The Myth of Starvation Mode?

Coyla

I agree with mcrow24. It's not that Starvation Mode doesn't exist, it's that people don't understand what it actually means. When people claim that someone is gaining weight because of starvation mode, that's simply not possible.

You don't get fat by starving.

But the studies I've read show that non-obese people tend to lose a large percentage of muscle if they aim for a very low calorie diet. You can still lose WEIGHT eating 500 calories a day, but if that weight is mostly made up of water, muscle, and a little fat, it's not worth it. And who wants to go hungry to look like crap?

For obese people, it's a different ballgame. They tend to lose less muscle and more fat while being very restrictive. However, losing fat quickly because of extreme calorie restriction can be dangerous (and deadly), so taking it slow is the best approach. It's also easier to maintain a moderate approach to weight loss, rather than a crash diet.

The failure rate amongst people I've known who have starved themselves into rapid weight loss is, so far, 100%. Those are lousy odds.

kdao

Guys!

This is just a thought...as tempting as it can be, maybe we shouldn't chastise people so much for 'repeat' topics. I know some of them (this one in particular...also the 100,001 threads about 'lose/loose' :laugh: ) are done to death, but sometimes people have slightly a slightly different slant on a question and/or they aren't familiar enough with the site to use search functions to their fullest extent. I know I'm guilty. I've definitely done it on accident when I had a question on my mind...just gone and posted a topic and not checked around first.

By the responses I can see people are still both confused and curious...have a little heart. We're here to support each other!


...Okay, now that I've said that, there literally are hundreds of threads dealing with the question of starvation mode. Lots of them will probably have really good information!

I agree, very well stated!

feliciapeters

im not a scientist but i DO believ e this, you can call it what you want but the body is an amazing machine, unfortunaly it doesnt know if the reaon its not getting food is because there isnt any available, your too busy to eat, there is no where to stop etc. Our bodies are programmed to survive, so the theory that if your body isnt getting food on a regular basis it can count on it will "store" some as fat to continue functioning. Your bodu knows what it needs, even if WE dont, and it will take what it gets * convert it into what it can in order for it to survive. THAT i believe is the actual theory of "starvation mode" starvation mode i believe is a misnomer, i think it should be called something like "survival mode".

the same theory applies to water. I HATE the stuff, never drank it, coffee with cream &sugar, at least a gallon a day. When i started this journey & FORCED it down and honestly, with all the water i WAS drinking i seemed to gain weight, and by my reasoning i should have been going to the bathroom more, but i wasnt. for about a week, instead of chugging the coffee all morning, not drinking anything all afternoon & having 2 more after dinner i drank water, all day, every day, and I belie ve that once my body "got the message" that the water (or food) supply didnt stop, it stopped "holding on to a reserve"

No one will "starve" if they eat, BUT your body I believe WILL hold on to a reserve if it doesnt know where its next meal is coming from. I think that is a basic instinct programmed into us

feliciapeters

AND if your body doesnt know where its next meal is coming from (or when) it will slow down your metabolism so that what it does store will last longer.

carolynmittens

i used to restrict my calories for years.... and i have never been thinner than when i did that! i've been eating 1200 or more cals now for 5 months plus working out and haven't lost 1 pound. i'm going back to calorie restriction, its the only way i personally will lose weight it seems so from my experience i'd say starvation mode seems to be a bit of a myth.

Therapist_mama

putting this post in my back pocket for reading later.

Please do yourself a favor and don't, it is only confusing at best and beats a really dead horse!

pinktoenels

I think starvation is real. I tried to eat 1200 a day up to 1400 a day. I barely lost anything. I started eating according to MFP and I am finally seeing results. IDK I have been dieting for years, eating is working

Taylor521

if your bmi is around 30 or greater, i think you can kinda ignore it until you lose more weight

Elzecat

Now, let's beat it to death, and beat it again.

OHMYEFFINGOD!!! i am mother effin absolutely peeing my pants laughing while totally rolling on the floor all over hte place and coughing from the hysteria!!! (and i probably burned about 22 calories doing so...best eat them back)

okay, you win.

this made me laugh SOOO hard...and maybe I burned a few calories doing that hehe

mkennedym

just read this. this sums up where the "starvation myth" misinformation originated.

