Interesting Info on 'Starvation Mode'

mommachag

what I wonder about is people who eat some food but all of it is high in fat.
for example if a person who is 5 ' 5" and eats 500- 800 calories a day but it's all high fat food. will they gain weight.... or loose still?:huh:

songbyrdsweet

what I wonder about is people who eat some food but all of it is high in fat.
for example if a person who is 5 ' 5" and eats 500- 800 calories a day but it's all high fat food. will they gain weight.... or loose still?:huh:

They'd still lose.
Fat doesn't make you fat. Overeating makes you fat.

If they are sufficiently low on carbohydrates, they'll enter ketosis, and the fat will be broken down into its two parts, glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol would be used to produce glucose and fatty acids would be converted to ketones for use in a specific energy system. The body is really dynamic in how it produces energy.

Phoenixflame

Neat thread! I'll keep my exercise calories though.

Songbyrdsweet, I've always trusted your depth of knowledge. On the subject of ketosis, is it dangerous for the body to be in that state? I've heard so many conflicting arguments. Mind you, I'm not an Atkins chick, just a curious one. :happy:

michlingle

Neat thread!

Songbyrdsweet, I've always trusted your depth of knowledge. On the subject of ketosis, is it dangerous for the body to be in that state? I've heard so many conflicting arguments. Mind you, I'm not an Atkins chick, just a curious one. :happy:

I don't think it's healthy to be in ketosis. When I was in ketosis on atkins like 6 years ago, I was testing my urine with those little strips and I was full on in that mode for about 6 days straight before I had the most disturbing thing happen. I was at a show and started shaking uncontrollably...like Shelby in Steel Magnolias. Then, yes, I drank some juice, and stopped shaking. That diet sucks.

kerrilucko

guys heres the thing, it's simple- if you don't want to eat your exercise calorie, don't. If you want to severely restrict your calories even though you only have very little to a moderate amount to lose, go for it. All anyone can do is tell you the healthy way, nobody can force you to go that route. "starvation mode" really isn't crap as someone above said. It actually does happen, but it's not as extreme as some people seem to think (ie-it won't stop you from losing weight) what it will do is change the way your body functions. A morbidly obese person has so much extra energy (fat) stored that they are not at much risk of this happening. Like I said, if you don't want to eat exercise calories, fine. But don't use this article or any other as an excuse not to and please don't recommend to others that they stop eating exercise calories or your posts doing so will be reported by myself and many others who don't appreciate users advocating unhealthy diet methods. That's all I have to say.

LuckyLeprechaun

the article was interesting, and I think songbird makes a great point when she says "depressed metabolic mode" would be a better term. Widdy, I don't think you should feel offended, it was an interesting perspective and a kind of wakeup for anybody who was thinking that the term starvation mode would mean NO loss. I kinda knew that it didn't, the anorexia points that have been made show this, but it is good for those pursuing a healthy rate of loss to understand that overdoing it won't make it happen much faster, and puts a strain on the body.

Slow and steady baby!

ohthatbambi

If eating your exercise cals works for you then eat them.

If eating some of your exercise cals works for you then eat SOME of them.

If not eating your exercise cals works for you the DON'T eat them.

YOUR body is yours and it is different from everyone else that is on this message board, in the world, in fact. What works for some may not in fact work for all.

Spend a few weeks trying the different things that people post on here and then figure out what works best with your body and RUN with it.

I took everything I read about exercise cals way to seriously. I believed b/c it was so heavily pushed on here that it was the only way to have success. Even when a gained a couple pounds I kept on doing what everyone said and in the end I gained 10 pounds from eating my exercise cals. And before anyone jumps on me about that I wear a HRM with a chest strap so my calorie burn numbers were quite accurate. I spoke with two of my doctors and both agreed that I should NOT be eating all those "earned" calories if I wanted to lose weight. So I went with the opinion of two doctors I trust and found what worked for me.

