Not eating enough=Not losing

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.