So when is it starvation mode?

angelofmusic1

So when is it starvation mode? 50 calories under the allowance? 200? 500? If I burn 300 calories exercising I find it hard to meet my allowance of about 1500. I don't want to starve and my weight is not that bad - but I do want to lose the last amount. Looking at what I did to lose the first 15lb I was probably not getting enough - but that was close to a year ago and I've maintained my weight perfectly few a number of months even though an injury stopped me exercising as well as I had been and I've not been so careful about calorie watching. I'm trying to get back into it again but I realise that I have no idea what consititutes 'starvation mode' and I'd like to avoid that - but if I'm not making my calorie allowance after exercising raise that allowance, is it really a problem?

inn0c3ntbbygrlx3

as long as your not going below 1200 every day then you wont have to worry about starvation mode, but one or 2 times under 1200 is not gunna cause you to go into starvation mode, its when your repeatedly under 1200

angelofmusic1

OK, thanks. So must make 1200. All good, I can do that. I'm going to be about 300 under goal today (now that it's been raised by exercise) but that's still over the 1200 - which was probably about the number of calories I was getting in earlier months.

inn0c3ntbbygrlx3

OK, thanks. So must make 1200. All good, I can do that. I'm going to be about 300 under goal today (now that it's been raised by exercise) but that's still over the 1200 - which was probably about the number of calories I was getting in earlier months.

no problem, as long as your atleast getting in 1200 your fine, if your under 1200 mfp yells at you, but once in awhile is not gunna cause you to go into starvation mode, but as long as your atleast eating 1200 your good to go, good luck on your journey

Reykur

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

barefootgardener

i don't kn ow, i get that way too, but i think it has to do with anxiety and depression for me.

inn0c3ntbbygrlx3

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

starvation mode is when your not giving your body enough calories to function on, so if your eating under 1200 calories every day your gunna hit starvation mode and your gunna hit a platuea and not lose any weight

registers

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

starvation mode is when your not giving your body enough calories to function on, so if your eating under 1200 calories every day your gunna hit starvation mode and your gunna hit a platuea and not lose any weight

So starvation mode is when I hit a plateau? So if i eat 3000 calories a day, and reduce my caloric limit to 2000, i will lose muscle mass, slow down my metabolism, and stop losing weight at one point.. So I am in starvation mode at 2000 calories?
There is no starvation mode, there is malnutrition, that's something else.

pwurtz1231

You have to eat at least 1200 calories a day. I'm in a lifestyle change program with a hospital and my doctor said to ignore the Food-Exercise=Net Calories. Your food calories should be 1200, NOT your Net calories. So if your exercise causes the Net to go under 1200, that's fine. Just pay attention to the Food calories. The doctors in the program all suggest not eating the calories you burned during exercise. Their reasons are b/c you may have eaten more that day than you realize or you may not have burned as much as you think. They suggest finding your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), I don't remember the formula for that but I think MFP has it somewhere, then eating 400-500 calories less than that. So, my BMR is 1938, so they want me to eat around 1400 calories a day, no matter what MFP says based on my exercise and weight lost per week goals.

Just throwing that out there. I'm loving the LEAN program at the hospital, it's put a lot of stuff into perspective for me, at least. I know a lot of people are either majorly for or majorly against eating the calories you gained from exercise, but in my experiences, I've lost more weight by not eating those calories. Hope this answers your questions. Good luck on reaching your goals!

inn0c3ntbbygrlx3

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

starvation mode is when your not giving your body enough calories to function on, so if your eating under 1200 calories every day your gunna hit starvation mode and your gunna hit a platuea and not lose any weight

So starvation mode is when I hit a plateau? So if i eat 3000 calories a day, and reduce my caloric limit to 2000, i will lose muscle mass, slow down my metabolism, and stop losing weight at one point.. So I am in starvation mode at 2000 calories?
There is no starvation mode, there is malnutrition, that's something else.

no i said eating under 1200, not under 3000 or 2000

Avalonis

Wow.... can't believe all the terrible advice on here.

Ok, This is what NUTRITIONISTS have told me. Ya know, the people that go to school for a very very long time to become very knowledgeable about this stuff.

The "Starvation mode" people are referring to DOES exist, for one. Malnutrition is a totally different thing. Malnutrition has to do when a person does not get enough nutrients, regardless of number of calories.

"Starvation mode" , by definition, is eating less than 50% of your bodies TOTAL daily requirement. This causes your metabolism to drastically slow. You will still lose weight, yes, but you will be losing muscle, fat, and you can feel constantly tired, which will also hinder your weight loss attempts.

In addition, you will be losing weight at a slower rate than is optimal.

Just because you are eating MORE than 50% of your bodies needed total daily calories does not mean that you aren't slowing your metabolism. Nutritionalists will tell you not to go lower than a 1000 calorie deficit, to keep your metabolism at an optimal rate, while still losing fat.

