Starvation mode is a myth, so why do we keep saying it exist

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  • ihateroses
    ihateroses Posts: 893 Member
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    But I don't have an eating disorder and am completely against this!

    Don't know where you got that idea. I'm just saying what worked for me. I am quite tiny 5'' and MFP 1200 cals a day might not fit the bill for every type of person out there. I think you agree?!

    I am 5 ft....check my diary.

    Hate it when that one gets thrown around.

    Its true "starvation mode" gets thrown around like crazy but I can't even tell yo how unhelpful it is to imply you can eat however many calories you want (as low as you want) and be healthy for people that ARE recovering or looking for excuses to keep damaging their body.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    I will bet my 34 months and 305 lbs. lost that eating at a high caloric deficit will in fact through your body into a state of so called "starvation mode" ( and who gives a crap if the term isn't exactly right for the situation) everyone that uses this term knows what they are relating it to. It is the fact that starving your body of calories will eventually slow your metabolism to the point that your body is in a war with itself and halts all weight loss and even at times causes weight gain. And there is no truth what so ever to this only happening to men and women under a certain percentage of body fat... Heck it happen to me several times on my journey at different point that my body fat was well over any thing closely resembling 5% body fat... lol At one time I ate over 7000 calories a day, sometimes closer to 10,000.... You couldn't find a scale big enough to weigh me back then (560 lbs.) unless you had access to a freight scale... But through trial and error, I found that there is full truth to the fact you have to maintain a healthy caloric intake to sustain permanent weight loss.. I eat more now (healthy calories not empty calories) than a did a 560 lbs. and am still losing on average a pound a week.. I constantly eat over my BMR (2300 with a 500 calorie deficit built in to lose a pound a week) currently eating around 3200 calories a day (yes I am one of those crazies who eat back almost all of my exercise calories...) so whether we are using the politically correct terminology for the situation or not (frankly I could care less cause I will continue to call it starvation mode for lack of a better term) it is real....... <stepping of my soap box>
  • Christina1007
    Christina1007 Posts: 179 Member
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    But I don't have an eating disorder and am completely against this!

    Don't know where you got that idea. I'm just saying what worked for me. I am quite tiny 5'' and MFP 1200 cals a day might not fit the bill for every type of person out there. I think you agree?!

    I am 5 ft....check my diary.

    Hate it when that one gets thrown around.

    Your daily calories might not be the same as mine, they are different for every person, you might be more active or more sedentary than others so your calories intake will not be the same even though we have the same heigh.

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
  • Aineko
    Aineko Posts: 163
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    The OP isn't advocating starving. She's saying it's okay to eat less than your BMR for a little while. She specifically said that women shouldn't have less than 10% body fat.
    where did she mentione "a little while", I must have missed that :)?
    she only quoted an article quoting a study which is not exactly applicable to a general population and concluded that SM doesn't exaist without any explanation what she means by SM (because obviously ppl here mean very different things when they use that term).
  • LondonEliza
    LondonEliza Posts: 456 Member
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    Stop being dramatic. Some people have a BMR less than 1200 calories. It's okay for some people to eat less than 1200 calories. The OP isn't advocating starving. She's saying it's okay to eat less than your BMR for a little while. She specifically said that women shouldn't have less than 10% body fat.

    I am so sorry that you find my life dramatic. I will stop it immediately.... not. (What a dumbass stupid thing to say to someone)

    .... and if you read the thread you will see that the other "genius" posting here is advocating 700-800 cals per day.

    Look, it is your life, your looks, your future that eating like this will negatively affect. If there are people here that don't want to know the consequences, go forth and be happy in your ignorance. I've been through it and am out the other side. It takes years. If you want to do that to yourself, can't say others didn't try to warn you.

    Of course it is very interesting that they are posting it on the internet (where none of the looneys live) and not discussing their lifestyle choices with a medical professional.

    Bye.
  • 1979rrh
    1979rrh Posts: 83 Member
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    all i know is when I dropped below a net of 1200 calories.... I stopped losing weight. I went weeks without losing anything because there was one to two days in the week where my calories were 1000 or less. I was eating low calorie foods, not hungry and thinking this was a good thing.

    Then I did some reading, decided I should see if eating more would help..... dropped weight every week after my first week of getting between 1200-1400 net calories every day.

    I have no clue if it's a myth or not.... but eating more helped me lose weight and I'm not as grouchy. Win Win all around.

