Starvation Mode: Myth or Fact?

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Replies

  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    biggest myth in the fitness industry, your body is not immune to the laws of thermodynamics
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Myth, I eat 600 calories (usually 300-600) of vegetables and super foods
    I have my weekly 900 cal day
    My body is functioning normally

    I don't recommend this but it's my personal story

    I wouldn't recommend it either because no matter how many so called super foods you think you are eating this is a very unhealthy approach to losing weight

    You body is probably functioning normally, metabolising fats and lean body mass to supply you with the calories you need to run your body for the day but you really do want to minimize the loss of LBM

    Pretty sure that your body wont be functioning normally in the longer term

    ETA You wont go into starvation mode though
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  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    I think the word "starvation" is a bit dramatic. How about..not fueling body "slows the metabolism"… That is more accurate.

    Also.. I think it is individual. Depends on age.. sex….health status… and if one has yo yo dieted for years.
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
    Myth, I eat 600 calories (usually 300-600) of vegetables and super foods
    I have my weekly 900 cal day
    My body is functioning normally

    I don't recommend this but it's my personal story
    You can't just go around something is a myth based on something you have only been doing for 2 months. That's both reckless and irresponsible.

    Keep eating so little and eventually you'll wonder why you feel so bad after some time passes.

    Sorry but there are no super foods. Some have higher micronutrient breakdowns but none are super foods.

    Definitely agreed here.

    I think a lot of people mistake having bowel movements and being able to get up in the morning and all that as their body functioning "normally," when really, the only way to know for certain would be to have a full blood panel on a weekly basis to ensure that this sort of habit was not causing any issues.

    Regardless of the myth or fact, I always point out to people that even the most extreme of bariatric cases, post-op, are not limited to less than 1100 calories a day, regardless of how heavy they are... and that 1100 number is both for the exceptionally sedentary (as in, cannot get out of bed due to weighing 900lbs) and is heavily supplemented with a strict regimen of high potency medical supplements.

    600 calories a day is a level considered "fasting" on a 5:2 Fasting Diet plan... 900 is less than the daily recommended calorie level for the average 2 year old human. The 600-900 range is about the average anorexic intake on any given day.

    The super food thing is always funny to me. Especially since so many of them (say, the acai berry?) taste kind of... well... awful. I mean, I will eat some of the ones that get labeled as such, but I can't imagine having a diet full of them.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Starvation Mode is a fact. 99.9% of people on MFP won't be experiencing it any time soon. Some with ED may.

    The issue really is nutrition here.

    A large part of our energy expenditure is repairing the body and engaging in certain biological functions. Both of these require resources such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals. This is obvious.

    If you do not have the materials for these tasks, the body WILL NOT spend the energy to do them... because well, it physically can't.

    This directly results in spending FEWER calories in a day than you otherwise would have, had you had your proper nutrition levels.

    The fewer calories you eat, the more likely you are to not meet your nutritional needs. In some absolutely by coincidence instances, some people can completely wipe out their deficit by eating too poorly and lacking nutrition.

    People can still overcome this. Your burn will never drop to 0.

    So, to sum up:

    Starvation Mode is a FACT. Period.
    People on MFP will almost never encounter it ever in their life time. Many of us will probably never even see someone in our lifetimes that has encountered it even!

    Malnutrition is a FACT. This is the term we ALL should actually be using.
  • Yagisama
    Yagisama Posts: 595 Member
    No one is denying that Starvation is not possible. It would be a completely silly stand to take.

    The subject of the discussion is starvation mode as it pertains to dieters. That is a myth.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    first link is of a triathlete who wrecked their metabolism by severly restricting their caloric intake. Most people on MFP do not want to hear it called 'starvation mode' so you can call it metabolic damage:

    article ref. metabolic damage/repair/starvation mode/triathlete gains 15 pounds

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

    2nd link discusses the symptoms;

    http://www.metaboliceffect.com/metabolic-damage-symptoms/

    Read and enjoy.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Its a real thing...for people who really are starving and have been malnourished for a long time. For us...not so much.

    +1

    lmfao
    +2.

    People who are normal weight and overweight don't get starvation mode, and the number of calories you eat does not trigger it.
  • eeeshouse
    eeeshouse Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for that great article! I always enjoy reading someone who has "boots on the ground" experience and even as a health-care professional, I have used that excuse - NO MORE!
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    The best article I've read on the myth of starvation mode is here:

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

    This is recommended reading for everyone! I really enjoyed the article. Thanks for posting.
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    In for the the inevitable loads of butt hurt and anecdotal evidence.

    Fo sho
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    The best article I've read on the myth of starvation mode is here:

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

    I REALLY enjoyed this article! Thanks!

