Does starvation mode exist and what is it?

AI1108

Does starvation mode exist and what is it?

taso42

Here is an excellent explanation of starvation mode and how it works by LadyHawk00.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/starvation-mode-how-it-works-98802

Copied and pasted below for convenience:

We’ve all seen the countless threads and posts about starvation mode. Many contain a lot of misinformation and apply the concept too broadly. It’s my aim to clear up some misconceptions (of both believers and non-believers). I’m going to try to keep this simple and straightforward and easily understandable.

What is Starvation Mode?
Starvation Mode – aka survival mode, famine response, adaptive thermogenesis

Starvation mode is a reaction to inadequate energy. If your food intake is too low to meet energy requirements, the body starts accessing inside sources. It will attempt to access fat stores first, and in the highest proportion. If you have a lot of fat stores, most of the energy will come from fat, and a little from muscle. If you have less fat stores, most will still come from fat, but a higher percentage will come from lean tissue, such as muscles. The leaner you get, the more difficult it is for the body to access fat quickly.

When the body perceives intake to be too low and energy stores (fat) to be inadequate for making up the difference quickly, it begins to compensate to prolong survival. First, it slows metabolism (the rate at which you use energy.) If intake continues to be too low, it then begins to access muscle, because it is easier and faster. The loss of lean tissue further slows metabolism. If this cycle continues for a significant period, at the right levels, it results in an ever-decreasing metabolism. This means a person can eat less and less (to a point), and still have slow or no weight loss because the body’s energy requirements have decreased. Remember that total energy requirements include BMR, daily activity and purposeful exercise.

Who is at Risk?
Most people with large amounts of fat stores are not at risk of starvation mode. This is usually women over 35% body fat and men over 25% body fat, but there is no exact point. They have sufficient energy stores to supplement the body’s needs for energy (however, they still have other needs that must be met, such as vitamins and minerals). The closer a person is to a healthy BMI, the higher risk and consequences of starvation mode.

When Does it Happen?
It doesn’t happen by skipping a meal or even a whole day or at 1200, 1000, or any other random cal number. Typically, metabolism will begin to decrease after about 72 hours of significantly inadequate intake. But this is dependent on the individual’s specific situation – what the energy requirements are, how much fat they have, and the exact level of intake. The loss of lean tissue begins sometime later. It could be days, weeks or months. It may be at 1200 for one person, and 2000 for another. Again, it depends on the individual and will be a different point for everyone.

Then Why are Anorexics Skinny?
Anorexics were “normal” weight at some point. They began decreasing intake and using up fat stores. How long this takes depends, again, on energy requirements and actual intake. The body has a “range” in which it feels comfortable accessing fat, without decreasing metabolism too much or burning too much muscle. As an average, this is between 250 and 1000 calories below maintenance requirements. When you drop below this range, the body begins starvation mode reactions. Anorexics WERE in starvation mode at some point – but they continued to decrease intake. There is a level of extreme calorie restriction and lack of fat stores at which starvation mode turns into actual starvation. The body is adaptable, but it has its limits. At this point, the body has no choice but to burn everything – fat, muscle, organs, hair, skin, etc - simply to sustain bodily functions. Severe anorexia is the result of continuous extreme calorie restriction and malnutrition (typically below 500 cals). You can try it their way. But remember, a lot of them develop horrible diseases from malnutrition and many of them die.

But Some People Claim You GAIN Weight in Starvation Mode?
Starvation Mode itself will not cause weight gain. However, a combination of starvation mode, binges, and carb loading, can cause weight gain. Once the metabolism decreases, your energy requirements are lower. So you have to eat less just to maintain your current weight. The body has become more efficient at using and storing energy. But most people have a hard time maintaining a very low intake consistently for long periods. So if your typical intake is 1000 (just an example), but you have occasional binges of 3000 and the binge is mostly carbs, the body can’t use all of that at one time anymore. So the body shuttles it to fat storage. This won’t be a huge gain, but a lb or two a month maybe. It’s not dramatic, but if someone lives this way for years, they can gain a decent amount of weight.


