ridiculous, but I don’t even get what her actual diet is anymore. She contradicts herself so much. In addition, she contradicts herself in the above comment. She can’t do without 45 minutes of exercise a day, but she has to distract herself to get through the “misery?” I can’t imagine misery is good for your mental state.
um no i understand, the get up and go kinda sucks, but i’m much better afterward. granted I don’t think of the actual workout process as “misery”. I’m usually pretty good once I start going
She did state that she has trouble getting started, but in the last question she was specifically referring to the actual work out, which she said is misery.
a lot of people are saying that she’s always been skinny so why does she obsess so much etc etc.. but she has made it clear before that her family is overweight so she needs to try very hard to be thin. maybe she doesnt need to try as hard as she does, but i wouldnt be surprised if it really were a struggle for her to maintain a certain body type.
on a separate note, i think she sounds like she may have depression. i’m not a shrink or anything, but her comments are discouraging and she doesnt sound particularly excited by life. she seems to stress so much over weight and how her body looks and i think its taking a toll on her. maybe it’s just me, but when i read these quotes my first thought was depression
Does anyone know if she did this diet while breastfeeding? If so, that calorie intake is extremely low! Most experts would agree that breastfeeding mothers need at least 1800 calories to maintain an adequate milk supply. I’d say she needs even more than that since she is working out and, even with pregnancy weight gain, low fat reserves.
i always hated working out until i found something that i love: mixed martial arts. we do a lot of strength and conditioning and it can be rough, sometimes i almost throw up from the sheer pain/intensity, but i love pushing myself and my trainers are so motivating. the actual boxing and muay thai and grappling is SO fun, and by the end of the class it’s been two hours, you’re covered in sweat and your body is sore and you’re just catching your breath, but you didn’t even realize how hard you were working because you enjoyed it and had so much fun. so i think everyone needs to find a workout that they love like that. it makes it a lot less terrible to go to the gym! in fact i go six days a week and the one day i take off, i want to do! lol.
I exactly know what u mean! been doing thai boxing too for several months now! love it and feel so bad if I ever miss one day!! it also increases ur tolerance.. now.. when i go the gym its so much easier compared to the kickboxing class!
The whole thing people didn’t get is that a woman’s body will require a lot of calories in order to produce milk – calories she is not taking! 1200 calories is not enough to feed her own body, and she even exercises, which also burns a lot of calories too – in the end, she is left with what? 1200 – 500 (from 45 min of cardio) that gives her 700 calories a day. A thin, short woman will need something about 1500 calories just for maintaining her basal metabolism – things like heart beats, heat production, digesting food etc.
So, she’s actually spending more calories than taking – which is the principle behind every diet. BUT as a mother, she should think more about her newborn. Being so calorie-deprived is going not only to prevent her from producing adequate amounts of milk, but also make it almost impossible for her to have energy to stay up night after night caring for the little one.
Many doctors recommend 1200 as the minimum, so it is healthy. Some people can’t lose on anything more.
1200 is for most people the minimal requirement if the only lay around and do absolutely nothing…sorry but an intake of 1200 is practically starving! I eat at least 2000 kcals per day and I am a very slim and moderately active girl. You totally f up your metabolism with eating such a little amount of calories
And you are completely wrong. Doctors recommend no less than 1800 calories. Perhaps you should go to school and get a degree in all of this before you start handing out advice.
Not all true — it does depend on variables like height, current weight, genetics, etc. If you’re tiny, 15-1600 and maybe even mid-1400s is fine. The latter is assuming they’re sedentary.
Why would anyone aim for a minimum anything? That’s like saying you’re only going to put enough gas in your car to get you from here to the next gas station. It doesn’t make any sense.
“Ugh Jessica shut up” is the first thing that popped in my head when I saw this post lol. Just seems like she’s always talking lol.
My lifestyle is a lot like Jessica Alba’s. I don’t try to eat over 1200, never 1600. I exercise at least 30 mins at the gym burning 250-300 calories, and I go home and play Dance Central on the Kinect and burn at least 200 calories. I may go to the track with my dad too. I’ve been losing weight, but today I suddenly gained two pounds. Yesterday, I had a bit under 1600 calories, but I burned 350-400 calories. Can anyone help me out?
only a therapist can help you out. you can’t worry about such petty amounts of weight. especially as you’re living an excessively “healthy” life style. you’re only taking in 1100 calories. that isn’t enough.
I know that I take in less than I should, but, for me, it’s a lot. I used to take in under 800 calories a day.
well i’m glad you’re increasing your intake but i strongly suggest you get help.
