SAY WHAT!? DO I NEED TO EAT MY EXERCISE CALORIES?

kdkeys14

I have been really reading the message boards today about nutrition and what to eat and not to eat. My theory is if I meet my calorie goal for the day and then burn extra working out then I will loose weight. However, I have been reading some of the comments and topics and some of you are saving exercise calories for later(don't get it) or eating them. Why are you eating them and why are you saving them? OR what is your theory because I just want to make sure I am informed and knowledgeable on the best way to reach my weight goal.

HELP PLEASE.

I am also thinking about trying to go vegetarian because I see a lot of MFP users that look amazing because they choose not to eat meat. I just want the best results and a healthier lifestyle.(AND LOOK FREAKING AMAZING)

Edestiny7

Please see my 'About Me' on my profile. It explains what has worked for me.

skybird455

look I have to say dont worry about what someone else says or does. Take it all as information and DO WHAT IS WORKING. If your losing weight and body fat, stick with what you are doing. If you plateau then make changes. I dont eat very many of my calories back from running RIGHT NOW, and stay under 1200 RIGHT NOW, but I am dropping 2 lbs a week and .5% body fat a week...when that stops I will up my calories. Also note you need to know your TDEE, check out fitness frog calculator to run your numbers.

so really, eat them back IF IT MEANS YOUR IN ENOUGH DEFICIT TO LOSE, how do you know? YOU WILL KEEP LOSING. Hope that helps

JesterMFP

Obviously, it's your body and as an adult, you can do what you want. Not everyone around here likes to eat their exercise calories back. In terms of how MFP is set up to work though, you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. Why? Because MFP calculates a calorie goal for you that already has a deficit built into it. So if you meet your calorie goal for the day and don't exercise, you will lose.

There is a certain number of calories that you should (based on weight, height, age, daily activity) eat in order to maintain weight. This is called your TDEE. Depending on how much you tell MFP you want to lose, MFP calculates a calorie goal for you that is a certain amount less than your calorie goal. So, even if you never do any planned exercise, you still eat at a deficit, and you still lose weight. The way MFP is designed, it assumes that when you do planned exercise (that is not counted in your TDEE) you will eat more calories. MFP is different from other diets in this regard.

If you then exercise and don't eat those "extra" calories back, your calorie deficit might be too large, might not be healthy for you and your body might not have enough calories to optimally perform its basic processes.

Check out some of the links in this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

Ultimately, do what you feel is best for you, but it's worth reading a bit more into the reasons people are saying to eat more, so you can make the best-informed decision.

Homa24

I've been an ethical vegetarian almost 8 years, the last two I've actually been vegan. It does not help with weight loss per se because you xan still be eating junk food and be veg. That said, a plant based diet can work wonders for health and the planet. There are great recipe sites like peasandthankyou.com if you want to give going meatless a try!

ironanimal

MFP gives you a built in deficit.
You exercise, make it bigger.
You don't eat exercise calories back, it stays bigger.
You eat them, you make the deficit what it should be.

It's your calorie GOAL - not maximum.

annahiven

I eat my calories back because when I don't, I don't lose weight.

I used to try and stay below my goal, thinking I would lose weight faster, but I found that because I exercised so hard, I really needed to re-fuel my body to keep the metabolism up. I was at a plateau for two months when trying to stay below my calories.

About two weeks ago, when I started to eat every calorie back (and even go over by 100 cal/day), I started to drop weight again.

Keep in mind, the MFP site already calculates a deficit in the number it gives you to eat toward. Don't stall your metabolism by eating too little.

Jorra

Take a look at the Unofficial MFP FAQ. It's a user created database of commonly asked questions around here. Hopefully you can find the information you are looking for. The table of contents organizes the topics.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/474-unofficial-mfp-faq

Specifically for you:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390145-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories

kdkeys14

Thank you everyone! I am really concerned because I might burn 500-700 calories a day and will not eat them back. I just started working out 5 days a week since I feel I have my eating under control and my calorie goal is always met. I think I may need to eat my exercise calories but I will look at all information and websites posted. THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK.

lilanniefarnum

I've only been on MFP for a little over 60 days, and have lost 10 lbs........thankfully!!!.......but that said, for awhile I was staying Under my 1200 cals. and even when I exercised, I tried not to go over the 1200.....and was Not losing weight!.....but when I did further investigation, I found that, down at the bottom of the Food Page, where you log in your daily calories, where it says "Complete the Entry" If you're under your calorie goal, it says you're not eating enough calories, and you can go into "Starvation Mode"......which really, (at least for Me) was keeping me from losing weight!!! I had very little energy, and couldn't seem to lose........and then, when I started eating 1200 cals. I began losing weight again............and from what I understand, from reading LiveStrong.com and several other apps. including this one,......... In order to lose 1 lb, you have to use or lose 3500 calories, and what several people on here have mentioned, MFP figures in a Net- 500 calories a day when they figure your daily calorie goal..... which turns out to be (7 X 500 =3500) which comes out to 1 lb. a week...........And That's my story, and I'm sticking To it!!! ;-)))

sleepytexan

DO WHAT IS WORKING.

