Not eating enough=Not losing

cecilia0909

I honestly want this explained to me because it makes no sense to my mind. I hear a lot of folks say if you don't eat enough you won't lose weight....then how do anorexic folks become so thin?

Don't get me wrong, I know this is unhealthy and I would never do that to my body, I just don't understand how this makes sense.

miss_sarcastic

Generally anorexics not only eat not enough...they don't eat hardly at ALL. We're talking 300 cals a day is high for bonafide anorexics. Because of this, their body starts breaking down any fat they have to fuel their body, and when that's done, it's starts getting the amino acids from their muscle stores, hence they literally become skeletons.

Your body needs sufficient amounts of fat, protein, carbs, vits and minerals to keep your physiological processes in good, homeostatic boundaries. You need cholesterol and protein to sustain many of your hormonal balances, which consequently play key roles in your metabolism. If you deprive yourself of these enough, your processes are going to slow down as much as possible to survive on what little you are giving it. So basically, if you don't eat enough (hopefully good) calories, your metabolism rate will slow down so that it can run on what little stores you've provided it. Slow metabolism = slow caloric burn = slow/no weight loss.

Sorry, I took anatomy and physiology of the human body last semester and am taking the second part currently...we're going over endocrinology (hormones) right now haha.

miss_sarcastic

*added content to my above post*

rwd5046

Very good explaination.

AlabasterVerve

I think what happens when you're on extremely low calorie diets you just don't have the energy and unconsciously are less active throughout the day which translates into a significant reduction in your calories burned even if you're able to maintain your exercise schedule. It's also pretty common for people to under estimate the calories they eat to begin with (up to 30% I think they say) so it wouldn't surprise me if that's even more likely if you're hungry. So I think it's probably a combination of burning less calories and eating more without being aware of it which makes it seem like you're not losing weight because you're not eating enough.

cmriverside

I think what happens when you're on extremely low calorie diets you just don't have the energy and unconsciously are less active throughout the day which translates into a significant reduction in your calories burned even if you're able to maintain your exercise schedule. It's also pretty common for people to under estimate the calories they eat to begin with (up to 30% I think they say) so it wouldn't surprise me if that's even more likely if you're hungry. So I think it's probably a combination of burning less calories and eating more without being aware of it which makes it seem like you're not losing weight because you're not eating enough.

Wait. What?

You want to rethink that? Granted, correct calorie calculations are important, but we aren't talking about that here.

I agree with the physiology poster above.

AlabasterVerve

Wait. What?

You want to rethink that?

I have thought about it; I wouldn't have posted otherwise. So no, I don't want to rethink it.

"In regard to metabolism, if you are overweight/overfat, you can not cause your metabolism to decrease below a level needed to lose weight while you have extra weight/fat on you, and you can not "lose more weight by eating more calories/food." This is a misunderstanding of the principles of metabolism that does not apply to overweight people trying to lose weight."

http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

cecilia0909

miss_sarcastic- thanks- that makes sense. I just really needed to wrap my head around this.

khbsrt

I guess I'm an example for this situation. I've plateaued for 30 days now and my calories are under 1000. This is all I can eat without being uncomfortable. The only way I could take in more calories would be to eat more (volume), or eat food full of fats and sugar. I'm against both. What to do?

DKBelle

Well. there is a different view regarding this subject all over the world. In Europe people eat around 1000-1200 and workout not really eating back exercise calories and they are skinnier I am from Europe and I've tried both system must tell you that it didn't work when I was eating more and also ate back my exercise calories so I say just eat until you are satisfied, but stay around 1000-1200 calorie a day. Drink more then 64 oz of water and workout at least 30-45 minutes a day 5-6 times a week.

If you are interested about what I eat check my site.
I believe I eat around a 1000-1200 calories a day and I am not hungry but always full It matters also what you eat if you eat junk you will get hungry always, if you eat healthy your body won't empty as fast and you won't feel hunger.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooking-ideasHomemade-Healthy-Foods/179121125503371

DKBelle

Also we believe that the body will slow down after a while, but you will lose after again so don't give up! If you are not losing for a month or two its fine your body just got used to it, but you can challenge yourself by doing different exercises instead of giving up or eat more ...

PlanetVelma

I guess I'm an example for this situation. I've plateaued for 30 days now and my calories are under 1000. This is all I can eat without being uncomfortable. The only way I could take in more calories would be to eat more (volume), or eat food full of fats and sugar. I'm against both. What to do?

You could just add "good" fats to whatever you are eating.

As an example - nuts are a great source of protein and you can consume a lot in calories for a very little portion.

