Yahoo LifestyleSuper-Fit Woman Told She's OVERWEIGHT Despite Training Five Times A Week
Personal trainer and body building champion Anita Albrecht was told by a nurse that she should drop her calorie intake to 1,000
A personal trainer and body builder has revealed her shock at being told by a nurse that she's overweight and needs to 'eat less and move more' despite training five days a week.
Anita Albrecht came sixth in the Miss Galaxy Universe competition in 2012 and writes regularly for Yahoo's fitness section, but the nurse told her she should drop her eating habits to 1,000 calories a day - without taking into account her lifestyle.
The 39-year-old fitness fanatic received this advice when she visited her local family planning walk-in to discuss weight gain she'd experienced from previous contraception, explaining that she was struggling to lose the last few pounds.
But without questioning her about lifestyle, exercise and eating habits, the nurse told her that her BMI showed she was overweight and delivered a raft of lifestyle changes such as drinking less and avoiding fruit juice, even though Anita barely drinks and doesn't touch juices.
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Not to mention the fact that 1,000 calories is barely enough to function for women going about their everyday activities, let alone weight training.
Anita is a tiny 4"11" and weighs nine stone 10 pounds when she's in peak training periods.
Anita said: "I explained that I live on 1500 to 1600 calories a day and she said 'well no wonder you can't lose weight'. She even suggested I might have to drop to 500 to see a difference. This is when women should be eating around 2,000 calories a day. Quite a difference!"
Consuming just 1,000 calories a day is what's known as a very low calorie diet (VLCD), which according to NHS guidelines is only recommended for the obese and very inactive and even then only for short periods of time.
"What worries me is that normal women will be given this advice and basically told to go on a drastic diet that's not necessary," said Anita.
"It's a known fact that too few calories can lead to binge eating and can even prevent weight loss if the body goes into 'starvation' mode.
"It also causes a bad relationship with food, lack of energy and in some cases, nutrient deficiency, organ failure, osteoporosis, heart problems, gallstone, depression, hair loss, hormonal issues, long term bone damage, reduced brain function and concentration, damage to the metabolism and in extreme cases serious eating disorders."
Because of patient confidentiality, the NHS does not comment on individual cases.