You can’t accurately measure weight gained in a day. It most assuredly just water weight. A pound is 3500 calories, so, unless you ate a *surplus* of 3500 calories yesterday, than you have not gained any actual fat.
Thanks for the reply! I’ve been trying to lose weight forever, so that’s why I freaked out, I guess.
I am sure that your nutritionists and doctors explained that you should not get discouraged by small weight fluctuations. Your monthly cycle arriving can add water weight for example. Additionally you should always weigh yourself at the same time (first thing in the morning is best) and wearing the same clothes. Also, use one scale, whether it’s at the gym or home stick to one because small calibration differences can cause inaccuracy for your records.
On a second note, I hope that you are working this diet an exercise plan under the guidance of a doctor because you could be sending your body into starvation mode by consuming so few calories with the amount of exercise you are doing. 1200 calories is usually a temporary measure not a lifestyle. Be careful and strive through. If you aren’t putting on muscle and you are honest about your food intake, the weight should continue to come off.
Good luck!
I do weigh myself on the same scale every morning, but thanks for the tip.
I’m not under supervision of a doctor, because, technically, nothing’s wrong with my weight. lol Thanks for the reply.
Can I ask why you weigh yourself every morning? That sounds a little obsessive.
Sounds like your pro-ana
Sounds like she s going to lead a miserable life until she reaches her former weight again.
Well, she s more famous for her body than for her acting.
So she admits to starving herself and that it’s horrible. Hasn’t anyone told her she doesn’t HAVE to be a size 0!
You know? I really like Anna Paquin’s approach to diet questions. She says that she works out and it’s brutal and she always wonder why she does that to herself. She also says she won’t reveal what she does for crash diets and stuff because she knows it’s not healthy (but is necessary for her job) and not a good idea to reveal just what she does.
It’s being honest without promoting the unhealthy diet, at least that’s what it seems like from my point of view.
If she’d been on that diet for more than a month she would be thinner.
And that diet sounds very difficult to stay on for even a month, tbh.
Another stupid celebrity……
poor thing. she doesn’t realize how completely irrelevant she is now.
she is one of the most annoying people i’ve seen on this site
She isn’t the best actress so she REALLY needs to be in shape because that is how she got famous…her butt in that movie with Paul Walker. It was insane looking for sure, but her acting? Not so great
But I do admire her for being honest about it instead of Guiliana Rancic-like…oh I eat everything I want in the year of fun and then it is I sprinkle cayenne pepper in my water to burn off fat. Crazy much?
Her acting is fine. She’s not bad at all.
I like that she’s honest but some people will read this and see it as tips. For someone who doesn’t like to work out I would never guess. Her body in her ‘prime’ was amazing and so toned
You should eat 1800 calories to lose weight period, you should never go under no matter you body type, height or weight. She’s pulling an ana!
That’s so not true…..1200 is the least you should go for a women…1500 for a man.
1200 if you are sitting on your butt all day. if you are exercising you need to take those calories burned into account and have your total caloric intake equal AT LEAST 1200. otherwise your body will literally start eating its muscle for nutrients.
agree
No one gets properly chubby on 2000kcal and exercise.
hate it when women yack “I eat 800kcals a day and exercise…it’s genes I tell you!”
Another diet quote from Jessica contradicting herself. NEXT.
@Katie Do you mean eating *under* 1200 when running would be unhealthy?
Numbers and metabolism aside, 1200 calories of what?
You could eat 1200 calories in say, chocolate, technically meet your energy needs with the amount of carbs, fats and proteins in it… But would you be able to go and work out and build/maintain muscle? It isn’t sustainable or healthy.
A lot of celebs and people on this site seem to be interested exclusively in thinness, not fitness. Personal choice, but I’d much rather be strong and lean like an athlete, not just skinny.
(I have a feeling I lost people at “you could eat 1200 calories in chocolate.
)
Yes, a lot of people on this site are only interested in thinness, not fitness.
She’s honest, and I realize there’s a lot of pressure to stay thin, but for a woman of her height who’s excerising every day, 1200 calories?
I’m no medical or nutrition expert, but these crash diets can’t be healthy or be beneficial to long term weight control. I think it’s better to practice balance and habits that can be maitained consistently rather than shocking the body and messing up one’s metabolism.
I know bodies are different, but I don’t see how 1200 calories in general can be healthy. I’m petite and eat 1800-2200 calories when I just walk on weekends, and when I take a dance class I increase my intake. Anything lower than 1600 I feel weak and get crabby.
I don’t think this is healthy… I’m 5’1″ and for my basal metabolic rate, it says that I need to eat 1200 just to have my body function properly during the day. This is not including exercise. How is a woman who is 5’6″ supposed to have a healthy body only consuming 1200?
