Starvation mode under 100 calories a myth

Shadowknight137

One of my college professors (biology) explained caloric intake and desired weight to our class and this is how it was explained:

If you want to be 120lbs then multiply that by 10 and that is how many calories you should consume in a day....equals 1200 calories. So whatever your desired weight just multiply that by 10 and there ya have it...your daily caloric intake.

I weigh 121lbs and eat nearly double that. I think your Professor needs to recheck his studies.

You obviously have a very fast metabolism. A lot of people that have problems losing weight have a slower metabolic rate and I believe that is what my professor was implying.

Uh... No, my metabolism works just like anybody else's. Pre-coeliac diagnosis I was fairly chubby and happy - haven't always been a stick figure. Now I'm getting my calories from other sources (now I know to replace them), I gained/maintain as anyone would.

Like I said, your professor needs to do their research again. That's the most ridiculous way of calculating things ever - if I, or most people, ate 1200kcal a day AT THE WEIGHT OF 120lb, they would STILL lose weight.

deksgrl

One of my college professors (biology) explained caloric intake and desired weight to our class and this is how it was explained:

If you want to be 120lbs then multiply that by 10 and that is how many calories you should consume in a day....equals 1200 calories. So whatever your desired weight just multiply that by 10 and there ya have it...your daily caloric intake.

ATT949

The 1200 calorie level is from a study by the World Health Organization.

The study was done at the University of Minnesota, IIRC. It's documented in the Wiki and a zillion other places.

And did you open a can of worms but, perhaps, some folks will stop to think about the whole process. And that's good because learning about nutrition and looking at it from a basis of science can be very helpful.

I'm 6' 1" and ate well under 1200 net cals/day. Why? Because I know that it's safe to do so and I wanted to lose weight quickly.

My outcome - superb. Every test I've had has been either WNL or "excellent" with one exception - I think it was my LDL which was a little high (109 out of 100) so I've been eating oatmeal trying to get WNL. Other than that, I'm one of many hundreds of thousands of people who chose to lose weight quickly using a low calories diet.

It's not for everyone. Some people should not cut their calories below 1200. Some obese people should not lose weight (there are medical reasons for that). But the idea that 1200 calories is some universal low limit simply doesn't stand up to the most simple questioning.

Eat less, exercise more.

stephdeeable

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't die if I ate 1200 calories a day, but I wouldn't want to live.

ATT949

Re: myth number 2.

Can you tell me what happened to the participants of the Minnesota study when they went back to normal eating? What physiological and psychological behaviours did they exhibit?

I don't think that was part of the study. IIRC, it was just to see the impact of eating very, very little.

Google "minnesota starvation experiment".

neandermagnon

not scared. monkeys and apes have had opposable thumbs for millions of years, but only the australopithecines evolved into humans

myofibril

The 10 cals per 1lb of body weight has been around for a while and is generally a good one to get a reasonable calorie deficit level.

However it is 10 cals per 1lb of current weight not goal weight. So if I weigh 200 lbs I should eat 2,000 calories per day in order to lose.

It roughly equates with BMR.

deksgrl

not scared. monkeys and apes have had opposable thumbs for millions of years, but only the australopithecines evolved into humans

Yes, but all cats have a secret evil plot to take over the world.

SakuraRose13

Why is it and I qoute ,no one ever thinks about individauls such as myself ,who are petite, Im 4ft 10in and how people such aa myself do not need more than 1200 a day. Im getting tired of this not everyone is average hieght.Which is the basis for 1200 the average woman is 5ft 5in these days .
Even when I was thinner before my 2 daughters 19 months apart my daily intake was 1000 to 1200 and I kept my wieght at 105 which is a perfect for my hieght and I was toned .I was active and in college at the time and working and was fine.Im 29 and my intake is set to 1200 and somedays I dont even see the 1200 mark because Im simply not that hungry. Im losing weight steadily I started at 150 jan 1st and now Im 137,so not to drastic. Just thought Id throw that out there

this_time_nextyear

To get back to the title of the post then yes it probably is a myth. Unless I only want to eat less than 1200kcal a day for the rest of my life though then I dont imagine I would keep it off. Also the willpower required is tremendous, much more likely to fall of the wagon so to speak if you feel deprived.

TraceyG1971

One of my college professors (biology) explained caloric intake and desired weight to our class and this is how it was explained:

If you want to be 120lbs then multiply that by 10 and that is how many calories you should consume in a day....equals 1200 calories. So whatever your desired weight just multiply that by 10 and there ya have it...your daily caloric intake.

I weigh 121lbs and eat nearly double that. I think your Professor needs to recheck his studies.

You obviously have a very fast metabolism. A lot of people that have problems losing weight have a slower metabolic rate and I believe that is what my professor was implying.

