what is up with starvation mode...

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  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I think people are just using the phrase wrong.

    When most people say "you are going into starvation mode!!!!" They mean that the person is probably seeing a stall in weightloss from eating too little.

    There is a lot of anecdotal evidence (I've experienced this too) that there is a threshold of calories (unique to every person) that if you go below, you will stall out. People are misinterpreting this as 'starvation mode' because they don't really know all the facts.

    i believe you are right..I m just on a mission to correct the record and spread some knowledge! lol
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
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    I think people are just using the phrase wrong.

    When most people say "you are going into starvation mode!!!!" They mean that the person is probably seeing a stall in weightloss from eating too little.

    There is a lot of anecdotal evidence (I've experienced this too) that there is a threshold of calories (unique to every person) that if you go below, you will stall out. People are misinterpreting this as 'starvation mode' because they don't really know all the facts.

    i believe you are right..I m just on a mission to correct the record and spread some knowledge! lol

    I think we need a new phrase for the 'too little calorie stall' So we can get rid of the phrase completely for diet talk
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I think people are just using the phrase wrong.

    When most people say "you are going into starvation mode!!!!" They mean that the person is probably seeing a stall in weightloss from eating too little.

    There is a lot of anecdotal evidence (I've experienced this too) that there is a threshold of calories (unique to every person) that if you go below, you will stall out. People are misinterpreting this as 'starvation mode' because they don't really know all the facts.

    i believe you are right..I m just on a mission to correct the record and spread some knowledge! lol

    I think we need a new phrase for the 'too little calorie stall' So we can get rid of the phrase completely for diet talk

    how about "plateau level calorie consumption"
  • TheNewLorrain
    TheNewLorrain Posts: 138 Member
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    skipping meals is one thing but starvation mode is another. I was full and satisfied last night and ended up with not using like 400 calrories and they told me when I closed my diary for the day that I was putting myself in starvation mode. It was not intentional. From now on I am going to eat what I am supposed to so I am satisfied until morning. hate waking up ravenous
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
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    how about "plateau level calorie consumption"

    Accurate but not very snappy.

    How about 'The low calorie fat cling'?
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    ...although I was under my goal today by about 200 calories, so I'm definitely in starvation mode right now...(at least until midnight when my body resets).

    Wha??? The body resets at midnight?? I thought it was 7!!

    It only resets at midnight if you haven't eaten since 7PM. I understand the confusion with those numbers, though.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    i love it when someone is like ' oh no I missed snack 10 of 11 I am in starvation mode.." F'ing please...

    Lol
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    You're all good so long as you don't eat after 6! Lmao
  • mrdexter1
    mrdexter1 Posts: 356 Member
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    I think people are just using the phrase wrong.

    When most people say "you are going into starvation mode!!!!" They mean that the person is probably seeing a stall in weightloss from eating too little.

    There is a lot of anecdotal evidence (I've experienced this too) that there is a threshold of calories (unique to every person) that if you go below, you will stall out. People are misinterpreting this as 'starvation mode' because they don't really know all the facts.


    i believe you are right..I m just on a mission to correct the record and spread some knowledge! lol

    wrong.....

    regardless of "enough " cals - if you re not eating enough essential fats in your diet your body will sense this and hoard fat or wont give it up and this is the key to misconception...
  • Brad805
    Brad805 Posts: 289 Member
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    The term starvation seems to be used way too frequently. It is a dreamland for some it seems. I mean who wouldn't like to eat more when fat loss slows? I follow different BB log books, and how odd, I never see a mention of loving their diets before they step on stage nor do they talk about eating more to lose those last few pounds. Those people that have been at it know how to lose and gain (for the most part anyway).

    I also don't think many distinguish the difference between starvation and the bodies natural response to weighing less. Weigh less---->need less. Same applies with exercise. Get in shape---->burn less calories unless you push harder. The law of depreciating returns is a mean one.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    YOU MUST STOKE THE METABOLIC FIRE EAT EVERY 2 HOURS

    i'd like to meet the genius who came up with that one...he has probably made millions on books...

    Had a Pt tell me that you wake up in starvation mode EVERY DAY, so it doesnt matter if it's only a single bite of food, but you MUST eat something within a half hour of waking up to get out of starvation mode.

    Oh the terrible metaphors. What's harder, getting a fire started or keeping it going? Can your car's engine run if there's no gas in the tank?

    1. You were CLEARLY not a pyromaniac as a kid. There is NOTHING easier than starting a fire.

    2. Ok, if we're gonna go with bad car matephors .. my engine runs the same regardless of if I have a full tank or 1/8th of a tank ...
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    It's pretty much there to cover their *kitten* so that if someone becomes anorexic or dies that MFP can't be sued because the person was "warned." Simple lawyer speak.

