starvation mode??

Twinmom413

Could someone please explain...
This was on my home page today...

"Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

What exactly is starvation mode? I've had this come up a few times, and I normally eat my suggested calories for the day, but occasionally, like today, I just wasn't hungry. (That doesn't happen often.) So, I didn't eat as much.

Why does it make weight loss more difficult? What happens physiologically? If it doesn't happen everyday, do I need to be concerned if it happens occasionally? I don't want to throw my body out of whack and want to be healthy.
Thanks for any input on this!!

Twinmom413

Could someone please explain...
This was on my home page today...

"Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

What exactly is starvation mode? I've had this come up a few times, and I normally eat my suggested calories for the day, but occasionally, like today, I just wasn't hungry. (That doesn't happen often.) So, I didn't eat as much.

Why does it make weight loss more difficult? What happens physiologically? If it doesn't happen everyday, do I need to be concerned if it happens occasionally? I don't want to throw my body out of whack and want to be healthy.
Thanks for any input on this!!

melathon

I'm not trained in this or anything, but I've read a lot about it. What happens in "starvation mode" is:
Your body senses that it's not getting enough calories. As a defense mechanism, it slows your metabolism down to conserve energy because your body literally thinks it's starving. This is another example of how the human body is engineered to survive - it's quite beautiful, actually (my humble opinion), but the actual result is you've slowed everything down and your body stores fat like mad to keep you alive during the perceived "famine." Not the desired result when you're trying to lose weight!
Unfortunately, when you go back to eating a normal calorie amount, since you're in "starvation mode" your body just packs those suckers away to save in case it happens again.
That's why your best bet is to eat what MFP tells you, even if you're not hungry.
(And I have to admit, I SO envy you and others who say they're not hungry enough to eat all their calories. I mean, how does that happen?? I wish I felt the same way. Not so! I just watched a stupid show about "battle of the wedding cakes" or something like that and I'm thinking, "mmm, cake...".)

justmejen

Hi Twinmom
Jen here. You should read my profile and that may help you understand it a little.

Starvation mode occurs when your body is deprived calories you take in on a regular basis. It normally happens when you suddenly stop eating. Naturally, your body will cosume the fat it has on hand for energy until the "crisis" is over.
Unfortunately the body reacts when you do start to eat again, by hording any calories it can and stores it as fat to be consumed if the "crisis" re occurs. So, you gain weight.
The best thing to do is eat even if you aren't hungry but in smaller portions so your body still has calories to consume from intake instead of what you have currently stored in your body. Fruits, veggies and fibre are good or you could have a protein shake which has alot of nutrition in it. You should never not eat for a whole day because your body will panic and wonder what the heck is happening.
Hope this helps!
J

ConnieLynn

Hi Twinmom,

My body went into starvation mode when I was first trying to figure out how many calories to eat when starting this site.

It crept up on me over a week or so. I didn't realize what was happening, I was ignoring the hunger pains or wasn't hungry and all of a sudden I was losing focus and concentration. I was also to weak to exercise.

You should always eat the minimum calories required for your BMR. Mine is 1448 for my age, weight and height. You can figure your BMR on the tools page.

I was only eating 1200 when this happened. It took me a while to figure out how much to eat and still lose weight. I adjusted my goals under the custom section on this site to better reflect the minimum I should be eating.


Hope this helps,

Connie Lynn

c-grandma

They say starvation mode makes it harder to lose weight, but I rarely, if ever, reach 1200 calories and I'm losing, slowly, but still losing. 1200 calories is alot for me. I eat mostly fruits and vegtables, some chicken and tuna. No sugar, no flour. You just have to find your "key' to losing slowly. I just increase exercises and am addicted now to this food journal. This web site helps alot, I think. Good luck! Chris.

Nich0le

IN starvation mode your body protects your vital organs by storing fat for heat and feeding off the muscle you have for meat. You have to eat to loose weight, there is no way around it, eatting too few calories for an extended amount of time may make the scale move down a bit but eventually your body is going to get ticked off and lower your metabolism and find its own food

The average person needs 800 calories a day just to keep breathing and continue brain and organ functions, this would be if you did nothing but sit in bed and be alive. If you are getting out of bed and just doing your normal stuff 1200 calories or so is average and if you exercise or chase kids around or anything else you need additional calories.

