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I am looking for an 800-calorie diet which is suitable for somebody who is allergic to eggs and milk. I am able to consume soya drink (or "soya milk", as some people refer to it), but am unable to tolerate eggs. I am lactose intolerant.

However, I am able to consume eggs if they are used as part of a recipe and not a main ingredient. I am able to consume eggs to some extent when they are used to make bread or cakes, but am unable to tolerate eggs when used in omelettes, for example.

If anybody knows of an 800-calorie diet which is suitable for me and my intolerances, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much. Mick

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  • Why does it have to be an insane 800 Kcal?
    – Ivo Flipse
    Apr 22, 2011 at 9:18
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    Agree with @Ivo - I'm not sure that a starvation diet like this can be beneficial for any purpose. It's not going to help you lose/keep off weight - your body is going to fight that deficit with vigor and rob muscle, organ, and bone tissues to try to make up for the deficit, while hoarding fat.
    – G__
    Apr 22, 2011 at 14:49
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    That kind of caloric intake is near what the body needs at a minimum just to function! This kind of extreme diet is for VERY special circumstances and should be used under proper medical supervision. Check WebMd bit.ly/91Nudj
    – Tony R
    Apr 22, 2011 at 15:18
  • 1200 calories is the minimum amount of calories that I suggest for anyone. If you are in a wheelchair 800 calories might make sense but if not, like others have said, it isn't a good idea.
    – Natalie Barnett
    Apr 26, 2011 at 4:08
  • I was down to 1400 calories a day, and increasing intake on active days, a couple of years ago and was losing weight super fast, no reason to go below that.
    – Salsero69
    Apr 25, 2012 at 15:29

1 Answer 1

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The diet I'm including in my answer is safe, but has a marginally higher daily calorie intake. It originated with a Dr. Tran in France about 30 years ago, made it to Canada, and about two years ago was approved by the FDA for the USA. It's typically administered by doctor's offices or health clinics.

Ideal Protein Diet

It operates on the basic principle that the modern diet typically has far too much sugar and other insulin inducing chemicals. As a result, our pancreas gets overworked and produces too much insulin (trapping the calories as fat and making you hungry again). The diet consists of four phases:

  • Phase 1: let the pancreas rest and lose weight. (80-90% of weight loss goal)
  • Phase 2: get the stomach used to digesting more whole proteins (remainder of weight loss goal)
  • Phase 3: reintroduce carbs safely.
  • Phase 4: maintenance

You are given a metered amount of protein, required to eat a certain amount of vegetables, drink at least 10 cups of water, take dietary supplements, and keep a food journal for the administrator to review. On phase 1 you get about 900 Kcal from the food, with the balance of your daily calorie needs coming from your fat. The protein is sufficient to protect your muscles and organs, but not enough to exercise strenuously. I.e. keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone only if you want to work out. You will eat four meals a day. Your plan meals come in protein packs which are fairly good, all things considered.

For breakfast, you have a protein pack. For lunch you have a protein pack and 2 cups of green vegetables. For dinner, you have your own protein (5 oz lean beef/chicken, or 7oz seafood) plus 2 cups of green vegetables. Snack is another protein pack.

The protein packs come in the form of soups, cereal, pudding, drinks, etc. You can have coffee, but every cup you drink requires another cup of water.

Our plan administrators have noted that many women are protein deficient, so when they are on the plan they will actually gain muscle mass. Me, being a guy, did not experience that side effect--although my wife did. Average weight loss according to the plan is 3-5 lbs/week for women and 4-7 lbs/week for men.

Additional note: any plan that simply limits calories without a sound medical backing will cause you to lose muscle mass. Muscle mass is what enables you to burn fat. When you go off the diet, you will not only gain the weight back quickly, you will gain more than you lost. That is why you need to be smart with the calories you take in.

Personal Experience

This plan is monitored, and it helped me drop 85 lbs in 5.5 months. My wife is still on it right now and she is losing a bit more slowly (70 lbs in 6.5 months so far). I did have some problems with constipation, but that shouldn't be a surprise considering almost everything with a decent amount of dietary fiber also has carbs and is forbidden in the first phase.

It really helps being creative with your veggies if you are going to be on it for some time. There were a couple of lower weight loss weeks (1-2 lbs) and some towards the beginning which were much higher. It's best to be concerned about the inches more than the scale. When gaining muscle, the inches get smaller even though the scale doesn't move much.

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  • Nice and comprehensive answer! :-)
    – Ivo Flipse
    Apr 27, 2011 at 18:59
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    Nice answer. The biggest concern with low-calorie diets like this is that it might "slow" the metabolism so that its difficult to reintroduce carbs or more calories in general. I'd be interested in hearing how phase 3 and 4 have gone for you and what phase 4 looks like in terms of calories, carbs, etc.
    – G__
    Apr 27, 2011 at 19:28
  • Basically, the way the diet works is that you are still getting all the calories your body burns--it's just that the balance comes from your fat stores. As to the different phases, I'll add a couple comments.
    – Berin Loritsch
    Apr 27, 2011 at 21:49
  • Phase 2: essentially like phase 1, except that lunch is now with your own whole protein--just like dinner.
    – Berin Loritsch
    Apr 27, 2011 at 21:50
  • Phase 3: all carbs are introduced in the morning with none the rest of the day. It lasts for two weeks. Essentially, you are covering the different types of carbs your body is likely to see in phase 4 such as fruit, dairy, and grain. You have some limits for total carbs/fat and a minimum requirement for protein in the meal. It does seem like a lot all at once though. The spike in the morning gives your body time to deal with it and get back to burning the fat again by the next day. Essentially, it is phase 2 with your own breakfast.
    – Berin Loritsch
    Apr 27, 2011 at 21:52

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