Obsession with starvation mode...

barney50501Missy

Well, I've also lost almost 20 lbs and that's at 1200 calories a day and I don't eat back my exercise calories. I think that is kind of the point here. 1600 eating back calories, 1200 not eating back calories...and we've both lost about the same amount. It works for me, maybe not for you. It's amazing how huffy this conversation is getting. I say do what works for you.

christenwypy

I'm actually pretty sick of reading about starvation mode. Sure, it was interesting at first but I think everyone has heard over and over again both sides of the debate.

Could it be that we are all individuals with different needs?

How about this- if you are feeling very hungry, lightheaded, or weak you need to eat more. If you are full then you have no need to eat. Could it be that simple?

There are SO many factors that come into play. What kind of workout you did, how much strain is on your body, what functions are going on at any given time (especially for women), and how fast your metabolism is personally. We all know people who never gain weight and eat constantly and others (many of us) just stray from our diet for a day and put on pounds. We are all different.

A few weeks ago I was a hundred or two under my calories goal almost every day. I had no desire to eat back my exercise calories. Then I upped my workout from 30 to 60 minutes adding in strength training and running (or trying to- which I never did before). I stayed eating the same and then by the end of the week I felt awful, not healthy at all. I also for some inexplicable reason gained weight. I upped my calories by 100 and have been eating my exercise calories back. Why? Because I am hungry. I am eating healthy (for the most part- I am not perfect) but if my body is screaming to eat, I feed it. Later I will probably not feel the need once again and so things will balance out. I feel healthy now and lost what I had gained. No it does not make sense, but I'll take it.

I just do not get why people are so stuck on having to be "right" about this or any other issue. To each their own. If someone is just not eating their exercise calories but they feel okay and are eating through the day, they are not suffering from an eating disorder and are not on the verge of death. It is possible for both sides to be right, it is what is right for them.

dolldreams

Thank you for this! I quite frequently eat around my 1200 (I will admit some days I'm 100 cals or so under) and I exercise around 300 - 600 calories 6 days per week so some days I end up at around 600 NET. The amount of tsk tsk I get from friends on here and comments about not eating drives me insane!!!

Thank you for being a voice of reason.

I end up with some low nets due to exercise too and I'm happy my friends have been awesome about it so far. It just works for me this way and some day I plan to eat like a normal person where I have high days and low days and don't worry too much about it as long as I feel good and am not gaining.

christenwypy

When I think of "starvation mode" I see people of skin and bones in poverty and pain, not an overweight American who missed a few thousand calories this month.

People who actually starve to death don't have any fat on their body at the end. Just sayin'.

LOL that is what I am always thinking. If you put overweight people on an island with no food they would not go into "starvation mode" and the when you pick them up a few weeks later still be fat. They'd lose a lot of weight. I am not suggesting anyone do this. It is just a thought that occurred to me when I first was told about starvation mode and how it makes us stay fat.

naomi8888

I'm actually pretty sick of reading about starvation mode. Sure, it was interesting at first but I think everyone has heard over and over again both sides of the debate.

Could it be that we are all individuals with different needs?

How about this- if you are feeling very hungry, lightheaded, or weak you need to eat more. If you are full then you have no need to eat. Could it be that simple?

There are SO many factors that come into play. What kind of workout you did, how much strain is on your body, what functions are going on at any given time (especially for women), and how fast your metabolism is personally. We all know people who never gain weight and eat constantly and others (many of us) just stray from our diet for a day and put on pounds. We are all different.

A few weeks ago I was a hundred or two under my calories goal almost every day. I had no desire to eat back my exercise calories. Then I upped my workout from 30 to 60 minutes adding in strength training and running (or trying to- which I never did before). I stayed eating the same and then by the end of the week I felt awful, not healthy at all. I also for some inexplicable reason gained weight. I upped my calories by 100 and have been eating my exercise calories back. Why? Because I am hungry. I am eating healthy (for the most part- I am not perfect) but if my body is screaming to eat, I feed it. Later I will probably not feel the need once again and so things will balance out. I feel healthy now and lost what I had gained. No it does not make sense, but I'll take it.

I just do not get why people are so stuck on having to be "right" about this or any other issue. To each their own. If someone is just not eating their exercise calories but they feel okay and are eating through the day, they are not suffering from an eating disorder and are not on the verge of death. It is possible for both sides to be right, it is what is right for them.

Too sensible!!!

Autry403

I'm considered morbidly obese.. currently 267 pounds, my heighest was 297. I can eat at a very large calorie defecit because my body has tons of fat to fall back on.
When I get closer to my goal weight, I'm going to start slowly adding more calories to my diet, so that when I get to my goal, I can eat normal sized meals.