    Same here... I have upped to 1400 and eating 75% or so of my ecersice calories (hard to eat all of the 800-1000 cal more every other day) It works, and I also eat more often, 5-6 times a day all meals are around 230 - 280 cal. I sometimes feellike I am eating all day :smile:
  • nwg74
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
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    Starvation mode is real but it gets mis-used all the time. To be in starvation mode, someone has to be literally starving themselves for a long time like not eating anything for many many days . Eating less calories than recommended for a few days won't put a body in a starvation mode. Someone people seem to think do it for 24 hours for it to happen. if someone is 10-15% body fat percentage then they should not really be losing weight anyway.
  • kpnuts23
    kpnuts23 Posts: 960 Member
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    Bump.. Just curious.
  • KarinFit4Life
    KarinFit4Life Posts: 424 Member
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    ElizaF1 - just want to say: Girl..WOW...you gave me goosebumps and you sure as hell are a major inspiration. I truely think you are amazing for what you've overcome. :flowerforyou:
    May you keep being this strong for the rest of your HEALTHY life. :smile: You rock.

    Christina & OP .... :indifferent: I feel sorry for you both...you are obviously going to live a very hungry life and once you hit your late thirties and forties you might remember this post and be very very sorry for not listening, learning and eating well.
    Good luck to you.
  • XOchocolate
    XOchocolate Posts: 95 Member
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    @Pu_239 yes i am doing a lot better...i am actually eating about 1700 cals a day now haha and i feel much more energetic than ever! of course i have my days where i feel obese but its so much better than those horrid restrictive days where i was utterly miserable. lol when i say `obese` i mean that lightly...i know i am not obese but its hard to totally get rid of those thoughts, you know?


    Good for you getting you health back in order! So proud of you!
    You should share you story over and over on the message board. I do hope you get you message across to everyone who needs to hear it. Take care!!!!
  • XOchocolate
    XOchocolate Posts: 95 Member
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    ElizaF1 - just want to say: Girl..WOW...you gave me goosebumps and you sure as hell are a major inspiration. I truely think you are amazing for what you've overcome. :flowerforyou:
    May you keep being this strong for the rest of your HEALTHY life. :smile: You rock.

    Christina & OP .... :indifferent: I feel sorry for you both...you are obviously going to live a very hungry life and once you hit your late thirties and forties you might remember this post and be very very sorry for not listening, learning and eating well.
    Good luck to you.

    Agree!!! It's like telling young people about how smoking and tanning can affect them in the future and they think that won't happen to me. Go vist one of you older relatives who smokes and been baking in the sun all her or his life. Even if they don't suffer health wise at the moment I bet they are not as pretty as they could of been.
  • soulynyc
    soulynyc Posts: 302 Member
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    i had a friend years ago she ate 1 slice of bread a day with butter for a few months and she lost weight. not the best way to do it. and it was only few months not years
  • dotido
    dotido Posts: 49
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    The fist time I heard about starvation mode was from th internet, it was also the first time I heard about santa not being real.

    If you want a real answer talk to someone who is a professional about it. Most of the arguements I see on the internet are from people who just read a few strangers blogs and said 'OH STARVATION MODE IS BAD BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET SAID SO'

    I was 165 pounds, 18 years old and 4'11.

    Went to a dietician who put me on a 900 calorie a day diet with 30-45 minutes of walking.

    The result :

    22 years old

    118 pounds

    still 4'11...
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
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    The fist time I heard about starvation mode was from th internet, it was also the first time I heard about santa not being real.

    If you want a real answer talk to someone who is a professional about it. Most of the arguements I see on the internet are from people who just read a few strangers blogs and said 'OH STARVATION MODE IS BAD BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET SAID SO'

    I was 165 pounds, 18 years old and 4'11.

    Went to a dietician who put me on a 900 calorie a day diet with 30-45 minutes of walking.

    The result :

    22 years old

    118 pounds

    still 4'11...

    And the keys to this story are that :

    1.) the diet was medically supervised
    2) you were substantially overweight for your height

    This is in no way the same as the people who would tell you that 114 lbs you should eat the same number of calories, workout with heavy weights and do intervals and you will be just fine.

