starvation mode myth

magelan

The Starvation Myth
The idea that "not eating enough" causes the body to stop losing weight because it goes into "starvation mode" is a popular myth among dieters.
Article By: The Weight Watchers Research Department

magelan

I'm sure I'll get a lot of " flak" from this one.....but....it is just a line we use to rationalize eating more....if it were true , the opposite should hold true. if we eat too much are body would go into " dump the fat mode ".... seems my body skipped the memo on that one !

DeborahStanley

Myth or not - my weight was stuck at exactly the same weight for three weeks whilst I was eating 1200 cals a day and working out, just increased calories to 1400 & lost a couple of pounds, no cheating or fiddling the figures I followed the same plan and had upto 200 cals extra a day.

No idea why it worked but it has

mamitosami

Why don't you at least post the actual article?

akiramezu

It's not about a starvation mode that your body goes through.
It's more your body being able to be more efficient at storing fat for energy with what little food that it gets
Our bodies are so well at adapting to the point that it's almost stupid
Is starvation mode a myth? in the general sense, yes.
But it is more a poorly worded phrase or whatever you call it then anything else.
Perhaps we should call it a "highly efficient fat storing mode"

Wilson336

The Starvation Myth
The idea that "not eating enough" causes the body to stop losing weight because it goes into "starvation mode" is a popular myth among dieters.
Article By: The Weight Watchers Research Department

You won't stop losing weight in starvation mode, but what you are completely missing the point on is what starvation mode means. It means your body begins breaking down more muscle instead of primarily fat, in order to try to give you the caloric energy you usually metabolize through eating food. Your body can only break down a certain amount of fat in one day. If that is not enough to keep up the calories needed, it also begins to break down muscle to make up the caloric difference.As you begin to "eat your own muscles" you still lose weight, simply because you are losing muscle mass. So yeah, starvation mode is great if you want to have no muscle tone, no strength, no energy, and still look flabby when you are underweight.

buzzcogs

Here is the link:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

Weight loss is not linear. Sometimes it takes weeks for results to show up.

sprhmnnumn

Society world has people brainwashed that if they eat less and workout more they will lose weight.

Shayztar

Jokes! I upped mine and started to lose again too. 1200 is too little, body is not getting fuel, so it stalls.

Weight Watchers makes money off keeping people fat. Lose 1 lbs eating our crap food? Sweet! Gain 2 lbs? Your fault. Eat more of our food and come to more of our meetings. BTW, your fees are due. Pay me.

lilojoke

I think all this crap talk about starvation mode just sucks! http://tinyurl.com/3hdaywv

When are we going to learn to listen to our bodies vs listening to a forum or even a professional?

seansquared

The Starvation Myth
The idea that "not eating enough" causes the body to stop losing weight because it goes into "starvation mode" is a popular myth among dieters.
Article By: The Weight Watchers Research Department

If you're going to post stupid ****, at least post pictures of kittens or something.

Toddrific

I heard on NPR the other day that severe calorie restriction actually does permanently affect your metabolism.
It was a while back, so i can't provide a link.

The basic idea was, you had people that lost a large sum of weight quickly, a large sum slowly, and people that had been that weight normally. Those people that had lost a large sum quickly had to take in much less calories than the others to maintain the same weight.

Elizabeth_C34

I heard on NPR the other day that severe calorie restriction actually does permanently affect your metabolism.
It was a while back, so i can't provide a link.

The basic idea was, you had people that lost a large sum of weight quickly, a large sum slowly, and people that had been that weight normally. Those people that had lost a large sum quickly had to take in much less calories than the others to maintain the same weight.

This is because people who drop tons of weight quickly often lose their muscle mass thereby significantly reducing their BMR. It also makes them far more prone to gaining the weight back because it's so much harder to restrict when their metabolic rate is so low.

CyberEd312

It's not about a starvation mode that your body goes through.
It's more your body being able to be more efficient at storing fat for energy with what little food that it gets
Our bodies are so well at adapting to the point that it's almost stupid
Is starvation mode a myth? in the general sense, yes.
But it is more a poorly worded phrase or whatever you call it then anything else.
Perhaps we should call it a "highly efficient fat storing mode"

Could not have said it better myself... Society puts to much on the wording over the actual results..... but if some wants to believe that eating less and exercising more will get them to their goal then goodluck with that... But I will continuing to take my 500 calorie deficit to lose a pound a week off my BMR and continue to eat 800-1000 calories over that same BMR (2160) and yes that is eating back my exercise calories and I will continue to add to my weight loss ticker below.... Good Luck......

WorkoutMaine

I have said it many times. We need to listen to our bodies, doctors, dentist, and our nutritionist. What we see in Forums especially involving 1200 calories and starvation mode should be discussed with these people only and any opinions on the forums should be ignored because it is only going to confuse and maybe even tick you off.

Helloitsdan

Myth or not - my weight was stuck at exactly the same weight for three weeks whilst I was eating 1200 cals a day and working out, just increased calories to 1400 & lost a couple of pounds, no cheating or fiddling the figures I followed the same plan and had upto 200 cals extra a day.

No idea why it worked but it has

Leptin

magelan

My point was !!!! don't use the "starvation mode theory" to up your calories.....stick to HEALTHY lifestyle plan and over time the weight will come off...don't tell me that you ate 300 calories more of potato chips and it fooled your body into losing weight. it's not rocket science....weight =calories consumed - calories expended over LONG TERM.....and getting the most out of the plan requires insuring you body gets the minimum requirements ....

magelan

you up it to 1400 calories which is still very low for an active person

magelan

one myth seems to be true !!!!! too little calories makes people cranky

LorinaLynn

I hate the phrase starvation mode. I prefer to call it "sure, you'll still lose pounds, but a disproportionate amount will be from muscle mass so you'll look a lot worse when you get to your goal weight than you would have if you ate a little bit more and weren't so focused on the damn scale, not to mention that you're training your body to survive on a small amount of food, so you're going to be stuck 'dieting' just to maintain a healthy weight" mode.

But it's a bit wordy.

AllTehBeers

The Starvation Myth
The idea that "not eating enough" causes the body to stop losing weight because it goes into "starvation mode" is a popular myth among dieters.
Article By: The Weight Watchers Research Department

If you're going to post stupid ****, at least post pictures of kittens or something.

Lmao! I concur.