"Starvation Mode" Rant....

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theresa7576
theresa7576 Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have heard that you need to eat your alloted calories each day and that if you don't eat them your body will go into starvation mode and shut down your metabolism etc... but here is the kicker.. There are people who DON'T eat enough and do lose weight. So where is that line? Because to lose weight, you have to burn more than you take in...so you are already at a deficit.

I'm just trying to lose a few pounds and own up to what I put in my mouth.... I joined MFP becuase my snacking was out of control. So I'm not someone who is trying to lose a lot- but i'm just as frustrated because my body wants to stay at 140-145.. and darn it- I want to be 135. I just hate that it is not black and white; Like.. "You do this, you will lose XYZ pounds.. etc." sorry just a rant! I really have a deep respect for people whoe have a lot to lose- because it is darn hard to stick to "being good" And it is very easy to eat horribly one day and pay for it for the rest of the week. thanks all for reading!!

Replies

  • Furrytreats
    Furrytreats Posts: 132 Member
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    Word.
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    What do you believe your allotted calories are? How do you define 'allotted calories'?

    For starvation mode, read this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/135011--starvation-mode
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    Please read this post - disspells some of the myths about starvation mode (no, it won't happen overnight!) and gives a good overview of the topic.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
  • Helena4
    Helena4 Posts: 124
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    Starvation mode really doesn't happen over night. But, on first hand exerpeience I can tell you that eating very little for a week and then going and eating a big meal is a BAD idea. I spent my exam week at uni eating about 500-600 calories a day (I'm meant to have 1200) as I was nervous/revising etc and then working out for about 300 calories a day, therefore as you can imagine my NET was very small. I came home at the weekend and ate an indian meal out.....BAM the next day the pounds went up and it took a week to loose anything at all. Starving and then filling yourself up is not only going to make you bloat loads, it will make your body store the fats it is dying for straight away.
    Being slightly under everyday really won't make a difference, as will being slightly over. Just expect your body to react in the obvious way...loose less/loose bit more. But, being way under will, in the long run not help weight loss as it is likely you'll binge and put it back on. And being over...well, it aint gonna shift!
    Everyone is different but that's just how I see it :) no magic, no tricks, no special way, just remember that MFP already takes away your daily defect and exercise is extra burnt calories :) Sorry - that's long!!
  • absie107
    absie107 Posts: 290
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    That's the thing about living things... we're all going to do things and they'll affect us differently. And yeah, starvation mode happens over the course of a couple days. Intermittent fasting (even daily... just not eating until noon or something) is actually decent for you. Besides, we'll never REALLY know exactly how many little calories are in every morsel we eat, and different foods affect metabolism differently - for example... more calories from fructose will be stored as fat than simply glucose. Coconut oil and butter are metabolized differently from cookies and cake. A calorie isn't a calorie... and people ignore the biochemistry every day. Of course, it varies from person to person, as all things do, but if a naturally thin person ate only sugar and bread and pasta (hypothetically) they'd probably mess up their metabolism a little bit. I don't know any "naturally thin" people that only eat that way though... they eat pretty balanced.

    okay I'm done now. hah.
  • theresa7576
    theresa7576 Posts: 46 Member
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    i get 1300 calories a day. When I exercise, I eat a good portion of those back... I don't feel I have really lost anything yet. I'm set up to lose a pound a week and I don't think I have. Granted it has been only 3 weeks. I just know that a long time ago when I lost weight I was not eating very much at all.. and I dropped 15 lbs in 2 months.. and I kept it off for a very long time. Just seems like the threat of starvation mode may be real- but what calorie deficit causes it? missing 100 calories a day of what you are supposed to eat.. or more like 300 or 400?? It used to be easy for me to lose weight but I can't get back to the 135 I was before I had my daughter and it bugs me!!
  • theresa7576
    theresa7576 Posts: 46 Member
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    this was very helpful

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

    thank you very much for finding and sharing.
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    Starvation mode really doesn't happen over night. But, on first hand exerpeience I can tell you that eating very little for a week and then going and eating a big meal is a BAD idea. I spent my exam week at uni eating about 500-600 calories a day (I'm meant to have 1200) as I was nervous/revising etc and then working out for about 300 calories a day, therefore as you can imagine my NET was very small. I came home at the weekend and ate an indian meal out.....BAM the next day the pounds went up and it took a week to loose anything at all. Starving and then filling yourself up is not only going to make you bloat loads, it will make your body store the fats it is dying for straight away.
    Being slightly under everyday really won't make a difference, as will being slightly over. Just expect your body to react in the obvious way...loose less/loose bit more. But, being way under will, in the long run not help weight loss as it is likely you'll binge and put it back on. And being over...well, it aint gonna shift!
    Everyone is different but that's just how I see it :) no magic, no tricks, no special way, just remember that MFP already takes away your daily defect and exercise is extra burnt calories :) Sorry - that's long!!

    This is incorrect. What you are describing here is simply a result of water retention. You are eating 500-600 calories (not a good idea in the first place, in most cases), and then you increased calories (and carbs I presume) dramatically, which caused the ILLUSION of weight gain. It was simply a dramatic fluctuation in water weight, which is common, and to be expected given the situation you described. It goes away soon after.

    To the OP, I wouldn't rely on MFP's cookie cutter caloric recommendations.

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