Further Reading:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/222019-60-lbs-in-60-days?hl=60+lbs
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/208407-how-to-repair-a-damaged-metabolism-stavation-mode?page=1#posts-2752820
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/187973-an-email-response-that-might-help-some?page=1%23posts-2493477
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/49690-the-banks-plan?page=1#posts-541471
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/69708-calorie-deficit-for-dummies-a-little-long
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/79181-dogmeat-s-thoughts-on-weight-loss

FearAnLoathing

I think it gets thrown around on this site way to much,but I do think it exists. Its the only wat to explain my rapid weight gain.
I spent 17 years on meth during that time I would go days without eating,and my only calories coming from maybe 1 or 2 sodas a day.Sometimes I could choke down a piece of fruit or something but on alot of days I was getting no more than 600 calories a day.Now eventually I would burn out sleep for 3 days and when i woke up eat a small meal then run off to get high again starting the cycle all over again. At 29 I finally quit,I started eating everyday and tracking my calories as well I never once ate more that 2000 calories in a day but within a year year and 1/2 I gained 100 pounds. There was a pregnancy at the time which is why I was tracking my calories but I was also walking everyday to work up untill 6 months when I was put on light bed rest. I never ate enough to gain that fast,after the year or so everything leveled out I stopped gaining weight. So yeah I think it does exist because thats the only explanation for how fast I gained weight.

AI1108

Starvation mode is your body's response to a prolonged period of a low caloric intake. In layman's terms, the body responds to a lack of fuel by reducing the need for fuel, decreasing the body's metabolic rate. To keep the metabolism burning during a period of a caloric deficit, it's recommended that women consume an average of at least 1200 net calories a day, and men 1500 net calories a day average at a minimum. Many times it's easier for people with more to lose to withstand a low caloric deficit for longer than leaner individuals as it takes a while for the body to burn through its fat reserves before it starts targeting its muscle and lean tissue for energy, but its not recommended to let this go on for too long.

Below is a great example of the effect of starvation mode on the American diet:

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Living With Obesity At 700 Calories Per Day!
By: David Greenwalt

I want you to consider a common female client. She's a woman about 5'5" and 185 pounds. A combination of a mostly sedentary lifestyle, quick-fix, processed foods and consistent excessively low calories has resulted in an incredibly stubborn fat loss scenario. Not only has it created a stubborn fat loss scenario but her ability to add body fat is remarkably strong.

Most would believe there is simply no possible way she could be 185 pounds eating mostly low calories. While it's true the average obese American created their own obesity by being a huge over consumer, a sedentary glutton if you will, many are able to maintain their level of obesity with the following formula in very precise ratios: starvation + binges + sedentary lifestyle.

An initial review of this woman's calories indicates she is just above starvation level in the 400-700 per day range. The food choices are mostly protein in this case (low-carb is all the rage you know) and there are virtually no vegetables or fruits to speak of.

Five or six days per week the calories remain low in this range, however, there are nighttime binges from time to time and weekend binges where carbs loaded with fat (doughnuts, rolls, cookies, pizza etc.) are consumed.

So while the calories are very low the majority of the time, there are one to two days per week where this isn't always the case. Even so, the nighttime binges and weekend slack offs don't amount to what you might presume would be thousands of extra calories, thus explaining the 185-pound body weight.

Very few foods are prepared from home. There are lots of fast foods being consumed. Convenience and taste rule.

I must say. Early on in my coaching and teaching career this woman was a real head scratcher for me. Isn't it calories in and calories out? Even if she's not active she's starving!

How in the heck does she stay at 185 eating an average, including all binges, of maybe 750 calories per day? She's frustrated beyond belief. She sees her friends and coworkers eating more and weighing less. Is she simply unlucky? Is everyone else blessed? And what in the world is she supposed to do to fix this, if it can be fixed?


Why Is She Not Losing Weight?

First, let me tell you why she's not losing weight. Then I'll tell you what she has to do to fix the situation. With a chronic (months and months) intake of less than 1000 calories per day and a 185-pound body weight her metabolism is suffering greatly. It's running cool, not hot. It's basically running at a snail's pace.