Eating all of my exercise calories DID NOT work for me, in fact it had the opposite effect. So I picked a number about 300 cals above what MFP suggested I eat with no exercise and went with that. I began losing.

My point is take everything you read with a grain salt b/c your body is yours and only you can figure out what will work for you. Read, learn and equip yourself with lots of information and then start trying to figure out what works best for you. When you do figure it out...run with it!

havingitall

OK... I have been eating fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean meats (no refined or processed foods)and have not been hungry.....trust me, I would never let that happen. I have a lot to lose and my calorie requirements are high. When I go to the gym, my workout adds 600 + calories to my requirements. I can't eat that much of the healthy stuff.

How do I get all those calories while sticking to eating the healthy way(meaning no processed foods)

wilted6orchid

You know I was just wondering...I eat whatever I want whenever I feel hungry. Not to encouraging, I'm sure. According to my BMI I am on the far end overweight but not quite obese. Anyway, I don't eat my exercise calories, not because I don't want to, but because I'm just not that hungry. So I'm thinking, if I wanted to get in those extra calories...while not being hungry at all. Would I not then be training my body to eat when it's not hungry and therefore reinforcing bad eating habits?!

joann

About 7 years ago I lost 90 lbs...it took me 10 months...what did I do..I smoked cigarettes, drank alot of coffee,ate only one small meal aday and walked 4 miles almost everyday...did it work ? yes..Did I learn anything from it ..HELL NO.. I kept it off for about 2 years being so careful of not eatting alot..then I quit smoking, didnt care to drink as much coffee, stopped walking and began to eat normally..yes the way normal people do. Well look at me now.. Well last year:laugh: I went back to 256 pounds and had to start all over again. Now I just stay within my calorie limits and try to eat healthy foods. I have to admit I do not exercise like I should but that day will come too. I have lost 50 lbs and to be honest I do not ever crave a binge. I have a small low fat ice cream bar when in the past it was 2 big bowls.

You have a choice how you want to lose weight both work but in the long run will you spend the rest of your day starving yourself..Not me been there done that..

songbyrdsweet

Neat thread! I'll keep my exercise calories though.

Songbyrdsweet, I've always trusted your depth of knowledge. On the subject of ketosis, is it dangerous for the body to be in that state? I've heard so many conflicting arguments. Mind you, I'm not an Atkins chick, just a curious one. :happy:

As of yet, no studies have shown ketosis to be harmful in non-diabetics. In fact it's a treatment method for juveniles with epilepsy. For some unknown reason, being in ketosis reduces the frequency of seizures. It was discovered to be an effective way to lose weight when parents ate just like their kids, and everyone seemed to lose weight.

Here's the thing with ketones--they're acidic. In a normal body, they're flushed regularly with the urine...just enough is kept around for use in a specific energy system. Glucose is still made available to the brain, but it runs on about 70/30 glucose:ketones. However, in diabetic patients, the system doesn't work correctly. Despite the presence of glucose, the cells don't respond to insulin, so no glucose enters the cells. They send out signals calling for glucose, and the body in response produces ketones. Ketone levels will continually elevate because the monitoring mechanism no longer works. Then they enter ketoacidosis, where the blood pH becomes more acidic and does a lot of damage to the internal organs. But at the moment, it doesn't look like non-diabetics experience this.

It's still up in the air, and obviously people will respond differently to ketones.

songbyrdsweet

OK... I have been eating fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean meats (no refined or processed foods)and have not been hungry.....trust me, I would never let that happen. I have a lot to lose and my calorie requirements are high. When I go to the gym, my workout adds 600 + calories to my requirements. I can't eat that much of the healthy stuff.

How do I get all those calories while sticking to eating the healthy way(meaning no processed foods)

Just eat the healthier foods with higher fat...so 2% milk instead of skim, 80/20 beef, salmon, peanut butter/nuts, full fat cheeses.

I checked out your profile, and with that much to lose you would still be safe with more than a 500 calorie deficit, so you might want to try the 1000 calorie deficit until you have lost some weight and need to reduce your deficit back down to 500.