Starvation mode?

AllTehBeers

I am sorry to say, but I disagree. As we all know, it is about what we eat, how often we eat and what works best to fuel the body. IF you ate 1200 calories a day of watermelon, how would you function properly. Just saying...

Extreme examples that fit not one person's life doesn't help anyone. It's mostly about personal preference and if you can't stick to the plan in the first place because you're miserable, you're going to get nowhere.

CoachReddy

Why? Because they aren't going to keep eating once they're full. When they get hungry again, they'll come back to eat again. It's not about "rationing" for a domesticated animal, it's "i'm hungry, I'll go to my bowl and eat until I'm full."

Do you just fill the bowl completely, or do you put out the exact recommended amount for your pets weight for the entire day?

Try this. If you put out exactly the nutritional amount the animal needs for one day, see how long it takes them to eat it. I would be willing to bet they eat it most, if not all, in one sitting.

that's quite an interesting experiment and I'll totally do it.

however, to your point of "i'm hungry so i go to my bowl" is exactly MY point. if you're hungry, you should eat. Cat or human.

I get your point, but as humans, we eat for emotional, social, and "happy feelings" reasons. We are not animals as to where we are rationed food like pets. I ate because I was "hungry" and I ballooned to 300 pounds. When you think half a pizza is one serving, it's not good to "listen to your body."

guess what? if you ate lean meats, veggies and whole grains when you were "hungry" you wouldn't have..........

CoachReddy

CoachReddy, I wrote this a long time ago, a few years ago.

When you don't eat, what happens to your body, what is hunger from a biological perspective? It's just a form of bodily stress. Imagine the cavemen back in the day, food was scares often. When you're hungry you're in the "fight or flight" mode... What does this do? Increase adrenaline levels, increase body responses, makes you more focused, and on top of that... it also increase GH levels (growth hormone) which is a very powerful biochemical which burns fat and preserves muscle tissue. Does it make sense that when you're hungry, get rid of the most essential part of your body muscle mass??? NO. It does its best to preserve it when you're hungry. Being hungry also increases IGF-1(Insulin Like Growth Factor - 1) receptors in the body. So your body is more prone to muscle growth, with the GH??? That is the supreme steroid stack used by professional body builders, we're doing the same thing, but with our diet instead of artificial drugs. IGF-1 is found in mothers breast milk, that's why babies grow so fast.

Back to the cavemen, where human biology began. You think back in the day cavemen where eating 6 times a day? They couldn't even if they wanted to. When food is scares they barely ate, if they ate at all, then when they got a hunt, they would pig out. Ever consider this is how our bodies work? You think a hunter is going to go and hunt after a huge breakfast? Myth: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Humans are designed to eat a big meal at night. Why you think most parties are designed around dinner, gatherings at dinner time. Compared to breakfast... I don't ever remember hearing "we're having a breakfast party. Like i already mentioned when we don't eat it triggers the sympathetic nervous system(fight or flight response), which is very good to have during the day. More focus, better alertness, more responsiveness. You know what happens when you eat... it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, the PNS, you know what this is responsible for? It's responsible for rest and recuperation. So when you eat, your body slows down, you get tired, groggy, because your body is recuperating... Do you think as humans we need to do this 6 times a day??(6 meals a day)??? NO, that's just ludicrous At what point do you want to be TIRED, and feel at easy and relax? during the day or at night? the answer is obvious. The best time to eat is AT NIGHT.. When does the body repair itself the most? during sleep, does it make sense not to eat at night, not providing your body with vital recovery protein, carbs, nutrients critical for muscle growth? Obviously not. I don't advise playing with these methods without proper education on how to apply them.

unless you have reflux like 1/2 of americans... then you're just asking for disaster.

also, it's a nice theory, but look at animals that are alive right NOW (not hypothesize about things we can't prove). What's the very first thing an animal - pretty much ANY animal - does upon waking up? It starts looking for food.

so...

there's that.

