"Starvation mode".... am I in it?

JGT2004

I feel like my body is starting to plateau and based on several other posts believe I may not be eating enough. My BMR is about 1500 and MFP has me eating at 1200. I am also exercising regularly but have been bad about not eatting my exercise calories back all the time. I just adjusted my goals to lose 1lb a week instead of 2lb and MFP suggests I eat 1320 a day. I don't want to hit the dreaded "starvation mode" and feel my weight loss has slowed. I am going to try eating 1300-1400 calories + 50% of my exercise calories back each day for a couple weeks to see if this helps but....

I would appreciate it if others would look at my diary and see if I have indeed been eating too little. And if so, what should my calorie goal for the day be? I am trying to get back on my exercise routine which involves 7 days of 45-60 min of P90X cardio or kenpo video in the morning (1 day replaced with the Stretch vid & 1 day replaced with the Yoga) AND 30 minutes of either elliptical or weight lifting 5 days a week during lunch. I find this has my calorie burn around 500-800 calories a day.

Thanks!

Sublog

Not likely. You need to be more consistent in your intake though. (Besides, you've only lost 8 lbs) And "starvation mode" is grossly exaggerated phenomenon around here.

Likely - you're simply underestimating the amount of food you consume. Try weighing EVERYTHING You eat with digital scale down to the gram.

UponThisRock

I don't exactly agree with the concept of "starvation mode" for reasons that I won't get into here.

However, I will say that at 1,000 cals a day, you were eating too little. My recommendation would be to bring calories up to maintenance level for a few weeks to give your hormones a chance to return to normal, and then start lowering calories again, not as dramatic this time.

JGT2004

So would it be better for me to try netting closer to 1400?


I do measure everything out, I don't have a scale so I know its not exact but I count everything out, even my almonds!

Thanks guys

UponThisRock

So would it be better for me to try netting closer to 1400?

Well, I don't think MFP method of estimating exercise calories and "eating them back," is the most effective way for most people to diet, but again, it's an issue I won't get into here.

Again, I think you need to maintain for a few weeks to balance everything out. As far as how much you should be eating, I would advise letting your progress determine how much you eat. So after a few weeks at maintenance, lower your calories by about 10-20% per day, give it a few weeks and see if you lose anything. If you don't, lower them a bit more and see what happens, and so on. Also, taking a week or 2 off from dieting every 6-8 weeks can help keep things moving along.