2 tablespoons of fresh ground almond butter is about 170 calories, again good fats....there's lots of little things you can do to bump up your calories....Olive oil, butter, 2% or full fat milk, avocados....stuff like that.

Good luck!

SergeantSunshine_reused

Possible explanation with a lot of detail:http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

Jipples

Generally anorexics not only eat not enough...they don't eat hardly at ALL. We're talking 300 cals a day is high for bonafide anorexics. Because of this, their body starts breaking down any fat they have to fuel their body, and when that's done, it's starts getting the amino acids from their muscle stores, hence they literally become skeletons.

Your body needs sufficient amounts of fat, protein, carbs, vits and minerals to keep your physiological processes in good, homeostatic boundaries. You need cholesterol and protein to sustain many of your hormonal balances, which consequently play key roles in your metabolism. If you deprive yourself of these enough, your processes are going to slow down as much as possible to survive on what little you are giving it. So basically, if you don't eat enough (hopefully good) calories, your metabolism rate will slow down so that it can run on what little stores you've provided it. Slow metabolism = slow caloric burn = slow/no weight loss.

Almost word for word what I was going to say. :bigsmile:

wftiger

Check this site out -- http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html

Not a medical site but has good logic behind it.

I, personally, asked my Dr. He said that "starvation mode" is a myth. Yes, metabolism gets slower but it will ALWAYS take calories to fuel your body. And if you are going under **gasp** 1200 calories occasionally it will not affect your weight loss at all. Please check with your physician so you have all the facts and medical clearance to do so.

I only post on these topics because the rumors and half truths go around like crazy. And if one person takes time to research and learn the truth that is one less person spreading the "starvation mode" myth around.

thankyou4thevenom

I guess I'm an example for this situation. I've plateaued for 30 days now and my calories are under 1000. This is all I can eat without being uncomfortable. The only way I could take in more calories would be to eat more (volume), or eat food full of fats and sugar. I'm against both. What to do?

Look for good calorie dense food. You should not be avoiding good fats. Start to eat nuts, eggs etc... They'll not only boost your calories but all provide your body with the healthy fats it needs.

RRotondo24

I guess I'm an example for this situation. I've plateaued for 30 days now and my calories are under 1000. This is all I can eat without being uncomfortable. The only way I could take in more calories would be to eat more (volume), or eat food full of fats and sugar. I'm against both. What to do?

1000 calories is not enough. If you don't eat enough calories your body will store everything you eat because it thinks you're starving. Don't eat foods full of fats and sugars, just eat more greens, lean meats, etc. You need to get your calorie count up (about 200-400) to get past that plateau, even if that seems counter-productive. Just try it for a week or two and see if it works; if I'm wrong, go back to your way!

miss_sarcastic

Also, like with so many other person-to-person differences, not every "body" is the same. Some people can and DO keep burning and losing when eating under <1200, some don't. There are a lot of variables that go into it all.

bp1984

Poor mans version. You dont eat enough body goes into survival mode. Stores whatever it can. Weight Gain.
Anorexics by pass this to the point their bodies must break down body mass just to run normally.

Makethefatcry12

Wait. What?

You want to rethink that?

I have thought about it; I wouldn't have posted otherwise. So no, I don't want to rethink it.

"In regard to metabolism, if you are overweight/overfat, you can not cause your metabolism to decrease below a level needed to lose weight while you have extra weight/fat on you, and you can not "lose more weight by eating more calories/food." This is a misunderstanding of the principles of metabolism that does not apply to overweight people trying to lose weight."

http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

I was eating 1200 calories a day and was stuck at a plateau. I started eating 1400 a day and the weight started falling off..... So adding calories helped me out and sped up my metabolism.

MaximalLife

I honestly want this explained to me because it makes no sense to my mind. I hear a lot of folks say if you don't eat enough you won't lose weight....then how do anorexic folks become so thin?

Don't get me wrong, I know this is unhealthy and I would never do that to my body, I just don't understand how this makes sense.

It stifles metabolism.
Large deficits are unhealthy, because while you will lose weight, what's the quality of the weight loss?
In many cases you'll lose lean body mass - MUSCLE - which LOWERS your metabolic rate, making weight loss harder.
Then you have to lower calories even more to compensate, and the cycle continues.
MFP has calculated our total calories required each day WITHOUT exercise to lose 1lb per week.
And after we log in our exercises, our calorie limit goes up.
Why?
Because it's telling us to eat our exercise calories.
Be smart.
Exercise well both cardio and resistance, and eat back the calories.
The exercise will RAISE your metabolism and burn more fat at rest.

