Starvation Mode!!!!!!!!Confusion confusion

zd04

Hey Friends,
Now-a-days I'm having calories less than 1200.
My daily goal is to have 1200 calories.
And now-a-day I didn't work out or exercise!!!!!
So I'm confused that is this okay????
Will I be able to lose weight or will slip into starvation mode and instead of losing weight start gaining weight???
:indifferent: :indifferent: :indifferent: :frown: :frown: :frown:

chinatbag

Starvation mode takes a long time. You have to already be emaciated or already be starving for a few days. You won't go into starvation mode. You'll know if you do - you'll start having diarrhea and stomach cramps a lot.

mrscorbo23

u took the words right out of my mouth. i cant seem to get to 1200 calories a day i am always at least 200 short. am i going to start gaining weight too?

BrianSharpe

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

DaniKenmir

I love food, I eat my 1200 and exercise (eating back most of those calories too) When I started I was eating well under my 1200 I wasn't losing weigh as quickly as I am now, I dunno why it took so long but it's nice to see things change.

SHBoss1673

Starvation mode takes a long time. You have to already be emaciated or already be starving for a few days. You won't go into starvation mode. You'll know if you do - you'll start having diarrhea and stomach cramps a lot.

nope, just plain not true. C'mon China, you know better than to perpetuate this rubbish.

SHBoss1673

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I consider myself an advocate for informed fact and truth. Please back up this kind of statement with fact. Just because you can't disprove a negative, doesn't make it a truth.

poedunk65

Depends on what your height and weight are. 1,200 seems kind of low. I recommend Forks over Knives.......great book/movie about eating and lifestyle changes.

sgarrard01

Why not do your own research!??.... Starvation mode is not a myth!

What your refering to as 'gaining weight' is actually a plateu in weightloss, where your body's just a little too stressed and you need to change things up a little, your body will slow down metabolic processes and retain water to ease the tension and push more energy into long term storage...

Starvation mode is nothing to do with being hungry, gaining weight or anything like that......it's to do with muscle loss! where your body is getting so few calories it needs some more from somewehre and instead of using fat (which we all want and the point of a 'diet') it uses muscle, organs and the like because it's easyer!... so your great 10lbs of loss may be 6lbs muscle 4lb fat instead of 1lb muscle 9lb fat.... why is this bad??? Well fat uses 0kcal per pound per day..... muscle uses 30-50kcal per lb per day! just having it... it propps up your metabolism! This is why some body builders can happily eat 3-4000kcal just to maintain!

Muscle is your friend... i suggest you do your research!

Khymera

WebMD is vehemently opposed to fasting and advocates that dieters eat a MINIMUM of 1200 calories per day. What we call "starvation mode", WebMD calls "conservation mode" and says that it can start in less than a week.

The worst part about it is that you're more likely to lose muscle on a very low calorie diet, and that whatever weight you gain back is likely to be all fat, which will leave you worse off than before!

Erisad

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I dunno, I lost 8 pounds eating at 1700, I dropped to 1680 and I gained .4 so far this month. I'm not even eating that many unhealthy foods. Some days I don't even make it to 1680 and have more than 400 calories leftover. By this logic I should have lost more this month right?

peuglow

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

This

dsckrc

"oh i can't eat 1200 calories a day" boo, hoo, hoo. EAT! :mad:

drmerc

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

This

Helloitsdan

Hey Friends,
Now-a-days I'm having calories less than 1200.
My daily goal is to have 1200 calories.
And now-a-day I didn't work out or exercise!!!!!
So I'm confused that is this okay????
Will I be able to lose weight or will slip into starvation mode and instead of losing weight start gaining weight???
:indifferent: :indifferent: :indifferent: :frown: :frown: :frown:

Lets touch on the whole 1k calories thing.....

The 4 major biological functions of fat tissue are
(1) energy storage
(2) toxin storage
(3) protection against insulin resistance, and
(4) protection against estrogen decline in women.
Eliminate the functions of fat tissue also eliminates the reasons for its existence.

On what planet will your body not have a reason to maintain or accumulate fat when you eat your next large meal?
Sure at 1k youll lose weight but as soon as you eat a sizable meal or eat closer to your lowered TDEE youll probably gain fat.
This eating plan of 1200 or less is pure folly.

RayRay1500

I eat 1200 calories, lose my weight each week, and feel great! If you want to eat more, good for you, but do not knock people for eating 1200 when that is what MFP suggested and my MD.