Bobby__Clerici

Continued high deficit crash dieting stifles metabolism both long and short term.
The solution is outlined in the MFP recommendations where we work off 1 pound per week.
It really simple.
And let's not pretend we all forgot how to eat.
I did not get fat forgetting how to eat.
So, EAT.
Problem solved :flowerforyou:

saraann4

Starvation mode. Goodness gracious! Can it end already? Are you anorexic? If not, probably not starvation mode. Are you eating more than 1200 calories a day? Then, no you aren't going into this so called starvation mode where your body thinks it doesn't know when it's going to eat again and stores fat blah blah blah. Have you ever skipped breakfast? Starvation mode!! NO! Will you most likely make up for those calories? Uh yeah.

A lot of people who believe in this starvation mode need to look up the word and images of starvation.

Mokey41

I bow down to the all knowing CoachReddy. I will from now on eat like my domesticated cat. I'd seriously like to see some real science behind all your theories, not just your opinions. As you said, we all have opinions even though yours tend to bounce all over the place.

cessnaholly

Bump. I want to see how this turns out.

IronPlayground

OP, you aren't going into "starvation mode" or "metabolic coma" or whatever you want to call it. It is perfectly fine not to eat breakfast if you don't want. The main focus should be staying at a deficit for the day.

Also, I doubt you gain weight just from eating breakfast. You gain weight from eating excess calories.

Develop an eating pattern throughout the day that you can stick with. If that is skipping breakfast, then that's fine. If you like eating 6 smaller meals, then that's fine. Just stay at a deficit and monitor your macros.

RitaB19

I have developed a bad habit of not eating regularly, which I have learned has put my body in 'starvation mode'. My normal routine consists of a couple cups of coffee (with sugar free creamer) in the morning, and then a big dinner at night. I will occasionally eat something mid day, but not regularly. I am generally active, but I don't work out (yet). I have tried in the past to eat on a schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) but I have ALWAYS gained weight, which of course makes me stop the routine! Are there any tips on how I can get into a routine of eating regularly, especially when I don't feel hungry, and still lose weight?

HI There,

Your body goes into starvation mode when you 1.) Don't eat enough calories and 2.) skip meals. It sounds like you are skipping breakfast and just having coffee in the morn. Try to eat at least every 3-4 hours. Ex.) Mini meals + 3 healthy snacks. This will help keep your metabolism steady and prevent it from slowing down. Keeping a food journal and planning your meals ahead of time also helps. Adding exercise will only help you lose weight faster. Make sure your calories are never below 1200 per day either. Keep in mind it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of body fat. I am a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, so if you need more help you can friend me.

cmriverside

unless you have reflux like 1/2 of americans... then you're just asking for disaster.

also, it's a nice theory, but look at animals that are alive right NOW (not hypothesize about things we can't prove). What's the very first thing an animal - pretty much ANY animal - does upon waking up? It starts looking for food.

so...

there's that.

CoachReddy,

Yeah, Reflux is one of the many symptoms of being overweight.

You have soooome good points. So do many people. The OP was saying SHE drinks some coffee and then doesn't eat until dinner, when she has a big meal. Since she hasn't come back to define "Big Meal" everyone is arguing about butterflies.

My pets don't go for food first thing. They don't eat for several hours after they wake. But your point is well made. However, humans have families and jobs and school, and they don't have the luxury of napping for 20 hours of the day. They need to refuel when it's convenient. Telling people to eat 4-6 times a day is not helpful to those whose schedules don't allow this.

Give everyone the chance to understand that there aren't as many "RULES" as we think. Our bodies work just fine on one or two meals a day. Chillax.

FitandFab33

Can we all agree to call it metabolic adaptation? It will be VASTLY useful for people to look up "metabolic adaptation" and find real research results rather than googling "starvation mode" and getting a bunch of malarky.