    I personally have never been in starvation mode. I freaking love to eat. I thought I was going to lose my mind when I couldn't eat after midnight the night before my brain surgery (link on my profile if anyone wants to read that whole story).
  • mscolleen2003
    mscolleen2003 Posts: 126 Member
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    What you need to consume depends on what activities you are doing. I did a five mile run this morning and 45 minutes of TRX, before I even got started I had consumed 500 calories. If your sitting on your butt, doing noting 1200 might work just fine for you. But if your doing alot of exercise or even a lot of heavy work, you got to eat.
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    Wait..does that mean since I only had a 137 calorie muffin for breakfast this morning since I was too lazy to make anything that I'm gonna go into starvation mode before I have a snack or lunch???? O_O *gasp* !!!!
  • xMallie
    xMallie Posts: 208 Member
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    oh, that reminds me, I need to eat some ice cream so I don't go into starvation mode . . .

    I'll share mine!
    Who even shares ice cream?! That's like sharing chocolate... It's a no no.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
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    Yes!! This DRIVES me crazy!!! omg. You'll go into 'starvation mode' when you are STARVING yourself...1200 calories (and probably even less) is NOT starving.
    And going below BMR will not kill you, I mean if you are at 1/2 of it consistently you might have a problem, but your brain, digestive system, heart, etc WILL NOT suffer..it will just EAT YOU for energy...and that's kinda the whole point...now when you run out of things for your body to eat for energy (fat, then eventually muscle..which noone wants to happen) THEN you've got real problems. I'll probably get a good bashing from the starvation mode police for this, but I'm a big girl, I can take it :P

    Unfortunately, too large of a deficit results in the latter more than the former...and IMHO, eating below BMR is almost always "too large of a deficit". I'm a big proponent of eating as much as possible while making progress towards the goal instead of as little as possible...because I believe the metabolism adjusts to the calorie intake (and activity)...or at least it appears this way based on my two years of daily data on myself where I can see the gradual shift in NEAT dependent on whether I'm in a surplus or deficit over a period of time.
    Well, too large of a deficit has a name...anorexia nervosa. I mean eating a decent amount of food, clearly NOT starving yourself. If I do a vegan day (totally not illegal by mfp standards) it's NEARLY impossible to eat all my calories without gorging on peanut butter or almonds. And I'm not going to eat peanut butter by the spoon (the thought makes me want to vomit) just to get calories. The point is, your brain will not cease to function because you didn't meet the BMR...it will get it's energy by converting your fat and/or muscle to usable energy...a simple physiology class will teach that. I do agree that long term living under BMR can cause problems (because clearly eventually you're going to run out of fat/muscle for your body to live on...and the health problems will be there WAY before this happens) but occasionally going below, or even running a bit (little bit, not like 1/2) below BMR is NOT going to kill you.
    *I'd add in a 'trust me, I'm a doctor' at this moment..but I'm not going to...but I AM a nursing student (working on my BSN) and I've taken enough classes regarding the human body to know a little bit about it...clearly I'm here because I didn't follow what I know, but that's another situation all together LOL

    Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness. It's a lot more than just "not eating enough".
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    Wha??? The body resets at midnight?? I thought it was 7!!
    no, the intestines shut down at 8pm but the body then resets at midnight...got it now?
    You're all good so long as you don't eat after 6! Lmao

    The looming confusion surrounding eating cutoff times stems from the modern era in which the railroad and telecommunications caused people to realize time seemed different in diferent places. In efforts to fight this, Standard Time was established---

    The first adaptation of a standard time in the world was established on December 1, 1847, in Great Britain by railway companies using GMT kept by portable chronometers. About August 23, 1852, time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich *

    What we need is something like that, but instead of Greenwich Standard Time, maybe we should call it "Sandwich Standard Time"

    ( *wikipedia quote)
  • agggie550
    agggie550 Posts: 281 Member
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    I think after starvation mode, its probably muscle gain, because everyone knows if you swing the barbie weights around 3 times a week, and eat 3 McDonalds cheeseburgers and nothing else (because you wanted to stay under on calories) that you would easily put on 3 lbs of muscle, is the next biggest thing that gets me going, that or when a woman says I dont lift because I dont want to get bulky, Weight room is for everyone, and Bulky takes alot alot alot of work.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,368 Member
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    My body obviously didn't get the starvation mode memo.

    There have been extended periods in my life (and I'm talking several months) when I've been super busy stressed, with NO time to grocery shop or cook, just work and sleep (working disaster relief, family member terminal illness, etc) and I've dropped weight like crazy simply from calorie deficit. That's eating awful processed junky fast food every day too -- because it was either that or eat nothing at all.

    Oh, and I didn't pack on twice as much weight when normal life resumed either, just gradually returned to where I'd been.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    skipping meals is one thing but starvation mode is another. I was full and satisfied last night and ended up with not using like 400 calrories and they told me when I closed my diary for the day that I was putting myself in starvation mode. It was not intentional. From now on I am going to eat what I am supposed to so I am satisfied until morning. hate waking up ravenous

    ummm that's a joke right?

    You have to eat nothing for three days to be in starvation mode...

    being four hundred cals below your goal is not starvation mode...

    this is what I am talking about people!