MFP is yelling at me.

PenguinPrincess

I feel like I've been eating ALL day and I'm still five hundred calories under my goal. I finished my logging and MFP is telling me I'm going to go into starvation mode because I'm eating too few calories. Do I need to go cram some in to finish off the day with more calories or just let it go?

Jacks6688

same here...it's 10:30 pm and i'm already in bed...not hungry at all. am i supposed to go fix something to eat?? everyone is always warning about this starvation mode and that seems to always be the case.

kayelkay

I think you should just listen to your body. If you're not hungry, don't eat.

Mkserpa

I agree - if you're not hungry, don't eat. That's how you gain weight. Your body knows what is best - listen to it.

brenda_71

It's too late to be eating anyways!!

Bella1hud

My girlfriend who has already lost almost 50 lbs with MFP encourages me to have a glass of orange juice or something like that to make up my calories if I'm under.

neuroticalme

You're not going to go into "starvation mode" over one day. Or a few days. MFP is a computer program, and not a substitute for you listening to your body.
What the creator of the program obviously doesn't want is people constantly competing with themselves to go far under their needed calories and then killing themselves. If that's not what you're doing, I'd say you're A-OK. :P

InStabilityKills

It yells at me to. Most days I'm sitting between 1000-1400 calories. It says I will gain weight at this rate..I don't understand! I eat healthy all day. One high calorie meal and a bunch smaller through out the day yettttt it still says in 5 weeks I will have gained more weight. I don't think it knows what it is talking about.

monylove311

Let it go. : )

kelseybee17

I've been having the same problem. If I'm dreadfully below, then I'll eat something. But if I have only 100-200 calories below, I don't really worry about it.

christy_frank

You need to eat in order to keep your metabolism up. If you don't eat, you will go into starvation mode. You body isnt telling you that you are hungry because it is in survival mode. I wasn't eating enough and I stopped losing weight for 6 weeks....I thought that I was doing everything right...but I wasnt eating enough. I increased my calories started dropping weight again.

neuroticalme

You'll also note that MFP won't "yell" at you if you go over. Again, social responsibility; no need to create a program to make people depressed if they happened to be extra hungry or indulgent on a particular day. Or week. :P

christy_frank

It's too late to be eating anyways!!

No it is not too late to eat.

Elzecat

I can relate...I've been a lot of raw high fiber vegies and more protein (and less junk!) the past few days which really fills me up... so I am feeling satisfied and not hungry after meals, and yet I have been ending the day with anywhere from 300-600 extra calories due to exercise...I figure I'll eat a little something but not all 500 calories...that's like another meal and I just don't need that.

heathersmilez

I find it silly that it yells at us if we are under 1200 cals but it doesn't yell at us when we are under NET 1200 calories. If you burned 1000 calories and ate 1100 you only have 100 net - now that may lead to starvation mode over time.

needa1

You should try and finish all meals 3 hours before you get in the bed, however you do not want to go to bed hungry, try something like fruits, or veggies if you get hungry late at night, and a protein shake is always good to.

MsQt

Girl, I'm under most of the time and my body isn't in starvation mode. I steadily losing weight and i eat like every 3hrs. Between that and drink like 10 glasses of water a day, i'm not gonna force myself to eat and i'm not hungry! You're doing just fine, 18 lbs later.

melpalmer7

that's totally weird. I had the same thing happen to me today too, and I was almost 400 below but it's because I ate really well all day and then went for a walk/jog after work. I am defintely not hungry and even the glass of wine I'm having isn't going to do too much

The problem is what to do when you get to the end of the day and you're way under on a regular basis (not just a day here and there) ?

aeckels616

Nobody is going to gain weight in starvation mode. If that were true, anorexics wouldn't be so skinny. Just make sure you are giving your body adequate nutrition and that the 1000 calories you do eat are coming from protein and veggies, not carbs or high-glycemic index foods. I suggest taking supplements to make sure your body is getting what it needs, because some deficiencies can be very dangerous.

HelenTheKitchen

I don't think you should ever force yourself to eat, but you should try to eat as much as you can within your calorie limit. Tomorrow try to add some extra healthy calories to your meals. I've lost 70 lbs, and let me tell you I definitely eat.

Except for today, I haven't eaten much and what I did get down was crap, but I don't feel well at all so I don't care.

123456654321

lol...eat a piece of cake and call it a night.

