5 weeks and nothing

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  • cameron316
    cameron316 Posts: 14 Member
    people that believe in starvation mode

    Starvation mode is a poor name choice because among dieters it has come to mean a lot of things. In most applications of the term, it is a myth.

    However, temporary metabolic slowdown (which is what many mean when they short-hand "starvation mode") is completely real. Your metabolism can slow down when eating too little, causing you to retain weight. And notice it has "temporary" in the name-- if you eat below levels for a long enough period of time you will most likely start losing eventually. But most people see this as a plateau and do not continue the habit.

    And I can vouch that it's not a myth. I was eating strictly 1200 calories a day while exercising and I maintained for several months. After reading many of the threads and advice from Sidesteel, I upped to 1400 and I immediately started losing again, dropping a very stubborn 10 lbs in a little over a month. I probably could have gone higher, but was too worried about weight gain.

    So yes, eating more sounds counter-intuitive -- but when you are extremely active it's often the best way to lose weight. Also I should note this pretty much applies mostly to people who are already very close to goal weight.

    That is interesting that worked for you... kinda sounds like what could be happening for me if I am accurately counting my calories, but like you said I'm scared of weight gain so I'm afraid to up my calories
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    people that believe in starvation mode

    Starvation mode is a poor name choice because among dieters it has come to mean a lot of things. In most applications of the term, it is a myth.

    However, temporary metabolic slowdown (which is what many mean when they short-hand "starvation mode") is completely real. Your metabolism can slow down when eating too little, causing you to retain weight. And notice it has "temporary" in the name-- if you eat below levels for a long enough period of time you will most likely start losing eventually. But most people see this as a plateau and do not continue the habit.

    And I can vouch that it's not a myth. I was eating strictly 1200 calories a day while exercising and I maintained for several months. After reading many of the threads and advice from Sidesteel, I upped to 1400 and I immediately started losing again, dropping a very stubborn 10 lbs in a little over a month. I probably could have gone higher, but was too worried about weight gain.

    So yes, eating more sounds counter-intuitive -- but when you are extremely active it's often the best way to lose weight. Also I should note this pretty much applies mostly to people who are already very close to goal weight.

    The keyword in all of this is slowdown. If a person is truly eating at a deficit, weight loss will occur. It might go slower a certain larger deficit than a certain moderate deficit but it does not stop it.

    The Minnesota starvation experiment showcased this perfectly. Those men never stopped losing weight and they didn't hit the real starvation mode until their body fat percentages hit around 5% body fat.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    Thanks that was nice of you :) My grandmother has a scale so I'll work on getting that ASAP and I get that weights is the best way to tone and all that but I lifted heavy weights 3x a week for 4 years in college and I hated the way my body looked so I guess I just don't want that body type anymore, if I just did light weights would it lean me out instead of bulk me up like in college

    Here OP - you might find this article helpful. Not everyone wants the muscular look - but don't quit lifting weights just yet :wink::

    http://bretcontreras.com/how-to-attain-a-slender-look-like-jessica-alba-zoe-saldana/
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    The amount of starvation mode belief in this thread is amazing.
    Not starvation mode, or even metabolic damage. Sidesteel posted an article here regarding a temporary slow down in weight loss when you eat too few calories, are over tired, and are stressed about your dieting. Unfortunately, I can't find it.

    On the other hand, I looked at the OP's diary. Food is not weighed and I think calories are overestimated. However, it does not seem to me that the differences would be enough for her to be maintaining instead of losing.

    I'm sitting on the fence about this one, though I generally go with miscalculation of calories. :smile:

    I don't know if this is the specific article you were talking about, but it is still good and has some great info.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html#more-9313
    Yes, that's the article I was referring to. Thank you.
  • kikilareggae
    kikilareggae Posts: 289 Member
    This is my friend's workout page on Facebook and her before pic is 118 and her after pic is 120 lbs. I don't think she looks grossly, overly muscled and it's not like she wears bikinis everywhere. ;) Scale and measuring can't catch all the changes our bodies go thru when we're getting more fit.

    https://www.facebook.com/furiouslyfit

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