Hoarding Calories

scrttwtt

Hi, so if you eat 1000 calories, then burn 500 calories, apparently your body will "know" you are not getting enough food and will "hold onto" the calories you take in, because it "thinks" you are starving.

Does nobody else think this is bull****? Your body is a machine. If I eat a certain amount and burn a certain amount, I am going to lose weight, surely? My body does not "know" or "think" anything, as far as I know.

Any research I do leads me to think that starvation mode only happens to people who are actually starving, i.e. people who are eating far too little for a long, long time.

And as for people saying "my metabolism is ****ed", as far as I am aware, metabolism is the speed that your body burns energy. Presumably, if you are not burning your energy fast enough, you either have a hormone problem (thyroid etc) or you are not doing enough activity to warrant your body burning the energy you are putting into it.

Am I wrong about this?

I am fully supportive of the idea that people shouldn't eat far too little, but this is because this minimises the likelihood of giving up because it is too hard, and falling back into old habits, and it's easier to keep going long term, not because your body is some magical thing which can somehow start hoarding calories instead of using them.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Eating very few calories can cause some adaptive thermogenesis but never enough to stop or reverse weight loss. You might see a reduction in BMR of maybe 10% at the most, but mainly it's bs.

The other time it's somewhat relevant, is in the very lean. Your maximum calorie deficit is 31.4 x pounds of body fat. If someone is 130lbs and 10% body fat, they only have 13lbs of fat left. Their maximum calorie deficit would be about 400 calories. If they go below this, they will lose lean tissue (muscle, organs, etc.) but for the obese/overweight this isn't a problem.

bcattoes

I think you are right OP. A body can't ignore the need to burn calories, it can only become more efficient at it.. As long as there are fat stores, the body will use them when it needs energy.

Calliope610

Looks like this is gonna be good.

s_violet

Completely agree with you! If you try and find research behind the starvation mode myth, as I like to call it, the research isn't very sound. Ketosis however is something completely different.
There was one study, I think, where a few people they experimented on, lost weight quickly and were then put on a maintenance diet. On average they required less calories to maintain than someone who was the same weight but had never dieted.
I can only guess that due to muscle being lost alongside fat, perhaps they ended up with less muscle, and it seems to be generally agreed that you burn more calories while resting if you have more muscle. But this was a really small study anyway.
I'll try and post you the link to the study if I get chance.
And yes metabolism will slow as you lose weight.. because you are.. losing mass..

janessanessa

My body does not "know" or "think" anything, as far as I know.

glad my brain works, i am thankful I am able to "know" and "think" lots of things.

AlexPaige

Reading the title made me think this was going to be a thread about people who save all their calories throughout the day for one big splurge. Oh, how wrong I was.

timbrom

Hi, so if you eat 1000 calories, then burn 500 calories, apparently your body will "know" you are not getting enough food and will "hold onto" the calories you take in, because it "thinks" you are starving.

Does nobody else think this is bull****? Your body is a machine. If I eat a certain amount and burn a certain amount, I am going to lose weight, surely? My body does not "know" or "think" anything, as far as I know.

Any research I do leads me to think that starvation mode only happens to people who are actually starving, i.e. people who are eating far too little for a long, long time.

And as for people saying "my metabolism is ****ed", as far as I am aware, metabolism is the speed that your body burns energy. Presumably, if you are not burning your energy fast enough, you either have a hormone problem (thyroid etc) or you are not doing enough activity to warrant your body burning the energy you are putting into it.

Am I wrong about this?

I am fully supportive of the idea that people shouldn't eat far too little, but this is because this minimises the likelihood of giving up because it is too hard, and falling back into old habits, and it's easier to keep going long term, not because your body is some magical thing which can somehow start hoarding calories instead of using them.

And what happens to machines when they run out of fuel?

chandanista

I didn't believe it until it started to happen to me. Now I do.

I upped my calories last week. I had been very tired and my loss slowwwweeed way down from what it was.

I'm down a half pound already. Same activity level.

I don't know the science behind it and won't pretend I do. I just know it was suggested, and I've tried it, and I'm happy with results so far.

WendyTerry420

My body does not "know" or "think" anything, as far as I know.

glad my brain works, i am thankful I am able to "know" and "think" lots of things.

