Is it starvation mode???
Options
Replies
-
I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!1
-
No. The answer is no. Starvation mode, as most define it, is a myth. Please read this article:
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/
Love it. Bookmarked for future use.
This should be required reading for everyone0 -
I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!1 -
I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!
I survived... somehow I lived to tell about it...
0 -
Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!0 -
Of course it's largely a myth. I really believe, deep down, most people know this.
But it's become the perfect excuse to overeat, out of fear of your metabolism "shutting down" (more BS), or you magically gaining weight if you don't get enough calories.
And then when you're failing to keep total food transparency, you can claim that you aren't losing any weight, even though you're supposedly hardly eating anything.
Most of us who got fat got that way, and stayed that way, by investing into a lot of wild implausibilities, excuses, denial, and delusions. So we repeat nonsensical fitness, diet, and food myths that, surprise surprise, always make us feel better, or allow us to eat more/move less.1 -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss
We've been there...
ETA: BTW - Starvation Mode, as most people use it, does exist and is just adapative thermogenesis - a response to reduced calories that results in a miscalculation of the calories deficit needed to lose. The usual repsonses like in the article are
- cut more, you'll lose!
- it doesn't exist, you are lying on what you consume!
- it doesn't exist, you are over calculating your burns!
These answers often lead to frustration and actions that are a direct path to failure.
Yes, the first steps to addressing this is to look very closely to logging and actual calorie burns. It is often the case that the person, after months and months of logging has gotten frustrated and is no longer paying sufficient attention to the details of logging accuracy. Or that the exercise burns that were once high have not dropped either due to weight loss (you burn less as you loss) or exercise efficiency gains (you burn less as you get better at your activity).
1) Assess your cals, dial it in so you can be really certain that what you log is what you eat.
2) Burns are variable and difficult to measure even with a HRM, consider just going to a fixed TDEE and not logging burns. You get to include your excercise in your total activity level and then go to a fixed amount of cals per day - usually a bit higher than the MFP setting (take average weekly exercise/7 as use that as a starting point)
3) Now that logging food and burns are cleaner - you have three choices
3.1) Cut some more - but does it make sense, are you getting enough nutrition, can you handle it? Or will this lead to failure because it is too much. Create a deficit - possibly conside changing eating habits to more filling/less calorie dense food (eat your veggies).
3.2) Burn some more - increase the TOTAL activity level - make your days more active, incresase exercise. Is this feasable, can you integrate it into your day or will that lead to failure? Create a deficit. TOTAL activity - not just exercise.
3.3) Keep at it slowly - Don't cut/ don't increase activity but recognize that the loss will go much slower (but will occur if you are tracking well and consistently)
In any of these, taking a break and going to maintenance (real, not calcluated) can be a useful mentally and physically. Resistance training to build up lean body mass and to tip the balance between metabolism and calories consumed to the loss side can also be useful.
Well since you've been there and done that I guess there's no need for me to share something with others that I found useful. Oh wait, scratch that... I think I will! Oh wait, I already did!
I read your thread and found it quite insightful, and I agree with a lot of what you have to say above... but yet again I will repeat myself:
Adaptive thermogenesis is a VERY REAL thing. After prolonged deficits an individual's metabolism will slow down and this can affect weight loss in the long run -- to some degree.
MYTHS:
Skipping a meal with throw you into metabolic shutdown.
A morbidly obese person "doing everything right" must be in starvation mode after their weight loss stalled one month into their "journey"
An overweight individual thinks they are "doing everything right" and can't lose weight because they are eating too few calories and sent their body into a downward spiral of starvation mode.
Same individual is somehow gaining weight because of this dreaded starvation mode, even though they "know" they are eating at a deficit.
REALITY:
Caloric deficit = weight loss
BEFORE suggesting someone is in starvation mode, the responsible thing to do is question their logging accuracy.
BTW: I could not agree more when it comes to taking breaks from dieting and eating at maintenance for a period of time. Furthermore, I don't think that anyone should continue to cut calories to an unhealthy level.
