Starvation mode article that I found very VERY helpful....

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  • sparkly96
    sparkly96 Posts: 120
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.
  • veganjeanie
    veganjeanie Posts: 158 Member
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    It also depends on your frame and metabolism. I'd gain weight eating more than 1200 calories. I'm 5'4" with a small frame, and I'm 51 years old. I'd LOVE to eat more, believe me, but I'm maintaining 125lb at 1000-1200/day. I get plenty of exercise, and eat all my calories. You may think 125 is small, but not on my frame, I still have handfuls of bit of belly fat that I'd like to lose.
    and thats a bit different - your bmr is/should be about 1167 due to age and height, etc.
    there are lots of people here who are undereating simply because they want to lose faster. thats not healthy. a lot of people lower their BMR more than necessary by doing that.
    side note: you might want to focus more on strength training to work on the belly fat youd like to get rid of. it works wonders!

    I only chimed in because people like to tell me that I shouldn't go under 1200, but that's just not true for me.

    Thanks for the advise about strength training. I do lift lift some weights and tone, but I admittedly don't to nearly enough in the abs. If it doesn't help my belly fat, it may at least make it look better. :)
  • veganjeanie
    veganjeanie Posts: 158 Member
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    It also depends on your frame and metabolism. I'd gain weight eating more than 1200 calories. I'm 5'4" with a small frame, and I'm 51 years old. I'd LOVE to eat more, believe me, but I'm maintaining 125lb at 1000-1200/day. I get plenty of exercise, and eat all my calories. You may think 125 is small, but not on my frame, I still have handfuls of bit of belly fat that I'd like to lose.

    If you have handfulls of belly fat, that means what you are losing is lean muscle mass, not fat. This is a perfect example of what undereating does.

    No, really, I'm just middle-aged and small. Smaller (and older) people really do need fewer calories.
  • sparkly96
    sparkly96 Posts: 120
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm sticking my 2 cents in because im on a 1200 calorie diet and im fine. No not everyone is in the same boat as i am but there are too many threads on these boards questioning what others do or what they eat, how much they eat or dont and whether its healthy or not, hence my diary is private.
    My point is no matter how many times someone posts their opinion on what they consider healthy dieting or not, people are going to do what they feel is best for themselves anyway.
    To each his own ya know.
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm sticking my 2 cents in because im on a 1200 calorie diet and im fine. No not everyone is in the same boat as i am but there are too many threads on these boards questioning what others do or what they eat, how much they eat or dont and whether its healthy or not, hence my diary is private.
    My point is no matter how many times someone posts their opinion on what they consider healthy dieting or not, people are going to do what they feel is best for themselves anyway.
    To each his own ya know.

    Agreed, I think the reason people speak up is when someone posts a random unverified website and states that it's concrete proof that starvation mode is fake and eating a very low cal diet is healthy. The fear is that others will trust that website without fully knowing who published it and if it's even healthy.
  • science_man_88
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm sticking my 2 cents in because im on a 1200 calorie diet and im fine. No not everyone is in the same boat as i am but there are too many threads on these boards questioning what others do or what they eat, how much they eat or dont and whether its healthy or not, hence my diary is private.
    My point is no matter how many times someone posts their opinion on what they consider healthy dieting or not, people are going to do what they feel is best for themselves anyway.
    To each his own ya know.

    Agreed, I think the reason people speak up is when someone posts a random unverified website and states that it's concrete proof that starvation mode is fake and eating a very low cal diet is healthy. The fear is that others will trust that website without fully knowing who published it and if it's even healthy.

    if that's me I'm not saying it's healthy just posting from my own experience.
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm sticking my 2 cents in because im on a 1200 calorie diet and im fine. No not everyone is in the same boat as i am but there are too many threads on these boards questioning what others do or what they eat, how much they eat or dont and whether its healthy or not, hence my diary is private.
    My point is no matter how many times someone posts their opinion on what they consider healthy dieting or not, people are going to do what they feel is best for themselves anyway.
    To each his own ya know.

    Agreed, I think the reason people speak up is when someone posts a random unverified website and states that it's concrete proof that starvation mode is fake and eating a very low cal diet is healthy. The fear is that others will trust that website without fully knowing who published it and if it's even healthy.

    if that's me I'm not saying it's healthy just posting from my own experience.

    No no ;) it was the OP's website at the very beginning :)
  • sparkly96
    sparkly96 Posts: 120
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    I hear ya, like you said live and let live.
  • bebreli
    bebreli Posts: 229 Member
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    Bump
  • watboy
    watboy Posts: 380 Member
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    Brilliant!
    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm sticking my 2 cents in because im on a 1200 calorie diet and im fine. No not everyone is in the same boat as i am but there are too many threads on these boards questioning what others do or what they eat, how much they eat or dont and whether its healthy or not, hence my diary is private.
    My point is no matter how many times someone posts their opinion on what they consider healthy dieting or not, people are going to do what they feel is best for themselves anyway.
    To each his own ya know.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm 4ft 11.5 - I'm losing on 1750 a day.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
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    For my height, weight and age im given 1200 a day. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my SW was 158. I used to do weight watchers which works on a point system similiar to calorie counting and was given the same amount of calories to eat per day and i successfully lost weight and was healthy. Unfortunately i gained it back though. When i started dieting I checked with my doc who said 1200 for me was ok to eat in order to lose weight. I am not "starving" myself and im not hungry. I make sure i eat healthy and get all my vitamins and nutrients in and balance everything out. I exercise on occasion and when i do i dont eat those calories added back. In the past and now i consistently lose 2 lbs a week. This is how i lose weight and it works for me. Once i get to my goal weight, then i will change my caloric intake to maintain the weight. Not everyone is the same and sometimes a 1200 calorie diet is ok.

    yes - sometimes its ok.. if youre short. most people in this thread arent in the same boat as you.

