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age
36-40,
anonymous
writes: I have been on a very low cal diet (450-700 cals) for the past 2 months, I have no idea how much weight I have lost, my scales have been broken. I now have a pair of scales :) I weigh 115lbs at 5'6.5" and I am 22 years old. Basically, I need to lose weight for this short amateur film some friends and I are doing for part of our college course and we will get a stupid amount of extra credit. My character is a heroin addict so I therefore have to look . . . well, ill. S'annoying. But it's all in the name of a good GPA so . . .anyway. A friend of the family is a doctor and he has - reluctantly - agreed to keep an eye on me so I don't keel over and die (in the form of weekly checkups)If I eat 600 calories a day for nine weeks with the exception of Saturdays where I will eat 1000-1200 calories; how much weight will I lose? I need to give my friend some sort of idea so he can sort out the filming schedule because we have to loan some weird equipment from the AV department and they are VERY posessive of their stuff.Thank you for your help! Can't wait for this stupid regime to be over . . .x
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female
reader, Tisha-1  +, writes (21 October 2010):
 The first thing to go, they say, is the heart, the lack of nutrients drives the body to suck them from whatever internal organ it can, and it apparently often starts with the heart. That's why so many anorexia nervosa sufferers wind up dying of cardiac arrest. They've starved their hearts and pay the ultimate price.
"Not eating enough can slow the body's metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. The body can detect when there's been a shift in calorie levels and reacts accordingly. With severe food restriction, the body begins to conserve its fuel, stored fat. The result is that you burn less calories and stop losing weight. Then whether you are exercising, working or sleeping, you will burn fewer calories all day long. While "dieting" is supposed to mean deprivation and hunger, staying fed actually leads to more successful weight loss and maintenance."
[Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/84684-starvation-diet/#ixzz130wmETri ]
So at your present pace of calorie restrictions, it will take only a short time before you experience major organ failure, all the while never having lost the weight you think you want to lose.
I challenge you to contact your actual, real physician (not the 'friend') and get a physical, a proper real physical with you telling your physician this eating regimen you've been on.
You have anorexia nervosa. Please get help now before you do yourself fatal harm.
A
female
reader, Tisha-1 +, writes (21 October 2010):
You're on the verge of being underweight. Your doctor friend isn't really your doctor, that's a ridiculous way to manage your health.
Sounds to me as though you've come up with a creative way to explain your anorexia. I also think that Miamine hit it exactly right. "Try acting dear boy."
You already can play a heroin addict. The rest of this diet stuff is just some fantastical way to convince people that becoming even more unhealthy has some basis in reason. It does not have a basis in reason.
You're not going to extra credit because you were super skinny. You're going to get extra credit for doing the work on the piece.
It sounds to me as though one of the symptoms of anorexia is already occurring for you. Your ability to think clearly and make good decisions seems to be pretty well shot right now.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/anorexia-nervosa/anorexia-nervosa-what-happens
Please seek qualified medical help from a professional and do it before you damage your internal organs and metabolism. Some of the stuff you've done already may have life-long repercussions.
Get help now, please, and stop with the fantasy that becoming superskinny is going to get you a higher grade. It will not, it will only get you ill.
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female
reader, tennisstar88 +, writes (21 October 2010):
 5'6 is the average height of a woman, at 115lbs that's pretty skinny already. Usually the recommended weight is around 130 on up. Sounds like you're tipping into anorexia and that dreaded calorie counting..that is a lot of work. I'm very surprised your doctor is allowing you to get this dangerously low for a role in a short film..There is a point where calorie counting gets to be routine and you can't seem to stop unless someone else cooks or grocery shops for you. I suggest you take the advice of the other agony aunts and make sure you're acting the part through dialogue and makeup.
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female
reader, dmartin89  +, writes (21 October 2010):
 For a 22-25 year old I thought you would have more sense then tampering with permanent damage to your vital organs.
I'm not going to give you any advice for losing weight.
The story you have given is very intricate, I'm not sure If
I believe it, girls with eating disorders go to great lengths to cover themselves. However I apologise if what you are saying is the truth.