Same here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLMRCgaAYIM

brower47

Hi, so if you eat 1000 calories, then burn 500 calories, apparently your body will "know" you are not getting enough food and will "hold onto" the calories you take in, because it "thinks" you are starving.

Does nobody else think this is bull****? Your body is a machine. If I eat a certain amount and burn a certain amount, I am going to lose weight, surely? My body does not "know" or "think" anything, as far as I know.

It's not about your body being sentient outside of your brain. It's about your body needing certain amount of different macro and micro nutrients to function properly. It's about more than just the calories. Netting 500 calories makes it nearly impossible, without a very, very specific and monitored diet, to get everything your body needs. If it doesn't get what it needs, certain processes are hampered or shut down, the same way a car 'knows' to stop running when it runs out of gas.

Now eating very low calories one day will not cause your body to shut down because the body doesn't operate one a strict 24 hour period. Doing this over the long term however will cause your body to run out of certain vital nutrients and that's when your body will 'know' to start failing.

It is a complex machine and like any complex machine, it needs complex parts, maintenance and fuels to operate. Fail to maintain proper upkeep and you will be earning yourself a complex machine that will need complex repairs to get it back up and running as it should.

So just eat properly, with enough calories, macros and micro nutrients now so that you never have to fix any damage later.

Happymelz

the fact is, your body needs a minimum # of calories to function. If you eat 1200 calories but burn 500, then your body only has 700 to use to do regular everyday things...like digesting food...breathing...pumping blood...letting you stand up, etc.

There are formulas online that help you determine what your body needs just to function properly. Google BMR calculator.

annakow

I didn't lose one pound in 3 weeks just because I wasn't eating enough...I was eating between 1000 and 1300 plus doing Tae Bo nearly every night. I decided to eat more and top up my intake to 1600 calories and I lost a pound in last 3 days...Maybe it doesnt work with everybody but it does work with me.

evileen99

The metabolic slow down that can occur with severe deficits doesn't occur after just one or two days--it takes a long time. So not likely to happen after a week or two.

WendyTerry420

Reading the title made me think this was going to be a thread about people who save all their calories throughout the day for one big splurge. Oh, how wrong I was.

I do this a LOT! I also hold off on eating breakfast until I am truly hungry, which usually takes a few hours.

YogaNikki

rowanwood

Hey, if you want to net 1000 calories, it doesn't hurt me. It might hurt you, but I'm sure as heck not going to argue with anyone about it.


*noms foods*

shirleygirl910

Don't assume it's fat you are burning.

Greenrun99

Let me know how that works out for you with a "Help I have been eating 1000 calories and I am stuck!!! What am I doing Wrong" Thread.

sunlover89

So explain to me why I lose weight at a faster pace eating 1600-1800 calories a day as compared to 1200 calories a day? Hmmm... maybe it's because my brain, which controls my bodily functions, reduces my metabolism when I'm not eating enough to sustain it.

And can someone explain why the opposite happens to me?!

lilcassers

This is absolutely true. Your body goes into whats called "starvation mode" and pumps off a bunch of hormones, one being insulin. This is unhealthy and will contribute to weight gain.

For example, I burn about 600 calories per day working out so I make sure to eat 1,800. It is unhealthy for any woman to go under 1200.

WendyTerry420

Reading the title made me think this was going to be a thread about people who save all their calories throughout the day for one big splurge. Oh, how wrong I was.

I was thinking this too. I used to do this all the time until recently. Then I realized that eating a larger breakfast and lunch, I was actually not nearly as hungry at night so my tendency to eat way too much at night has vanished. :flowerforyou:

I do it on purpose during times when I am planning a yummy dessert or something.

shirleygirl910

Let me know how that works out for you with a "Help I have been eating 1000 calories and I am stuck!!! What am I doing Wrong" Thread.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm tired of those threads!!

sabinecbauer

Congratulations! You've now reached a level of understanding metabolic function that nutritional science had achieved 35 years ago. Nutritional science then proceeded to recommend extended, medically supervised fasts for overweight teens, 'cos hey! Your body doesn't think, so if you limit caloric intake to one protein shake a day you're gonna lose weight, right? :bigsmile:

I'm one of the victims of that bright notion. Result: I lost weight alright. It also boomeranged right back on (bringing a few more pounds for company) when I returned to eating normally. 'Cos guess what? My metabolism had slowed down so dramatically that thyroid function was affected. I know that for a fact because, among other symptoms, I lost my hair by the fistful.