Going to extremes only continues the roller coaster of ups and downs and regaining and adding weight that most people dieting tend to do. Eat right, exercise and from what I learned by posting to everyone about what was working and not, the majority of the people that are actually losing weight eat all their calories, including the ones earned from exercise and they have all been working out at least 5 days a week.

Now go eat something! :happy:

Twinmom413

Thanks to everyone who replied. I completely understand now, and it makes sense. That's why those people who eat as little as possible to "diet" end up gaining it all back and then some. I will add some extra healthy food items to those days where I'm hitting a little under the mark on my calories.
THANKS AGAIN!!

Nich0le

welcome....it's not easy when you start to pay attention to what you are eatting you feel like you are eattin g so much, and you maybe, it's just lower calorie healthier food!

CHARVY

if you dont keep a regular pattern of eating then you body thinks that the next day its not gonna get nutriton till a certain time or maybe not at all so it stores the fat cause you body thinks you starving then it goes after your muscle because its more lean thats what makes you get biiger even though you might be getting lighter... even if your not hungry have a smoothie or something just make sure you eat around the same time every day.

mjj79

I've asked this on other strands but haven't gotten an answer. What about people with bariatric surgery? They eat SIGNIFICANTLY smaller amounts of food, but still lose weight. If I'm not mistaken, the surgeries do not alter their metabolism. So, how do they NOT go into starvation mode. (Side note, how does this fit in with slimfast? There's now way people doing that can hit 1200 calories a day, right?

INQUIRING MINDS want to know

catlover

I had never noticed the spot to hit the button when you're done for the day. I also got the notice that I need to increase my calories, I was about 24 calories short of my suggested limit. Then it added that at my current rate, I would lose 12 pounds in 5 weeks, Hmmm, well, that sounds good to me. Today, I woke up to a refreshed page which does not have anything entered for food or exercise yet and it said to increase calories but said at the current rate I would lose 18 pounds in 5 weeks. Everything I've read says if you use more calories than you take in, you'll lose weight, and you should reduce what you eat by 500 calories a day to lose one pound a week. It would be interesting to log for a week what I used to eat, because I'm sure I'm decreasing by half. I've heard of "starvation mode" and it seems to assume that you are eating and it does not apply to people who don't eat. So people with anorexia, bypass surgery, fasts, detox programs, etc are going to lose weight. That's really all I know about this topic. I'm a recovering drug addict and I think this is harder than kicking that habit. I find it much harder to try to control rather than quit. I often say, if I could just quit eating I'd be able to do this. In a way, that's true, but I can't go without eating without causing long term damage. So, what's a girl to do...

nmweasel

Bariatric Post-Ops need to work their caloric intake up to 1200 calories per day. Their protein should be minimum 80g/woman and 100g/man.
Sugar is supposed to be limited to 5 g per meal to avoid dumbing.
Fat is limited too.
Vitamins are supposed to be specifically for Baritrics and protein must be of the highest quality such as found at www.bariatriceating.com . This website is the most comprehensive site for post-ops and was started by a post-op and staffed by medical professionals who specialize in bariatric nutrition.
Thank you for the post.

DjBliss05

I've asked this on other strands but haven't gotten an answer. What about people with bariatric surgery? They eat SIGNIFICANTLY smaller amounts of food, but still lose weight. If I'm not mistaken, the surgeries do not alter their metabolism. So, how do they NOT go into starvation mode. (Side note, how does this fit in with slimfast? There's now way people doing that can hit 1200 calories a day, right?

INQUIRING MINDS want to know

My answer is just from observing people who have gone through it, but I think they are eatting sooo little at first that their body doesn't have a choice but to give up some of the weight.

I think eventually, they can get their calories up to the 1200 level, but definitely not at first. Protein is high, so that helps. After a few years, I have watched one of my family members begin to gain back some of the weight. It seems like her metabolism just isn't running well anymore and she never really learned how to change her lifestyle without the surgery forcing her hand. She is definitely doing much better, but with such a weak metabolism she is gaining a little. I am trying to share my MFP knowledge with her!

mjfer123

starvation mode means you are simply eating too little for your body to function properly and could make you very sick and also make you stop losing weight.

Dont do it.:flowerforyou:

A former member, banks, has/had some very good posts that I read every so often and I believe most people here should review.