You don't need to lose weight, you sound very thin already.
You can use make-up and clothing to look ill. Not all heroin addicts are skinny. You can get fat ill heroin addicts.
You wont get extra marks for the way you look, you need to act well and being ill wont help that.
Eat properly, get plenty of exercise and buy some dark make-up to put around your eyes to look ill.
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A
female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (21 October 2010):
 When people becomes looking sick it's generally because they have started BEING sick.
I can't believe you are damaging your body , compromising your health and flirting with eating disorder disarter , for an amateur movie! Perhaps if it were for the leading role in some mega-bucks blockbuster.... but for extra credits ??
Plus, Gabrielle Stoker is absolutely right. Acting is about interpreting reality,not xeroxing it. Lights, make up , a good director and good acting can make you a junkie without sending you to the hospital for real !
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (21 October 2010): Stop what your doing and eat! If you really want to play this role, you're going to need to be alive, not barely alive. Try using makeup and baggy clothes instead to get the druggie look, not stupid diets.
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female
reader, Gabrielle Stoker +, writes (21 October 2010):
 You don't need to lose weight to get into a role of a heroin addict. Make-up and good acting can do the job more-than-adequately (and you're at a fairly low weight anyway).
Some diets can play havoc with your digestion - and I fear youre going down that route.
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female
reader, Miamine +, writes (21 October 2010):
 There's that famous, but likely apocryphal, story about Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman when they were working together on Marathon Man. To prepare for a scene, Hoffman had gone for a few days without sleep and looked pretty rough. Olivier asked him why he was putting himself through such an ordeal and Hoffman replied that he was trying to be convincing in the role. Olivier replied, "Try acting dear boy".
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female
reader, xanthic +, writes (21 October 2010):
 600 calories is less than half of the minimum you need to survive and function. Regardless of your higher calorie intake on weekends, nine weeks of that is going to destroy your metabolism.
There are plenty of ways to appear thin and strung out without resorting to something which, to be completely honest, sounds idiotic. The creative use of makeup, lighting and clothes will get the job done. Your GPA isn't more important than your health.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 October 2010): You are playing with eating disorder fire...my metabolism is so slowed from a reduced calorie diet (13 years with an eating disorder) i GAIN weight if i eat more than 1000 calories a day and i'm 5'9.5 and currently a healthy weight of 145lbs.
The type of person most likely to develop and die from an eating disorder is female in her teens/twenties who is highly competetive and strives to achieve recognition in academic and/or extracurricular activities. She pushes herself to the limit then pushes beyond. l've been there, done that...i finally cracked under the pressure of my ED 2 years ago...so much wasted...my health is ruined...so much i can never get back!
I fear you will not be able to stop controlling your caloric intake when this 'experiment' is through. DON'T RISK RUINING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE FOR A GRADE!!!
Makeup techniques and lighting can make you appear ill. Heroin addicts have pale ashy skin and dark circles under their eyes. Stop exfoliating/moisturizing and tanning to achieve the look. Avoid sunlight to get goth-pale skin. Baggy clothing can give the appearance of you being even skinnier than you already are.
If you really want to push yourself to achieve the heroin-addict look, sleep much less in the days before filming (coffee/caffeine can help you stay awake) and stay inside in a dark dimly lit room so you are pale, and your eyes appear glassy/glazed and have the tiny pupils characteristic to heroin/opiate addicts while filming.
You are already more than thin enough to play your part. I've known heroin addicts...they aren't always rail thin. Google Pete Doherty to see what i mean.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (20 October 2010): Weight loss is not all about just eating less! Get on your bike, go for a run. you will lose more weight much quicker this way.
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male
reader, dirtball +, writes (20 October 2010):
 Weight loss often depends on exercise, the type of foods you're eating and your metabolism. By reducing your food intake, you may actually shut down your metabolic rate and start to put on weight because the body will hoard any and all calories you take in.
This question is impossible to answer because of personal factors that would be best left to your doctor. Sorry.
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