"starvation mode"

michaelachallis
michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
many days my food diary tells me i may be in 'starvation mode', however i am in no way under eating i feel, and am hardly ever hungry, only before meals, just at normal times, since i started eating healthy and exercising my appetite is not as big as it used to be, i thought this was normal...

anyway i don't want to be in "starvation mode" but also don't want to force myself to eat when i'm not hungry..
anyone else have this problem?
any tips?

Replies

  • Chunkabutt83
    Chunkabutt83 Posts: 461
    everyone has different opinions on this. Most tell you anything under 1200 is starvation mode and to eat until you get over that. Myself, I believe in listening to your body and eating when your hungry. To me, eating when your not hungry seems to be how most of us got here in the first place.
  • michaelachallis
    michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
    To me, eating when your not hungry seems to be how most of us got here in the first place.

    exactly!
  • 6heatherb6
    6heatherb6 Posts: 469 Member
    everyone has different opinions on this. Most tell you anything under 1200 is starvation mode and to eat until you get over that. Myself, I believe in listening to your body and eating when your hungry. To me, eating when your not hungry seems to be how most of us got here in the first place.
    Perfectly said....
    EVERYONE will have an 'EXPERT' opinion....I eat about 1000 cal/day and it's great for me....shhhhh guess what...I'M NOT STARVING!!!!
    :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

    Listen to your tummy and your heart...

    All the very best
  • MaryRarick
    MaryRarick Posts: 12 Member
    I find that if I start eating earlier in the day and eat mini meals throughout the day it's a little easier.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    I would suggest eating more calorie dense foods that are healthy, things like avocado, nuts, nut butter, salmon...that way you don't have to eat so much of it and it will give you good nutrition.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    Even 1200 puts me in starvation mode... I completely stopped losing weight until I upped mine to 1400.

    It's really more of a personal thing...are you asking because you stopped losing weight or just reading posts and freaking out?
    Doing it once in awhile isn't going to hurt :) How much weight do you have to lose?

    Eating high protein and low carb will fill you up and keep you feeling full... I drink a lot of my calories making protein shakes between meals.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    Even 1200 puts me in starvation mode... I completely stopped losing weight until I upped mine to 1400.

    It's really more of a personal thing...are you asking because you stopped losing weight or just reading posts and freaking out?
    Doing it once in awhile isn't going to hurt :) How much weight do you have to lose?

    Eating high protein and low carb will fill you up and keep you feeling full... I drink a lot of my calories making protein shakes between meals.
  • michaelachallis
    michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
    great thanks heaps everyone :)
  • TruckerChick
    TruckerChick Posts: 263
    The bad thing about the whole starvation mode thing - and what they mean by that - is when the body goes into starvation mode, it will hold onto, or store, every calorie it takes in, regardless of how much you burn by exercising, because it believes you are in a time of famine. Unfortunately, this is an innate function of the body that we have no control over. You can do that for short periods of time, but if you continue to do it over long periods of time (like years), your body will start to break down its own muscle to use as energy because you aren't giving it enough expendable energy.

    Does that make sense??
  • ♥xenawarriorprincess♥
    ♥xenawarriorprincess♥ Posts: 440 Member
    Read this

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

    And these

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    Hope this clears up any questions you may have
  • Kym1610
    Kym1610 Posts: 328 Member
    What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone. I eat between 900-1100 cals a day generally. I am making healthier low cal food choices and I am not hungry the majority of the time. On the days I am I eat more. I tend to just listen to my body. You have to find what works for you.
  • michaelachallis
    michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
    denise - yes, that confirms what i guessed happened!
    xena - thanks! will give them a read
  • michaelachallis
    michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
    are you asking because you stopped losing weight or just reading posts and freaking out?
    Doing it once in awhile isn't going to hurt :) How much weight do you have to lose?

    i am still losing weight (have about 10kgs to go) , i just wanted to make sure i wasn't going about in an un-healthy fashion, seeing that little warning notice every day was worrying me!
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    I personally think starvation mode is a myth. [:
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    We can talk about opinions all day long. My opinion - read the links posted at the beginning of each section on the forum so you have a complete picture of how MFP is designed to work - then make your own decision. And just a note: if your body does hit "starvation mode" that doesn't mean you FEEL hungry, it means something along the line of chronically depriving your body of the nutrients it needs to function at a healthy level (malnourishment). The long-term effects of that can be dangerous.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    "Starvation mode" doesn't mean you are actually starving. Just means you are eating pretty low and your body MIGHT stop releasing fat stores and start running on only what you are giving it, slowing and/or stopping weight loss.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    are you asking because you stopped losing weight or just reading posts and freaking out?
    Doing it once in awhile isn't going to hurt :) How much weight do you have to lose?

    i am still losing weight (have about 10kgs to go) , i just wanted to make sure i wasn't going about in an un-healthy fashion, seeing that little warning notice every day was worrying me!

    There's a reason it gives you a warning. You can lose weight while being malnourished and not feeling hungry. True, only you can decide for yourself, but please read the links I suggested earlier, then make whatever decision you think is right.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    I personally think starvation mode is a myth. [:

    This. Your body prefers to burn fat over the protein in your muscles. That's what it's stored for.
  • Navmachine
    Navmachine Posts: 63
    im pretty sure my daily calorie intake would freak people out into thinking i had some kind of eating disorder. i agree that every person is different, and to only eat when you feel hungry.
  • withchaco
    withchaco Posts: 1,026 Member
    "Only eat when you're hungry" does not work for everyone because in some cases, lack of appetite indicates metabolism slowing down.

    I hate the term "starvation mode" because it makes the whole thing sound like a black and white deal with no grays in between, and I don't think that's how it works. However, you can't deny that not fueling your body properly has negative influence on your metabolism. Proper nutrition is crucial in keeping your metabolism fired up.
  • SeanMurphy
    SeanMurphy Posts: 62
    I personally think starvation mode is a myth. [:

    I think the body's metabolism can and will readjust to a lower caloric intake, and that can make it harder and harder to lose weight by adjusting diet. However, I also don't think that going under some magical 1200 calorie limit will automatically slam your metabolism down, as some posts seem to indicate. Nor do I think that eating under some limit will cause you to stop being able to burn calories by exercise. Energy is Energy, and if you're expending it, it comes from somewhere. Your body is pretty smart and even if you aren't taking in many calories via food, it will sacrifice fat before anything else, until you have very nearly no fat reserves, and THEN it will attack protein (muscles) and you'll end up in REAL starvation mode, such as we see with folks with anorexia nervosa, with the tell-tale wasting of the muscles, etc.

    That said, keeping your metabolism stoked is the quickest way to lose weight. Eating an amount of calories that is less than your daily expenditure through exercise and general resting metabolic activity, but not DRASTICALLY less, is the most efficient path. Drastically less caloric intake, or a "crash diet" would, indeed, make you drop pounds quickly, but only for a short period of time before your metabolism readjusts, and you are too tired and lethargic to actually go out and do the exercise you want and need to do. And since your metabolism has readjusted to this ultra-low intake, if you switch back to your normal intake, you can easily store all that away as your body thinks this is the feast at the end of a famine and wants to store up as much fat energy as it can in preparation for the NEXT famine.

    So yes, don't starve yourself on purpose, but don't freak out if mfp tells you you're risking starvation mode occasionally.
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