i think im going into starvation mode

kimwig

for the past 2 hours i've been REALLY hungry.
i tried eating some crackers and drank 2 bottles of water and im still HUNGRY. :grumble:
what can i do to solve this?

Hungry is a natural state, and not something that will kill you.

This is from a previous post because it is an eloquent description of this "mythical" starvation mode. ..... " A lot of people start talking about 'starvation mode' when on diets but this is a fallacy. If calorie intake is restricted hugely (so 200 or so calories per day) for an extended period (at least a week) then the metabolism will shift to run the body on a much lower energy level. However, the other side effects of this would be incredibly noticeable - violent headaches, stomach cramps, nauseousness, huge fatigue. They wouldn't have any energy to move very far (this is how the body reduces its energy/calorie requirement). I doubt many people in the developed world have ever even approached starvation mode".....

If you are hungry have water, have fruit (banana, apple etc) as this does give your body access to energy it is seeking, sometimes the hungry message is actually your "food addiction" kicking in. The good thing is that hunger does pass.

I'll readily agree that the term "starvation mode" is thrown around entirely too much and used very loosely. However, that doesn't negate the concept.

And what is usually meant by it is that, while you won't go into "starvation mode" on 1000 cals or probably even 500 cals a day for a short period, it WILL effect your metabolism and decrease the rate of weight loss. The main goal for most people here is weight loss (and hopefully eating healthy) - thus, the advice given should be to keep the metabolism running at its optimum level and doing it in a HEALTHY way.

Yes, you can lower cals drastically, be hungry all the time and lose weight. For. A. Short. Time. But it will stall. And for many people that will be the end of their attempt at weight loss because will feel a sense of failure at that point. Much better to do it in a sensible, healthy, SUSTAINABLE way. IMO.

My comment on "hungry" is that people need to recognize "hungry" from "thirsty" or "bored" or "addicted to a taste".

Through my (very sensible) weight loss I finally learnt what hungry really was, and that took me over 3 weeks. Now when I am actually hungry I will eat (though this may be just fruit or similar low fat and natural items). I know that what I previously thought was hunger was only my stomach being empty, which is not hungry, but it just saying "I am going to have to got to fat store if you don't have anything for me".

Being hungry also means that the body is taking from fat stores and not from easily available glucose. The body would prefer not to have to go to the trouble of opening the "fat cupboard", so you have to encourage it.

I think until you know what hungry really is weight loss can fail as you start eating for the wrong reason.

Also the best way to keep a metabolism going is to exercise (or at least get moving and do something) and build some muscle - as that is your bodies engine, where "calories" are consumed. Hunger ( as it is felt) can often dissipate with exercise, as the body has to go for it's stores

ladyhawk00

My comment on "hungry" is that people need to recognize "hungry" from "thirsty" or "bored" or "addicted to a taste".

Through my (very sensible) weight loss I finally learnt what hungry really was, and that took me over 3 weeks. Now when I am actually hungry I will eat (though this may be just fruit or similar low fat and natural items). I know that what I previously thought was hunger was only my stomach being empty, which is not hungry, but it just saying "I am going to have to got to fat store if you don't have anything for me".

Being hungry also means that the body is taking from fat stores and not from easily available glucose. The body would prefer not to have to go to the trouble of opening the "fat cupboard", so you have to encourage it.

I think until you know what hungry really is weight loss can fail as you start eating for the wrong reason.

Also the best way to keep a metabolism going is to exercise (or at least get moving and do something) and build some muscle - as that is your bodies engine, where "calories" are consumed. Hunger ( as it is felt) can often dissipate with exercise, as the body has to go for it's stores

I agree, many people have trouble distinguishing the difference between true hunger and other "sensations" or reasons for wanting to eat. But IMO, that makes it even more important, especially early on, to follow the cal goals to a reasonable degree. Try not to go very far under or over, and don't ignore hunger (usually leads to binging for a lot of people.) Just do something healthy to alleviate the feeling. For someone who has trained their brain to associate (or suppress) hunger with other things (boredom, thirst, certain activities) it's a classic Pavlov's dog - they no longer really KNOW when they are hungry and when they are not.

Which direction you go (not feeling hungry when you need to eat, or eating when you don't need to) depends a lot on what your previous habits were. I underate for years, in a nutshell. My habit was to suppress hunger during the day, never eat breakfast and rarely eat lunch, and then basically gorge at dinner and snack all evening. During the first week of using MFP, I had to force myself to eat - because I didn't recognize or GET the hunger cues from my body because that's how I trained it. For other people, it can be the opposite, of associating too many things with hunger and getting false cues.

Again, I think either problem is best solved by following the cal goals, and not necessarily ignoring or waiting for hunger, for the first few weeks so that you and your body learn what is an appropriate amount of food. It's all about retraining - most of us wouldn't be here (overweight) if we knew how to listen to our bodies to begin with.

alyssa83202

I agree, many people have trouble distinguishing the difference between true hunger and other "sensations" or reasons for wanting to eat. But IMO, that makes it even more important, especially early on, to follow the cal goals to a reasonable degree. Try not to go very far under or over, and don't ignore hunger (usually leads to binging for a lot of people.) Just do something healthy to alleviate the feeling. For someone who has trained their brain to associate (or suppress) hunger with other things (boredom, thirst, certain activities) it's a classic Pavlov's dog - they no longer really KNOW when they are hungry and when they are not.

Which direction you go (not feeling hungry when you need to eat, or eating when you don't need to) depends a lot on what your previous habits were. I underate for years, in a nutshell. My habit was to suppress hunger during the day, never eat breakfast and rarely eat lunch, and then basically gorge at dinner and snack all evening. During the first week of using MFP, I had to force myself to eat - because I didn't recognize or GET the hunger cues from my body because that's how I trained it. For other people, it can be the opposite, of associating too many things with hunger and getting false cues.

Again, I think either problem is best solved by following the cal goals, and not necessarily ignoring or waiting for hunger, for the first few weeks so that you and your body learn what is an appropriate amount of food. It's all about retraining - most of us wouldn't be here (overweight) if we knew how to listen to our bodies to begin with.

I agree. I thought about this today when I woke up at 12pm because I didn't set an alarm. My body will let me sleep a lot longer than it needs, and way past a reasonable time because that's what I'm used to! It would take time and training for my body to be ready to fall asleep at 10pm and wake up at 7am. You can't always trust what your body is telling you, because a lot of the time it's actually been affected by your own habits. I see eating the same way right now. My body might tell me that I can eat a lot more than I should, or with training, a lot less than I should...and that is why I follow the guidelines set by MFP and ignore what my body is telling me (until it's better trained).