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

and if you really want to know about the starvation experiment, check out the "Minnesota Starvation Experiment"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment

You can also read the whole 2 volume work. Here is the citation to help you find it

Keys, A., Brozek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L., The Biology of Human Starvation (2 volumes), University of Minnesota Press, 1950.

wonnder1

Okay, someone on this site finally explained this to me in plain english and it makes sense.

All these numbers are examples, everyone is different, obv.

Your body can take 1500/day and maintain your weight.
Your calorie is set to 1200/day to keep it fueled and functioning.
You are still 300 less than you need, this is fat loss. mfp automatically puts this calorie amount at 2/wk (or whatever)
You work out, and take away an extra 400.
Now you are at a 400 deficit and your body doesn't have enough to fuel it.

Now to the car analogy.
If your car doesn't have enough oil it will run for awhile.
(your body will lose weight)
Eventually your car will seize.
(weight loss will stop)

The problem is restarting the car after its seized.

The bigger you are, the longer your car will run, but it too will eventually freeze.

And now, the poor HOERS is dead.

mrjason

I love this topic.

sceck

Well, call it what you like. I've eaten about 500 calories a day for the past ten years...once I upped to about 1100-1200 calories a day, with a balance of protein and complex carbs, the visceral fat just started melting away.

Now that I've changed my lifestyle, I think that I was harboring fat cells, even though I only ate once a day. So, from my own experience, I say yes, there is a starvation mode, and the body holds onto the fat to keep one alive.

Use your own thoughts.

Therapist_mama

putting this post in my back pocket for reading later.

Please do yourself a favor and don't, it is only confusing at best and beats a really dead horse!

I recant this comment. I was having a sarcastic moment! It is actually an interesting read!

robin52077

@ therapistmama

I am assuming your name is supposed to be "therapist" mama....but every time I see it it says "the RAPIST mama":laugh:
It's all in the spacing!

jellybaby84

^^

Oh dear, that's unfortunate! haha

Thanks for the all the info. My instincts are still to go with the people saying it is greatly exaggerated and is more of a slowed metabolism than a halted (or even reversed?!) weight loss. Valid examples on both sides though - eek!

Ugh, I don't know, I think I'd rather eat less and take the slighly greater weight loss, even though it won't be double the weight that I would lose if I was eating double the calories.

I'm not starving myself (region 950-1000 cals a day) but, with the amount of exercise I usually do, I'm often required to eat 1800 or 1900 calories a day and I'm only 5'1" with a BMI of approximately 21 - 21.5 (I'm not weighing myself at the moment so I don't really know). It just seems like too much food to eat and expect to lose weight.

Ms_Natalie

Please check out this thread..

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

It contains lots of information about calories, exercise and starvation mode and should answer any questions you may have.

:flowerforyou:

suzycreamcheese

I completely agree with you. I roll my eyes when most people mention starvation mode on here. Lowering metabolism occurs, absolutely, but not weight loss reversal, unless you start eating more.

i agree.

I also roll my eyes when people think 1200 is a magic number that they must go over or their body will immediately go into starvation mode.

"starvation" is when you take in half or less than your recommended calories per day, so theyve taken the average of 2400 cals, and halved it as a baseline, but most people need much less than 2400 so there will be plenty of people who wont go into starvation at 1200

suzycreamcheese

I completely agree with you. I roll my eyes when most people mention starvation mode on here. Lowering metabolism occurs, absolutely, but not weight loss reversal, unless you start eating more.

i agree.

I also roll my eyes when people think 1200 is a magic number that they must go over or their body will immediately go into starvation mode.

"starvation" is when you take in half or less than your recommended calories per day, so theyve taken the average of 2400 cals, and halved it as a baseline, but most people need much less than 2400 so there will be plenty of people who wont go into starvation at 1200

DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo

if your bmi is around 30 or greater, i think you can kinda ignore it until you lose more weight

AMEN!! no 300 lbs person is gonna go into starvation mode...

diverchic73

Now, let's beat it to death, and beat it again.