You will lose the LEAST amount of muscle, have more energy, and keep your metabolism top notch to get healthy if you stay within 1000 calories of what your body is using.

Personally, I am burning around 3500-4000 calories a day (BMR + Exercise). That means I need to eat 2500+ to keep myself in top condition, while still losing fat.

Don't starve yourself people, its not the smart way, its not the healthy way, and its not the fastest way to lose weight. Exercise consistently, eat consistently and healthy, and you WILL lose.

EDIT - Disclaimer: There ARE people that do not fall into this category. If you have been seeing a doctor or nutritionist because you have a actual medical reason to have a different plan, LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR OR SPECIALIST.

Edit: Another side note - this is for moderately healthy people. People who are grossly obese can actually cut a bit more than normal people and do fine. It's a fine line though.

InspoAdam

I can see your point but I think there is a limit to that line of thinking. If I go out on my bike for 2 hours and have a really hard work out, I can easily burn over 1000 calories. In that scenario, I have to put something back, otherwise I will very quickly burn out. Hvaing said that, even if I put back 500 calories, I am still OK.

registers

"Starvation mode" , by definition, is eating less than 50% of your bodies TOTAL daily requirement. This causes your metabolism to drastically slow. You will still lose weight, yes, but you will be losing muscle, fat, and you can feel constantly tired, which will also hinder your weight loss attempts.

The effects are what determine starvation mode, Loss of muscle mass, fatigue, and hinder weight loss attempts. This can happen to any athlete who needs 5000-8000 calories a day to maintain their performance and weight, if they drop down to 3000 calories. Or on any caloric reduction program.

registers

I also believe that "experience" out weighs "education." I am a majoring in computer science, there was a time long ago I read the NETWORK+ book. I read that thing a ton, took a ton of notes... if you put me in a real life situation to apply my skills... I couldn't do a damn thing.

I pretty much taught myself programming, i have been doing it for about... 7yrs or so, I have done a "ton" of programming. When I went to school and we took programming classes, I would code circles around everyone else, even the dean of our computer science dept who has a phD in computer science... I would let him be aware of the errors he has made in his book. I could do this form "experience" not from theory/education.

Last semester I took a course on electronics... we learned the "laws" out of the book yes, but we had a lot of experiences. On our final, the instructor said "The book won't help you one bit on your final, these are real world problems, you have to know HOW things work the principals of it. You can sit there and apply math formulas till the cows come home, it won't help you one bit."

My uncle is a electrician we where talking, he said "sometimes we get new guys straight out of school, it's funny how they sit there and try to calculate everything making formulas and everything when all they have to do is cut a wire."

angelofmusic1

Well, I was doing fine on my own before I even found this place with exercise and aiming for a calorie deficit so I think I will stick with what I know. It will certainly = 1200 (very hard not to take that much in I would think, even on a fairly light diet) so that is covered. When I stick with my own plan I feel great, lose weight, seemed to kick start my metabolism fine. There's so much information that trying to follow it all will just make it all seem too hard so I'm sticking with what I know. I won't be in starvation mode (I'm a firm believer that if my body is telling me it is hungry, I should eat. It's what I eat at that point that makes the difference - an apple vs. a pastry, for example). Lots of fruit and vege, normal breakfasts, lunches and dinners (though watching the calorie count and portion size) and it's all good as far as I'm concerned.

Icewolf_The

Angel you're right on your ideas. Good food in proper portion size + exercise will = weight loss.

As a side note, if you're interested, there is a good article on the Starvation Myth at Weight Watchers located here:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

chocolateandvodka

I also believe that "experience" out weighs "education." I am a majoring in computer science, there was a time long ago I read the NETWORK+ book. I read that thing a ton, took a ton of notes... if you put me in a real life situation to apply my skills... I couldn't do a damn thing.

I pretty much taught myself programming, i have been doing it for about... 7yrs or so, I have done a "ton" of programming. When I went to school and we took programming classes, I would code circles around everyone else, even the dean of our computer science dept who has a phD in computer science... I would let him be aware of the errors he has made in his book. I could do this form "experience" not from theory/education.

Last semester I took a course on electronics... we learned the "laws" out of the book yes, but we had a lot of experiences. On our final, the instructor said "The book won't help you one bit on your final, these are real world problems, you have to know HOW things work the principals of it. You can sit there and apply math formulas till the cows come home, it won't help you one bit."

My uncle is a electrician we where talking, he said "sometimes we get new guys straight out of school, it's funny how they sit there and try to calculate everything making formulas and everything when all they have to do is cut a wire."

sidenote -
there's quite a bit of difference between learning a process and studying a scientific equation.
I could read books on driving a car, but could never have learned to drive without actual experience. However, the fact that i have experienced the effects of gravity keeping my feet firmly attached to the ground my entire life does not mean i'm an expert in physics, or that i even fully understand the law of gravity.