went from 1200 calories to 1500 and lost more weight?

SezxyStef

I thought "starvation mode" was a myth or inaccurate science. That's what is said here on MFP by some posters.

It's not a 'myth', but a fact... It's a bit exagerrated that's all. Here's a good article + check out the site I referenced below - Lots of studies done on it.

"Ancel Key’s Minnesota starvation study is the classic work in this area, which dates back to 1950 and is still referenced to this day. In this study, there was a 40% (approx) decrease in metabolism due to 6 months of “semi-starvation” at 50% deficit.

...

I believe it to be a myth. If you read the literature, you'll notice that the the starvation period was 24 weeks long, which is represented by the S12 and S24 points in the graph below, S24 being the end of the (semi)starvation period, whereupon the subjects entered a rehab period. What does this actually say? It says that one will continue to lose fat, at a faster rate than they lose FFM, even when their metabolism adapts to the energy deficit.

I agree that "starvation mode" is a myth....

ell_v131

However, I binged (or so I thought) the past 5 days and consumed around 1500 calories a day - and I LOST weight. A solid 3 pounds at that.

Weird, huh?

First of all, 1500 isn't a 'binge'...

And if you've been eating 1200(without knowing your stats, but doesn't matter) for an extended period of time , your body must have been in starvation mode.

Upping kcal to 1500 would have made your body more efficient at burning kcal.

It's not necessarily true when people say ' eat more, your'e eating too little', but it's good to switch it up here and there.

If you don't eat at your maintenance once in a while and eat 1200 kcal forever, you will be prone to re-gaining weight back easily when you reach your 'ideal' weight.

I thought "starvation mode" was a myth or inaccurate science. That's what is said here on MFP by some posters.

It's not a 'myth', but a fact... It's a bit exagerrated that's all. Here's a good article + check out the site I referenced below - Lots of studies done on it.

"Ancel Key’s Minnesota starvation study is the classic work in this area, which dates back to 1950 and is still referenced to this day. In this study, there was a 40% (approx) decrease in metabolism due to 6 months of “semi-starvation” at 50% deficit.

Much or most of the decrease was due to loss of body mass, (which was much more pronounced because the subjects were not weight training), but not all of the metabolic decline could be explained simply by the loss of body weight, thus “metabolic adaptation” to starvation was proposed as the explanation for the difference.

Abdul Dulloo of the University of Geneva did a series of studies that revisited the 1300 pages of data that keys collected from this landmark study, which will not ever be repeated due to ethical considerations. (it’s not easy to do longitudinal studies that starve people, as you can imagine)"

http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/378.cfm

not Minessota again...

Adaptive Thermogenesis is a thing. But almost no-one living in a first world country will ever get to that point. Starvation mode as used on these forums is a myth. Can't gain weight because you eat too little. Simple as that.

On the other hand the statement "If you don't eat at your maintenance once in a while and eat 1200 kcal forever, you will be prone to re-gaining weight back easily when you reach your 'ideal' weight."is correct.