How long to get out of starvation mode?

ks1994

Hi,
I was in starvation mode for several months and recently started coming out of it and have gained 15 pounds It has been two months almost. My weight is still going up. How long does it take for your body to realize it is not starving anymore and you can start losing weight again? I am afraid that I will start gaining weight again if I lower my calories, if my body does not know that it is not starving. When will my metabolism come back up? Thank you.

howardheilweil

You'll have to provide loads more info and/or open up your diary. Why do you think you were in "starvation" mode? How many calories then? How many now? Exercise?

clearlyme

If your body goes into starvation mode, it means you aren't eating enough. My guess is you need to up your calorie intake and the weight will fall off.

BrainyBurro

Hi,
I was in starvation mode for several months and recently started coming out of it and have gained 15 pounds It has been two months almost. My weight is still going up. How long does it take for your body to realize it is not starving anymore and you can start losing weight again? I am afraid that I will start gaining weight again if I lower my calories, if my body does not know that it is not starving. When will my metabolism come back up? Thank you.

unless you were in a concentration camp in North Korea, it's doubtful you were in "starvation mode".

perpetually undereating can slow down your metabolism, but that's not the same thing and it's not certain how much it will slow down anyway.

try to find your maintenance calorie level and stay there for a couple of months. that's how much you can eat without gaining or losing. if you find yourself losing slowly, bump up your calories a little more and stay there for a couple of weeks, etc.

once you're at that level and confident that you're staying at the same weight +/- a couple of lbs due to water retention, then start with a very modest reduction of calories from that level.

GnosisGnosis

Starvation mode is a fitness myth.

ks1994

I have heard all of this "myth" stuff but it seems to all come from guys. You have to understand that women are more sensitive to diets whereas guys bodies bounce back a lot quicker, hence it is much easier for guys to lose weight and women struggle more.

Anyway. I was in starvation mode eating ~800 calories a day and not losing, just maintaining, for about 9 months. I don't have a food diary on here, sorry, but it started with a zero carb diet and then plateaued on that so I kept lowering calories and nothing worked. Beginning June I tried to do a sort of Metabolic Repair that I had read about, and I've gained 15 pounds, probably not muscle, so now I'm past where I started and have less muscle on top. I look about 10 pounds heavier than I am. But after eating that little for so long I am wondering when my body will be "open" to start losing weight again? I know I'm not the first one to do this, but I was doing it for so long that I am not sure how long it will take to get out of.

ken_hogan

http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm

GnosisGnosis

Thanks for the link, Ken, that's a great one. OP: Being a man or a woman has nothing to do with it. Starvation mode is a myth based on the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, this was an experiment where people were eating an unreasonable deficit until they essentially had no body mass left. Check out that link Ken posted.

If you have hit a Plateau on your weight loss, you might want to look into incorporating some weight training if you haven't yet.

keem88

lol starvation mode.
first off, don't weigh yourself while you are eating more because you will initially gain weight, which can be discouraging and or triggering.
up your cals a little at a time until you are at a maintenance level, and your body should adjust itself. it's nothing black or white and there is no set time.
i initally started gaining weight when i started the recovery process again from an eating disorder, about 2 months ago. i totally stopped weighing myself, and i know i am a few pounds up than where i was (i was quite underweight), but my clothes all fit the same still and i still look the same, if anything you just can't see my ribs as much. like i said i stopped weighing totally, and i have gone from around the 700/800s a day calorie wise into the low 1000s/1200s over the last couple of months. i wouldn't suggest upping your cals drastically at once, because then your stomach will just feel bloated and you will feel gross all the time.
but yes i highly doubt you are in starvation mode unless you are a starving child somewhere in an underdeveloped country. most likely your metabolism has just slowed down since your intake was lower than it should be, and once you up those cals a little at a time to maintenance, then healthily eat a weight loss amount you wont have any problems.

BrainyBurro

I have heard all of this "myth" stuff but it seems to all come from guys. You have to understand that women are more sensitive to diets whereas guys bodies bounce back a lot quicker, hence it is much easier for guys to lose weight and women struggle more.

Anyway. I was in starvation mode eating ~800 calories a day and not losing, just maintaining, for about 9 months. I don't have a food diary on here, sorry, but it started with a zero carb diet and then plateaued on that so I kept lowering calories and nothing worked. Beginning June I tried to do a sort of Metabolic Repair that I had read about, and I've gained 15 pounds, probably not muscle, so now I'm past where I started and have less muscle on top. I look about 10 pounds heavier than I am. But after eating that little for so long I am wondering when my body will be "open" to start losing weight again? I know I'm not the first one to do this, but I was doing it for so long that I am not sure how long it will take to get out of.

you are not recovering from "starvation mode".

here's what it sounds like has happened to you...

you ARE stuck in the yo-yo diet syndrome. those very low calorie diets suck you in... they work at first, but after a few months, they stop working. you are dealing with what gazillions of other women have dealt with. your daily calorie deficit was too high for too long and you mucked up your hormones. you have to get your body back to a "non-stressed" condition with respect to your hormones. your body interpreted your low calorie intake as a threat to your survival and it stopped worrying about spending calories on all sorts of bodily functions (hair health, skin health, menstruation, etc.) in favor of others. this decreased the "calorie out" side of your equation. what you need to do is find that maintenance amount and stay there for a while for your body to revert back to normal hormonal levels. that will get your "calorie out" amount back to where you want it.