I understand that for her height 1200 might not be too much… But how much should you eat?!
I eat around 1000 calories a day, do like 100-200 abs, a bit of cardio and at least one hour of walking and this the only way i can maintain my already chubby figure…
you’ve made a mistake in one or both of these:
1. calories
2. your chubbiness
You either eat WAY more, or are nowhere NEAR chubby.
I am chubby… i have 150 lbs, so that’s quite chubby.
Maybe i get to 1200 in some days… but i nevertheless don’t go near 1500-2000.
Are you 5ft11? Have you only been eating like this for a month or so?
Starvation level is widely accepted to be 900. So 1000 is low. No one can be fat on that. In fact, only those with really serious hormone problems can be fat on 2000.
I am 5’3 so i am also pretty small… I started to eat like this a couple of months ago (i am not a maniac, it’s not like i can’t enjoy eating more in a day). The exercises change once in a while, and sometimes i get lazy with them…
Well… i am chubby with this “diet”. Maybe because i am not good at keeping it completely strict…
you’ve lost weight in that time thought, right.
No, with this i maintain. If i go up to 1500 a day i start to gain weight… Just last month i gained 4 lbs in a week by eating a bit more and not exercising due to lack of will and time.
I think you need to get your thyroid checked, because it’s certainly not normal to gain weight on 1500 calories. And do you keep track of all calories, is it possible you are eating more than you realise? Even little things like a tsp of mayonnaise and 1 sugar in your coffee all adds up in the end!
True. I count the meals and the snacks, and those add up to be around 1000-1200. i doubt that 1 sugar for my tea or a slice of cheese is 500 calories extra. From what i know, i don’t have problems with my thyroid, i just have a slow metabolism…
Do you do any weight training? Because the more muscle you have, the faster the metabolism (after all muscle burns fat).
So if you was to lift weights 3 x weekly and consume adequate calorie intake, esp. protein you could rectify the problem of slowed metabolism.
Really? I used to do some, but just for my arms… Thanks for the tip
.
Small things do add up
For instance, the meat I had for dinner tonight was 340kcal, the salad was about 50 – but people think of salad as calorie free.
I butter my toast, and the actual butter is always more calories than the bread…I find this mad because subconsciously I think of the bread as the meal, and the butter as a little addition which doesn’t really count, but of course it does.
If you keep a completely strict food diary, you will find where the extra 800-400kcals are. I find myself mildly hungry on days when I have 1800…I’m a snarling psycho when I get as low as 1300. I wouldn’t even try to go lower than that number because I know I’d binge the next day.
Gaining on 1500 is really unlikely – your body uses energy for everything – even thought. Calories are simply a measure of how much energy a food can supply. As energy cannot be created or destroyed it is impossible to take in less than you need and still gain…
I am eating 1200-1400 calories a day, exercising for 30 minutes a day (50% cardio/running, 50% weight training).
I’m 5’8″ and 140 pounds and I have not lost any weight, although I’m trying to be 130. I don’t feel faint or weak. I’m not by any means starving. I don’t understand some of these comments by people who say that they would die or be bone-thin on a diet of 1200 calories a day. Give me a break. It’s rough at first if you are used to eating a lot more, but your body adjusts, obviously, since I haven’t managed to lose any weight.
To be fair, you can’t really say it works if it hasn’t worked for you.
haaaaa
impossible.
not happening.
Maybe your metabolism has taken a nose dive. You could probably lose 1lb of fat per week on 1600 calories taking into account your details.
Jessica is beautiful, yet so plain to my eyes…and yes, i think she’s starving and she works a lot to be so thin and pretty all the time, but what the effin? that’s her job….she makes her money by looking like that..
[...] And see more debatable quotes from Jessica HERE! [...]
She really should keep some of that fat instead of loosing it all. She looked healthy as a teen, but after she lost weight she looked emaciated. She’s even so lucky that she adds weight all the right places (bum + hip, not belly) but I suppose she’s obsessed with being really skinny, which makes her shapeless. I guess some of the writers here are totally without shape too based on your ridiculously low weights.
That’s way too little. I’m 5’4 and 105 pounds. I eat around 2,500 calories a day to maintain my weight. And I never really exercise.
yea at least she said 1200 versus 800
calorie = measure of energy
Getting thinner is simply fat being used to supply energy. So chemical energy is converted to thermal energy.
Humans need energy to live. Although we like to think of ourselves as unique, all humans are very similar. So the number of calories a person uses depends upon their size (1kg fat = 3500 extra) and activity levels. If everyone started out at similar weight and body composition, and then proceeded to adopt similar exercise habits, everyone would have similar calorie needs.
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