Starvation Mode....a myth?

Options
shadow3829
shadow3829 Posts: 103 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This will not be popular here, but.....

I have always had a hard time buying into the starvation mode. Does it exist? I believe it does, but I tend to think it is probably after the body has ran out of large amounts of stored fat, and a prolonged calorie restrictions. I have been trying to find some hard fact, but as with everything, have found information backing both sides. Here is one article I found that makes several good points, the writers reference links back up her points very well. Take a few minutes to read the articles before giving me to much grief. :)

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

Has anyone here actually proven the starvation mode? Have you every only lost weight after upping your calories? Who has experienced starvation mode and recovered and lost weight after increasing your calories? Restricted for how long? How much of a deficit? How much of an increase to lose again?
«1

Replies

  • BrendaBlis
    BrendaBlis Posts: 165 Member
    Options
    Bump
  • godroxmysox
    godroxmysox Posts: 1,491 Member
    Options
    bump
  • BflSaberfan
    BflSaberfan Posts: 1,272
    Options
    <<raises hand

    I was eating 1200 calories a day for 8 months. Then my weight loss just stopped, this went on for weeks.

    Last week I upped my calories to 1700 and lost 4lbs.
  • chrisyoung0422
    chrisyoung0422 Posts: 426 Member
    Options
    www.leangains.com

    has a number of really good and factual articles in relation to this and other topics.

    Personally I have never tried this or been in what I would call starvation mode.
  • mcboyd1983
    mcboyd1983 Posts: 56
    Options
    Thanks for posting! That was an interesting read for sure (kinda made me giggle at parts too haha).
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    Options
    This will not be popular here, but.....

    I have always had a hard time buying into the starvation mode. Does it exist? I believe it does, but I tend to think it is probably after the body has ran out of large amounts of stored fat, and a prolonged calorie restrictions. I have been trying to find some hard fact, but as with everything, have found information backing both sides. Here is one article I found that makes several good points, the writers reference links back up her points very well. Take a few minutes to read the articles before giving me to much grief. :)

    http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

    Has anyone here actually proven the starvation mode? Have you every only lost weight after upping your calories? Who has experienced starvation mode and recovered and lost weight after increasing your calories? Restricted for how long? How much of a deficit? How much of an increase to lose again?
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Options
    you can search these forums, the short answer is yes, there are hundreds of topics on MFP about it, many with links to studies, or if you'd like to find your own, just do a search on www.ajcn.org. Starvation mode is real, proven, and been verified time and time again. The only myth is people's perception of it, which is often wrong.
  • chantel14
    chantel14 Posts: 128
    Options
    nice to see the other side!
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    Options
    okay now for the real reply. not only did i not lose weight by upping calories when i first started here like people said i should over the first month i gained 8 pounds. since then i went back to the way i was eating before when i lost 45 pounds, and have already dropped 5.5 pounds.
  • Brady_
    Brady_ Posts: 108 Member
    Options
    Bumpp :ohwell:
  • BroDave
    BroDave Posts: 249 Member
    Options
    I am going to try to find out more about this and get back with what I find.
  • becca0211
    becca0211 Posts: 250 Member
    Options
    Bump
  • Spayrroe
    Spayrroe Posts: 210 Member
    Options
    Starvation mode is a scientific fact. The body is semi intelligent geared towards self preseravtion. That's one of the reasons underweight women have problems concieving a baby, because the body feels it can't sustain itself, let alone another organism. Your body requires a certain amount of fuel to keep its basic life sustaining processes running (cardiovascular, cerebral-vascular, etc). Now, I do not think it's that basic 1200 cals for each person. Obviously, if you have a bigger/smaller (and by that I mean taller/shorter, lanky/condensed) body, that number would flux. It takes less energy to circulate blood in a 5' tall person than a 6' tall person. I also don't think being below your required base calorie amount based on your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) for one or two days a week (as long as the two days in question are not consecutive) will put you in starvation mode. I think it needs to be a longer period of deprivation for your body to think that the resources it needs are not available. Now, this is all based on different things I've read/heard. I am not even close to being a medical professional (I barely passed biology and anatomy in highschool which was a decade ago for me), so this is all just my two cents on it. I think the most accurate way to get a good read on what you should/need to be consuming would be to talk to your doctor. Even on this site, where you give it your basic demographics, it's only a ballpark.

    Another point on this, the farther away you are from a 'healthy' weight, the less you'll probably notice the effects of starvation mode because your body has a lot more stored fuel to burn. I've noticed that most of the time people who post the 'omg, i'm keeping calories cut out and exercising, but I'm not losing any weight at all' threads on here are people who are pretty close to their goal weight, when the body has less stored resources to burn and will start hording them faster.

    Once again, only my opinion, for whatever that is worth.
  • juliapurpletoes
    juliapurpletoes Posts: 951 Member
    Options
    I'm not sure whether or not you would like to hear a personal story or discuss the theory of stavation mode. But, I'll toss in my thoughts/experience anyway:

    I lived on 500 calories a day for about a year and a half......(not medically supervised, it was a 'vanity diet').......I don't know whether or not you could call it starvation mode but this is just some of what happened to me.


    I created a ring of scar tissue in the bottom of my esophagus from the stomach acid that churned up.....( I have to take medicine everyday now - expensive - I have to eat alot of softer foods so I can get them down)



    I killed my metabolism........(it took YEARS to not only understand why it happened and to be able to turn it around)

    I looked like death warmed over........(very skinny fat about 12% - bones with a layer of fat because I had NO muscles to support me)

    My hair fell out more than a healthy persons would

    I couldn't think a clear thought.........(brain cells need nutrition)

    gained all the weight back that I had lost in the blink of an eye and then some..................