Think of it this way. Her metabolism has matched itself to her intake. She could, indeed, lose body fat but she's in that gray area where she is eating too few calories but not quite at the concentration-camp level yet.

If she were to consume 100-300 calories per day her body would have virtually no choice but to begin liberating stored body fat. This is NOT the solution. It's unhealthy and, in fact, quite stupid.

Not only has her metabolism matched her intake, her body has maximized production of enzymes that are designed to help store any additional calories as fat. Anytime additional, immediately-unnecessary calories are consumed the enzymes are there and waiting to store the additional calories as fat. Her body is starved nutritionally and it has one thing on its mind - survival.

Being mostly sedentary, her metabolism (hormones play a large role here) can do a pretty good job of keeping things slow enough so that the pathetically low calories she's consuming are just enough to maintain.

But since certain enzymes are elevated, waiting for more calories so more bodyfat can be stored, every nighttime binge or weekend mini-feast will contribute to fat stores.

So on the days she's not bingeing her body does not lose fat, or if it does, it's very little. And on the few days or times she does binge a bit her body is quite efficient at storing fat. So, while she may lose a smidge of fat from starving it is quickly replaced with every binge.

Remember, these binges aren't a gluttonous 4000-calorie feast. Oh no, a binge might be 4-5 cookies worth about 500-700 calories. Nevertheless, since the binge foods are mostly carbs and fat it's very easy for the enzymes to shuttle the dietary fat into stored body fat. It's what they were designed to do.


So, What's The Solution?

Well then, now that we presumably know some valid reasons why she's not seeing a scale change and definitely no body fat change how do we fix her? We have to do something she's going to freak out over.

We have to get her eating more. Not only do we have to get her eating more but more of the right, whole foods need to be eaten. Foods lower in fat that aren't as easily STORED as body fat have to be consumed. And we have to warn her.


A Discouraging Start

We have to warn her that since she's been sedentarily living on protein with binges of carbs and fats she is likely to see a weight gain right away. It's true.
Once we begin really feeding her body with nutritious carbohydrates so she can become more active, her glycogen-depleted body will hang on to some of those carbohydrates (in skeletal muscle and liver) so she has stored energy for activity.

When her body hangs on to those carbohydrates it has no choice but to hang on to more water too. For every gram of glycogen (stored carbs) she stores she'll hang on to three grams of water.

This is not a negative response by the body but it will be interpreted by her as quite negative when she steps on the scale.

It's quite likely she'll see a five to seven pound weight gain when she really starts eating properly again. This weight gain will remain for one to three weeks before it starts moving in the other direction.

For argument's sake let's assume my Calorie Calculator and Goal Setter at Club Lifestyle suggests a 1500-calorie per day average in week one for a one-pound loss per week. First, she is going to freak out about this many calories.

For months she's been eating less than 1000 and usually around 400-700 in one to three feedings total per day. To her 1500 calories is a ton of food. And if she even begins to eat less fast and packaged-foods it will be a ton of food.

There is no doubt whatsoever that she will resist the increase. This resistance may take one to three weeks to overcome. During this period no weight loss will occur. She is too fat already in her mind and believes it will only hurt her to increase her food intake.

I mean, after all, isn't that how she got fat to begin with? In her early stages of fat gain this was probably true. She overconsumed. But as I've said already, that's not why she's staying heavy.

In addition to a freaked-out mindset about adding more food to her already overfat body she will simply find that it's all but impossible to eat four or more times per day.

She's just not hungry at first. Makes sense when you think about it. Why would she be hungry three hours after eating a 300-calorie, balanced breakfast? Her body is used to 400-700 calories per day!

So, even though she gets a plan and begins using my nutrition analyzer to log foods and meals she finds after having a balanced breakfast of 250 calories she couldn't force herself to eat meal number two on time.

It'll take several more days of realizing what is going on and being one-hundred percent honest and diligent with her logging and planning before she begins to eat her meals as planned no matter what - even if she's not hungry.

By now two to four weeks have passed and the only thing she's seen on the scale is it going up--not very encouraging if I say so myself.


