Don't believe in "Starvation Mode"?

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  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    Do you honestly think someone is going to have the time or patience to go to all those links? Could you not summarize their contents. This left me confused. :noway: I don't understand what it is you are trying to say.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

    I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.
  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
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    Do you honestly think someone is going to have the time or patience to go to all those links? Could you not summarize their contents. This left me confused. I don't understand what it is you are trying to say.
    Have reasonable calorie deficeits while dieting, especially when you get closer to your goal weight (lower body fat percentages).
  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    If you read my first post where I stated that there are alot of controversial topics then you would understand that people, researchers included present information in such a way that their point of view is correct. SO we can agree to disagree...

    CNN actually reported this exact article also.
    http://perfectbodyrx.com/2010/12/12/starvation-mode-doesnt-exist/


    I think this one makes a good point... people don't accurately assess and record activity and food intake. Especially when they rely on the estimates given by MFP.
    http://www.tomvenuto.com/asktom/starvation_diets_and_fat_loss_plateaus.shtml
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

    I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

    My point exactly. Although most of us want starvation mode to be our problem, the vast majority of those of us who have plateaued are underestimating their calories or overestimating their burns. Since people tend to go off their diets and then get back on the wagon, I think starvation mode only applies to less than 5-10% of mfp.
  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    What does your screen name stand for CutMD? ;)
  • cooki3s
    cooki3s Posts: 47
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    bummppppp
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

    I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

    My point exactly. Although most of us want starvation mode to be our problem, the vast majority of those of us who have plateaued are underestimating their calories or overestimating their burns. Since people tend to go off their diets and then get back on the wagon, I think starvation mode only applies to less than 5-10% of mfp.

    I couldn't possibly estimate such a thing (knowing very few of them). I was not trying to say it doesn't exist (it does), but that people who DO NOT eat their exercise calories and lose weight, usually do so because their numbers are skewed. And that people who say they're eating 800 or 900 calories a day might be eating a bunch more.

    I know what nutritional deprivation (I prefer term to starvation mode) feels like (it sucks). I would go so long without food that, when I finally did eat, the food would cause blisters to form on the roof of my mouth. People thought I had mono because I was always falling asleep. I was foggy and cranky and most certainly not skinny. It was ugly and has taken me more than a year to reset my metabolism and start losing fat. It did take a long time to get there (more than a year) and at least a year to recover. IT does not happen overnight or just because you are under your calories one day. But given time, it will.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    I couldn't possibly estimate such a thing (knowing very few of them). I was not trying to say it doesn't exist (it does), but that people who DO NOT eat their exercise calories and lose weight, usually do so because their numbers are skewed. And that people who say they're eating 800 or 900 calories a day might be eating a bunch more.

    I know what nutritional deprivation (I prefer term to starvation mode) feels like (it sucks). I would go so long without food that, when I finally did eat, the food would cause blisters to form on the roof of my mouth. People thought I had mono because I was always falling asleep. I was foggy and cranky and most certainly not skinny. It was ugly and has taken me more than a year to reset my metabolism and start losing fat. It did take a long time to get there (more than a year) and at least a year to recover. IT does not happen overnight or just because you are under your calories one day. But given time, it will.

    FYI stormie, the technical name is long term underfeeding (LTF)
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    Do you honestly think someone is going to have the time or patience to go to all those links? Could you not summarize their contents. This left me confused. :noway: I don't understand what it is you are trying to say.

    I thought she did summarize them- she said a lot of people who have hit plateaus have shown signs of starvation mode, or nutritional deprivation. Then she provided links to a) posts that fully explained what starvation mode is and how it works and b) a list of cases where people were begging for advice on why they had stopped losing- where it turned out that those people were only netting 6-900 calories a day.

    If you don't have the time or patience to read the information that doesn't mean the OP is wrong for posting it. It just means you either: 1) have no time or 2) have no patience.
  • FrankyOsage
    FrankyOsage Posts: 275
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    SUPER bump!

    1st MFP experience: Never ate my calories and goal set and stayed at or under 1200. ZERO WEIGHT LOST
    2nd, current and lasting: Eating better calories and eating my exercise calories. Cals at 1420 (I still have a fair amount to lose)... 17 POUNDS LOST.

    Its amazing what happens when you nurture your body, eh?
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

    I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

    My point exactly. Although most of us want starvation mode to be our problem, the vast majority of those of us who have plateaued are underestimating their calories or overestimating their burns. Since people tend to go off their diets and then get back on the wagon, I think starvation mode only applies to less than 5-10% of mfp.

    1)Not a super ton of people asking for help on here are going to be former athletes. A lot of them are just people who are unhappy with their bodies and tryign to lose really quickly. They think LESS CALORIES=LESS FAT *kitten*!! But don't consider the road to moderation.

    2) I can't speak to what percentage of MFP this includes, but I would say that when we get an influx of newbies it can be like 40-60% (or more) of the posters will freak out and post something with titles like "Staying under my cals, but can't lose!" "Working out is not working out!" THOSE people (and there are a hell ton of them) are all starting to go down the road to starvation mode- They are eating 1300 and burning 1000 and won't eat anything back. These are the types of people that the OP was pointing out. And she found a good collection of them.

    I, personally, from what I've seen on the boards, think there a lot more people suffering from under eating that you are seeing or admitting to.
  • damonmath
    damonmath Posts: 359 Member
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    Eat at least 1200 or risk cannibalizing yourself...

    There is a guy trying to get ripped... He is maybe 4% body fat and I can see all his vertebrae in his back... not healthy!!!

    Starvation mode is your metabolism slowing to crawl to prevent cannibalization, but if you don't meet the minimum, your body will find it somewhere else.

    Where you get fat from it is by placing yourself into it, and then trying to eat normal again... Like eating ice cream loaded with sugar (which stops your metabolism right then) and then dumping a pound of steak in your stomach. Not good...
  • Missevanston
    Missevanston Posts: 361 Member
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    DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!!!!
  • Debx12345
    Debx12345 Posts: 210
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    Bump
  • Debx12345
    Debx12345 Posts: 210
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    Bump
  • lpummell73
    lpummell73 Posts: 24 Member
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    What if you don't eat all your calories that day, but don't feel hungry. I've lost 17lbs so far and work out 3-4 days a week. Somedays I eat just enough to make my calorie limit, sometimes I'm under....And not hungry...Any suggestions???

    Thanks
  • Kat120285
    Kat120285 Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Ipummell73- Most of the time the only point at which I'm hungry is when I first wake up in the morning. I eat every 2-3 hours to get my calories. Sometimes I'm just really not hungry but I know I need to calories so I shoot for smaller meals that pack a high but healthy calorie load.
  • bzmom
    bzmom Posts: 1,332 Member
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    bump
  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
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    Here is a quote from an article discussing a 360 lb female who logs 1200 calories per day and is not losing weight. I completely agree that undereating for long periods of time is unhealthy. I just don't believe that is the issue with so many people on this site. Not everyone measures and logs every bite they take and if you go by the exercise calories this site or machines at the gym give, you are probably overestimating calories burned.

    The more likely (and exceedingly common) issue is that she’s simply consuming more food than she’s aware of or self-reporting. Because even in studies of insulin resistance, when calories are reduced (and and accurately monitored), weight/fat loss occurs. So either she’s a physiological anomaly or she’s not really eating 1200 calories per day. And my experience (along with a large body of research) suggests that it’s the latter issue that’s the cause of the problem.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/permanent-metabolic-damage-followup-qa.html

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