BrianSharpe

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I consider myself an advocate for informed fact and truth. Please back up this kind of statement with fact. Just because you can't disprove a negative, doesn't make it a truth.

Actually, on another thread I asked for a citation backing up a positive assertion you made about your body being "in full panic" mode.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/710742--starvation-mode-exercise-calories-dillema

One should be able to prove a positive assertion.

My backup is simple, it's called physics. As much as we all like to think we're completely individual the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies to us all. The notion that your body can store energy while you're consuming less than you expend is completely illogical. Fat storage is a survival mechanism that allowed us as a species to survive periods of famine, we become fat (in the absence of a metabolic disorder or medications that have an impact on metabolism)because we eat more calories than we expend - it's not complicated.

I dunno, I lost 8 pounds eating at 1700, I dropped to 1680 and I gained .4 so far this month. I'm not even eating that many unhealthy foods. Some days I don't even make it to 1680 and have more than 400 calories leftover. By this logic I should have lost more this month right?

Considering that nutrition information labels can be up to + or - 20% in relation the actual calories contained in a serving and fresh fruits and vegetables vary in size I wouldn't rely to much on the accuracy of a 20cal variance. And a 6 oz fluctuation in weight? :huh:

fit4lifeUcan2

The Starvation Myth
From WW
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

From the National Health Association
http://healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

fit4lifeUcan2

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

This!!!!

SHBoss1673

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I consider myself an advocate for informed fact and truth. Please back up this kind of statement with fact. Just because you can't disprove a negative, doesn't make it a truth.

Actually, on another thread I asked for a citation backing up a positive assertion you made about your body being "in full panic" mode.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/710742--starvation-mode-exercise-calories-dillema

One should be able to prove a positive assertion.

My backup is simple, it's called physics. As much as we all like to think we're completely individual the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies to us all. The notion that your body can store energy while you're consuming less than you expend is completely illogical. Fat storage is a survival mechanism that allowed us as a species to survive periods of famine, we become fat (in the absence of a metabolic disorder or medications that have an impact on metabolism)because we eat more calories than we expend - it's not complicated.

I dunno, I lost 8 pounds eating at 1700, I dropped to 1680 and I gained .4 so far this month. I'm not even eating that many unhealthy foods. Some days I don't even make it to 1680 and have more than 400 calories leftover. By this logic I should have lost more this month right?

Considering that nutrition information labels can be up to + or - 20% in relation the actual calories contained in a serving and fresh fruits and vegetables vary in size I wouldn't rely to much on the accuracy of a 20cal variance. And a 6 oz fluctuation in weight? :huh:

and yet, I've already replied to you, you couldn't even take the time to look through that other post where I already posted my links and resources. You just don't want to read them. and you keep talking about the 2nd law of thermodynamics, I'm quite familiar with it, of course that only applies if you don't enough total energy. Which the human body does, it has nothing to do with whether we have or don't have enough, it's whether the body wants to use one form of energy over another based on homeostasis, that is what governs whether fat stores are used over other energy sources (I.E. LBM and protein sources mostly).

CraigKirkland

it is about a week which is why you should eat enough to match your BMR once a week. This keeps your body from slowing down the metabolism to match caloric intake. If you go on such caloric deficits without resistance training, your metabolism will slow anyway because of muscle loss.

birdieaz

My reason to eat more calories has nothing to do with starvation mode. I don't care about the myth vs fact. All I know is that it felt wrong to eat so little. It felt unsustainable and no way to live for the rest of my life. I joined MFP after having lost most of my weight eating 1500-1600 cal. Then I tried the 1200 cal for 2 months and said this is stupid...screw that I'm going back to eating.

TDEE minus a REASONABLE deficit = healthy loss for a lifetime. It's not rocket science.

birdieaz

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I dunno, I lost 8 pounds eating at 1700, I dropped to 1680 and I gained .4 so far this month. I'm not even eating that many unhealthy foods. Some days I don't even make it to 1680 and have more than 400 calories leftover. By this logic I should have lost more this month right?

right there with you. I lost 42 pounds eating 1500-1600, then lost a whopping ZERO pounds eating 1200 cal. Upped that to 1700 and I've been losing again.

oldsalty1

Long read but good explanation:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/710742--starvation-mode-exercise-calories-dillema
This will be long. Fair warning.
And pardon my grammar, I'm notoriously bad at grammar and spelling (I did my best, but I fear it will lack a bit in that regard).

So many people on here fight about exercise calories and the "starvation mode myth". It's infuriating. I've written this in hopes that is answers the quesitons people have about starvation mode (or underfeeding, or the famine response, or a host of other terms).
First lets get this out of the way, through years of research I've come to the conclusion that starvation mode is NOT a myth. If you understand the human body, metabolism, and how we process food and use energy, you would also realize this. These aren't opinions to be formed, these are basic biological facts that have been tested significantly and proven to be true. So please don't say "it doesn't work that way for me." That's a lie and you know it. It's more like "I didn't take the time to recognize what the right amount of calories are for me, so trying to eat less (or more) didn't work."
OK that being said. Lets launch into a quick overview of what your body needs. How adipose fat (body fat) is metabolized, and the timelines involved.
So your body requires a certain amount of calories just to function, this is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and consists of energy needs for autonomic functions such as respiration, involuntary muscle contraction (like digestion and heart function), Central Nervous System activity...etc. Things you have little or no control over. These activities require about 60 to 75% of most people's calories. No matter what you do, you need this many calories to function, this is not a debate. The rest is all subject to variation, thermogenesis (the conversion of calories to heat), daily activity, and extra activities (exercises not occuring through normal daily activity) all add to the above total giving you your Total Daily Energy Expendature (TDEE).
Luckily for most people, they have a significant amount of calories stored in their body. Not only as fat, but also as protein and glycogen (and cholesterol to a smaller degree). Even fit and healthy folks with low body fat percent have a large amount of stored calories.
So what happens when you eat below what you need? Well, that's a complicated question, please read carefully as it comes in 3 parts. Please note, the amount of the deficit, the amount of available stored energy (see above), and the activity during the period all effect the time table below (which is why I won't specifically date any part, I'll only give estimates)

Part 1 of underfeeding is immediate (the first day or two)
Depending on the amount of deficit, the first day or two of underfeeding or complete abstinance is no "big deal" to the body. It changes a few hormones slightly in order to start pulling more fuel, but the body doesn't do much with this, it puts a little more energy into the blood stream, but in general it does what it always did, it feeds your muscles by releasing glycogen into the blood, which is taken up by muscle cells and either stored there for use (a small amount of glycogen is stored in many muscle sites, providing fast energy) or used immediately. The only difference between underfeeding and normal feeding in this sense is that the liver (which produces glycogen from glucose and mainly carbohydrates) doesn't replenish the waiting supply of glycogen as fast. Because while it CAN make glycogen from FFA's (fat) and Proteins, it's a longer, slower, and less efficient process than converting simple sugars (carbohydrates). So for this first stage, you are depleting the "ready" reserves, if you go back to normal feeding after this, nothing would change. If the deficit is small enough, the body won't change the other hormones that effect fat storage and muscle growth, The body will continue to suppliment energy production by pulling small amounts of fat to be converted. This is an optimal weight loss strategy as you maintain muscle mass in the process. And the reason why we say to stay within the right deficit range for your body fat % (ultimately, this is where the starvation mode argument begins). Regardless, no significant hormonal changes occur in the first stage.

Part 2 hormonal changes occur in underfeeding
This is the part where glycogen stores are reaching dangerously low levels. This affects all aspects of the body, although the change is not immediately noticable, it does happen. Measureable decreases occur in concentration levels and muscular endurance can occur. Hormonally, our body increases leptin levels quicker and reduce ghrelin levels. Leptin is the hormone that makes you "feel full" and ghrelin is the hormone that makes you feel hungry. Thus you don't feel as hungry. This is a survival mechanism for the body, someone focused on hunger isn't as effective at other aspects of life.
At this point, given a large enough deficit to trigger these changes, your body emphasizes 2 things, 1) the citric acid cycle (conversion of proteins and fats to energy) becomes more prevelant. 2) Least used muscles begin canablization.
This means weight loss, but not necessarily good weight loss. Also, hydration becomes more of an issue as ketosis reduces water intracellularly, which means less available water. Which contributes more to weight loss, but not real weight, just water weight.
You've just begun the process of burning protein, no major muscle loss happens yet, and for the next week to three weeks, assuming a large enough deficit, you don't notice it, but it's happening. Given a large enough deficit, you're doing a lot of (reversable) damage to the body now, bones are leeached to provide more calcium to counteract the high acidic byproducts of the citric acid cycle, Free radicals increase in the blood (which can cause an increase in arterial plaque), and the liver and kidneys work harder to remove the acidic nastyness produced from that same citric acid cycle. Also, the less important (by your body's ideas of importance) autonomic functions begin to slow down to reduce the energy pressure present, specifically the immune system becomes less efficient (bad news there).
Lastly, the hormones in your body that govern fat storage change. They tell the body to store more fat. The body considers fat the "last line of defense" against starvation. And it figures it's better to reduce the parts of the body that burn calories, than to deplete the stores of energy. It's simple math really, before you deplete the last of the money in your bank account, first cut out all the unnecessary spending, then what money you do have will last longer and thus give you more time to find an alternate source of income. This is the same principle with the body and fat.

Part 3 long term underfeeding
This can begin anywhere from 10 days to six weeks depending on how large the deficit is. The body is fully in "panic mode" now. Storage of fat is a primary concern to the point where now both protein and carbohydrates coming in are shunted off in large amounts to fat storage. Muscle mass is critically low or starting to become critically low. If the person is keeping track, they will now see that their stamina and power is both significantly lower. And they will have large periods of the day where they are tired and/or lethargic, and could even exhibit "colds" and acheness very easily.
This point is where the brain is criticaly effected and organs can begin slowing down their efficiency. The long term health risks are now an issue. Some organs can shut down in parts, and sometimes these parts never start back up again. Compromised thought processes can dull perception and lead to balance and awareness issues. Sleeping becomes more difficult. It's a cycle that can end in chronic diseases and sometimes even death. I don't say this to scare folks, it's just the logical outcome (although would take quite a while unless in full blown starvation).
The good news is that you can quickly recover from this state (mostly), hormonally. But the physical manifestations of it can linger for months or even years. The most insideous part of this state is that the affected person is generally unaware of their slide down. Since the brain is affected with the body, perception becomes affected and you simply don't "notice" the cause. Accute symptoms are the only way a person in this condition usually realizes the issue. That or a very perceptive spouse or friend.

NOTES from my observations:
Look, I know many of you don't "believe" in starvation mode, but I urge you to stop and think about it. Do you not believe in the well documented, scientifically prove concept? Or do you think that you just received so much conflicting and half-right information that you don't know what to believe?
Now can we please stop saying starvation mode is a myth and change it to. "You don't understand starvation mode correctly" instead? That's all I'm asking.

As to the finer points of recognizing how many calories are "enough" for you. That's easy enough to estimate (with some impressision I admit, but it'll get you in the ballpark). Just find your approximate BMR (there's a ton of sites out there that do this, go to webMD and put metabolism calculator in, you'll find their tool for TDEE) and multiply by 1.25 (in this example) and you'll get close to your TDEE
Quick facts to help you:
-The more body fat you have, the greater your deficit can be.
-The more you work your muscles when in a deficit, the lower the muscle loss will be during that deficit (we all lose muscle in deficit, but the percentage lost can be altered with work).
-Your body does NOT wait until 5% body fat to burn muscle. Not sure where that myth came from, but it's patently false.
-Low/no carb diets don't lose fat any faster than other mainstream diets, but can be effective for people with "carb addictions", metabolic diseases, or certain allergies, and if done correctly are considered safe.

Finally, can we PLEASE stop using anecdotal evidence to prove your point. Just because YOU didn't adhere to the strict set of results state above, doesn't mean they aren't true, more likely is that you had factors you either didn't account for or were in different amounts (or timelines) than you thought, thus changing the results. (For example, you miscalculate your exercise calories, or under count your calorie intake).

For further reading. I can send you links to a dozen or so research studies and/or medical books that focus on human metabolism (I may post some here, but this is already really long so if I do, it'll be in a reply if there's enough response for it). Or you can trust that I have no hidden agenda, have done the research, and am not trying to trick anyone. I have no "skin in the game", I'm just a former fat guy, who now mentors people on here when I can. You can ask thousands of members who've been on here, I've been around a long time, and have done my best to bring well thought out, researched information. Feel free to PM me if you want some links or guided information.

-Banks

Baloostika

Am with you on this.

Kamille2007

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

What he said!

