How long until 'Starvation Mode'

phoenixnz

Hi everyone, hope we are all achieving our goals.

Just a quick question: How many days of being under my minimum calories am I likely to go into 'starvation mode'.

My calorie goal is 1500 per day. Normally I eat around this reasonably well however probably every third day or so I'm around the 900-1000 mark. This is because I work shift work and I often end up skipping breakfast (due to sleeping through it) and tend to have only two main meals for the day.

Just checking I'm not stuff myself up.

Thanks for the help
Chris

SezxyStef

well starvation mode is a myth...

and considering Ghandi went 21 days totally without food so you are fine.

Shropshire1959

First off, What is Starvation Mode? and does it Really exist?

Shropshire1959

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

Seriously. It’s not real. It’s a myth.

As long as you create a caloric deficit (meaning consume less calories than your body burns, or burn more calories than you consume… just different ways of saying the same thing), then you will lose weight every single time regardless of whether you’re creating a deficit that is small, moderate or large.

Even if your calorie intake is dangerously low (not recommended at all, just making a point), you will still lose weight.

There is no such thing as “I’m not losing any weight because I’m eating too little.” That’s horse****. And there’s definitely no such thing as “I’m gaining weight because I’m eating too little.” That’s even bigger horse**** that I can only assume would require the presence of an even bigger horse.

And the idea that you skipped breakfast or waited longer than 3 hours between meals (or something equally meaningless) and have now instantly entered starvation mode as a result is too laughable to even warrant another second of discussion.

Create a deficit and weight loss will happen. Calories in vs calories out always applies, no matter how low the “calories in” part is (or really, how low you mistakenly think it is… more on that in a minute).

Simply put, what most people think of starvation mode to be is complete and utter nonsense.

And guess what? I can prove it. Guess what else? I can prove it with 4 different types of proof. Ready? Here we go…

paperpudding

Well obviously any issues depend how much you are under - a few calories or even a few hundred calories under is not going to make much difference.

I also think it is your weekly average that matters, not your daily intake - so if you only eat 1000 some days but over 1500 other days it will even out anyway.

Shropshire1959

Also, what some folks fail to do is RECALCULATE their energy needs AFTER losing weight... the lighter you become, the LESS you need to eat.

So, if you are aiming for a 500 deficit and you now need 500 cals LESS per day, but are eating the same number as you did at the start of your diet you are NO LONGER at 500 cal deficit... SO GUESS WHAT? - You will stop losing weight at the rate that you once did!!

Simple maths people.

verhunzt

There is no one point where you hit starvation mode or anything. It's just natural that your metabolism adjusts to how much you eat, so when you used to eat 3000 calories and now you eat 1000 it obviously slows down. But it also slows down when you eat 1200 or 1500 calories, just not at much.

lisaabenjamin

Starvation mode is not a "myth" but the term is often used inaccurately. As others have said, if you continue to eat at a deficit, no matter how big or small, you will lose weight, regardless of whether you eat below a certain threshold or not.

REAL starvation mode is what happens to those famine-stricken children in Africa, or anorexics, for example. It's when you eat so few calories, for a prolonged period of time, that your body has no carbohydrate or fat left to burn, so instead it starts to burn protein - most of which is found in your muscles. NOT GOOD and very extreme - it's not going to happen to you if you net 1000 calories (though this is also not necessarily healthy because your body needs fuel to carry out your natural chemical reactions, it is nowhere near the same thing.)

_Terrapin_

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/577873-beginning-to-think-it-s-calories-consumed-vs-net-instead?page=8

read this older thread

or this

http://www.exrx.net/Questions/StarvationEffect.html


Read through the study about the triathlete gaining 15 pounds and damage to metabolism. 2 links are food for thought; nothing more. Keep reading and learning, the mode is more about metabolic damage and effects on calories needed to repair the metabolism.