OHMYEFFINGOD!!! i am mother effin absolutely peeing my pants laughing while totally rolling on the floor all over hte place and coughing from the hysteria!!! (and i probably burned about 22 calories doing so...best eat them back)

okay, you win.

LOVE IT!!!

love the picture

love the response as it sums up my reaction to the picture exactly!

mrb_9110

"over most ranges of normal calorie intake, the fewer calories you eat the more weight you will lose. Whilst it's true that with calorie restriction the body becomes more efficient, the concept of weight loss halting altogether or even reversing is completely false. If this happened the sad fact of millions starving to death through famine wouldn't happen.

This line of reasoning makes no sense. People who starve to death or are anorexic will consume VERY little or nothing for weeks at a time. "Dieters" are still eating a significant amount of food, but it is less than what their body needs to function off of.

Another thing some people say against starvation mode is that it was necessary in caveman times, but we've evolved since then and our bodies aren't worried about starving in our modern times. Seriously? We've evolved over billions of years and you think that 5 or even 10 thousand years is enough for our bodies to evolve to a 'higher level' to where they've learned that we have an adequate food supply in developed nations? That's ignorant.

Obviously, I believe starvation mode to be very valid and I think most of the people who don't and think they can net around 500 calories a day are misinformed. I would say they're only hurting themselves, but with public forums like these, they can misinform others.

Debbisue52

All the comments about beating a dead horse kind of tick me off! Posting that picture, and the comments....was just plain RUDE! To me it's simple....if you are tired of a subject, or have nothing constructive to add....why say anything at all???? Just like comments I have seen people leave chastising someone for not eating the way they think they should or doing things the way they would....and offering their unasked for "help". I have seen some nasty, rude comments on this site...not a lot, but more than I'd like to see. Everyone is different and not everything works for everyone. My Mom was losing weight all along at a steady pace before she joined this site. After she joined and was told she should eat 1200 calories a day...or go into "starvation mode"...she started gaining weight and just got discouraged and more confused. I suggested she not worry about this site but go back to whatever she was doing before...she did it and is doing better. We are all here to support each other...not to put anybody down or make fun of them for posting something. I hate the fact that some people on here act like they are the nutrition and diet Gods with all the answers for everybody...it is uncalled for! And......my mother taught me at a young age that if you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all! As far as "Starvation mode"....I suppose in a few months or years the experts will decide that this is not true....just like they do everything else....lol! They are always changing their minds. I'm not sure what I believe about the "starvation mode" either. Just try to do your best to eat healthy...watch your portions...eat slowly and only until you feel satisfied...if you're not hungry don't eat. Exercise and live as actively as you can. Basically just take care of yourself...don't follow "fad diets" and don't expect overnight results. Slower and steadily... consistently...balance...I believe those are key. And if you reach a plateau just hang in there and do your best until it passes....or change something up a little uintil you get results. I'm no expert and I'm definitely not perfect....but I try to look at how the rest of Mother nature's creatures live...especially in the wild...and follow their example. You don't see them chowing on refined sugars, or over processed foods...and they don't usually stand around eating until they can't move...lol! This is, of course, just all my opinion. Everyone has opinions and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But, I think we should all make the effort to help support each other...not laugh at and put others down! Good luck on your getting healthier journeys everyone!

Debbisue52

if your bmi is around 30 or greater, i think you can kinda ignore it until you lose more weight

AMEN!! no 300 lbs person is gonna go into starvation mode...

LOL...I have always said "I could live off my body fat for a month before I'd start starving"

Rachel_Leigh84

sunshine79

My personal trainer told me and I read in a book by Tom Venuto that if the deficit is caused mostly from exercise the body does not react the same as if the deficit is caused by extreme calorie restriction hence burn the fat, feed the muscle. My PT says be sure to eat your BMR and that's it - no need to worry about 'eating back' exercise calories.

I don't think 'starvation mode' is as true as people say it is - IMO but we're all entitled to believe what we choose

DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo

GREAT THREAD:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

nkenga

I agree with you, and a lot of nutritionists agree with you as well.

However, a lot agree with the other side of the coin, too. It's hard to say who is right.