Uh... No, my metabolism works just like anybody else's. Pre-coeliac diagnosis I was fairly chubby and happy - haven't always been a stick figure. Now I'm getting my calories from other sources (now I know to replace them), I gained/maintain as anyone would.

Like I said, your professor needs to do their research again. That's the most ridiculous way of calculating things ever - if I, or most people, ate 1200kcal a day AT THE WEIGHT OF 120lb, they would STILL lose weight.

Okay..... here is what I found... professor may have been wrong about multiplying by 10 but wasn't far off.

This is an area that has been used and abused a lot over the past several years. At one point, high calorie diets are in and a year later low calorie diets are back in fashion. The same holds true for Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats. Opinions seem like they're changing on a daily basis and they are! The following formula is tried and true. lf you follow it and make adjustments where they're needed, you can't help but to achieve nutritional nirvana. Many complex formula's for figuring daily caloric needs have been introduced. My formula is a simplified and effective version.

Take your current body weight or a realistic body weight goal (Up or Down), and multiply it by your desired factor (either 12, 15, or 18). If you want to lose weight or have a slower metabolism, multiply your weight by 12. For maintaining your current weight, multiply your weight by 15. And for hardgainers or those looking to gain weight, multiply your weight or desired weight by 18. This is a starting point for figuring out your daily caloric needs. (Example: Male who is 200lbs x 15 = 3000 calories per day, Female wh is 130 lbs x 15 = 1950 calories per day). You may need to adjust your caloric need by 50 - 100 calories per day should you stagnate and not be achieving your desired goals. This formula also works as a nice starting point for a bodybuilder looking to figure out the different caloric needs over the course of a year.

A Pre-Contest bodybuilder would use their desired body weight multiplied by 12. An off-season bodybuilder would use their weight or desired weight multiplied by 15 or 18 depending on how fast their metabolism is and how lean they want to stay in the off-season. I personally use my body weight multiplied by 15. This allows me to grow and stay very lean in the off-season. This formula works equally well for both men and women.

After figuring your daily caloric needs, you now need to figure out how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat you'll take in per day. Roughly 30-35% of your calories should come from protein, 50-60% from carbohydrates and 10-15% from fats. Each gram of protein or carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories. Each gram of fat is equal to 9 calories. Your calories should be partitioned somewhat equally throughout 5-6 meals or more per day. Higher calorie post workout meals are encouraged and will be discussed later in this article. Although vitamins and minerals will not be discussed in detail in this article, I do recommend everyone use some type of Mega Multi Vitamins or Vitamin Pack on a daily basis. Such supplementation provides daily insurance and eliminates the worry of meeting required needs for general health and recovery.

You can read full article here:

http://www.getbig.com/articles/faq-dav2.htm

myofibril

Re: myth number 2.

Can you tell me what happened to the participants of the Minnesota study when they went back to normal eating? What physiological and psychological behaviours did they exhibit?

I don't think that was part of the study. IIRC, it was just to see the impact of eating very, very little.

Google "minnesota starvation experiment".

I don't need to Google it. I know what happened. I just wanted to know if the OP had considered this when coming to his conclusions.

It was documented and observed.

razz02

Yeah, a good post. I agree. I do the same, I ve done it several times and it serves me well. And I am really healthy.

I have never ever noticed starvation or that my body ate away my muscles. I suppose that happens to people who don´t work out regularly.

Starvation mode doesn´t exist in my vocabulary- stupid excuses does however, and lazy people.

The problems in our society are more related to obesity and overeating than undereating and starvation.

neandermagnon

not scared. monkeys and apes have had opposable thumbs for millions of years, but only the australopithecines evolved into humans

Yes, but all cats have a secret evil plot to take over the world.

it took australopithecines 3 million years to evolve into humans and cats are not even bipedal yet

although there is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJVeFprntw <--- felis sapiens

Alex

Dear Posters,

I wanted to provide a brief explanation for locking this topic. While I understand the topic title should read 1200 calories, the content in the original post is still a violation our community guidelines:

3. No Promotion of Unsafe Weight-Loss Techniques or Eating Disorders
a) Posts intended to promote potentially unsafe or controversial weight loss products or procedures, including non-medically prescribed supplements or MLM products will be removed without warning.
b) Profiles, groups, messages, posts, or wall comments that encourage anorexia, bulimia, or very low calorie diets of any kind will be removed, and may be grounds for account deletion. This includes positive references to ana/mia, purging, or self-starving. Our goal is to provide users with the tools to achieve their weight management goals at a steady, sustainable rate. Use of the site to promote or glamorize dangerously low levels of eating is not permitted.
c) Photos intended to glamorize extreme thinness will be deleted.
d) Those seeking support in their recovery from eating disorders are welcome at MyFitnessPal.

The original poster has received a significant amount of feedback and the conversations can continue via personal messaging.

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Olivia
MyFitnessPal Community Manager