CoachReddy

The most muscular animals in the world are herbivores, should we stop buying animal sources of protein now? We are hunters, we go looking for food when we're hungry. That's normal, it doesn't mean we're able to find food. When we can't our survival instincts picked up, the hormones i listed above.

actually YES! Vegan diets are actually much healthier than diets high in animal fats - check out The China Study

saraann4

I have developed a bad habit of not eating regularly, which I have learned has put my body in 'starvation mode'. My normal routine consists of a couple cups of coffee (with sugar free creamer) in the morning, and then a big dinner at night. I will occasionally eat something mid day, but not regularly. I am generally active, but I don't work out (yet). I have tried in the past to eat on a schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) but I have ALWAYS gained weight, which of course makes me stop the routine! Are there any tips on how I can get into a routine of eating regularly, especially when I don't feel hungry, and still lose weight?

HI There,

Your body goes into starvation mode when you 1.) Don't eat enough calories and 2.) skip meals. It sounds like you are skipping breakfast and just having coffee in the morn. Try to eat at least every 3-4 hours. Ex.) Mini meals + 3 healthy snacks. This will help keep your metabolism steady and prevent it from slowing down. Keeping a food journal and planning your meals ahead of time also helps. Adding exercise will only help you lose weight faster. Make sure your calories are never below 1200 per day either. Keep in mind it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of body fat. I am a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, so if you need more help you can friend me.

I skip breakfast occasionally and make up for it on other meals and sometimes I don't make up for it at all. How do you explain my 71lbs lost Ms. Dietitian/Nutritionist?

saraann4

Starvation mode. Goodness gracious! Can it end already? Are you anorexic? If not, probably not starvation mode. Are you eating more than 1200 calories a day? Then, no you aren't going into this so called starvation mode where your body thinks it doesn't know when it's going to eat again and stores fat blah blah blah. Have you ever skipped breakfast? Starvation mode!! NO! Will you most likely make up for those calories? Uh yeah.

A lot of people who believe in this starvation mode need to look up the word and images of starvation.

People do stall out with their weight.

Agreed, but it's probably not because of "starvation mode"

AllTehBeers

Why? Because they aren't going to keep eating once they're full. When they get hungry again, they'll come back to eat again. It's not about "rationing" for a domesticated animal, it's "i'm hungry, I'll go to my bowl and eat until I'm full."

Do you just fill the bowl completely, or do you put out the exact recommended amount for your pets weight for the entire day?

Try this. If you put out exactly the nutritional amount the animal needs for one day, see how long it takes them to eat it. I would be willing to bet they eat it most, if not all, in one sitting.

that's quite an interesting experiment and I'll totally do it.

however, to your point of "i'm hungry so i go to my bowl" is exactly MY point. if you're hungry, you should eat. Cat or human.

I get your point, but as humans, we eat for emotional, social, and "happy feelings" reasons. We are not animals as to where we are rationed food like pets. I ate because I was "hungry" and I ballooned to 300 pounds. When you think half a pizza is one serving, it's not good to "listen to your body."

guess what? if you ate lean meats, veggies and whole grains when you were "hungry" you wouldn't have..........

I can't say you're wrong, but like I said, as humans, we eat for emotional and social reasons. Not just to "hit macros." I've learned and applied a lot of knowledge this past year so I will keep doing what is working for me. I, respectfully, disagree with the way you think and I hope you keep an open mind to progress in knowledge.

CoachReddy

unless you have reflux like 1/2 of americans... then you're just asking for disaster.

also, it's a nice theory, but look at animals that are alive right NOW (not hypothesize about things we can't prove). What's the very first thing an animal - pretty much ANY animal - does upon waking up? It starts looking for food.

so...

there's that.

CoachReddy,

Yeah, Reflux is moslty one of the many symptoms of being overweight.

You have soooome good points. So do many people. The OP was saying SHE drinks some coffee and then doesn't eat until dinner, when she has a big meal. Since she hasn't come back to define "Big Meal" everyone is arguing about butterflies.

My pets don't go for food first thing. They don't eat for several hours after they wake. But your point is well made. However, humans have families and jobs and school, and they don't have the luxury of napping for 20 hours of the day. They need to refuel when it's convenient. Telling people to eat 4-6 times a day is not helpful to those whose schedules don't allow this.

Give everyone the chance to understand that there aren't as many "RULES" as we think. Our bodies work just fine on one or two meals a day. Chillax.