    The "starvation mode" idea is a misunderstood one that gets thrown around. It, of course, does not lurk like the boogeyman at the magic 1200 calories for every single person in every single circumstance. Hormonal changes that affect metabolism do, however, happen under a variety of circumstances, and long term extremely low calorie diets are dangerous. The reason even short term VLCDs need to be medically supervised is that you can quickly develop dangerous deficiencies when you consistently eat no food. People who scream "starvation mode" to the rafters are misinformed and tend to zealotry, but, in the end, they are probably safer than those who use the statement that "starvation mode is a myth" to justify dangerous and unhealthy behavior.

    For the record, I didn't read that in a blog. I'm not a human physician and can only claim to have done lots of reading on human diet and nutrition. I have, however, done graduate research in comparative nutrition and I posses a veterinary degree with significant experience in animal nutrition, so I am capable of understanding the scientific studies I read.
  • watboy
    watboy Posts: 380 Member
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    I'm with you 100%. I keep mentioning how some countries' diet is primarily rice ,fish and veggies and are very active don't go into this "starvation mode" and they are healthier for it. SO how can millions of people not be on "starvation mode"? Short answer it's a myth. Now yes people can have some metabolic slow downs but this happens naturally when you lose weight. Honestly a study where people are already lean and are calorie restricted proves nothing to a lot of us.
    Seriously, stop it.

    Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

    A link with cited sources:

    http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

    Via Wiki:

    Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

    (emphasis mine).

    You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.
  • mathteacher2010
    mathteacher2010 Posts: 85 Member
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    I am eating 1100 calories with a periodic day of 1300 or so, but I am also 4'11". I can't really believe that 1100 is too low for me.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. Plain and simple. Eating when you are not hungry is a big no no, so if I'm below whatever calorie goal I may be pursuing... I don't really give a flying f**k.
    Hunger is a hormonal response that can be trained. If you consistently under eat, you will train your body to not be hungry.

    I'm pretty sure you made this up.
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I am eating 1100 calories with a periodic day of 1300 or so, but I am also 4'11". I can't really believe that 1100 is too low for me.

    I'm 4'11" and I sometimes struggle to get to 1200 too. So far this week, I have only been able to do it ONE day. It was 10pm last night and I was rummaging through my kitchen thinking of what I could eat to bring me to at least 1200. But I was not hungry and was actually still really full from the dinner I pretty much MADE myself eat because I had no appetite last night.

    My plan for the rest of the week is too eat more calories for breakfast, lunch, and snacks so that I won't have to stuff myself at night just to get to my calorie goal.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    I am eating 1100 calories with a periodic day of 1300 or so, but I am also 4'11". I can't really believe that 1100 is too low for me.

    I'm also under 5ft and losing on 1600. Your height doesn't stop you working out your real TDEE and losing weight with a sensible deficit.

    I'm sure some people don't think they are doing this right unless they are feeling deprived.
  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
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    I have seen a lot of studies saying it is a myth also. Some people fast two times a week for weight loss with no reverse effects. I am not saying anyone should fast but I think at my weight with all my stores fat, if I am 100-200 calories under I am not going to go into starvation mode. There are no fat starving people out there. Watching the show "Survivor" even where their calories are drastically reduced- those people lose a lot of weight! They do not hold onto their weight because of starvation mode. I am no expert. I might be wrong, but that is my gut feeling based on what i have read.

    Yes, in extreme situations, you WILL lose weight. No matter what. Everybody lost weight in the gulags because they were starved and forced to do hard physical labour.


    There is something where your body will attempt to regulate weight via hormones. Scientists are still learning all the different factors, but various hormones are detectable in the blood after a certain amount of weight loss. Unfortunately, this continues for years after losing weight, which is why so few people are able to keep weight off. Your system will continually be trying to get you to put weight back on.

    Anyway, if your system senses a sharp decline in calories, it will react in two ways: first by increasing the hunger urges so that you will eat when you get the chance, and second by slowing down the metabolism so that you will conserve what calories you do get.

    There are some fascinating studies on how the body metabolizes and reacts to calories. Studying people who have lost a lot of weight and studying the naturally thin has been enlightening.

    Here's a link to a BBC program about why some people are effortlessly skinny:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-A0iHSdcA

    And, here's a discussion of why keeping weight off is so hard, due to the body's sustained attempts to fatten you back up:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

    And, this is a rather startling discussion of why exercise doesn't really cause weight loss (I just happened to think of this while posting... it touches on the body's reaction to strenuous activity, which can be to compensate by being more sedentary after exercise):

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/19/exercise-dieting-public-health

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