    I did recover, but it was such a useless experience.


    really STUPID!
  • BflSaberfan
    BflSaberfan Posts: 1,272
    Options
    Starvation mode is a scientific fact. The body is semi intelligent geared towards self preseravtion. That's one of the reasons underweight women have problems concieving a baby, because the body feels it can't sustain itself, let alone another organism. Your body requires a certain amount of fuel to keep its basic life sustaining processes running (cardiovascular, cerebral-vascular, etc). Now, I do not think it's that basic 1200 cals for each person. Obviously, if you have a bigger/smaller (and by that I mean taller/shorter, lanky/condensed) body, that number would flux. It takes less energy to circulate blood in a 5' tall person than a 6' tall person. I also don't think being below your required base calorie amount based on your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) for one or two days a week (as long as the two days in question are not consecutive) will put you in starvation mode. I think it needs to be a longer period of deprivation for your body to think that the resources it needs are not available. Now, this is all based on different things I've read/heard. I am not even close to being a medical professional (I barely passed biology and anatomy in highschool which was a decade ago for me), so this is all just my two cents on it. I think the most accurate way to get a good read on what you should/need to be consuming would be to talk to your doctor. Even on this site, where you give it your basic demographics, it's only a ballpark.

    Another point on this, the farther away you are from a 'healthy' weight, the less you'll probably notice the effects of starvation mode because your body has a lot more stored fuel to burn. I've noticed that most of the time people who post the 'omg, i'm keeping calories cut out and exercising, but I'm not losing any weight at all' threads on here are people who are pretty close to their goal weight, when the body has less stored resources to burn and will start hording them faster.

    Once again, only my opinion, for whatever that is worth.

    This is exactly right, 50lbs overweight my body easily burned through the extra fat...once I got within 15lbs of my goal weight that stopped.
  • BflSaberfan
    BflSaberfan Posts: 1,272
    Options
    Starvation mode is a scientific fact. The body is semi intelligent geared towards self preseravtion. That's one of the reasons underweight women have problems concieving a baby, because the body feels it can't sustain itself, let alone another organism. Your body requires a certain amount of fuel to keep its basic life sustaining processes running (cardiovascular, cerebral-vascular, etc). Now, I do not think it's that basic 1200 cals for each person. Obviously, if you have a bigger/smaller (and by that I mean taller/shorter, lanky/condensed) body, that number would flux. It takes less energy to circulate blood in a 5' tall person than a 6' tall person. I also don't think being below your required base calorie amount based on your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) for one or two days a week (as long as the two days in question are not consecutive) will put you in starvation mode. I think it needs to be a longer period of deprivation for your body to think that the resources it needs are not available. Now, this is all based on different things I've read/heard. I am not even close to being a medical professional (I barely passed biology and anatomy in highschool which was a decade ago for me), so this is all just my two cents on it. I think the most accurate way to get a good read on what you should/need to be consuming would be to talk to your doctor. Even on this site, where you give it your basic demographics, it's only a ballpark.

    Another point on this, the farther away you are from a 'healthy' weight, the less you'll probably notice the effects of starvation mode because your body has a lot more stored fuel to burn. I've noticed that most of the time people who post the 'omg, i'm keeping calories cut out and exercising, but I'm not losing any weight at all' threads on here are people who are pretty close to their goal weight, when the body has less stored resources to burn and will start hording them faster.

    Once again, only my opinion, for whatever that is worth.

    This is exactly right, 50lbs overweight my body easily burned through the extra fat...once I got within 15lbs of my goal weight that stopped.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Options
    Actually, we can draw several logical conclusions from the study she cites most:

    Starvation mode exists - it is extreme calorie deprivation which, if maintained, will lead to severe health issues and possibly death. It can also result in, as this article cites 40% decrease in metabolism.

    There are less extreme calorie intakes which can result in decreased metabolism, without being truly starvation - you may not be healthy, but neither will you wither and die if you maintain a, 800-1100 calorie diet for an extended period of time. Instead, your body will adjust to maintain what it has for as long as it can.

    The author of this article does not cite studies - she uses studies of extreme circumstances to set up a straw man argument.
  • terri0702
    terri0702 Posts: 17 Member
    Options
    Bump
  • KateCon912
    KateCon912 Posts: 200 Member
    Options
    It may exist, but only after your body has burn up all of the fat and muscle from your body first that it can use. And you would have to eat absolutely nothing for weeks.

    I however have been eating 800-900 calories since the beginning of the year and have only lost weight. I have lost over 20 lbs gradually and steadily.

    A lot of people on these forums believe in starvation mode, but have not experienced it themselves or are too scared to try.

    1200 is not a magic number. If you eat 1199 you will not die. If you eat 900 calories for an extended period of time, you will not die. In fact, you will reach your goal. It just takes self control and discipline.
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    Options
    I was advised by my medical doctor, 30 years practice, that a quick unhealthy weight loss could injure the gall bladder, esp if you may have some stones/calcium deposits located in the gall bladder

    I have read in the last 6 months or so, on this board, numerous posts about people getting their gall bladder out, or having severe pain that was caused by the gall bladder

    also, your gall bladder needs certain amounts of fat to halp it perform its normal activities. Im not a medical professional, but I was advised to follow a good healthy diet, that consisited of good fats, and avoid trans fats.

    Im now on occassion eating nuts and avacados, something I didnt do before I lost all the weight. Just be careful of not getting enough fats, you can do serious damage to your internal organs................Lloyd

Categories