Has anyone here ever had their bodies go into starvation mod

AimingHighWeighingLow

Typo.....Starvation MODE*** not mod!

Okay, I have been losing weight for a month, done really well, lost 12lb so far. But I have a question. My calories goals are 1200 a day, NO MORE. But I feel AWFUL when I get remotely close to it! WHY??? Seriously, some days I bag like 200 calories. (Had serious issues when I was younger with anorexia....DEFINITELY overcome that as I allowed myself to get big! But hate breaking the 1000 calories intake!
I will give you an example, Today, I had a coffee for breakfast with a piece of toast, no dinner (yet, probably wont have any now) and for dinner I will have fajitas about 900 calories. But I have lost 450 calories with food preparation as I have been cooking and baking all morning.
If I do long term exercises like ironing or housework, I tend not to get hungry! But I am just wondering if anyone has ever actually had their body go into starvation mode. Take a look at my diary, am I really at risk of this happening?

Would appreciate any advice to help me get through this I do not want to plateau which I think maybe coming.

darla499

Your diary is private ...

Can you make it public at least for a bit so we can check it out for you?

Thanks!

BeautyFromPain

bump

AimingHighWeighingLow

Sorry...how do I make my diary public


OKay....found it....its now public

DeliriousOwl

My goal is 1200/day as well. But i agree, if I get too close to it I feel so gross and like I have failed! I figure if I'm getting around 1000 on the board, then I'm probably at or over 1200 anyway (I read that people always underestimate their calories). So that's mostly why I aim to go under?

I don't know about starvation either... I see people all the time who eat way less and keep loosing weight! but I don't want to make things harder for myself if I don't eat enough

BlutAura

Very contentious debate.
Others will zealously tell you that starvation mode exists, and in a way it does. But the idea that if you don't eat 1200 calories a day will stop you losing weight indefinitely is not true.
I do not believe in "starvation mode" as people describe it here, only the natural slow down of the body's metabolism.

[Edit] just to expand... when i was as low as 1200 a day i lost 4 lbs a week but felt a bit pants from low sugar etc.
Make sure you pay careful attention to your nutrition if you are going below 1200 as it can be hard for your body to get what it needs to function and help you carry on losing weight.

KZOsMommy

Your body needs 1200 calories a day to survive a healthy life. Are you working out too? If so you need to eat those calories or at least eat your 1200. Say you workout and burn 500 calories and you eat only 1000 well that leaves your body trying to work off 500 calories because MFP already has a -500 calories set in for you. I know it takes a bit to understand it did for me anyway. I was not eating my exercise calories and set at 1200 but not reaching it everyday. While I was big enough in the being that I lost weight fast I hit a point where I have stopped loosing for the past year. I have now upped my calories and eat my exercise calories and my body is happy again. I am not losing like I was when I was bigger but I don't have that much to lose.

Take care of your self and know that eating 1200 calories does not make you a failure it makes your body a winner lol

Tattoos_and_Tea

I too dont go over 1000 calories a day, that was I have 200 calories as a 'safety net' just in case what im putting into my diary isnt 100% correct. Seems to be working so far. As for starvation mode, cant say I have experianced this before, although I am hungry a lot of the time, so maybe that is it? I dont know.

Your diary seems to look ok, and as long as your not feeling hungry throughout the day then I reckon you should be OK. Oh, just make sure you drinking plenty of fluids x

amarie35

I've never let my body go into starvation mode but I do know that it is real and it can happen to the best of us. Our bodies need at least 1200 calories a day and according to your diary, you've not been even close. So, if anyone can go into starvation mode, you will, for sure. You need to try and take in more calories before you really end up hurting yourself.

Good luck & happy eating!

ProTFitness

YeS! My Body started to FEED on my Lean Muscle Mass. Very hard to get it BACK!

springtrio

I went through this a couple weeks ago. I'm a firm believer I KILLED my metabolism and I'm working to get it back up. As a formerly obese person I'm terrified of getting fat again. YOU HAVE TO EAT THOUGH, and more if you're exercising. YOU MUST. Trust me, I got pissed when people on these forums were telling me to eat more. I understand! I'd say you're damaging your metabolism for sure though. Visit a nutritionist.

bossmodehan

Surely the point of having your calories set at 1200 is that it is TARGET...you should aim to reach it, so don't feel bad about getting near it, be pleased that your are meeting your goals! Besides, I'm sure youve read it on here 1000 times but 1200 cals is the average you need to maintain your weight whilst being utterly sedentary, which you are not! Therefore, your goal has a built in calorie deficit.

I'm not an expert, but do your body a favour and give it the minimum calories it deserves, especially as you seem like such a busy person. I'm not perfect and often don't meet my goal (1600 on maintenance) but by denying yourself so many calories means that you are very unlikely to get the quota of macro and micronutrients your body needs to have enough energy and function at maximum efficiency.

With your history, it also sounds to me that you could put yourself in danger of relapsing, which I'm sure isn't something you want for yourself.

I'm sorry that this doesn't really answer your question on starvation mode, just wanted to offer my unprofessionsal opinion.

UsedToBeHusky

You have 6lbs to lose!!!! I mean seriously. If you have suffered from anorexia, and you have a problem meeting the 1200 calorie goal, then you might not want to use this site.