Raising The Grade

After the first two to four weeks have passed she's probably beginning to consume her meals as planned although not quite like an "A" student yet. That is coming. She feels better because she's working out and is more active.
And she feels like she has more energy throughout the day because she's feeding her body more calories and the right kinds of calories.

She has finally begun eating the right kinds of fast foods (low in fat, moderate in protein) and less packaged food overall. She is making more meals from home and taking them to work for lunch rather than always grabbing something quick from a vending machine or the break room that always has some treat another employee brought in.

After another two weeks or so she's moved from a "B" grade to more consistent "A"s. She's planning her days one day ahead in the Nutrition Analyzer; she's consuming fresh veggies and fruits on a daily basis.

Her calories are almost ALWAYS in line with what is recommended by my Lean Account and she has seen her first signs of the scale moving in the right direction.

She is now dropping from 190 pounds (her high after reintroducing food and carbohydrates again) to 189.3! "Progress at last!" she says. In actuality, the entire process was progress. But that's not how she saw it in the beginning.

With a total of two to four weeks of increased caloric intake behind her and eating more consistently the right kinds of foods her metabolism has truly begun to rebound.

She didn't kill it as she thought. She only wounded it. And since our metabolisms are like kids (they are quite resilient) and she doesn't have thyroid issues or diabetes or any known wrench that could be thrown into the spokes of fat loss, she will begin, for the first time in months or years, to see results that make sense and that one would expect of someone who is active (30-60 minutes five or more days per week) and consuming a caloric intake of 1300-1500 calories per day.


Butterfly Effect: The Basics Of The Thyroid - Part 1.
Avoiding Sabotage

This process is in no way easy. I think you can see a plethora of ways it could be screwed up, sabotaged, given up on too early and so forth.
A key to success for this very common woman (men too) is not giving up too soon, having faith in the fix, and moving sooner rather than later to the increased, quality food intake.

It's going to take effort to overcome the mental hurdles of eating more food as well as the increase in scale weight that is going to occur in weeks one to three or so. It's disheartening, however, to charge hard down the weight-loss field only to get to the one-yard line and decide it's time to quit.

Many don't realize they only had one more yard to go and they'd have had a touchdown. You gotta hang in there with this plan. It's going to take some time for the glycogen levels to be replenished and level out. It's going to take some time for mental adjustments to occur.
It's going to take some time before hunger signals are restored to anything close to normal. It's going to take time for the metabolism to rebound and not be in its protective mode.


Giving A Stubborn Body The Message

In certain, very stubborn cases, it may be necessary to eat at a eucaloric (maintenance) or hypercaloric (over maintenance) level for a few weeks to ensure the metabolism does get the signal that everything is alright and you aren't going to kill the body.
Remember, your body could care less about your desire for fat loss. It just wants to survive.


Some Take-Home Points

The most common cause of obesity is Americans are sedentary overeaters/drinkers. Nothing in this article should be construed as to say that under eating is the root cause of obesity. It's not.

It IS common for many men and women to be under eating with sporadic binges as I described here. This creates a perfect environment for continued obesity even if total caloric intake is quite low on average.

Low-carb followers or "starvers" WILL see the scale go up when calories are consumed at reasonable levels again and carbohydrates are reintroduced. Live with it. Deal with it. It's going to happen. 98% of the gain will be water.

The time it takes for mental acceptance and other adjustments to occur will vary but one should expect a two to four week window for these things to take place. Being forewarned with an article like this may speed this process up some.

Once the right types of foods are consumed and the right caloric intake is consumed and the right ratios of carbohydrates, proteins and fats are consumed on a consistent basis, then, and only then, will metabolism begin to be restored and the key to fat loss be inserted into the lock with a noticeable drop in the scale resulting.
This may take an additional two to four weeks to occur. Your metabolism is never dead or broken for good. But it may take several weeks of proper eating and activity for it to be restored.

From day one, until the first, noticeable drop in the scale occurs may be four to six weeks--maybe one to two weeks longer. Those who give up on the one-yard line will never see the scale drop as will occur when intelligent persistence and consistency over time are adhered to.
David Greenwalt