No. Do what WORKED for successful people who have reached and maintained goal for a minimum of a year.

Don't take advice from people who aren't at goal, never have been at goal, and/or yo yo.

Here's why you eat exercise cals:

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

squirmmonster

I would recommend NOT EATING THEM BACK.

Here's why: All of the diet logging places I have seen, have been vastly over-estimating the caloric burns of exercises. If you want to slightly increase your caloric intake to refuel yourself after a long workout, that is one thing. But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it is a good idea to eat back the whole deficit. I was actually losing, quite easily, about 2 lbs a week...

UNTIL I STARTED EATING BACK CALORIES THAT WERE CALCULATED BY THE WEBSITES. Then my weight loss came to a crawl. It still happened, but it was going intensely slow, and I am very overweight. This week, I switched back to my old model. 1600 calories, and don't eat any extra on account of exercise. PERIOD. What do you know? Three pounds fell off. A little more than I hoped, I don't try to lose too fast, but as I am 240 lbs, three pounds isn't really in dangerous territory for me. But I went from losing about 2 lbs a week, to losing less than a pound a week for a whole MONTH. Then when I go back on doing it my way, it's suddenly 3 lbs lost. And I think this has to do with calorie burns being way, way off on these food logging websites. I was using Calorie Count before, and the same thing was going on. So... it's not just MFP. Just a thought. Eating them back could sabotage you, if you over-estimate the calories burned. And it's way, way easy to do that.

sarahisme18

DO WHAT IS WORKING.

No. Do what WORKED for successful people who have reached and maintained goal for a minimum of a year.

Don't take advice from people who aren't at goal, never have been at goal, and/or yo yo.

Here's why you eat exercise cals:

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

Thank you! This is super helpful.

Healthy_4_Life2

Bump to see what others view on this!

sleepytexan

I would recommend NOT EATING THEM BACK.

Here's why: All of the diet logging places I have seen, have been vastly over-estimating the caloric burns of exercises. If you want to slightly increase your caloric intake to refuel yourself after a long workout, that is one thing. But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it is a good idea to eat back the whole deficit. I was actually losing, quite easily, about 2 lbs a week...

UNTIL I STARTED EATING BACK CALORIES THAT WERE CALCULATED BY THE WEBSITES. Then my weight loss came to a crawl. It still happened, but it was going intensely slow, and I am very overweight. This week, I switched back to my old model. 1600 calories, and don't eat any extra on account of exercise. PERIOD. What do you know? Three pounds fell off. A little more than I hoped, I don't try to lose too fast, but as I am 240 lbs, three pounds isn't really in dangerous territory for me. But I went from losing about 2 lbs a week, to losing less than a pound a week for a whole MONTH. Then when I go back on doing it my way, it's suddenly 3 lbs lost. And I think this has to do with calorie burns being way, way off on these food logging websites. I was using Calorie Count before, and the same thing was going on. So... it's not just MFP. Just a thought. Eating them back could sabotage you, if you over-estimate the calories burned. And it's way, way easy to do that.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

No offense to this poster, but again, if you want to reach and maintain goal, take your advice from people who HAVE reached and maintained goal.

ashleydillinger

DO WHAT IS WORKING.

No. Do what WORKED for successful people who have reached and maintained goal for a minimum of a year.

Don't take advice from people who aren't at goal, never have been at goal, and/or yo yo.

Here's why you eat exercise cals:

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

I'm actually going to bookmark this thread so I can remind myself of this. Thanks a ton.

RobfromLakewood

Great posting, I feel I learned a lot reading the responses. I've lost 41 pounds since July 1st. I attribute it to a number of factors, like being more aware of my actual calorie intake (rather than the guessing I was doing previously) and 4-6 visits per week to the gym, but mostly bicycling 90+ miles a week. Some times I seem to be losing weight quick, then I will stay the same for a while, which waqs frustrating, since it was when I seemed to be eating less. From what I've been reading, it seems like I was under-eating.

hesn92

Here's the thing... when you set up your diary and calorie needs, you will have a deficit already built in. When you exercise and burn calories, it adds those calories back so that you still have the same deficit.

