[chrisseaton]

> Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories

What are you on about? That's under a third of the daily recommended calories for a man.

Even if you ate this three times a day... you're going to be under.

> around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch

So a 350 calorie lunch? So that'd be under half the recommended daily intake total even if you ate a large breakfast. So people living on about 1000 calories a day? How does that work? Most people's weights would be in freefall.

People have weird warped views about how many calories things are. For example did you know if you ate a full McDonald's meal with fries and regular Coca-Cola for every meal... you'd be under your recommended calorie count?

[hnick]

I actually ended up on ~1000 calories a day as a tallish guy. My wife asked me to join her on a meal plan and I forgot to look at the details. It ended up being about 3 meals a day at 300 calories apiece. A month in she let me know that I was meant to be having a 'snack' of another 300 too.

But those weights were for her smaller stature, not mine, and she's always been terrible with numbers (we agree that's my job, so I should've known). I actually got used to it surprisingly quick, and I have to say, it worked and I lost 20kg in a few months without much real discomfort. I cheated one or two meals each week which helped keep me sane.

I mostly stopped because we were cooking certain recipes on the plan and it was just annoying and uninspiring after a while. I did learn a lot about food and how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days. But I don't think my 1000 calorie diet was healthy or recommended and a lighter touch is probably better.

[chrisseaton]

> how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days

If you're a sedentary person then maybe it worked for you, but it's under half what medical professionals recommend for a normally active man. Many somewhat active people (less than an hour run a day) are going to burn half your calorie intake on exercise alone. You do need some calories to simply live and think beyond that.

I think people are out of their minds saying a shop selling 400 calorie sandwiches for probably your main meal of the day is excessive.

[hnick]

I did go to the gym occasionally, but it was more along the lines of pilates type stuff. Also walked the dog each day. So nothing crazy but I wasn't just sitting around.

Somehow I wasn't even underweight when I stopped, but in another couple of month I probably would've been. There is of course a good chance the calorie counting was wrong too.