What have I written that disagrees with any of this?0 -
I love this. So true. I will say (to echo other posters) one of the biggest things I believe people struggle with is overestimating calories. I have a friend who is a waitress and so her activity level is "active" but then she adds in extra exercise calories (300 minutes of walking) every day. She wonders why she doesn't lose weight but she is double counting her exercise calories!
I wish people did more research:/1 -
Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!
and alot of body fat there was 0 -
And you look great.
Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!
and alot of body fat there was 0 -
And you look great.
Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!
and alot of body fat there was
thanks!
and to add, i went on maintenance a few months ago, and have maintained with no issue on an average of 2000 calories a day. so, eating at fairly low calories for a year did not damage my metabolism. this week, i have decided to drop back into deficit to take off my final 6 pounds for a total 100 pound loss!1 -
Yeah, in this scenario I suspected things would transition easily. Keep in mind that with less body fat to draw energy from that large deficits can be problematic. Lean mass can be jeopardized and I would probably recommend a slower approach and work with 1500 cals.
And you look great.
Her body fat supplied the deficit calories (32cals/lb/fat/day) and her diet was protective of lean mass.I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
ETA: In all seriousness, thank you for sharing that. It's what people need to hear!!
and alot of body fat there was
thanks!
and to add, i went on maintenance a few months ago, and have maintained with no issue on an average of 2000 calories a day. so, eating at fairly low calories for a year did not damage my metabolism. this week, i have decided to drop back into deficit to take off my final 6 pounds for a total 100 pound loss!0 -
I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
Many of those here who squabbled at you, and the approach you took, don't have even a small fraction of success that you've achieved, nevermind looking as fit, lean, and healthy as you do.
Kudos to you for absolutely murdering that fat, getting in shape, and doing it in a common sense way that worked for you.
I don't even talk much about how I lost my 100+ lbs in that ticker, and counting, because it flies in the face of most MFP "rules". But when you find your way, a way that works like gangbusters, and leaves you feeling incredible during your journey, none of the "rules" or the peanut gallery finger wagging means much at all.1 -
No, it's not starvation mode.0
-
I was told time and time again 1 year ago, that I would stop losing weight, lose my hair, have brittle nails, blah blah blah, if I continued to eat at 1200 calories a day. I was told I would fail, I was told I wouldnt last that long and give up, and I was told that if I did lose weight, I would lose all my muscle (please see pics to know my muscle tone is fine). Well, in 11 months, I lost my weight... 95 pounds, lost minimal muscle, as I made sure to consume adequate protien and incorporated strength training into my dailt routine. My hair is as thick as ever, my nails are great, and even with my busy life of being a wife, mother of 5, full time student, and everything else... I never felt weak, I never felt drained, I was never not able to complete my daily workouts, and I never felt like giving up! I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! So, just as I concluded from the begining, the starvation mode myth, as thrown around on MFP, is nothing more than a myth... and I am glad I did my own research and used my own common sense when deciding to continue with my plan, instead of listening to all of the end of the world your going to die stavation mode anti 1200 crowd!
Many of those here who squabbled at you, and the approach you took, don't have even a small fraction of success that you've achieved, nevermind looking as fit, lean, and healthy as you do.
Kudos to you for absolutely murdering that fat, getting in shape, and doing it in a common sense way that worked for you.
I don't even talk much about how I lost my 100+ lbs in that ticker, and counting, because it flies in the face of most MFP "rules". But when you find your way, a way that works like gangbusters, and leaves you feeling incredible during your journey, none of the "rules" or the peanut gallery finger wagging means much at all.
thanks! and i put it out there, because, im not any different than any other woman. so, my point is, fairly low calories can be done in a very smart way. so, to see some women, who could really benifit from a low cal diet get scared away by these starvation mode people upsets me because, for many, the benifit out weights the very small risk. (i only say there is a risk because in any deficit, you risk muscle loss)... alot of people, myself included, cant stay motivated on a loss of 1/2 pound a week, and then give up... many women, like myself, need to see a better loss to keep us going... dont scare these women away with the idea that they will be bald with no finger nails and butt cheeks that sag to the ground from loss of muscle! come on!1 -
Just look at people who lose a TON of weight with surgery. They cant eat much at first and are I am sure well below 1000 cals daily and they lose. That is how I look at it when people say things about starvation mode. I do think it can mess your metabolism up and you will eventually gain the weight back if you are eating too few calories and then start eating normal again. But thats all just common sense.
