How can you tell if your body is in starvation mode?

laurynbennardo

So I have only lost one pound in the past month in a half and I think I must have plateaued, tho I have upped my workout intensity and time. I run, bike, lift, and do yoga. I am just not sure if maybe I am not eating enough and my body is in starvation mode or something. Its not like I am hungry all the time, I am actually not sure if I could add many more healthy calories to my diet, and I make sure I eat after a workout or when I am hungry. So I don't know what is going on, I feel like I should be loosing more, or at least toning up and loosing inches, but I am not. If anyone has any answers I would love to hear.

LittleSpy

You know your metabolism has slowed when you're not losing weight that averages somewhere around what you should be losing based on the calorie deficits you're creating.

Healthy foods don't have to be low calorie. Add nuts, nut butters, avocado, milk, etc. to your diet.

AriesGrl

It's also possible your muscle gain is even to your weight loss......if your working out that hard you are building alot of muscle....keep that in mind=)

faithstephenson

I took a look at your food diary. It appears your pre exercise calorie goal is 1000/day. You should at least be netting 1200 cals a day. Even though you are eating more from exercise, you look to be netting 600-900 a day. That is not enough. It's going to be hard to eat all your calories if you are burning 1000+ cals a day. You might think about shooting for a burn of 500-600 a day and be sure you are netting AT LEAST 1200 cals.

islandnutshel

I took a look at your food diary. It appears your pre exercise calorie goal is 1000/day. You should at least be netting 1200 cals a day. Even though you are eating more from exercise, you look to be netting 600-900 a day. That is not enough. It's going to be hard to eat all your calories if you are burning 1000+ cals a day. You might think about shooting for a burn of 500-600 a day and be sure you are netting AT LEAST 1200 cals.

I was looking around for some advice like this. I am eating more: About 1200 to 1500 cal, and burning between 500 to 1000 almost daily and I have come to a grinding halt in my weight loss. Getting discouraged. I am eating very healthy food, and am wondering how much of my burn calories I should be eating.

faithstephenson

I took a look at your food diary. It appears your pre exercise calorie goal is 1000/day. You should at least be netting 1200 cals a day. Even though you are eating more from exercise, you look to be netting 600-900 a day. That is not enough. It's going to be hard to eat all your calories if you are burning 1000+ cals a day. You might think about shooting for a burn of 500-600 a day and be sure you are netting AT LEAST 1200 cals.

I was looking around for some advice like this. I am eating more: About 1200 to 1500 cal, and burning between 500 to 1000 almost daily and I have come to a grinding halt in my weight loss. Getting discouraged. I am eating very healthy food, and am wondering how much of my burn calories I should be eating.

There are lots of posts on the forums about why it is you need to net at least 1200 calories a day. Basically, your body needs at least that many calories to stay healthy. If it doesn't get them, it will eventually go into starvation mode, storing anything it gets as fat so that it is sure to have fuel for later. If you eat 1500 calories but use 1000 of them for energy during exercise (that's your calorie burn) that only leaves 500 calories for your body to perform all its other functions. It will not be happy. You need to eat most of your exercise calories, or your deficit will be too large, but definately eat enough of them to net out to at least 1200 calories. So, if you burn 500 calories and your goal is 1200/day, you need to eat 1700 calories that day. Sometimes it can seem hard to eat that much, but if you choose a few snacks or breakfast that can be a little higher in calorie (good calories, maybe good fats like in nuts, avacado, etc. Peanut butter is a good one) you can get there. I always make sure that if I'm going to have a higher calorie burn I eat a breakfast that will not make me have to stuff my face later in the day. And sometimes I plan a dinner out that will help use some of those calories. But try not to eat the bulk of your calories in one meal.

glassyo

I was looking around for some advice like this. I am eating more: About 1200 to 1500 cal, and burning between 500 to 1000 almost daily and I have come to a grinding halt in my weight loss. Getting discouraged. I am eating very healthy food, and am wondering how much of my burn calories I should be eating.

What you want is to net your calorie goal. Say MFP says you're supposed to eat 1500 calories to lose 1 lb a week. You work out and burn 500 calories. 1500 - 500 = 1000 (that you've consumed). You would need to eat 500 calories back so you would still have that 1500 calories in your system. The reason you would eat those calories back is because, when you set your goal to lose a lb a week, the site is already taking the 500 calorie deficit into account.