    I'm 4ft 11.5 - I'm losing on 1750 a day.
    yea thats why i said sometimes :) just depends on metabolism and such - there are a lot of factors that go into it, glad to see you dont have to feel deprived though! (at least im assuming you dont feel deprived >.> lol)
  • watboy
    watboy Posts: 380 Member
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    Good post and good job on the 5 lbs keep it up.
    It also depends on your frame and metabolism. I'd gain weight eating more than 1200 calories. I'm 5'4" with a small frame, and I'm 51 years old. I'd LOVE to eat more, believe me, but I'm maintaining 125lb at 1000-1200/day. I get plenty of exercise, and eat all my calories. You may think 125 is small, but not on my frame, I still have handfuls of bit of belly fat that I'd like to lose.
    and thats a bit different - your bmr is/should be about 1167 due to age and height, etc.
    there are lots of people here who are undereating simply because they want to lose faster. thats not healthy. a lot of people lower their BMR more than necessary by doing that.
    side note: you might want to focus more on strength training to work on the belly fat youd like to get rid of. it works wonders!

    I only chimed in because people like to tell me that I shouldn't go under 1200, but that's just not true for me.

    Thanks for the advise about strength training. I do lift lift some weights and tone, but I admittedly don't to nearly enough in the abs. If it doesn't help my belly fat, it may at least make it look better. :)
  • angielautenbach
    angielautenbach Posts: 119 Member
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    After you have a baby your body is built/ment to loose weight. I only gained 29lbs with my son and after I had him I lost 60lbs in like 6 months. Mind you I only breastfed for 8 wks. ( I was not excersizing or eating right)

    My pre-pregnancy weight was 193lbs Nov 08
    week before he was born it was 222lbs July 09
    When I finally stoped losing weight 165lbs Jan 10

    For some reason I allowed myself to get to 201 Dec 11
    Now I am 194 Only 7lbs in 3.5 months ( I am excersizing 6x a week and eating right)

    A healthy weight loss without any huge life changes is slow and steady. Dont think it has anything to do with your calorie intake. Eat when your hungry of course but I think the reason you lost so much so fast before was becuase you just has baby.
  • ChrisGoldn
    ChrisGoldn Posts: 473 Member
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    bump to show my friend this later
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    It also depends on your frame and metabolism. I'd gain weight eating more than 1200 calories. I'm 5'4" with a small frame, and I'm 51 years old. I'd LOVE to eat more, believe me, but I'm maintaining 125lb at 1000-1200/day. I get plenty of exercise, and eat all my calories. You may think 125 is small, but not on my frame, I still have handfuls of bit of belly fat that I'd like to lose.

    If you have handfulls of belly fat, that means what you are losing is lean muscle mass, not fat. This is a perfect example of what undereating does.

    Yes!

    And if one is getting plenty of exercise and eating 1000-1200 calories/day, then they're not eating all their calories.

    Just want to add that it is possible to repair your metabolism so you can eat more and still lose and then be able to eat more while maintaining. I'm 54 and I'm slowly eating more calories to repair my metabolism, still losing. Age does tend to slow your metabolism but that doesn't mean you have to let it or that you have to help it along by eating very low calorie. Lift heavy and do HIIT.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    It also depends on your frame and metabolism. I'd gain weight eating more than 1200 calories. I'm 5'4" with a small frame, and I'm 51 years old. I'd LOVE to eat more, believe me, but I'm maintaining 125lb at 1000-1200/day. I get plenty of exercise, and eat all my calories. You may think 125 is small, but not on my frame, I still have handfuls of bit of belly fat that I'd like to lose.

    If you have handfulls of belly fat, that means what you are losing is lean muscle mass, not fat. This is a perfect example of what undereating does.

    Yes!

    And if one is getting plenty of exercise and eating 1000-1200 calories/day, then they're not eating all their calories.

    Just want to add that it is possible to repair your metabolism so you can eat more and still lose and then be able to eat more while maintaining. I'm 54 and I'm slowly eating more calories to repair my metabolism, still losing. Age does tend to slow your metabolism but that doesn't mean you have to let it or that you have to help it along by eating very low calorie. Lift heavy and do HIIT.

    That was me a few years ago, too. I was mid-thirties, and got to 130 pounds eating less than 1000 calories a day, but I was still mushy. I mistakenly believed that I would have to cut calories further to lose the flab. I wish I knew then what I know now, since I'm a few months shy of 40 and eating around 2000 calories a day while "maintaining," and STILL losing so I have to up my calories even more!
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
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    bump
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
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    Bump