    Me too! I wish MFP had "like" buttons.
  • aarnwine2013
    aarnwine2013 Posts: 317 Member
    Thanks for the articles! I enjoyed reading them!
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    Regardless of whether it's real or not why do people want to eat so few calories when they can still lose eating more?
  • Gloria67648
    Gloria67648 Posts: 108 Member
    Because you won't ever get one side to out weigh the other.

    :happy:
  • halfpintpeggy
    halfpintpeggy Posts: 64 Member
    For anyone who believes that Starvation Mode is a myth....go & ask someone with Crohn's disease their opinion.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    Yes it's true. Less than 1200 calories puts your body into starvation mode making it harder to lose weight, and on the flip side if you start to gain weight your body will store the calories as fat, so if you go on another low calorie diet again, it's ready for it. And it does all this without even asking if it's OK to do. LOL

    So if you want to get rid of some extra calories during the day, go ahead and eat the 1200 calories and then go and exercise and burn off a few hundred of it.
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  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    No-What?
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  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    We really have the evidence in front of us that low calorie diets tend to make people fatter in the long haul. A lot of the yo yo diet schemes required a very low calorie intake. People on them lost a lot of weight quickly only to find when they started eating normal foods again, they gained back the weight twice as fast as they lost it, plus another 20 or so pounds.

    This is their body in all out rebellion, storing new calories, to get ready for the next insane diet that comes along. Webmd states 1200 calories is what people need for normal sit on the couch all day activity and brain function.

    Now while there are super heavy weights 500 /800 pounds whom are put on severe calorie restriction to lose a lot of weight quickly they too will eventually move up in calories to maintain normal function. Their calorie restriction comes from doctors trying to save their lives first and foremost.

    As far as eating disorders, anorexia, people are dead from that, and others get hospitalized. So the 1200 calories a day is true.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    That's the point eat 1200 calories and burn 300 thru exercise. You want the 1200 calories moving thru your digestive system, so your body does not go into starvation mode, and decides it wants to hang onto the fat and calories.
  • Nazy1343
    Nazy1343 Posts: 54 Member
    Fact.
    I went through this, last year I was suffering from malnutrition (not eating enough) due to the 12 hour day demanding job, i got anxiety disorder and stomach ulcers so i quit my job and literally within 3 months gained 1.5 stone. After several crash diets I realised the rate at which i lose and gain weight has significantly increased and so i decided to do the beachbody insanity training. Now 50 days in and my whole body has regained balance.. still have a long way from my target weight but it's about the first step you take to the right direction
  • zeusfc
    zeusfc Posts: 6
    I've only been following MFP for about seven weeks, but I've used the "reports" function, so ensure that I'm meeting my nutritional needs. In that time, I've had a few days where (for whatever reason) I have NOT had 1200 Calories in a day... no real problems with weight loss, but on those evenings, I've flown off the handle at the slightest thing; I mean seriously... I've gone from "best day ever!" to "why don't you just leave?" in the blink of an eye!
    Because of my work, I have a BMR of around 2700 cal, and MFP has given me a daily target of 1700.
    It may all be a myth, but it seems that around 1200 is the level where my body tells me that "food is scarce; it's survival of the fittest from here on in..."
    If you lived on your own, you'd never notice, but if you don't then your partner probably has!
  • TadaGanIarracht
    TadaGanIarracht Posts: 2,615 Member
    Factual Myth.

    Is there such thing as starvation mode? Of course, but it takes more than a few low calorie days to get there.
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  • zeusfc
    zeusfc Posts: 6
    [/quote]
    You need to eat more, seriously.
    [/quote]

    Seriously? look at my food diary; I'm trying to lose weight here, and presently I'm losing a kilo a week, which is my targeted loss...
    what the heck would I want to eat more for?
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  • kmash32
    kmash32 Posts: 275 Member
    You need to eat more, seriously.
    [/quote]

    Seriously? look at my food diary; I'm trying to lose weight here, and presently I'm losing a kilo a week, which is my targeted loss...
    what the heck would I want to eat more for?
    [/quote]

    I would agree, I am a women and a lot shorter than you and I eat around 1500 calories a day. You are eating 1200-1500 and you are a guy, I believe the bare minimum for a man is somewhere around 1600 or 1800 calories, the 1200 calories is for a women. How much do you have to lose, you don't look like you need to lose that much so a kilo a week seems a little high.

    Not trying to be harsh just trying to point out that you may not be doing yourself any good because when you do go back to eating higher calories you may put weight back on to easily. If your BMR is 2700 you should be eating about 2200 a day to lose about a pound a week.

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