Celo24

You need to eat in order to keep your metabolism up. If you don't eat, you will go into starvation mode. You body isnt telling you that you are hungry because it is in survival mode. I wasn't eating enough and I stopped losing weight for 6 weeks....I thought that I was doing everything right...but I wasnt eating enough. I increased my calories started dropping weight again.

What she said. If you are under and not hungry, chug a tall glass of chocolate milk. That's good for 200-300 calories easy and always puts me to sleep very nicely. If you are still confused about eating your exercise calories, read the link in my signature and/or search the forums. There is a TON of info on this topic. Good luck!!

kevinthenerd

It's too late to be eating anyways!!

No it is not too late to eat.

Mmmmm..... Fourth Meal!

sunsetwest

So long as it's not every day, I wouldn't worry about it. Unless, of course, you're under by like 10. I'm often under by just a few. Then I'd say you're fine. The info you're logging is likely not exact anyway.

thehealthyone

Your body doesn't know WHAT TIME IT IS..but it does know what to do with the calories..try listening to MFP..even though I had lost 2-3 lbs a wk from wk 1-5...I gained 20 lbs in wk 6 of MFP bc I had not eaten bk any of my exercise calories..

I then took MFP advice, went to organic food, cut back on sodium, increased my water, and now eat 70% of my exercise calories plus what MFP is set at.. The 20 FELL OFF and put me back at my starting weight again. DON"T BURN MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW!!!!!

Do what you want..but learn from it..and give attention as to why

kevinthenerd

Nobody is going to gain weight in starvation mode. If that were true, anorexics wouldn't be so skinny.

"Starvation" and "starvation mode" are two different things. Yes, it's true that nobody stayed fat in Auschwitz. If you cut your calories to zero or very near, you will eventually lose weight until you're a very unhealthy bag of bones.

Your body recognizes when insufficient food is available and slows the rate of energy use to prepare for famine. As I understand, it can tend to overestimate and over respond to this. Recall that losing weight requires that you burn more calories than you consume. If you drop your calories too much, your body's calorie burning engine will pull off the throttle even more so, and the net difference will be reduced. There's a sweet spot before starvation occurs where the net difference is maximized.

I'm no doctor, but I'm willing to bet that a single day isn't enough to do much of anything if we're only talking about a couple hundred calories. I know that if I pig out, my appetite is reduced even a full 24 hours later, so I'm thinking that your body averages out the calories (and makes starvation-mode "decisions") on a time period much longer than 24 hours.

autumn13

I think you should just listen to your body. If you're not hungry, don't eat.

Amen!

JenBrown0210

I feel like it yes at me too! Some days I'm under and some days I am over. As long as I are not under everyday for a long time you will be okay!

tessjordan88

My girlfriend who has already lost almost 50 lbs with MFP encourages me to have a glass of orange juice or something like that to make up my calories if I'm under.

Or chocolate milk!! Also nuts are high-calorie and have the good-for-you fat in them,

tessjordan88

You need to eat in order to keep your metabolism up. If you don't eat, you will go into starvation mode. You body isnt telling you that you are hungry because it is in survival mode. I wasn't eating enough and I stopped losing weight for 6 weeks....I thought that I was doing everything right...but I wasnt eating enough. I increased my calories started dropping weight again.

Everybody is different though. Starvation mode doesn't necessarily happen to everyone. Just do what's right for your own body. As long as you're getting proper nutrition from food and not going to bed hungry, don't worry about a day or two of being a few hundred calories under your goal now and then. I had been told to eat my exercise calories (to "boost" my metabolism and prevent starvation mode) so many times, and then when I did, I started gaining weight back. I stayed too full all the time. I was always bloated and uncomfortable. So, I began listening to my body and stopped eating BEFORE I got too full.

Do what's right for your own body. General advice for "everybody" may not be the best advice for YOU!

mideon_696

500 below your target!!! ?

thats too big a deficit.
Whats you target by the way?

you need to be eating more calories in your meals if your not hitting the target. You're not really going to lose more weight in the long term doing this sort of thing.

fill up your meals!!! Avocado, cottage cheese, nuts...get those calories in!!!! its not hard. (no, it isnt).

if you get to the end of the day and you havnt made it yet, eat some good fatty stuff. no carbs. you're body doesnt want/need carbs when sleeping. I'll snack on 50gm's of peanuts if i'm 300 or so short myself...for me, thats a handful, lol.