That's exactly what I am going to do . I'm eating like 1400 / day but when I get closer to my goal weight ... I'll start eating more calories .

Sooooo your indignation on this subject is the result of 1 day's worth of logging calories?

mmmKay.

funny how you are quick to judge missy . i have had 3 separate accounts on mfp since december of 2011 . i have been tracking my calories since then , i just made this account today actually . anyways , i didn't start actually wanting to lose weight until a month ago , now i have lost around 10lbs healthy . i've lost 30lbs before and i gained it back being to comfortable with myself around my husband eating out for every meal . i just got married so i had a little extra money to spend on going out to eat , making me gain 15lbs . therefore , i decided i wanted to lose weight last month . i have been off and on exercising for about 4 years now . this time i'm trying to stay committed no promises , only my goals . this site is to help encourage people with their goals and success to weight loss . it's not meant to come up here and be negative towards every post , which i get all the time . i'm healthy and that's all that matters to me .

barney50501Missy

Amen sister!

aegira

I spoke with my Endocrinologist and Nutritionist about this on April 6th. I meet with them every 3 months. I send in my food log to them twice a week for analysis. The simple answer they gave me is in order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. They explained to me that eating back the calories you burned off during exercise makes the burn off moot... I started just eating the calories my Nutritionist set up for me and not eating back the exercise calories and the weight began coming off after a long plateau.

Basically, I believe that everyone is different. Some of us can't get the weight off by eating back the calories we burn off, others can. Nobody loses weight in the same manner. For some of us it takes a long time while others are able to lose quickly. Learn what's best for your body and stick with it!

Cheers and much success to all!

Totally agree with you :flowerforyou:
I actually got to the stage after reading many of the For & Against posts here totally confused and actually stressed thinking I was doing something wrong. After talking to my doctor, who is very proud of my weight loss (he is such a sweetie :happy: ). He explained that I don't have to worry about starvation mode as I still have weight to lose and as long as I eat healthy foods it doesn't matter whether I hit 1200 calories or not. This doesn't mean I am going to "starve" myself by eating crackers and water, it just means that I am learning to listen to my body and if it needs a little extra fuel after a big day then I eat a few extra calories. Equally if I have a day where my boss has chained me to my desk :laugh: then I find I'm not so hungry and may not reach my total calories on that day. We are all individuals, be sensible make your own decisions after all you're a grown up :drinker:

lururu

Thank you for this! I quite frequently eat around my 1200 (I will admit some days I'm 100 cals or so under) and I exercise around 300 - 600 calories 6 days per week so some days I end up at around 600 NET. The amount of tsk tsk I get from friends on here and comments about not eating drives me insane!!!

Thank you for being a voice of reason.

I end up with some low nets due to exercise too and I'm happy my friends have been awesome about it so far. It just works for me this way and some day I plan to eat like a normal person where I have high days and low days and don't worry too much about it as long as I feel good and am not gaining.

This works for me too, it probably all depends on how fast your metabolism is to begin with right? I mean, if you are overweight then that is a big indication that your metabolism is already rather lazy. Hopefully forcing your body to make the best of what you feed it rather than giving it a huge glut of calories that it has no hope of burning off and so stores it as fat will result in a more effective metabolism at the end?
I also find it very hard to believe that my body is 'starving' when the whole idea of storing fat is to supplement your energy during 'lean' times? By eating a little less I am just forcing my body to use the stored fuel that it has, it's not in my body's best interests to use my muscles when there is stored fat readily available, if I can't mobilise due to weakened muscle then how can I find more food?
The main thing is we find a way that works for us, that we can maintain for the long term and that doesn't result in an impact on our health, for some that's eating more, for others it is eating less. But one truth will always stay the same - Eat less, move more

theartichoke

no one wants to reply? Is it because I questioned people making any excuse (even under MFP) to still eat loads?( Eat your exercise calories back.... make sure you net your BMI.... help! I don't know how to eat to my net target). OF COURSE YOU DO IF YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT! It was 't long ago since you ate to excess to gain those pounds.This is just making excuses to keep on eating more which we all know got us to where we are?!