that may be a bit simplified, but this is the explanation i've seen over a number of months here, with many other women who were in the same boat as you. the engineer in me finds this to be the most plausible layman's explanation for what's happened to you.

the specific answer for how to do this is to be found in the Eat More to Lose More group. you should join that group and talk to those people. they've been where you are and they are now, where you want to be.

ks1994

lol starvation mode.
first off, don't weigh yourself while you are eating more because you will initially gain weight, which can be discouraging and or triggering.
up your cals a little at a time until you are at a maintenance level, and your body should adjust itself. it's nothing black or white and there is no set time.
i initally started gaining weight when i started the recovery process again from an eating disorder, about 2 months ago. i totally stopped weighing myself, and i know i am a few pounds up than where i was (i was quite underweight), but my clothes all fit the same still and i still look the same, if anything you just can't see my ribs as much. like i said i stopped weighing totally, and i have gone from around the 700/800s a day calorie wise into the low 1000s/1200s over the last couple of months. i wouldn't suggest upping your cals drastically at once, because then your stomach will just feel bloated and you will feel gross all the time.
but yes i highly doubt you are in starvation mode unless you are a starving child somewhere in an underdeveloped country. most likely your metabolism has just slowed down since your intake was lower than it should be, and once you up those cals a little at a time to maintenance, then healthily eat a weight loss amount you wont have any problems.

So are you now losing weight again? Because that still seems like a ridiculously low amount of calories if you're exercising on top of that...

ks1994

What I was asking was how long do I stay at maintenance before I can start losing again? How do I know when my hormones are back in sync?

melindasuefritz

If your body goes into starvation mode, it means you aren't eating enough. My guess is you need to up your calorie intake and the weight will fall off.

Mokey41

You can start eating at a reasonable deficit anytime. Figure out your TDEE, take 10% off of it and stick to that.

forevermaryb

I have heard all of this "myth" stuff but it seems to all come from guys. You have to understand that women are more sensitive to diets whereas guys bodies bounce back a lot quicker, hence it is much easier for guys to lose weight and women struggle more.

Anyway. I was in starvation mode eating ~800 calories a day and not losing, just maintaining, for about 9 months. I don't have a food diary on here, sorry, but it started with a zero carb diet and then plateaued on that so I kept lowering calories and nothing worked. Beginning June I tried to do a sort of Metabolic Repair that I had read about, and I've gained 15 pounds, probably not muscle, so now I'm past where I started and have less muscle on top. I look about 10 pounds heavier than I am. But after eating that little for so long I am wondering when my body will be "open" to start losing weight again? I know I'm not the first one to do this, but I was doing it for so long that I am not sure how long it will take to get out of.

you are not recovering from "starvation mode".

here's what it sounds like has happened to you...

you ARE stuck in the yo-yo diet syndrome. those very low calorie diets suck you in... they work at first, but after a few months, they stop working. you are dealing with what gazillions of other women have dealt with. your daily calorie deficit was too high for too long and you mucked up your hormones. you have to get your body back to a "non-stressed" condition with respect to your hormones. your body interpreted your low calorie intake as a threat to your survival and it stopped worrying about spending calories on all sorts of bodily functions (hair health, skin health, menstruation, etc.) in favor of others. this decreased the "calorie out" side of your equation. what you need to do is find that maintenance amount and stay there for a while for your body to revert back to normal hormonal levels. that will get your "calorie out" amount back to where you want it.

that may be a bit simplified, but this is the explanation i've seen over a number of months here, with many other women who were in the same boat as you. the engineer in me finds this to be the most plausible layman's explanation for what's happened to you.

the specific answer for how to do this is to be found in the Eat More to Lose More group. you should join that group and talk to those people. they've been where you are and they are now, where you want to be.

How do you find the Eat More to Lose group?

BrainyBurro

I have heard all of this "myth" stuff but it seems to all come from guys. You have to understand that women are more sensitive to diets whereas guys bodies bounce back a lot quicker, hence it is much easier for guys to lose weight and women struggle more.

Anyway. I was in starvation mode eating ~800 calories a day and not losing, just maintaining, for about 9 months. I don't have a food diary on here, sorry, but it started with a zero carb diet and then plateaued on that so I kept lowering calories and nothing worked. Beginning June I tried to do a sort of Metabolic Repair that I had read about, and I've gained 15 pounds, probably not muscle, so now I'm past where I started and have less muscle on top. I look about 10 pounds heavier than I am. But after eating that little for so long I am wondering when my body will be "open" to start losing weight again? I know I'm not the first one to do this, but I was doing it for so long that I am not sure how long it will take to get out of.

you are not recovering from "starvation mode".

here's what it sounds like has happened to you...

