Starvation Mode: Myth or Fact?

Options
13

Replies

  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    In for the the inevitable loads of butt hurt and anecdotal evidence.

    Fo sho
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    Thanks for the articles! I enjoyed reading them!
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    Because you won't ever get one side to out weigh the other.

    :happy:
  • halfpintpeggy
    halfpintpeggy Posts: 64 Member
    Options
    For anyone who believes that Starvation Mode is a myth....go & ask someone with Crohn's disease their opinion.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    Options
    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.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    Options
    No-What?
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    Factual Myth.

    Is there such thing as starvation mode? Of course, but it takes more than a few low calorie days to get there.
  • zeusfc
    zeusfc Posts: 6
    Options
    [/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?
  • kmash32
    kmash32 Posts: 275 Member
    Options
    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.

Categories