MDWilliams1857

DO WHAT IS WORKING.

No. Do what WORKED for successful people who have reached and maintained goal for a minimum of a year.

Don't take advice from people who aren't at goal, never have been at goal, and/or yo yo.

Here's why you eat exercise cals:

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

This... There are a lot of people on MFP who simply have no idea what they are doing or what they are talking about but they still try to give advice. Find someone you trust, who has a similar body to that you are after and who has maintained it for a while. You wouldnt take investment advice from a homeless guy, dont take dietary advice from a fat person.

hesn92

I always ate all my exercise calories. I don't see why I wouldn't. More food and still lose weight? F yeah.

I also reached my goal in April and have been maintaining since then.

squirmmonster

I would recommend NOT EATING THEM BACK.

Here's why: All of the diet logging places I have seen, have been vastly over-estimating the caloric burns of exercises. If you want to slightly increase your caloric intake to refuel yourself after a long workout, that is one thing. But I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it is a good idea to eat back the whole deficit. I was actually losing, quite easily, about 2 lbs a week...

UNTIL I STARTED EATING BACK CALORIES THAT WERE CALCULATED BY THE WEBSITES. Then my weight loss came to a crawl. It still happened, but it was going intensely slow, and I am very overweight. This week, I switched back to my old model. 1600 calories, and don't eat any extra on account of exercise. PERIOD. What do you know? Three pounds fell off. A little more than I hoped, I don't try to lose too fast, but as I am 240 lbs, three pounds isn't really in dangerous territory for me. But I went from losing about 2 lbs a week, to losing less than a pound a week for a whole MONTH. Then when I go back on doing it my way, it's suddenly 3 lbs lost. And I think this has to do with calorie burns being way, way off on these food logging websites. I was using Calorie Count before, and the same thing was going on. So... it's not just MFP. Just a thought. Eating them back could sabotage you, if you over-estimate the calories burned. And it's way, way easy to do that.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

No offense to this poster, but again, if you want to reach and maintain goal, take your advice from people who HAVE reached and maintained goal.

I love it when people say "no offense" and then make an offensive/ irrelevant statement. I don't see how my not being at goal weight is relevant. I can read, and am very intelligent. This is my first time losing, and I plan to make it the only time. I like to read things that don't have a confirmation bias built in... unlike most of the people here who still buy into the starvation myth. Besides, I have successfully lost weight. I am not a yoyo dieter, and I am using conventional methods. I was just pointing out a flaw in these websites that could make "eating back" problematic.

Also, the "study" you cited is ANYTHING BUT a study. It does not give any citation of any source in any way. It's a ****ty repost that pushes the myth of 'starvation mode', which is utter BS. Whereas, starvation mode is just something fad diets want you to believe, so that you will buy into the system of the moment. They will twist this in whatever way they choose. Low carb diets use it to convince you that it's not about calories, but it's about carbs. (Even thought is is always about calories.) Paleo, vegan, and raw diets all do the same thing. Anyway, real, documented, objective studies have shown that these people who say they are not losing weight on low caloric intakes, are under-estimating their intake, or just not reporting it. Even this report says she was binging/ starving. What are the odds that she was vastly under-reporting the number, frequency, and severity of her binges? I would say, UM... 101%. Meaning, not only is it occurring, but it's blatantly apparent that it is occurring.

You know, I think I'm going to type up a post that I can use every time I see one of these posts where people sling around this absolute MUCK. Here have some links from reliable sources:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
That's the short explanation of why starvation mode and metabolic slowing are crap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment
And here is the wiki for the military study that everyone has misinterpreted. Frankly, this is people losing 25% of their IDEAL weight, which is drastic, and was done specifically to study the effects of real and actual starvation.

Unless you are under 5% bodyfat or so, this isn't something you have to worry about. All of the effects described from eating too little, don't come from caloric restriction. They come from vitamin and nutrient deficiencies, electrolyte imbalances, etc. That's why you have to eat a bare minimum of calories, because it's difficult to get all those nutrients, protein, potassium, b-vitamins, vitamin c, and so on... on an extremely low calorie diet. It would even be kind of hard to get them from multivitamins and protein powder.

Thank you, and goodnight.