1) I am 26, in great shape, eat really well, and I still have LPR (silent reflux). It's crazy debilitating and I've been trying to beat it for over a year now. I'm a singer and actor, and LPR causes chronic laryngitis. You can see how that's not exactly great for my career. Which brings me to:

2) I live in NYC, I have a crazy hectic lifestyle. I get 5 or 6 meals a day because I plan. I take a shake with me, I take bars with me, I pack a lunch, pack snacks, cook ahead of time, etc etc. If it's important to you, you find a way to make it work.

3) On your third point, we agree, and that was MY point as well. The IF people preach it like its the only way. If it works for them great, but it may not for everyone. That's all I'm saying. Let's be open to other philosophies and not act like ours is gospel.

If someone can point me to definitive research done by an unbiased source that talks about IF being healthier than regular meals, I'll definitely read it.

saraann4

I have developed a bad habit of not eating regularly, which I have learned has put my body in 'starvation mode'. My normal routine consists of a couple cups of coffee (with sugar free creamer) in the morning, and then a big dinner at night. I will occasionally eat something mid day, but not regularly. I am generally active, but I don't work out (yet). I have tried in the past to eat on a schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) but I have ALWAYS gained weight, which of course makes me stop the routine! Are there any tips on how I can get into a routine of eating regularly, especially when I don't feel hungry, and still lose weight?

HI There,

Your body goes into starvation mode when you 1.) Don't eat enough calories and 2.) skip meals. It sounds like you are skipping breakfast and just having coffee in the morn. Try to eat at least every 3-4 hours. Ex.) Mini meals + 3 healthy snacks. This will help keep your metabolism steady and prevent it from slowing down. Keeping a food journal and planning your meals ahead of time also helps. Adding exercise will only help you lose weight faster. Make sure your calories are never below 1200 per day either. Keep in mind it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of body fat. I am a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, so if you need more help you can friend me.

Now, I'm very curious. What would you say if I said if I didn't eat breakfast OR lunch and just had a huge dinner after 7pm? Would everything be stored as fat, BUT my calories were oh I don't know 1500?

BaltimoreBex

Eating that amount of calories in one sitting when not eating anything else throughout the day WILL store it as fat. It's science. It will also create a slippery slope with binge eating. I have been guilty of it myself; wouldn't eat all day, just drink coffee, small lunch (of doritos..) and then when dinner came around I would be craving carbs wrapped in carbs with a carb filling topped with cheese and bacon. It's tough to break bad habits like that, but well worth the effort.

IronPlayground

I have developed a bad habit of not eating regularly, which I have learned has put my body in 'starvation mode'. My normal routine consists of a couple cups of coffee (with sugar free creamer) in the morning, and then a big dinner at night. I will occasionally eat something mid day, but not regularly. I am generally active, but I don't work out (yet). I have tried in the past to eat on a schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) but I have ALWAYS gained weight, which of course makes me stop the routine! Are there any tips on how I can get into a routine of eating regularly, especially when I don't feel hungry, and still lose weight?

HI There,

Your body goes into starvation mode when you 1.) Don't eat enough calories and 2.) skip meals. It sounds like you are skipping breakfast and just having coffee in the morn. Try to eat at least every 3-4 hours. Ex.) Mini meals + 3 healthy snacks. This will help keep your metabolism steady and prevent it from slowing down. Keeping a food journal and planning your meals ahead of time also helps. Adding exercise will only help you lose weight faster. Make sure your calories are never below 1200 per day either. Keep in mind it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of body fat. I am a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, so if you need more help you can friend me.

My confidence in the curriculum for dieticians/nutritionists just fell a few notches.

saraann4

Took the words out of my mouth. Thank you!
Eating that amount of calories in one sitting when not eating anything else throughout the day WILL store it as fat. It's science. It will also create a slippery slope with binge eating. I have been guilty of it myself; wouldn't eat all day, just drink coffee, small lunch (of doritos..) and then when dinner came around I would be craving carbs wrapped in carbs with a carb filling topped with cheese and bacon. It's tough to break bad habits like that, but well worth the effort.

You need to go back to science class.