My response to 1200 calorie diets & "starvation mode"

tisha_rae

***** I'M POSTING AS A TOPIC - ONLY BECAUSE IT COMES UP A LOT & I HAVE A LONG RESPONSE EACH TIME****


Okay,


Here we go.

I feel like I need a disclaimer to say I’m not an expert…..I can only tell you my personal experience and what has worked for me.
I’ve been doing this for a long time so I’ve read a lot of stuff and talked to my own trainer and physician.

So, this is my take on it.

First of all – calories are considered fuel for your body – your body needs it to function – period. Even at rest you are burning calories just to exist. 1200 is usually given as the standard number you need in order to function properly, without feeling tired or sick, having memory trouble or coordination problems. This is why most people say you should never eat less.

Often you will hear talk about “starvation mode”

All I know about this is in extreme circumstances when your body doesn’t have enough food it will first store everything you eat as fat instead of burning it off (preparing for famine) ….people often wonder then why or how people starve to death, once there is no more nutrition the body will burn its fat and then eventually start burning muscle as well…

I think what they are REALLY meaning to explain is that when you don’t eat enough or eat often your body has a way of taking notes…..

For instance, say you are like I use to be and you rarely eat breakfast, you eat crap or next to nothing for lunch, at dinner you are starved and eat like crazy….your body remembers that from dinner (say 7p.m) until noon or 7p.m the next night that it will not be receiving any nutrition(fuel, calories, food) so it gets smart and stops using what you are feeding it for energy, its saving it….

This equals poor/slow metabolism

When you begin to eat many times through the day your body realizes it isn’t in any danger of starving and begins to burn the food you are eating – you should feel more energetic and will burn more calories (and probably feel more hungry)

People often don’t feel hungry at 1200 calories because the body isn’t burning anything you are taking in , the metabolism has stalled.


The idea behind losing lbs is simple - in order to lose you must burn more calories than you take in.
Keep in mind that MFP figures your calorie deficit into the number it gives you – this is why you hear people say they “eat back calories” or why your calories will increase if you add exercise.

I used 6 or 7 different calorie calculators to figure my calorie intake and all of them gave me a different number – I went with an average.
Each time my weight stalls – I up my exercise and therefore my calorie intake and I begin to lose again.

Different things work for different people.

I am big believer in eating more to lose only because it has worked for me – and because I’ve seen so many people close to me nearly starve themselves on fad diets and detox’s only to become frustrated and quit because they are hungry and not losing weight.

Listen to your body….if you are hungry (truly hungry, not bored, not stressed, not out of habit) then eat!

I am an emotional eater so I use a scale when I think I’m hungry to determine if I am actually hungry or if I’m just wanting to eat for other reasons.

I wish you luck with your journey!
Be smart, and listen to your body, and your gut, *wink *wink

Annaruthus

Like what I read, bump.

Greenrun99

People often don’t feel hungry at 1200 calories because the body isn’t burning anything you are taking in , the metabolism has stalled.

Listen to your body….if you are hungry (truly hungry, not bored, not stressed, not out of habit) then eat!

Your body can suppress hunger pains to the point you may not notice them.. this however does not mean your body doesn't need the nutrients/fuel..

All else good.

PapaverSomniferum

Chief_Rocka

First of all – calories are considered fuel for your body – your body needs it to function – period. Even at rest you are burning calories just to exist.

...

People often don’t feel hungry at 1200 calories because the body isn’t burning anything you are taking in

How do you reconcile these two statements? If you need calories simply to exist, how could your body take in energy and not use if for fuel?

jjrichard83

The problem with long term reduction of calories is it will eventually put your body into defence mode and you'll stop losing fat, and maybe even start losing muscle.

The best long term strategy is (maybe after 3-4 months) start confusing your body so it doesn't hit a plateau. Start calorie cycling. So if your weekly calorie intake should be 8,400 calories (or 1200 daily) then switch it to:

M - 1000 calories
T - 1100 calories
W - 1500 calories

and so on...

This will prevent hard plateaus.


Also, not all calories are created equally. Veggies will fill you up longer than processed foods, and are usually much lower in calories too.

& lastly, calories are not the best thing to track, but they are the easiest! So opt for less processed foods, and more plants in your diet. The worst thing to do is go hungry trying to keep on an extreme restricted diet - b/c it'll set you up for failure in the furutre with massive binge days.

richytm

Good post

I'm not a fan of <1200 calorie diets as they are extreme and don't represent a healthy diet/lifestyle.
Diets on that little calories will almost certainly lack many other micro nutrients that a healthy body needs which I think you've alluded to in the fact they cause tiredness, soreness etc when they're lacking.

The only reason I can see why they still persist is because people often want a quick fix - which in the short term this kind of diet will definately provide, but it won't last and any health benefits associated with weight loss will be negated by other health issues.

Just remember people, dieting is about lifestyle change, if its an unhealthy diet then it's an unhealthy lifestyle that it will lead to.

tisha_rae

First of all – calories are considered fuel for your body – your body needs it to function – period. Even at rest you are burning calories just to exist.

...