Edited to say that too few calories would be in the hundreds, not 1200. I know that people on here have done very well with 1200 or so cals a day.0 -
For the sake of all the emaciated, starving, dying human beings the world over I so, so wish the popularized ideas of "starvation mode" were true.1
-
You mean, you are living proof that you can remain on a deficit and continue to lose weight? No way... NO WAY!? What next, unicorns?
:yawn:0 -
Yes she's a newb to this place otherwise she would have known this article was posted several times already, and the "starvation mode" is myth debate shows up every week with the same result. People find a blog post on the internet and think they're going to save the world of misinformation. Instead of educating yourself with unsourced blog posts, start searching the scientific study sites. Then you'll have more credibility.Why does this type of thread show up so often - oh I see, it's a newb.
BTW, unsourced web blogs are usually not the best to back up your argument.
Although some call it "starvation mode", it's also referred to metabolic adaptation, starvation response, adaptive thermogenesis, etc. and they pretty much all mean the same thing. No it doesn't happen over night, or even in a week. It's a gradual process that can take months. This is what you would call a "stall" especially when people get close to their goal weight.
You judging the OP by their start date would be like judging you for losing only 10lbs in four years.
Or perhaps I could belittle someone's weight loss by calling it cute. Maybe I could go from thread to thread spreading bitterness and insults.
Nah... not my kind of thing.
I'm sorry to hear you gained the weight back that you so proudly tried to rub in my face. I honestly am, and maybe that is the reason you feel the need to dismiss mine. I've lost a total of 60 pounds. Is that cute too? And I've kept it off.You can call me a "newb" all you like but take a good look at my ticker wink
If you took the time to actually read it before commenting, you would have seen the discussion of adaptive thermogenesis in the article.
Typical MFP shenanigans.
So lets see, you preach to me about belittling? So what would you call the bold quoted text above? Your first jab was indicating you lost more weight than I did, then you jabbed about keeping it off. Hypocrisy at it's finest.0 -
Yes she's a newb to this place otherwise she would have known this article was posted several times already, and the "starvation mode" is myth debate shows up every week with the same result. People find a blog post on the internet and think they're going to save the world of misinformation. Instead of educating yourself with unsourced blog posts, start searching the scientific study sites. Then you'll have more credibility.Why does this type of thread show up so often - oh I see, it's a newb.
BTW, unsourced web blogs are usually not the best to back up your argument.
Although some call it "starvation mode", it's also referred to metabolic adaptation, starvation response, adaptive thermogenesis, etc. and they pretty much all mean the same thing. No it doesn't happen over night, or even in a week. It's a gradual process that can take months. This is what you would call a "stall" especially when people get close to their goal weight.
You judging the OP by their start date would be like judging you for losing only 10lbs in four years.
Or perhaps I could belittle someone's weight loss by calling it cute. Maybe I could go from thread to thread spreading bitterness and insults.
Nah... not my kind of thing.
I'm sorry to hear you gained the weight back that you so proudly tried to rub in my face. I honestly am, and maybe that is the reason you feel the need to dismiss mine. I've lost a total of 60 pounds. Is that cute too? And I've kept it off.You can call me a "newb" all you like but take a good look at my ticker wink
If you took the time to actually read it before commenting, you would have seen the discussion of adaptive thermogenesis in the article.
Typical MFP shenanigans.
So lets see, you preach to me about belittling? So what would you call the bold quoted text above? Your first jab was indicating you lost more weight than I did, then you jabbed about keeping it off. Hypocrisy at it's finest.
:yawn:
That's cute.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 402 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 997 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions