starvation mode

wantu2wantme

Just curious, if your on a lower than 1200 cal a day diet, how long would it take for your body to start storing fat? a week, a month?

sweettthings

Depends on your metabolism, mine kicks in immediately.

I'm restarting my "diet" after a long break because last time I was averaging about 1100 calories and wasn't losing anything, for months. This time I'm aiming for 1300-1500 a day, plus exercise calories. Hopefully that will be more successful.

lizard053

Never go lower than 1200 a day without direct medical supervision.

With that being said, it depends on your body. I'm on an ultra-low calorie diet (I'm at the doctor's office weekly). She has me lifting weights to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss. I have high protein, low carb and low fat. I have to exercise 7 days a week. It's very tough, and I still have trouble losing even when I'm following the plan exactly. I can go about 6 weeks with steady losses, then that starvation mode kicks in big time, and I have to double my workouts!

Di3012

Just curious, if your on a lower than 1200 cal a day diet, how long would it take for your body to start storing fat? a week, a month?

It would not store fat, it would be using all the fat up until it went under 8% and then the muscles would start to be eaten into.