The Myth of Starvation Mode?

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  • Pogobean
    Pogobean Posts: 3
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    That pic looks like the virtual model on the Land End website. They prob changed the weight and then captured the image. :happy:
  • meggiemaye
    meggiemaye Posts: 117
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    It's just so frustrating that people (including professionals!) can't agree on something which is so vital to whether people lose weight or not.

    Oh my gosh, I know! Drives me crazy!! But that's what science is...there's never a concrete answer, there's just the best we have at the time. :grumble:
    There're also a LOT of threads here. Things are off the first page after an hour! On most forums it's more like 2-3 days.

    I agree! It kills me when a topic I bring up leaves the front page before it's been addressed! Makes me sad. But that's why I've gotten familiar with the search function...if there's something you're interested in learning about, you don't have to shuffle through the pages...just search for a keyword and instantly know whether it's already been broached, and how long ago! :smile:
  • sceck
    sceck Posts: 219
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    I never knew anything about the starvation mode. But, since I have always only eaten at dinnertime, no breakfast, no lunch, I was looking at attacking the belly fat. All of the information said we should eat all day. So, I tried that. I've been trying to eat breakfast (oatmeal every morning), lunch (maybe a little bit of peanut butter on a couple of crackers), then the dinner I have always eaten.

    Well, I must tell you, I am losing inches. Not lots of pounds, because I don't have a lot to lose. I have lost 3 or 4 pounds. BUT, the inches are changing every day. So, believe it or not, starvation mode is probably true (just for me). When I started eating, I started losing. Can't speak for science, but can speak for myself! Visceral fat is dangerous; trying to work on that.
  • healthyjen342
    healthyjen342 Posts: 1,435 Member
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    putting this post in my back pocket for reading later.
  • Calidaho
    Calidaho Posts: 110 Member
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    Your metabolism does slow down when your calories are drastically reduced. My husband and I are both going to a weight loss doctor and nutritionist. On the first visit, we stood on this machine and held some sensor so it could scan our lean/fat/water mass and our metabolism. I started out at 1800 calories burned resting. I went back 5 weeks and 25 lbs later after eating 1400 calories a day and had the same metabolism and didn't lose an ounce of muscle--only fat. The Dr. and nutritionist were amazed that I didn't lose any muscle and said they never see that result.

    So, my husband, who started a couple of weeks after me, lost almost 50 lbs (he started out at 457) and lost some muscle and his metabolism slowed about 100 calories ( I think he was around 2400 and went down to just over 2300--he eats 2000 calories a day). The doctor said this is normal and that our bodies start to fight back not wanting to lose the stored energy.

    I am not sure what the strategy will be when we really plateau but I am glad that we are going to a doctor who knows how to navigate through metabolic changes and let us know that it is normal and that we will get through it.

    So, it really isn't a myth.
  • Calidaho
    Calidaho Posts: 110 Member
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    By the way, we are both 6' tall and according to the calculators, I should be burning around 2400 calories resting and my hubby should be burning around 3100. Slow metabolism is real. Years of losing and gaining weight will catch up to us!! But, the good news is that we can rev up our metabolisms as well (at least that is what I am banking on!!)
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
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    Starvation mode isn't like Santa or the Easter Bunny. Not believing in it is like not believing the earth is a lumpy sphere.
  • greeneyed84
    greeneyed84 Posts: 427 Member
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    Wow, and this is about the 1 000000000th topic about this. Read all the other posts about it, it's getting old. Either you believe it or not, it's a fact but not the same with everyone.
    There was just the same topic a few hours ago
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    Starvation Mode is largely a myth.

    The reason it's a myth isn't that it doesn't exist but people generally have the wrong understanding of what it actually is.

    It's more accurate to say that your metabolism slows over extended time while on an extremely low calorie diet. You never really stop losing weight, it just slows down.

    Chances are if someone tells you they have not lost weight in a month it's not because of "starvation mode".

    Sometimes starvation mode is confused for just being smaller and weight loss leveling off due to not adjusting calorie intake to suit your new size.

    True starvation mode (slowed metabolism) starts about 4-6 weeks after being in a caloric deficit of greater than 30 calories per pound of body fat.

    So, if you have 50 pounds to lose and have a 1500 calorie deficit for about 4-6 weeks you will likely start seeing slowing of metabolism. Where you once lost 2-3 pound per week you may now lose less than a pound. However, you will still lose weight.

    The biggest problem with this is really losing muscle mass,which can lead to being "skinny fat" and can compound loose skin problems.
  • LisaKyle11
    LisaKyle11 Posts: 662 Member
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    bump!
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    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
    kdao Posts: 265
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    Guys! :tongue:

    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. :wink: 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! :smile:

    I agree, very well stated! :smile:
  • feliciapeters
    feliciapeters Posts: 525
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    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
    feliciapeters Posts: 525
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    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
    carolynmittens Posts: 344
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    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
    Therapist_mama Posts: 135 Member
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    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
    pinktoenels Posts: 23
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    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
    Taylor521 Posts: 48 Member
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    if your bmi is around 30 or greater, i think you can kinda ignore it until you lose more weight
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
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    b220091404.jpg

    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
    mkennedym Posts: 253 Member
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    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.

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