Starvation Mode: Myth or Fact?

Annie_01

I've been reading this thread for awhile and it seems your answer makes a lot if sense to me. I was really sick late last year and couldn't stomach anything for months. As a result I lost several pounds getting me down to 116 lbs(I'm 5'1). After I recovered I gained some of the weight back (20lbs in 6 months). My question is should I be eating back my burned calories? MFP allows me 1200 a day and obviously adds on to that on my workout days. Most times I fall way below the 1200. Am I sabotaging my efforts if I don't make up those burned calories?

What are your weight loss goals?

If I had to guess you set it for 2lbs a week to lose that 20lbs???

If so...then you set a too aggressive goal...IMO...that would also be why you only received 1200K...the minimum that MFP will give you.

Many factors come in to play when determining how each person should set their goals...they do however need to be realistic for not only weight loss but to maintain health. It is a struggle at times...at least for me...

llWishfulShrinkingll

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!

Yagisama

I really wish this message didn't include the phrase "starvation mode."

*Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1200 calories per day minimum.

amwbox

"Starvation mode" exists, in that yes, your metabolism does slow down a bit under heavy deficits.

But...is it horribly misunderstood and exaggerated by about 1000% on this site every single day? Oh yes. Most def.

Go looking, and it will take about 10 minutes to find someone explaining that you won't lose weight if your calories go too low....which is basically a belief in magic.

_Figgzie_

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

Skrib69

I neither know nor care I'm afraid, and from much of the evidence ever broadcast, neither does anyone else because everyone is different. I started on 1200, lost for a while and then stopped. In my own ignorance I reduced my target loss, upped my calories and started losing again.

Was I aware I 'had a problem'? No. Was I likely to keel over and die, waving my toes in the air??? No.

It's what works for you. Which isn't necessarily the same as what works for me.

And I still don't care!!!

Quasita

Yes and no.

I am not a believer in magic, but rather personal experience...

You can cause serious impact and literal cessation of metabolic hormone production by eating anorexic levels for extended periods of time.

Starvation mode, as commonly spoken about on MFP, is not a fact. If you eat a great deficit for a couple days due to illness or some other factor, you do not suddenly become a metabolic cripple. If you eat a great deficit for a longer period of time, the metabolism will slow down to become more efficient based on the amount of calories you take in, but still, your metabolism will continue to work.

However, if you, like myself, eat less than 1000 calories a day for over a year, certain processes will stop occurring. My personal experience showed that this habit created a situation where (and this was confirmed by medical testing) if I did not eat, my thyroid simply did not produce hormones to drive continued metabolic burns. My body would use the bare bones it needed from what I ate and stored absolutely everything else.
The testing showed that my thyroid functioned normally after a meal for about 45 minutes before it ceased the production of these hormones. The specialist I was seeing concluded that at that rate, it was reasonable to state that if I didn't eat every hour, it would be impossible to lose weight.

Basically, I was severely hypothyroidic unless I was eating all the time. This test is ultimately what resulted in my anorexia/bulimia diagnosis as well as my clinical starvation mode state.

What can we conclude from this, and literature on the matter? Most people that see the kind of starvation mode people worry about on MFP are people who suffer from acute eating disorders like anorexia. Continued studies have shown that a person who has achieved this kind of metabolic impact in their life will continue to have recurrent metabolic rate issues without having actual thyroid disease for many years, if not the rest of their life.

It is rare. It is a fact that it can occur, but it is absolutely not common. Anyone that suspects that their metabolic process has been severely impacted by their eating patterns, habits or circumstances should seek medical care. The only reason my rates are at all close to normal now is because I went through about a year of hormone therapy to re-regulate my thyroid to a more normal level. I know of several people now that have experienced the same thing, but we have all been previously diagnosed with severe eating disorders.

neanderthin

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

You mean body fat actually is energy...........say it ain't so.:bigsmile:

paperpudding

Yes and no.

I am not a believer in magic, but rather personal experience...

You can cause serious impact and literal cessation of metabolic hormone production by eating anorexic levels for extended periods of time.

Starvation mode, as commonly spoken about on MFP, is not a fact. If you eat a great deficit for a couple days due to illness or some other factor, you do not suddenly become a metabolic cripple. If you eat a great deficit for a longer period of time, the metabolism will slow down to become more efficient based on the amount of calories you take in, but still, your metabolism will continue to work.

However, if you, like myself, eat less than 1000 calories a day for over a year, certain processes will stop occurring. My personal experience showed that this habit created a situation where (and this was confirmed by medical testing) if I did not eat, my thyroid simply did not produce hormones to drive continued metabolic burns. My body would use the bare bones it needed from what I ate and stored absolutely everything else.
The testing showed that my thyroid functioned normally after a meal for about 45 minutes before it ceased the production of these hormones. The specialist I was seeing concluded that at that rate, it was reasonable to state that if I didn't eat every hour, it would be impossible to lose weight.

Basically, I was severely hypothyroidic unless I was eating all the time. This test is ultimately what resulted in my anorexia/bulimia diagnosis as well as my clinical starvation mode state.

What can we conclude from this, and literature on the matter? Most people that see the kind of starvation mode people worry about on MFP are people who suffer from acute eating disorders like anorexia. Continued studies have shown that a person who has achieved this kind of metabolic impact in their life will continue to have recurrent metabolic rate issues without having actual thyroid disease for many years, if not the rest of their life.

It is rare. It is a fact that it can occur, but it is absolutely not common. Anyone that suspects that their metabolic process has been severely impacted by their eating patterns, habits or circumstances should seek medical care. The only reason my rates are at all close to normal now is because I went through about a year of hormone therapy to re-regulate my thyroid to a more normal level. I know of several people now that have experienced the same thing, but we have all been previously diagnosed with severe eating disorders.

I think most people accept this sort of thing does happen in people who have extremely low calorie intakes for very long time - like people in famines in 3rd world countries or people in concentration camps in the war - or yes, people like yourself who ate very low calorie amounts for long time due to mental health reasons like extreme eating disorders.

However the fact remains that this does not apply to 99.9% of MFP users and is vastly over rated on this site - comments in many threads saying things like someone eating under 1200 calories for a week or so is going into starvation mode - I dont think so.

SixteenthOfJuly

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

nosebag1212

biggest myth in the fitness industry, your body is not immune to the laws of thermodynamics

ChrisM8971

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

elisa123gal

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

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

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

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_

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

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

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!