you ARE stuck in the yo-yo diet syndrome. those very low calorie diets suck you in... they work at first, but after a few months, they stop working. you are dealing with what gazillions of other women have dealt with. your daily calorie deficit was too high for too long and you mucked up your hormones. you have to get your body back to a "non-stressed" condition with respect to your hormones. your body interpreted your low calorie intake as a threat to your survival and it stopped worrying about spending calories on all sorts of bodily functions (hair health, skin health, menstruation, etc.) in favor of others. this decreased the "calorie out" side of your equation. what you need to do is find that maintenance amount and stay there for a while for your body to revert back to normal hormonal levels. that will get your "calorie out" amount back to where you want it.

that may be a bit simplified, but this is the explanation i've seen over a number of months here, with many other women who were in the same boat as you. the engineer in me finds this to be the most plausible layman's explanation for what's happened to you.

the specific answer for how to do this is to be found in the Eat More to Lose More group. you should join that group and talk to those people. they've been where you are and they are now, where you want to be.

How do you find the Eat More to Lose group?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

click the join button on that page to get posting privileges. i'm not a member, but once you join, i'm sure lots of people will be there to answer your questions and reassure you that you are not alone.

grimendale

Starvation mode is a fitness myth.

Starvation mode is not a myth, just vastly misunderstood. I have been in it before. I spent six months eating no more than 300 calories a day and typically working out at least an hour a day. It was miserable, and when I finally burned out, my weight rocketed back up to where it started and then 50 lbs more. It drives me crazy when people say its a myth, and it drives me crazy when people immediately cite is as the reason for a plateau. It's real, but it takes some seriously warped dedication to get into. If you hit it, you'll know.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/458832-signs-symptoms-of-starvation-mode/

That being said, OP, I doubt you are in starvation mode.The yo-yo diet explanation is most likely correct. I second the recommendation for Eat More, Weigh Less. That's been my philosophy this time around, and it has worked out infinitely better.

norcal_yogi

Hi,
I was in starvation mode for several months and recently started coming out of it and have gained 15 pounds It has been two months almost. My weight is still going up. How long does it take for your body to realize it is not starving anymore and you can start losing weight again? I am afraid that I will start gaining weight again if I lower my calories, if my body does not know that it is not starving. When will my metabolism come back up? Thank you.

unless you were in a concentration camp in North Korea, it's doubtful you were in "starvation mode".

perpetually undereating can slow down your metabolism, but that's not the same thing and it's not certain how much it will slow down anyway.

try to find your maintenance calorie level and stay there for a couple of months. that's how much you can eat without gaining or losing. if you find yourself losing slowly, bump up your calories a little more and stay there for a couple of weeks, etc.

once you're at that level and confident that you're staying at the same weight +/- a couple of lbs due to water retention, then start with a very modest reduction of calories from that level.

yes.... this.

mssweeteypie

U are not recovering from "starvation mode".

here's what it sounds like has happened to you...

you ARE stuck in the yo-yo diet syndrome. those very low calorie diets suck you in... they work at first, but after a few months, they stop working. you are dealing with what gazillions of other women have dealt with. your daily calorie deficit was too high for too long and you mucked up your hormones. you have to get your body back to a "non-stressed" condition with respect to your hormones. your body interpreted your low calorie intake as a threat to your survival and it stopped worrying about spending calories on all sorts of bodily functions (hair health, skin health, menstruation, etc.) in favor of others. this decreased the "calorie out" side of your equation. what you need to do is find that maintenance amount and stay there for a while for your body to revert back to normal hormonal levels. that will get your "calorie out" amount back to where you want it.

that may be a bit simplified, but this is the explanation i've seen over a number of months here, with many other women who were in the same boat as you. the engineer in me finds this to be the most plausible layman's explanation for what's happened to you.

the specific answer for how to do this is to be found in the Eat More to Lose More group. you should join that group and talk to those people. they've been where you are and they are now, where you want to be.

Yes! Amem!

ks1994

Starvation mode is a fitness myth.

Starvation mode is not a myth, just vastly misunderstood. I have been in it before. I spent six months eating no more than 300 calories a day and typically working out at least an hour a day. It was miserable, and when I finally burned out, my weight rocketed back up to where it started and then 50 lbs more. It drives me crazy when people say its a myth, and it drives me crazy when people immediately cite is as the reason for a plateau. It's real, but it takes some seriously warped dedication to get into. If you hit it, you'll know.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/458832-signs-symptoms-of-starvation-mode/

That being said, OP, I doubt you are in starvation mode.The yo-yo diet explanation is most likely correct. I second the recommendation for Eat More, Weigh Less. That's been my philosophy this time around, and it has worked out infinitely better.

Really? I didn't say I was anymore, but unless YOU yo-yo dieted, I did not either. I slowly started eating up to maintenance and gained 15 lbs, just like you gained weight. And how long did it take you to gain all that weight, and when did you start losing it again?

ks1994

Wow, it's really nice to hear you guys just refuting starvation mode when I assume you have never experienced it. Have you eaten 800 calories consistently for several months? And lost quickly then slowed down to nothing? It does not take low body fat levels to be in starvation mode. Perhaps you might like to read this article:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm

Call it adaptive thermogenesis or whatever the hell you want, it's the same thing.