Starvation mode....?

Alexa1471

Hello!

How will i recognise when my body goes into starvation mode? and how will I stop it?

I've never been one to eat much on a day to day basis (Although I can eat loads!) I'm just never that hungry. I'm trying to lose half a stone and have a target of roughly 1300 cals per day. I hardly make these calories, only have done twice in the last 2 days and that was through alcohol!!! I also do exercise and very rarely eat these back as I'm just not hungry.... I've managed to lose 2lbs so far but I wonder how long my body will keep this up?

Any tips anyone?

Thanks! xx

SheilaSisco

The best way to stop starvation mode is to not go into it in the first place. It can do serious damage to your metabolism that can be extremely hard if not impossible to reverse. Try your hardest to net 1200 and you'll be fine.

dodd319

I think I've put myself into starvation mode too. I can definitely eat more, just afraid that I'll end up going overboard and eat the whole pan of whatever.

This really stinks tho. I worked out really good over the weekend & definitely didn't overeat and only ended up losing 1 pound since Thursday.

I'm happy I lost and didn't gain, just wish I would have lost a little more.

jbucci1186

I referred to this article when I was worried about going into starvation mode:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/starvation.htm


What I would do personally is that if I felt I could be about to plateau, I would increase my calories by 250-350 per day for 1.5-2 weeks, and then go back down to my original amount. I've also heard that eating more calories one day and less another will prevent this, but I liked being consistent from day to day.

And I agree- the best thing to do is to avoid going into it.

Hope that helps!

Alexa1471

Thanks! I'll definitely try to avoid getting into it. How do I recognise that I'm going into it though?
Think that this is going to be a struggle to eat my calories without eating lots of cr@p.... x

melsinct

You can only avoid it by eating the calories MFP allots you. I got into starvation mode and gave myself a nice two month plateau. That sucked! I had to up my calories to get my metabolism back to normal and start losing again. In order to eat all of my calories I plan out the day before it happens to see where I'll be short. If I am short on calories I will use olive oil to cook in, add in a higher calorie snack like celery and peanut butter or a handful of nuts, put avocado slices on my salad or sandwich, etc.

bbbbb33333

Question. I don't usually eat my exercise calories. Occasionally a little. I am pretty consistent about exercising fairly hard and consistenly burn a lot of calories. Wondering if I could be in starvation mode due to all the exercise.

Averaged out the last 10 days of net calories and it came out to 970 after exercise.

Alexa1471

Plan ahead - I like that. Perhaps I should open my food diary for people to see where I'm going wrong.... I'm sure people could give me some tips... How do I open my food diary?

Have to ignore the few cakes that were there in the last week though. So many birthdays and so many cakes. Couldn't say no!!! x

melsinct

Question. I don't usually eat my exercise calories. Occasionally a little. I am pretty consistent about exercising fairly hard and consistenly burn a lot of calories. Wondering if I could be in starvation mode due to all the exercise.

Averaged out the last 10 days of net calories and it came out to 970 after exercise.

Most people agree that you shouldn't go below 1200 NET (meaning after exercise) so it is possible you aren't eating enough. However, I recognize that every body has different needs and what works for some doesn't work for others. For me, netting below 1200 was way too low, but I am moderately active and 5'7" so your miles may vary.

Plan ahead - I like that. Perhaps I should open my food diary for people to see where I'm going wrong.... I'm sure people could give me some tips... How do I open my food diary?

Go to "Settings" at the top of the page next to your log in name. Then click on "Diary Settings"