I've been hypothyroid ever since, and I've been fighting with my weight ever since because my metabolism has remained chronically slow. The only way I can lose weight is by exercising tons to crank up an engine that doesn't really want to work and by eating enough. 1000 calories a day does not qualify as 'enough.'

bcattoes

So explain to me why I lose weight at a faster pace eating 1600-1800 calories a day as compared to 1200 calories a day? Hmmm... maybe it's because my brain, which controls my bodily functions, reduces my metabolism when I'm not eating enough to sustain it.

More likely you move more because you have more fuel and actually have a smaller net.

bcattoes

It is unhealthy for any woman to go under 1200.

Then please explain the health benefits many women experience after weight loss surgery and the VLCD it demands.

scrttwtt

Ok, reading everyone's responses, I am getting a general feeling that yes, after you do not eat for a very long time, you will go into "starvation mode", which is what I thought in the first place.

I still do not understand why, however, people consistently post that it is VITAL that people go to bed having hit their metabolic basal rate adjusted for rate of activity - 20% (TDEE-20%), so long as this is not less than 1200 (completely arbitrary number? Maybe), or else you will just not lose weight properly.

As far as I can tell, the reason that people don't lose weight properly, if they are eating too little (unless done for a long, long time, you are extremely underweight, or you have long-standing deficiencies of vital vitamins/minerals) is a psychological thing, rather than a metabolic thing. Any normal body NEEDS to use a certain amount of fuel to do a task, and so WILL use that amount of fuel up, whether it is from the food you ate that day (easily available sugar), or from fat (sugar stored by the body) or protein (the last resort, the body eating itself..). If I am reasoning correctly, when a person puts a lot of weight back on after starving themselves for a while, it is surely because they go straight back to eating the amount that they used to eat when they had a larger body.

Larger bodies need more fuel, and smaller bodies need less fuel. This explains why weightloss slows as you lose weight. The number of calories you need lessens as your bodyweight lessens. Unless you are creating muscle, in which case you need a greater number of calories, because muscle cells use more energy even at rest.

Is this all correct?

scrttwtt

Congratulations! You've now reached a level of understanding metabolic function that nutritional science had achieved 35 years ago. Nutritional science then proceeded to recommend extended, medically supervised fasts for overweight teens, 'cos hey! Your body doesn't think, so if you limit caloric intake to one protein shake a day you're gonna lose weight, right? :bigsmile:

I'm one of the victims of that bright notion. Result: I lost weight alright. It also boomeranged right back on (bringing a few more pounds for company) when I returned to eating normally. 'Cos guess what? My metabolism had slowed down so dramatically that thyroid function was affected. I know that for a fact because, among other symptoms, I lost my hair by the fistful.

I've been hypothyroid ever since, and I've been fighting with my weight ever since because my metabolism has remained chronically slow. The only way I can lose weight is by exercising tons to crank up an engine that doesn't really want to work and by eating enough. 1000 calories a day does not qualify as 'enough.'

Oddly, I have only ever lost hair when hyperthyroid. I am hypothyroid now, because my thyroid was killed by two heavy doses of radioactive iodine. I did not know you could kill your thyroid by not eating enough. You should go to a doctor. They will prescribe you some thyroxine and you will be able to manage your symptoms.

ken_hogan

Reading the title made me think this was going to be a thread about people who save all their calories throughout the day for one big splurge. Oh, how wrong I was.

Honestly I was thinking the same...

bcattoes

So explain to me why I lose weight at a faster pace eating 1600-1800 calories a day as compared to 1200 calories a day? Hmmm... maybe it's because my brain, which controls my bodily functions, reduces my metabolism when I'm not eating enough to sustain it.

More likely you move more because you have more fuel and actually have a smaller net.

Actually, I move less now than I did back then.

So, you were losing slowly through low calories and higher activity, then though "Hey, I'll become more sedentary and eat more" and magically you started losing more. Yeah, that makes sense.

Samstan101

Protein isn't the last resort though. My understanding is if you're not putting enough fuel in the tank then they body looks to save energy where it can. Fat takes less energy to maintain than muscle and so the body will use protein ie muscle as an energy source as well as fat (which ie easier for the body to convert to energy which is why it gets used more than protein but the body will use some protein). That's why its important to maintain muscle through strength training as well as cardio when eating at a deficit.