Starvation Mode

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Katherine912
Katherine912 Posts: 42 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I've been doing some research. They say going below 1200 can put you into starvation mode, but I have also read that starvation mode is whatever half your BMR is. For instance, mine is 1450, so in order to put myself into starvation mode I would have to eat below 725. I've only been eating about 1,050 for awhile now and I just want to make sure I'm not doing any damage.

Thanks!

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  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
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    Interesting! I have not heard that! I am curious to see what others say.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    So, I've been doing some research. They say going below 1200 can put you into starvation mode, but I have also read that starvation mode is whatever half your BMR is. For instance, mine is 1450, so in order to put myself into starvation mode I would have to eat below 725. I've only been eating about 1,050 for awhile now and I just want to make sure I'm not doing any damage.

    Thanks!

    It doesn't really work like that. Your metabolism is a really complex process, you know.. Not just calories in and calories out.
    There is no certain limit where the body just "switches" to starvation mode so the whole word leads you astray. It would be more accurate to talk about "survival mechanisms" or some such..
    Everything you eat affects your metabolism in some way and the amount of calories, being probably the most prominent one, has a massive effect when you go as low as you said. In order to preserve energy, the metabolism progressively slows down when you get less calories than you need. There is a range in which it stays somewhat unaffected, though. It is different for everybody and the smaller your body is, the smaller that range is, I suppose, but it is generally said to be about 1000 Kcal below your maintenance calories and 500 Kcal above.
    This is part of the reason why the 500 Kcal below maintenance is always recommended. It is the most beneficial deficit when you're looking for fat loss.

    Edit.
    Btw. BMR is not what you burn in a day and so it is not where you reduce a deficit. You use your daily burned calories for that.
    (Just saying if you didn't know..)

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