Wow. Well, since you already know everything I guess there's nothing left to learn. Good luck and see you in the Eat More to Weigh Less group when you mysteriously stop losing weight (or more likely gain it all back) and truly do figure it out.

jayfree1799

I thought MFP was more of a guide/log to let you track exactly what you are putting into your body. I didnt know that everyone was a certified dietician or nutritionist for that matter. MFP helped me to start be accountable for what I eat at all times. I am a Active Duty Soldier and always thought i knew what was best for my body. But, over the years my weight steady kept rising and i didnt pay it not attention. The bottom line is I had to change my lifestyle and get rid of some bad habits in order to get to where i want to be. I am not either of the above that i mentioned earlier, however, i do know that MFP was the start of a new me. I do take accountability for everything that i eat now and i log it. I have been away on and off due to military requirements but now i will be back daily. Once i started seeing results, that was the motivation to keep me going for myself and others around me. I may not know alot about BMR or TDEE or whatever else for that matter. I do know what ever has been working for you i would suggest stick to it. If you plateau, reassess your exercise and go back through your logs to see what you changed. I tell people all the time there are three things you need to change in order to get back in shape: nutrition, exercise, rest. Those 3 are the foundation. If you are eating right and it would be safe to say that we all do here on MFP and you are working out more than what you were before MFP, you will be ok. The problem will come in if you see results to fast and then get away from what got you there. This is just my opinion. I have 4 coworkers that have came to me within the past month and just by helping them with their nutrition alone they are all seeing results. Thank you all for helping me in my goal to stay fit. Please keep posting ideas, recipes, etc.

pigsfly1972

I actually gain weight when I don't eat enough believe it or not. I used to skip breakfast, have coffee. Which I know alot of people aren't breakfast eaters anyhow. Than I would get busy being a mom or what have you and than eat 1 huge meal in the late afternoon or evening and then a couple hours later go to bed. I ate 1,200 calores or less in one sitting. I have noticed that alot of women don't eat a whole lot they just eat to much in one sitting,late at night and the wrong choice in food. Which caused me to be tired all the time , and not get a good night's rest. I was living on coffee pretty much. Than I asked my self I see a lot of people that seem to eat like birds small meals or snack all day long and are slim. I wonder if that has something to do with when we were infants out of the womb and ate every 2-3 hours we were hungry.

I think we came on the earth eating raw nuts, seed, plants and meat way back when so that is how we should eat. However if that is the case how did the women of the 50's stay so trim. I guess they were more active, less hormones in the food . Than all this processed stuff eek . Kind of scary.

So no I didn't over eat like I said just a little off topic so I think there is more to it than that. We are all so different I think we just need to listen to our bodies.

yarwell

MFP WILL TELL YOU YOU ARE IN STARVATION MODE. THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE YOU TRULY AREN'T GETTING ENOUGH NUTRIENTS TO FUEL YOUR BODY.

Neither MFP nor you have a clue how many nutrients any of us are getting.

I'm eating around 1,000 calories and when I spent some time adding up the micronutrient content of my diet I was over the RDAs on practically everything. Getting all the nutrients is more about what you eat than how much, 1800 calories of olive oil or starch won't do anyone any good for very long but would pass your calorie test.

Yesterday a lady eating 1900 calories shared the deficiencies that her doctor had identified through blood tests.

Lozze

I'm considered morbidly obese.. currently 267 pounds, my heighest was 297. I can eat at a very large calorie defecit because my body has tons of fat to fall back on.
When I get closer to my goal weight, I'm going to start slowly adding more calories to my diet, so that when I get to my goal, I can eat normal sized meals.

I was 301lbs. Ate 1800cals a day. Dropped weight like crazy. I've been down to 1490 (crazy ***** territpry) and now eat 1673. I'm quite happy there. I'm rarely hungry I eat a lot and get to have my treats. I've lost 77lbs in ten months. The results speak for themselves.

My view on this is if you want to starve yourself and screw up your body go ahead! You'll go through what all of us did and be overweight for many years to come. The reason people keep harping on about eating more is so that you will lose weight in a healthy sustainable manner. But hey you know best. It's your loss not mine.

yarwell

There are hundreds of studies in medical journals, however, that do support eating at least your BMR.

Cool. Can you point me at three good ones please.

fionarama

I just think there is no one right way. If I ate all of my exercise calories all of the time I don't think I'd lose weight that much. Likewise if I never ate my exercise calories I'd be bloody starving and probably, if nothing else, have a total binge as I wouldnt' be eating enough.
I've decided sometimes I'll eat them sometimes I'll eat some of them, and sometimes I won't eat them at all. That way my body is always guessing and I'm going with the flow of what my body is telling me.
Its not black and white.
Its various shades of grey.

HeidiHoMom

There are hundreds of studies in medical journals, however, that do support eating at least your BMR.

Cool. Can you point me at three good ones please.

