Starvation Mode Real or Bogus?

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grandpoobah12
grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this is a hot topic on MFP. Do you think starvation mode is real?

I`ve been on here for 40 days and 0 lbs lost. My fit bit says I burn about 2800-3000 cal per day. I usually eat around 1600. I have been eating around 1600 for years before coming on this site. I have held on to the same 20 lbs I need to lose for 3 years.

Of course I believe eating too much is the cause of my weight. Yet I am an unusually healthy eater, cook most of my meals, lots of lean protein, veggies, etc. I started out eating the 1200 but lost nothing in two weeks, upped to 1600 for the remainder and lost nothing. Indeed I haven`t gained weight either. Now at day 40 I am trying for 1800-2000 per day. Am I setting myself up for a fall?

In your opinion, do you think starvation mode has any real impact? Or is it all in my head?
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Replies

  • g33kmommy
    g33kmommy Posts: 104 Member
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    Are you drinking plenty of water every day and moving around and getting exercise? I'm guessing yes to the exercise with the calories you are burning. After 40 days you should have lost something by now. I know people preach the whole "Starvation mode" thing, but I've been eating under my calorie goal for three months and I've lost 33+lbs.

    I can't see your food diary, but there are things you can do. Watching your sodium level can help, as well as drinking plenty of water and cutting out diet drinks. :)
  • CLFrancois
    CLFrancois Posts: 472 Member
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    What do the starving children of (fill in the blank) country think? Do they go into starvation mode????
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    You said in a previous thread that you only ate 500 calories and lost a bunch of weight. I think you ruined your metabolism. I don't think starvation mode is what you think it is.
  • hannamarie88
    hannamarie88 Posts: 231 Member
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    If you are actually burning 2800-3000 calories a day and only eating 1600 calories... that would mean you are netting -1400/-1200 per day...

    "Starvation mode" is when your body does not get enough food to run its normal functions and -1400 calories would definitely fall under that.......

    Have you been taking measurements or photos?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Do I believe that not eating enough can be just as damaging to your health as eating too much?
    Yes

    Do I believe there is a magic number at which your body "stores fat"?
    No

    Do I believe that not eating enough can cause your metabolism to slow down enough to where it actually matches your intake and takes you out of a deficit?
    Yes, but it can take months/years for this to happen

    Do I believe that if you don't eat enough you can risk losing LBM?
    Yes

    Do I believe that even short women can eat more than 1200 calories a day and still lose weight?
    Yep....strength training = more lbm = more calories you need to eat.....Heck I'm 5'4 and have days where I can eat up to 2500 calories and still be in a deficit
  • datagram40
    datagram40 Posts: 33 Member
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    Personally I think it is real. Stop giving your body what it needs and it will try to adapt to save itself. I do not think you can go into starvation mode in one day though. Now on these forums I've seen people stuck on a plateau without losing any weight and someone suggests they increase their calorie intake by 100 or so calories. Those people then report back saying they've finally lost weight.

    I eat 1660 calories and can lose weight even if Friday through Sunday I eat what ever I want. Although I seem to not lose weight very well unless I take my B100 vitamins plus my Green tea + Hoodia supplements.

    B Vitamins are good for metabolism
    Green Tea is supposedly good for metabolism
    Hoodia is only good for curbing appetite a teeny tiny bit.
  • BluthLover
    BluthLover Posts: 301 Member
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    All I know is I've been stuck around the same 5 lbs for over a year. I eat right and workout. My body media says I burn 2500 a day. According to that I should have wasted away to nothing by now. I have not. So right now I'm upping my calories. I'm gonna prove it right or wrong. One way or another. I figure what I've done hasn't worked. So I either need to eat more or eat less. So I'll eat more first ;-). Basically I've run out of ideas. I've seen MANY others struggle. So either everyone's lying or off in their measurements or its real. Something real is happening. Is it starvation mode? Metabolic adaptation? I don't even care at this point. I wanna figure it out and fix it.

    I'm sorry I know this isn't an answer. More of a commiseration.
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    If you are actually burning 2800-3000 calories a day and only eating 1600 calories... that would mean you are netting -1400/-1200 per day...

    "Starvation mode" is when your body does not get enough food to run its normal functions and -1400 calories would definitely fall under that.......

    Have you been taking measurements or photos?

    Ok. Screw what FitBit says right or wrong. First, you need to figure out, with a margin for error, what amount of energy needs to maintain its currentlyfunction. So, if your BMR is 1700 (the absolute amount necessary to stay alive and healthy) and you eat 100 calories less plus burn an additional 1200 calories, where exactly is your body getting energy from in order to support a healthy metabolism and reproduction of cells. ADP process requires energy, without it, it slows down. Hence, STARVATION MODE. If FitBit says you burn 2800-3000 calories then you need to be eating 2000-2200 calories a day in order to facilitate weight loss.