MaximalLife

I think what happens when you're on extremely low calorie diets you just don't have the energy and unconsciously are less active throughout the day which translates into a significant reduction in your calories burned even if you're able to maintain your exercise schedule. It's also pretty common for people to under estimate the calories they eat to begin with (up to 30% I think they say) so it wouldn't surprise me if that's even more likely if you're hungry. So I think it's probably a combination of burning less calories and eating more without being aware of it which makes it seem like you're not losing weight because you're not eating enough.

And less calorie intake stifles metabolism.
No study says otherwise - no, not one.
And the ratio of fat to lean body mass is also affected.

Was your point that low calories do not effect metabolism?
I hope not; that would be quite absurd.

MaximalLife

Wait. What?

You want to rethink that?

I have thought about it; I wouldn't have posted otherwise. So no, I don't want to rethink it.

"In regard to metabolism, if you are overweight/overfat, you can not cause your metabolism to decrease below a level needed to lose weight while you have extra weight/fat on you, and you can not "lose more weight by eating more calories/food." This is a misunderstanding of the principles of metabolism that does not apply to overweight people trying to lose weight."

http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

I was eating 1200 calories a day and was stuck at a plateau. I started eating 1400 a day and the weight started falling off..... So adding calories helped me out and sped up my metabolism.

You are 100% correct. The above misinformation is just what causes so much confusion.

RonSwanson66

I think what happens when you're on extremely low calorie diets you just don't have the energy and unconsciously are less active throughout the day which translates into a significant reduction in your calories burned even if you're able to maintain your exercise schedule. It's also pretty common for people to under estimate the calories they eat to begin with (up to 30% I think they say) so it wouldn't surprise me if that's even more likely if you're hungry. So I think it's probably a combination of burning less calories and eating more without being aware of it which makes it seem like you're not losing weight because you're not eating enough.

^^This is the correct answer^^

Too few calories can often lead to a spontaneous reduction of NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis). When calories are raised, this can lead to an unconscious increase in activity, thus accelerating fat loss.


http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/286/5/E675.long

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11360139

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2001.tb06975.x/abstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2001.tb06975.x/abstract

RonSwanson66

I was eating 1200 calories a day and was stuck at a plateau. I started eating 1400 a day and the weight started falling off..... So adding calories helped me out and sped up my metabolism.

You are 100% correct. The above misinformation is just what causes so much confusion.
[/quote]

Incorrect, but thanks for playing.

Here is a picture of some of the subjects from the famous Minnesota Starvation experiments from the 1940s. Even at this point, after months of a low calorie diet with heavy exercise, they were not yet in the so-called "starvation mode" where they experienced significant metabolic changes. If you have more weight/fat on you then them, then neither are you

At the end of the study, the total drop in metabolic rate was only around 15% (after accounting for the decrease due to weight loss).

andrejjorje

Would you please define the word "enough" in this context. Your answer it does relate to anorexics and body functionality but not to people that want to lose weight therefore I believe it is not on topic.
How much enough?

Generally anorexics not only eat not enough...they don't eat hardly at ALL. We're talking 300 cals a day is high for bonafide anorexics. Because of this, their body starts breaking down any fat they have to fuel their body, and when that's done, it's starts getting the amino acids from their muscle stores, hence they literally become skeletons.

Your body needs sufficient amounts of fat, protein, carbs, vits and minerals to keep your physiological processes in good, homeostatic boundaries. You need cholesterol and protein to sustain many of your hormonal balances, which consequently play key roles in your metabolism. If you deprive yourself of these enough, your processes are going to slow down as much as possible to survive on what little you are giving it. So basically, if you don't eat enough (hopefully good) calories, your metabolism rate will slow down so that it can run on what little stores you've provided it. Slow metabolism = slow caloric burn = slow/no weight loss.

Sorry, I took anatomy and physiology of the human body last semester and am taking the second part currently...we're going over endocrinology (hormones) right now haha.

andrejjorje

See the Minnesota study from this thread. Stalling is only in a small percentage related to metabolism slowdown. The porcess is so complicated that even now is not 100% explained.
Check please below the numbers and facts:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/permanent-metabolic-damage-qa.html

Wait. What?

You want to rethink that?

I have thought about it; I wouldn't have posted otherwise. So no, I don't want to rethink it.

"In regard to metabolism, if you are overweight/overfat, you can not cause your metabolism to decrease below a level needed to lose weight while you have extra weight/fat on you, and you can not "lose more weight by eating more calories/food." This is a misunderstanding of the principles of metabolism that does not apply to overweight people trying to lose weight."

I was eating 1200 calories a day and was stuck at a plateau. I started eating 1400 a day and the weight started falling off..... So adding calories helped me out and sped up my metabolism.

You are 100% correct. The above misinformation is just what causes so much confusion.