Now that I have put my personal opinion out there, let me offer you a tip. If you allow yourself to go over your calorie goal at least one day a week, you can avoid a plateau and keep your metabolism moving. If you deprive your metabolism too much, it WILL shut down.

DeliriousOwl

another thought: although I eat under my calories to account for miscalculation, I try to eat really healthy calories (I don't always achieve it thought ) so that I am getting the most vitamins, minerals etc out of what I eat. I think there is a big difference between only eating one maccas meal for a whole days calories (which I have done on a very bad day) and eating 3 or 4 meals made up of lots of veg and healthy protein and good carbs. Even if they add up to the same total cals. If you get what I mean??

yanicka

Your body will feed itself on your muscle mass.....it's easier to acces and process then your fat reserves.

You are trying to kill yourself and your body will do it's best not to let you.

The long term results are that you will have to eat like a rabbit for the rest of your life or you will gain weight.

I would go see a psychologist since you do not have a healthy relationship with food. 1200 calories is not alot and you should not feel awfull for eating ''that much''

yanicka

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/174065-starvation-mode-is-real-and-ugly

First person experience of starvation mode

ksubero

First, lets examine the concept of starvation mode:
Starvation is when your metabolism changes in order to preserve its resevoirs. This means that if you continually consume less than a certain amount of calories then your metabolism will slow in order to meet your daily demands. This would be like if your car knew you were low on gas, it would concerve energy by not being able to accelerate past 50 kmph.
This makes loosing weight difficult as I'm sure many of you reach that plateau where you feel like you are unable to loose despite doing everything right.

Here are some really crutial tips:
1 EAT OFTEN! I cannot stress this anymore. When you eat large meals, spread way apart in the day, your body slows its metabolism during the hours that you are not feeding it. Small meals (200-300 KCal) spread throughout the day will allow your metabolism to remain constant. This will preven cravings, intense hunger and help you to feel energized in teh working hours.

2. Remember you need calories to burn calories. It's like starting a buisness, you need money to make money. This may not seem logical at first, but on a molecular level you cannot create energy without certain macro and micro molecules. Some key players include CARBOHYDRATES, and vitamins such as niacin and riboflavin.

3. Caloric values are relative. My Fitness pal is a marvelous tool for estimation. However, if you make foods at home you may be adding extra calories that the website does not account for. This includes oils, salad dressings, and sauces.
While I am here, this also applies to the nutritional information found on restautant menus. They quite often do not include the dressing on a salad, sauce, or the measured serving size does not match your actual serving.

Lastly, remember that food and excercise are not exchangeble items. You should not decide to eat less and not exercise, or vise versa. Food fuels more than just your caloric expenditure: it helps you make hormomes, it hydrates your skin, it keeps your nails, and hair strong and healthy. Exercise or just physical activity in general helps improve mood, helps your sex life, and makes you feel energized. They are absolutely realted, but you need both for good balance. But you knew that, didn't you?

Keep at it!
KJ

*KJ is a municipal personal trainer, a clinical rehab trainer, a fitness appraiser, a kinesiologist and an advanced human nutrition student*

reedee94

Hi there, was interested in your comment. Having had a peek at your food diary, if you have seriously written down everything you consume then I forsee a problem as there are very few or on some days no vegetables fruits or salads listed. We all seem to fixate on the number of calories we put in and should really start ensuring that what we eat whatever the calorie total, covers the main food groups so as to include the right levels of vitamin calciums etc.

Fruits and veg/salad are generally low in calories but high in health benefits. It is great to lose weight but not at the expense of being healthy. For the time being it may be wise to consider adding variety to your plate even if you are sticking to 1000 calories. Bear in mind that your brain is a very clever organ if it is constantly underfed it will send message to take in energy thus causing cravings for high energy foods such a chocolate or nuts. It is quite happy with a quick fix.

To look at things another way, - If you consider your car, it will not work if you put the wrong fuel in and along the way it needs looking after with an oilchange and some new filters. We accept the fact that the car will stop working when it runs out of fuel, the engine will seize without oil. We are quite happy to look after the car but very rarely show the most important machine, our own body, the same consideration.

OMG Realise this comment looks like a rant didn't mean it to sorry.

Randee75

Bump

LorinaLynn

I'm not sure if I've ever officially been in starvation mode, but I will say that eating less doesn't always equal optimal weight loss, and definitely not optimal FAT loss.

During my time on MFP, I lost more weight on 1400 calories (plus exercise calories, but I set my profile to lightly active instead of sedentary, and only logged actual exercise) than I did on 1200 calories. Typically around 1.5 pounds a week. My body needed more than 1200 net to let go of the pounds.

I lost the SAME amount of weight on 1500 calories as I did on 1200. Typically about one pound a week. I upped my calories as I got within 10 pounds of my goal.

On the other hand, years before I joined MFP and knew anything about the danger of starvation mode, I ate around 700-800 calories a day and never lost more than a half pound a week. I thought I was a diet failure because I couldn't lose. I didn't know that eating more would have weight loss easier, both from the perspective of more pounds lost as well as feeling better while I was losing it.