SJCon

"In regard to metabolism, if you are overweight/overfat, you can not cause your metabolism to decrease below a level needed to lose weight while you have extra weight/fat on you, and you can not "lose more weight by eating more calories/food." This is a misunderstanding of the principles of metabolism that does not apply to overweight people trying to lose weight."

http://healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

Make sure you look at the goals and read the profiles of those pushing the "Never eat below your BMR", "You MUST eat your exercise calories" "you have to do it this way because MFP figures it differently and compare them to your situation if they don't match you than maybe their experiences shouldn't match you either. I can think of one that is trying to gain weight that is a proponent of the Starvation Mode belief. All these ABSOLUTES, they do not take into account the differences among individuals, obesity virus, enzyme levels etc. so take it all in but think about how it might apply to you.

IF YOU EAT TO LOW (regardless if how fat you are?) YOU WILL DESTROY MUSCLE . .............until you are so weak you cannot continue to exercise I guess, or lift a fork so you eat even less and then die while still reading these forums. No they are really well intentioned but you will notice that they are "Builders" and the muscle is their focus not weight loss. They are at target or close so their Fat reserves do not have much extra. They do not know the disservice they do with absolute declarations. If you are very overweight and are not losing weight than you may want ask a doctor or two about it but the most common cause is:

"Third, most attempts to accurately track food consumption under report (intentionally and/or not intentionally) by about 30 and attempts to tract exercise and activities levels over report by up to 50%. Even professionals can be as much as 30% off or more. This is usually part of the problem tat people are not accurately determining their caloric intake and output. "

xiamjackie

Starvation mode, in this context is an utter myth. You will not "hold onto calories" and gain fat while eating at a caloric deficit. Banish the term from your vocabulary.......

I consider myself an advocate for informed fact and truth. Please back up this kind of statement with fact. Just because you can't disprove a negative, doesn't make it a truth.

Actually, on another thread I asked for a citation backing up a positive assertion you made about your body being "in full panic" mode.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/710742--starvation-mode-exercise-calories-dillema

One should be able to prove a positive assertion.

My backup is simple, it's called physics. As much as we all like to think we're completely individual the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies to us all. The notion that your body can store energy while you're consuming less than you expend is completely illogical. Fat storage is a survival mechanism that allowed us as a species to survive periods of famine, we become fat (in the absence of a metabolic disorder or medications that have an impact on metabolism)because we eat more calories than we expend - it's not complicated.

I dunno, I lost 8 pounds eating at 1700, I dropped to 1680 and I gained .4 so far this month. I'm not even eating that many unhealthy foods. Some days I don't even make it to 1680 and have more than 400 calories leftover. By this logic I should have lost more this month right?

Considering that nutrition information labels can be up to + or - 20% in relation the actual calories contained in a serving and fresh fruits and vegetables vary in size I wouldn't rely to much on the accuracy of a 20cal variance. And a 6 oz fluctuation in weight? :huh:

lol love this

twinlaced

Let me just talk from personal experience, I don't know much about this except from what I see. If you stuck with 1000 calories a day, everyday. And didn't slip up and throw your metabolism out of whack.. You're going to lose weight if you have been doing more before. It's a myth. I'm signed with a modeling agency here. Most of us barely get to that amount of calories, but I would assume most of the women stick to around 1000 a day and do a little cardio. You only lose. It would be really healthy to try and get to 1200 though at least. That would be a healthy amount, I wish you luck hun. Of course, age has its factors too, regardless of what people think.

briannadunn

I don't know a whole lot of starvation mode but I do know that you can halt losing weight if you don't eat enough. I also did a lot of research on concentration camps back during WW2 and what they found is that the human body can and will survive off of 600 calories a day. You will lose weight even at 1200 calories a day. My only question is is your lifestyle setting on active, lightly active, or sedentary life style. I had to change my weightloss setting to lightly active because I wasn't really active but I also don't sit around and do nothing all day.

Also, you need to eat back your exercise calories, MFP sets their calories low because they assume that you are eating back the exercise calories. I don't always eat them back but I see the wisdom in this.

Check out www.freedieting.com and put in your calculations, it will show you a reasonable calorie range.

SJCon

Also, you need to eat back your exercise calories, MFP sets their calories low because they assume that you are eating back the exercise calories. I don't always eat them back but I see the wisdom in this.

I have searched and searched for any official MFP reference to this could someone please direct me to it?

Oddly enough I have both my "Fitbit" and MFP account set to sedentary and they match it just that one shows it during the whole day and the other builds my budget throughout the day.