First hand experience with Starvation Mode.

j37869

Who has experienced Starvation Mode? I've read and read about the debate surrounding it. I don't think it's possible I entered starvation mode after two weeks. I do realize I am approaching disordered eating. I'm working on it. So, Starvation Mode, yes or No?

Sonicz90x

It's not real. End of story. There is metabolic adaptation to dieting, but not starvation mode.

eric_sg61

What makes you think you entered 'starvation mode' after 2 weeks?

j37869

As I stated in my question, I do not think I have entered it. Just to reassure myself I am asking for people with first hand experience, not readings or research.

aqualeo1

I lost over 50 lbs over a period of 2 years and I've never experienced it and I was pretty restrictive in the beginning. Any time I wasn't losing it was because I was eating at maintenance due to not logging correctly and underestimating my food intake. Every time I cut back to 1200 calories I started losing again. From my experience I have no reason to believe that it exists.

sheenashe10

Well I took a kinesiology course and they taught over a thousand student that your body will store fat if you don't eat properly. You need to constantly eat something so you can boosts your metabolism. and lose cals. I don't think they would teach students wrong info. But who knows?

sheenashe10

Maybe you should just eat veggies as snacks that way you don't take in too many cals but still keep your metabolise running.

sheenashe10

But exercise and eating often will boosts your metabolism. Your metabolise is always running. I know that. But it will increase it.

SomeNights246

Well I took a kinesiology course and they taught over a thousand student that your body will store fat if you don't eat properly. You need to constantly eat something so you can boosts your metabolism. and lose cals. I don't think they would teach students wrong info. But who knows?

They do a LOT, actually. I can think of several instances (such as what they teach vets about animal nutrition, or what they teach psych students about certain disorders) but that's another subject entirely.

I've battled disordered eating off and on. I won't go into detail. But I've never experienced 'starvation mode'.

wheelbreaksthebutterflies

The only time I was ever in starvation mode was when I had an eating disorder -- what was it, five years ago? Six? Something like that. It took two years to recover and it sucked. I didn't lose any weight at first, but I think I ultimately lost about ten pounds, give or take (considering how I lost it, though, was a little scary). I gained it all back and more. So I really don't recommend it...

fanuch

Maybe you should just eat veggies as snacks that way you don't take in too many cals ...

Often times when people say they are experiencing "starvation mode" they are oblivious to how many calories they are eating in total, and often under report their intake. By saying "eat more veggies" you are essentially agreeing that they are not in starvation mode, but rather, are eating too many calories in total.

beautifulwarrior18

The fact of the matter is you're either malnourished or your not. If you are, then fix it. If not then alright.

wheird

Well I took a kinesiology course and they taught over a thousand student that your body will store fat if you don't eat properly. You need to constantly eat something so you can boosts your metabolism. and lose cals. I don't think they would teach students wrong info. But who knows?

Because the study of movement is the same as the study of human nutrition.

Ok.

yarwell

Is kinesiology regarded as "alternative medicine" in the States, like it is in the UK ?

paperpudding

It IS possible that some posters have experienced starvation mode - if they had such an extreme eating disorder that they almost starved themselves or if they are survivors of a regime like Pol Pot in Cambodia.

But it would take much longer than 2 weeks and would not be the experience of 99.9 % of posters on this site.

shoneybabes

I saw one of my friends starve herself with anorexia. she was hospitalised. It is not a pretty sight.

neandermagnon

you say you're approaching disordered eating... take that as a red flag. What do you hope to achieve from this thread? Justifcation to carry on eating way too little?

---

"Starvation mode" is a stupid term people use to refer to several changes that can occur in the human body (including behavioural changes) in response to eating too little. There's no "on/off" switch in your head called "starvation mode" - the longer you eat too little for, the more of these things change in ways that make it difficult to stick to a diet long term, or if you're determined enough to carry on eating way too little, will compromise your health

short term changes may include:
- obsessing about food
- increased appetite (sometimes extremely increased)
- appetite shutting down then coming back with avengence leading to binge eating
- binge eating
- feeling tired and run down/lacking energy

medium term changes:
- your body using lean mass as fuel to make up the deficit to preserve fat stores for longer, which results in the metabolism slowing because the muscle cells you've lost no longer require the energy they were using to stay alive
- adaptive thermogenesis - this is further slowing of the metabolism that's not explained by body composition changes. This happens because your body tries to deal with the food shortage by directing less energy into non-essential functions, so you end up feeling cold all the time (less energy is spent heating you), your hair and skin look dull and your hair may fall out (less energy is being invested in keeping your skin and hair healthy), you have menstrual disturbances and your menstrual cycle may stop altogether (less energy being invested in reproduction, or even the reproductive system shutting down altogether), and similar, throughout the body. The result is the body saves energy, but your health deteriorates.
-rebound fat gain if you binge (likely) or start eating normally again, due to a combination of your metabolism slowing and increased hunger (which may come out of nowhere while your hunger signals are switched off for much of the time)

long term changes:
- if the food shortage is really extreme, when your skeletal muscles and fat stores have all been used up keeping you alive, your body then metabolises your organs for energy. Death from multiple organ failure usually follows this.
- if the food shortage isn't extreme enough for you to starve to death, your body may get to the point where it's burned off enough muscle tissue and done adaptive thermogenesis enough that your low number of calories is now maintenance. At which point you have poor health and all the health risks associated with being underweight and eating too little, yet eating more will result in fat gain. Note that it is possible to get your body out of this state through eating loads and doing exercise to rebuild your muscles,
- it's hit and miss whether your body reaches this equilibrium first or starves to death first. Usually the calories taken in from binge eating or phases of overeating between the starve cycles to prevent people from starving to death, however this is all going to be stored as fat, and the result is "normal weight obesity" where the person's weight is in the healthy BMI range but their body fat percentage is in the obese range, and their skeletal muscle is wasted away and their bone density is low. With this you have both the health risks of a high body fat percentage combined with the health risks of being underweight (e.g. osteoporosis)