I already listed several of them in another post.

ironanimal

Someone spectacularly missing the point again, and Yarwell once again on his crusade

yarwell

Someone spectacularly missing the point again, and Yarwell once again on his crusade

Just like all the "eat your BMR" crusaders, eh ?

yarwell

I already listed several of them in another post.

I can see the ones about reduced BMR through caloric restriction and/or weight loss, which I'm familiar with.

I was looking for something about "eating at least your BMR" ?

bangersnmash90

In response, I am saying:

Your body needs a recommended number of calories for basic metabolic functions (BMR)
Say this amount is 1300.
You eat 1300 calories of nutirent rich food
You meet your bodies daily requirement, you will not stave, your body got its quota of nutrients for the day - its quite happy!

IRRELEVANT of exercise burn you still fuelled your body with the nutrients it needed.

For energy for the exercise calories your body converts adapose cells to carbs for fuel to provide energy for your exercise. The old fashioned way of exerciing for weight loss.

I don't want to get too involved in this as what works for some may not work for others BUT I would just like to point out that your BMR is the number of calories your body needs at COMPLETE rest, it would be the amount that you would be fed via a tube if you were in a coma.

basal metabolic rate
n. Abbr. BMR
The rate at which energy is used by an organism at complete rest, measured in humans by the heat given off per unit time, and expressed as the calories released per kilogram of body weight or per square meter of body surface per hour.

How can you think that you are giving your body enough nutrients if you are only eating the amount of calories you need at complete rest, when you are clearly using a lot more calories than this (even if you weren't burning 500 calories a day). None of us are truly sedentary and hence none of us should or could realistically fuel ourselves on our BMR calories.

You'll find out soon enough anyway, when you stop losing weight and wonder why.

yarwell

None of us are truly sedentary and hence none of us should or could realistically fuel ourselves on our BMR calories

other than by topping up the calorie difference from our fat reserves, like we would have done hunting down prey having not eaten for a day in the distant past. Part or all of the BMR and activity can be fuelled from the bodies reserves, for a finite period.

tpittsley77

Bump..... really love to read these threads but gotta go to work....

ironanimal

None of us are truly sedentary and hence none of us should or could realistically fuel ourselves on our BMR calories

other than by topping up the calorie difference from our fat reserves, like we would have done hunting down prey having not eaten for a day in the distant past. Part or all of the BMR and activity can be fuelled from the bodies reserves, for a finite period.

If you're talking just energy requirements, then perhaps, but even that is doubtful as your body is likely to enter a catabolic state pretty quickly if you don't eat anything at all for a substantial period of time. No vitamins and minerals coming into your body seems pretty unhealthy to me. The whole point about eating your BMR is to ensure you have enough energy AND other nutrients to sustain your lean tissue.

If you want to roll the dice and chance the health of your organs, the density of your bones and the preservation of your muscles, go ahead. Just don't keep trying to convince everyone else it's healthy, as there's a reason such diets should only be undertaken under the care of a Doctor.

watboy

Can someone post that picture with that horse? You know the one.

terrie_exercise_mom

Kind of funny how even doctors don't know what they are talking about if they tell you that you do not need to eat your exercise calories back! People on here think they are so smart when it comes to "starvation mode". It is like a broken record!

fudgebudget

"Starvation mode" is real for anorexics and people who live in extreme poverty or famine-plagued countries. It's hyperbolic for overweight Americans.

em9371

i lost more eating 1950 total / 1650 net than i did eating 1650 total / 1200 net, also regained weight MANY times after low cal, below BMR diets.............my BMR is 1580 so netting above BMR works much better than grossing BMR for me!!!!

RyanDanielle5101

I'm set at 1450cals a day (just upped from 1200 a month ago because my body needed the fuel). I burn anywhere from 250-800 cals a day and eat back most if not all exercise cals!!!

Go figure after a week of higher cals I broke the plateau and lost 3.5lbs!!! Eat more food:)

I'm 3lbs from goal.....just sayin':flowerforyou:

FrostyFour

I have to post because my entire diet revolves around me being on starvation mode. It's what is making my diet WORK.

Pre-diet, I'd eat about 1500 calories a day. But it was ONE meal a day. I was so busy with my kids that I wasn't eating. Then at the end of the day my husband would bring home dinner and that greaseball would be enough to fulfil my calories, but my body was still STARVING.

Right now I'm actually only eating maybe 1000 calories a day. ***BUT*** I am eating it through 5-7 meals a day to let my body know that I'm NOT starving, I have food available I'm just keeping the meals small. And it's worked! Over the past 45 days I've lost 21 pounds!