Starvation mode is a myth.

maillemaker

Great article showed up in my friend feed:

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

The TL;DR is this: For virtually all people, if you aren't losing weight, it is for one reason only: You aren't really maintaining a calorie deficit.

Starvation mode only happens once you have lost so much body fat that you can't lose anymore without dying. If you are overweight, and you eat a calorie deficit, you will lose weight no matter what.

If you think you are dieting and you are not losing weight the most likely explanation is you aren't accurately tracking your calories.

Michielynn222

I never understood the whole 'You aren't eating enough, so you are going to gain like 50 pounds ' thing
this makes much more sense. Obviously you shouldn't starve yourself, but eating low calorie is fine. I mean, how else did you expect to lose weight?

EvilShenanigansTX

**Gets popcorn ready**

dfaith999

Most people who believe in "starvation mode" are the people on here who are relatively new to nutrition, still moderately-to-severely overweight, and (of course) will lose weight on 1800 calories per day when starting from 300+ pounds.

I have used 1300 calories a day for ages, have a BMI of 19.5 (5'9" tall) and have never gained a single pound from "not eating enough". What a ridiculous notion.

The only reason I have ever gained weight is from eating too much junk and drinking alcohol.

Beeps2011

"If you think you are dieting and you are not losing weight the most likely explanation is you aren't accurately tracking your calories."

^^^ This.

Put another way, if you aren't losing scale weight, you are ingesting more calories than you are expending (or, re: maintenance, ingesting the same amount of calories you are expending).

I'm 44, 5'9" and I use 9,800 calories per week, as my guide. And, yes, I lift heavy free weights (3 x per week) and don't do much cardio.

alyhuggan

The amount of times I've seen "Eating 800 calories, I'm not losing weight" your advice would be to eat less?

I_Will_End_You

Most people who believe in "starvation mode" are the people on here who are relatively new to nutrition, still moderately-to-severely overweight, and (of course) will lose weight on 1800 calories per day when starting from 300+ pounds.

I weigh 120lbs and lose on 1800+ calories a day.

workout_ninja

Its not that eating 1200 calories a day will make you put on weight, its that your body is hungry so when you do eventually cave and have that little binge, then your body stores it as fat. that has always been my take on it. I eat 1800 calories a day and I am consistently losing. Of course exercise helps

fuzzieme

The amount of times I've seen "Eating 800 calories, I'm not losing weight" your advice would be to eat less?

Already been covered in this thread.

The advise would be to ensure you are accurately tracking calories, because in all probability, they are under counting.

12skipafew99100

I TOTALLY agree! Thanks for posting.

echofm1

The amount of times I've seen "Eating 800 calories, I'm not losing weight" your advice would be to eat less?

Already been covered in this thread.

The advise would be to ensure you are accurately tracking calories, because in all probability, they are under counting.

Just kind of curious, but what's your suggestion if it turns they aren't under-counting? It's not a lot of help if someone is eating 800 calories, and logging accurately, and the only response is "Well that sucks." What do you tell them then?

fuzzieme

Its not that eating 1200 calories a day will make you put on weight, its that your body is hungry so when you do eventually cave and have that little binge, then your body stores it as fat. that has always been my take on it. I eat 1800 calories a day and I am consistently losing. Of course exercise helps

This is a nice way to show you don't like the 1200 route. I wish everyone said it like that :flowerforyou: I stick to the 1200, and am never hungry, because I'm stingy with how I spend calories - I'd rather an enormous salad with a bowl of soup than some chocolate. So I eat a lot of food on 1200, and on days I exercise, most days at the minute, I can have something I really love, or a few drinks. No better motivator to move!

But back to this comment, a 1200 calorie diet can easily lead to a breakdown of will if you only have two sandwiches and a bowl of cereal in a day.

fuzzieme

The amount of times I've seen "Eating 800 calories, I'm not losing weight" your advice would be to eat less?

Already been covered in this thread.

The advise would be to ensure you are accurately tracking calories, because in all probability, they are under counting.

Just kind of curious, but what's your suggestion if it turns they aren't under-counting? It's not a lot of help if someone is eating 800 calories, and logging accurately, and the only response is "Well that sucks." What do you tell them then?

I'd say head to the doctor. Something doesn't sound right.

IamUndrCnstruction

In for the off chance some one says something new

jessiematt451

Totally agree with this

husseycd

Most people who believe in "starvation mode" are the people on here who are relatively new to nutrition, still moderately-to-severely overweight, and (of course) will lose weight on 1800 calories per day when starting from 300+ pounds.

I have used 1300 calories a day for ages, have a BMI of 19.5 (5'9" tall) and have never gained a single pound from "not eating enough". What a ridiculous notion.

The only reason I have ever gained weight is from eating too much junk and drinking alcohol.

I'm 127 lbs, 37, and lose on 1800 cal per day. I can also drink alcohol and lose weight. No, I'm not a special snowflake. But I do feel sorry for people who think they can only eat 1300 cal/day to either maintain their weight or lose weight. My RMR is 1580 calories (tested). That means I burn nearly 1600 cal/day just sitting. Maintenence for me is about 2100 calories/day.

Food is not the enemy. No one gets a medal from eating too little. They just get hungry.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

The amount of times I've seen "Eating 800 calories, I'm not losing weight" your advice would be to eat less?

Already been covered in this thread.

The advise would be to ensure you are accurately tracking calories, because in all probability, they are under counting.

Just kind of curious, but what's your suggestion if it turns they aren't under-counting? It's not a lot of help if someone is eating 800 calories, and logging accurately, and the only response is "Well that sucks." What do you tell them then?

Something in that person's equation isn't correct. If they're truly eating 800 calories, then the exercise calories part of the equation is what's off; their burn is nowhere near what they think it is.

I would tell them to get a food scale, a HRM, use them religiously, and understand there's a degree of error with everything. If after all that they still aren't losing weight then they're lying about something.

cwolfman13

While I believe that "starvation mode" is a largely missunderstood and an overused term used by many here on MFP...I would like to know OPs opinon on adaptive thermogenesis...also metabolic damage caused by chronic undereating as evidenced by anorexics and people with other eating disorders.

While I do not believe in the term "starvation mode" as it is often used here on MFP, I generally find these threads to be somewhat disconcerting due to the fact that you usually see the "amens" and "preach it" posts coming from individuals who are participating in some kind of VLCD which, at minimum cannot provide them with requisite nutrition...which in and of itself is "starving" the body of nutrition.

Amitysk

In for the gifs! Hopefully with kitties!

v6s30

Food is not the enemy. No one gets a medal from eating too little. They just get hungry.

Love this!

madtownjeremy

**Gets popcorn ready**

Oh it's gonna get good once the 'I eat 200 cals a day and I'm not losing weight!' crew gets here.