    The starving children comment is just wrong. Poor kids
  • hannamarie88
    hannamarie88 Posts: 231 Member
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    The starving children comment is just wrong. Poor kids

    The poor starving children also tend to get Kwashiorkor :/
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    this isn't starvation mode. something else is going on here. "starvation mode" is from seriously undereating for a prolonged period of time, causing your metabolism to slow down, and your body to begin using muscles to try to keep itself alive. It doesn't happen overnight. Or even in a month. Its how the body tries to save your life during a famine..real or imposed.
    I'm not sure what's going on with you, but reexamining your measurements and logging would be the first place to start to figure it out.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    call it starvation mode or metabolism slow down or whatever you need to eat to fuel your body and when you don't it changes how it burns what you are eating.

    That easy.
  • RubyRunner14
    RubyRunner14 Posts: 148 Member
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    Like someone mentioned, starvation mode happens when, say, a 150lb male eats 900 cals a day for years. It doesn't happen easily.
  • CLFrancois
    CLFrancois Posts: 472 Member
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    The starving children comment is just wrong. Poor kids

    How is it wrong? I am totally serious on my point. If there is a such thing as 'starvation mode' where your body holds on to whatever calories, would children be starving? It is not being rude, or wrong, it is being truthful and serious.
  • ksuh999
    ksuh999 Posts: 543 Member
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    http://examine.com/faq/how-do-i-stay-out-of-starvation-mode.html
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
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    What do the starving children of (fill in the blank) country think? Do they go into starvation mode????

    Well yes, how else to explain why they can survive so long on less calories than they actually require. You would eventually die from starvation but not if you had a minimum of calories to continue body function.

    Or how about anorexic people? They can eat nothing for days and they survive for a long time with a minimum of food.
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
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    You said in a previous thread that you only ate 500 calories and lost a bunch of weight. I think you ruined your metabolism. I don't think starvation mode is what you think it is.

    Yes, that was 3 years ago and since then I have worked on gaining muscle back. My metabolism should be better by now. You don`t ruin your metabolism forever.
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
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    All I know is I've been stuck around the same 5 lbs for over a year. I eat right and workout. My body media says I burn 2500 a day. According to that I should have wasted away to nothing by now. I have not. So right now I'm upping my calories. I'm gonna prove it right or wrong. One way or another. I figure what I've done hasn't worked. So I either need to eat more or eat less. So I'll eat more first ;-). Basically I've run out of ideas. I've seen MANY others struggle. So either everyone's lying or off in their measurements or its real. Something real is happening. Is it starvation mode? Metabolic adaptation? I don't even care at this point. I wanna figure it out and fix it.

    I'm sorry I know this isn't an answer. More of a commiseration.

    Thank you. This is exactly how I feel. Let`s figure this out.
  • ecdce
    ecdce Posts: 129 Member
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    What do the starving children of (fill in the blank) country think? Do they go into starvation mode????

    Well yes, how else to explain why they can survive so long on less calories than they actually require. You would eventually die from starvation but not if you had a minimum of calories to continue body function.

    Or how about anorexic people? They can eat nothing for days and they survive for a long time with a minimum of food.

    No. What people are pointing out is that your body will eventually change how it uses calories, but the idea of "starvation mode," where you fall below some invisible magic calorie number and suddenly your body just stops losing weight, doesn't exist. Yes, your metabolism can slow down from eating less than it needs and yes, eventually, your body will start to catabolize other tissue in order to preserve brain function, but that isn't going to happen because someone with 30% body fat is eating less than they require for a month or two.
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
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    http://examine.com/faq/how-do-i-stay-out-of-starvation-mode.html

    Oh interesting, so if I burn so much more than I eat I may have metabolic slowdown but it`s a small difference. So even if I starved 3 years ago and have been eating more than 1000 cal under my 'percieved ' fit bit level for those 3 years. I have stayed at the same weight because that is the real amount I should eat for my size. My fit bit is just completely wonky.

    yet when I ate 900 cal per day I lost nothing. And when I weeks later upped it to 1600, I gained no weight but lost none too.

    Time to get my thyroid checked? But I should gain weight if I have a thyroid prob. I don`t have other thyroid factors either.

    The one thing I haven`t done is eat more than 1600. Maybe time to trot out the 1800 or 2000? At 5'9" 182, 38 years, and 26% bf is this just a ridiculous amount of cal to lose weight at? Am I crazy? my buddies on MFP mostly eat less than net 1200 cal per day, work out, and lose weight.
  • gettheledout3372
    gettheledout3372 Posts: 13 Member
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    Just based on a rough online calculator, your BMR alone is a hair under 1600 calories, so no, I don't think eating 1800/day is at all ridiculous! Why not give it a shot?

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