---

My advice is get help for your disordered eating and stop looking for justification to carry on with it. "starvation mode" is a stupid term, but your body does adapt in ways that are counterproductive for long term success at dieting and bad for your health if you eat too little, especially if you eat too little for prolonged periods or intersperse starvation cycles with overeating or binge eating. So please just stop eating too little and get help for your disordered eating if you need to.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

It's not real. End of story. There is metabolic adaptation to dieting, but not starvation mode.

This. I agree with this statement.

After 2 weeks of making any changes you can't say that any new way of eating is working or not working. It takes time for the body to accept any new changes you make.

FoodFitnessTravel

you say you're approaching disordered eating... take that as a red flag. What do you hope to achieve from this thread? Justifcation to carry on eating way too little?

---

"Starvation mode" is a stupid term people use to refer to several changes that can occur in the human body (including behavioural changes) in response to eating too little. There's no "on/off" switch in your head called "starvation mode" - the longer you eat too little for, the more of these things change in ways that make it difficult to stick to a diet long term, or if you're determined enough to carry on eating way too little, will compromise your health

short term changes may include:
- obsessing about food
- increased appetite (sometimes extremely increased)
- appetite shutting down then coming back with avengence leading to binge eating
- binge eating
- feeling tired and run down/lacking energy

medium term changes:
- your body using lean mass as fuel to make up the deficit to preserve fat stores for longer, which results in the metabolism slowing because the muscle cells you've lost no longer require the energy they were using to stay alive
- adaptive thermogenesis - this is further slowing of the metabolism that's not explained by body composition changes. This happens because your body tries to deal with the food shortage by directing less energy into non-essential functions, so you end up feeling cold all the time (less energy is spent heating you), your hair and skin look dull and your hair may fall out (less energy is being invested in keeping your skin and hair healthy), you have menstrual disturbances and your menstrual cycle may stop altogether (less energy being invested in reproduction, or even the reproductive system shutting down altogether), and similar, throughout the body. The result is the body saves energy, but your health deteriorates.
-rebound fat gain if you binge (likely) or start eating normally again, due to a combination of your metabolism slowing and increased hunger (which may come out of nowhere while your hunger signals are switched off for much of the time)

long term changes:
- if the food shortage is really extreme, when your skeletal muscles and fat stores have all been used up keeping you alive, your body then metabolises your organs for energy. Death from multiple organ failure usually follows this.
- if the food shortage isn't extreme enough for you to starve to death, your body may get to the point where it's burned off enough muscle tissue and done adaptive thermogenesis enough that your low number of calories is now maintenance. At which point you have poor health and all the health risks associated with being underweight and eating too little, yet eating more will result in fat gain. Note that it is possible to get your body out of this state through eating loads and doing exercise to rebuild your muscles,
- it's hit and miss whether your body reaches this equilibrium first or starves to death first. Usually the calories taken in from binge eating or phases of overeating between the starve cycles to prevent people from starving to death, however this is all going to be stored as fat, and the result is "normal weight obesity" where the person's weight is in the healthy BMI range but their body fat percentage is in the obese range, and their skeletal muscle is wasted away and their bone density is low. With this you have both the health risks of a high body fat percentage combined with the health risks of being underweight (e.g. osteoporosis)

---

My advice is get help for your disordered eating and stop looking for justification to carry on with it. "starvation mode" is a stupid term, but your body does adapt in ways that are counterproductive for long term success at dieting and bad for your health if you eat too little, especially if you eat too little for prolonged periods or intersperse starvation cycles with overeating or binge eating. So please just stop eating too little and get help for your disordered eating if you need to.

This is maybe the most helpful comment i have read on this website. I am normally very restrictive with binge eating tendencies. Actually this weekend i binged so I was going to eat very light until Friday, "to get back to normal" but you made me reconsider. Maybe I should just continue like nothing happened. It makes sense and I've had some of the symptoms before i started with the bingeing episodes. Thank you!!

seltzermint555

I am still totally up in the air on whether starvation mode exists. However, I know that in the past when I was at the top range of my weight...around 290-307 lb there were usually 3-4 weeks at a time that I would eat fewer than 900 cal daily and not lose a single pound. I would decide "I am going to lose this weight once and for all" and go on a diet of granola bar, cucumbers & carrots, 1 slice of frozen pizza and diet soda...and I would lose nothing. Not a single pound. I'm disinclined to believe that I had a rare metabolic disorder, since I've successfully lost 118 lb eating moderately and the last 73 lb in about 1 year by consuming between 1300-1700 calories daily.

brittany2188

Thank you! I never really understood what "starvation mode" was. (Not that I thought I was ever near that or anything, just from other people discussing it.)