People often don’t feel hungry at 1200 calories because the body isn’t burning anything you are taking in

How do you reconcile these two statements? If you need calories simply to exist, how could your body take in energy and not use if for fuel?

I hear a lot of people say that they can’t eat 1200 calories and that they aren’t hungry.

Before I started eating many small meals a day I’d eat only once or twice a day, consuming around 800/900 daily, yet I didn’t feel hungry.

It takes a long time for true STARVATION to occur – so I was trying explain that often when people say “starvation mode” I think they are actually referring to a slow metabolism – which is what I had done to myself by eating under 1200 calories consistently. I’m sure my body was burning calories in order to keep me functioning but my metabolism was so slow that I wasn’t burning them in a way that helped me to lose weight, and I felt much too sluggish or tired to exercise.

tisha_rae

Niiiiice.

* I never claimed any of my statements as facts.

FredDoyle

Niiiiice.

* I never claimed any of my statements as facts.

So, if they're not facts they're...conjecture?

meredith1123

interesting write up. good call on everything.

the only thing is every BODY is different. you stated often times people arent hungry when they stick to a 1200 cal food itinerary each day.
well thats not true bc I typically eat around 1200 cal and i am hungry more often than I should be.
I think we have to learn to know our bodies, and go from there.
I lose weight when i stick to 1200 cal a day AND work out. Sometimes I will eat a few of my earned calories but its not often. I think after losing 100 pounds twice in my younger years and knowing my body at this point, i know what works for me.

I think a person should read and educate their brains and then really get to know what works for their individual body's needs.

MyChocolateDiet

Unfortunately, I fear I may have been the one who started the most recent "starvation mode" controversy. I didn't however, pull that term from the air, nor the 1200 calories. They both came from this app's sign up process and then on a few days when I have been under the 1200 calories, the app. says something about starvation mode at the bottom in small print. Please try this on your food diary just hitting the green button after a low calorie entry and you'll see it.

I like your explanation but just wanted to clarify where this whole question started for me and I'm so sorry I posted it because apparently people are sick of this question and we newbies are just in the way of everyone else's genuisness and sarcasm. I will no longer post any serious questions because everyone just acts too "over it", and I'm just sick of nasty attitudes in real life much less online. I may just stay off the boards completely and probably ditch this app altogether and tell everyone I know not to use it because the "old-bies" will get irritated if you ask anything serious.

tisha_rae

Niiiiice.

* I never claimed any of my statements as facts.

So, if they're not facts they're...conjecture?

Indeed. I have no “proof” that my statements are* fact - just sharing theory based on my own experiences.

tisha_rae

Unfortunately, I fear I may have been the one who started the most recent "starvation mode" controversy. I didn't however, pull that term from the air, nor the 1200 calories. They both came from this app's sign up process and then on a few days when I have been under the 1200 calories, the app. says something about starvation mode at the bottom in small print. Please try this on your food diary just hitting the green button after a low calorie entry and you'll see it.

I like your explanation but just wanted to clarify where this whole question started for me and I'm so sorry I posted it because apparently people are sick of this question and we newbies are just in the way of everyone else's genuisness and sarcasm. I will no longer post any serious questions because everyone just acts too "over it", and I'm just sick of nasty attitudes in real life much less online. I may just stay off the boards completely and probably ditch this app altogether and tell everyone I know not to use it because the "old-bies" will get irritated if you ask anything serious.

I hope you stick around!!!! Not everyone is rude. I only posted because I wanted to share my opinion in a place where more people than my friends would see it.

I was trying to explain what people mean and what happens in "starvation mode"

It's a shame that you can't hear ppl in text.

I've heard a lot of people on weight loss journeys talk about 1200 calories it's a pretty standard number. I hear or see someone talk about it almost daily on MFP and I just hate to see more people getting frustrated or quitting because they aren’t seeing results, especially if it’s because they are trying to eat only 1200 or less.

I wish you lots of luck!

Faye_Anderson

Unfortunately, I fear I may have been the one who started the most recent "starvation mode" controversy. I didn't however, pull that term from the air, nor the 1200 calories. They both came from this app's sign up process and then on a few days when I have been under the 1200 calories, the app. says something about starvation mode at the bottom in small print. Please try this on your food diary just hitting the green button after a low calorie entry and you'll see it.

I like your explanation but just wanted to clarify where this whole question started for me and I'm so sorry I posted it because apparently people are sick of this question and we newbies are just in the way of everyone else's genuisness and sarcasm. I will no longer post any serious questions because everyone just acts too "over it", and I'm just sick of nasty attitudes in real life much less online. I may just stay off the boards completely and probably ditch this app altogether and tell everyone I know not to use it because the "old-bies" will get irritated if you ask anything serious.

Nice attitude, lets quit because someone was "mean to me", in other words had a different opinion or tried to take the time to explain something to you using this thing us "old-bies" have called "experience", I'm sure there is a different app that will have a definition of this for you :flowerforyou:

Do you seriously think we weren't newbies once and had different opinions thrust upon us? We figured it out without running off and deleting the app. Maybe if you're serious about a lifestyle change you should open up to a bit of advice and not take every thread/response as a personal attack