"Starvation Mode"

I agree i also think starvation mode is a myth At least until you get to a very low percentage of body fat... Its very popular these days but dont be fooled it really is a myth If starvation mode were really true no one would be starving in the world their would be no anorexics. People need common sense .... Why would you body hold on to fat for dear life. and your metab come to a sudden hult Nope.. it might slow but you can speed it up by exercising and eating every few hours.

Your body holds onto fat because that's its survival mechanism when there is no food. You can survive a famine much longer with more fat and less muscle than you can with more muscle and less fat, so the body sacrifices muscle first. The human body doesn't understand the concept of dieting. It only understands that there is no food available, so it needs to conserve as much energy as it can in order to keep you alive until food is found.

And exercising and eating every few hours doesn't speed up your metabolism, that's a complete myth.

Source?

Of course exercising gives you a higher metabolism, that's what your metabolism is. That's why you need to eat more when you exercise, and why you fill that in on mfp to eat more (unless if you are already set at a high activity level). People who have a fast metabolism (like me) are that way because they are very active people and burn a lot of calories in their day to day life because they move around a lot (I am always moving, when I talk I act it out and move my whole body, I walk around the home and don't sit still for long, I am always doing stuff, it's just my nature). If you don't eat enough (and your weight drops low), your body will slow your metabolism by causing you to slow down and not move as much (so you burn less calories). But, then when you eat the amount your body needs for energy and activity (not overeat) and move more it just regulates again. I can see some people on here have experienced some strange disorders and I can not speak to that experience, as I have never had that experience.

I agree i also think starvation mode is a myth At least until you get to a very low percentage of body fat... Its very popular these days but dont be fooled it really is a myth If starvation mode were really true no one would be starving in the world their would be no anorexics. People need common sense .... Why would you body hold on to fat for dear life. and your metab come to a sudden hult Nope.. it might slow but you can speed it up by exercising and eating every few hours.

Your body holds onto fat because that's its survival mechanism when there is no food. You can survive a famine much longer with more fat and less muscle than you can with more muscle and less fat, so the body sacrifices muscle first. The human body doesn't understand the concept of dieting. It only understands that there is no food available, so it needs to conserve as much energy as it can in order to keep you alive until food is found.

And exercising and eating every few hours doesn't speed up your metabolism, that's a complete myth.

Source?

Tufts School of Medicine, PubMed, Mayo Clinic, lots of places to read up on biology. The human body's entire purpose is to stay alive. Fat lasts much longer than muscle. Also, fat is a major part of the endocrine system, it's considered a major organ. The body burning off only fat during starvation would be equivalent to your body cannabalizing your liver or kidneys during starvation. Fat also only takes about half the number of calories to support than an equivalent amount of muscle.

During starvation situations, muscle is simply expendable, fat isn't.

As for the eating to boost your metabolism thing, that's a myth that has been debunked thousands of times.

Here's some reading.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/88/4/906.abstract

The body does not think and make decisions. The muscles need calories and will use the calories you eat, and burn the fat for more calories. You lose the muscle when you are not taking in enough calories and you are all out of fat stores to burn for fuel. You will also lose muscle if you are not using your muscles.

I don't believe the myth myself either. Your body is not taking in calories so it will burn off stored fat. But, my system is not right when I do it, need the bathroom to much. You need to get something in your system.

I agree i also think starvation mode is a myth At least until you get to a very low percentage of body fat... Its very popular these days but dont be fooled it really is a myth If starvation mode were really true no one would be starving in the world their would be no anorexics. People need common sense .... Why would you body hold on to fat for dear life. and your metab come to a sudden hult Nope.. it might slow but you can speed it up by exercising and eating every few hours.

Your body holds onto fat because that's its survival mechanism when there is no food. You can survive a famine much longer with more fat and less muscle than you can with more muscle and less fat, so the body sacrifices muscle first. The human body doesn't understand the concept of dieting. It only understands that there is no food available, so it needs to conserve as much energy as it can in order to keep you alive until food is found.

And exercising and eating every few hours doesn't speed up your metabolism, that's a complete myth.

Source?

Tufts School of Medicine, PubMed, Mayo Clinic, lots of places to read up on biology. The human body's entire purpose is to stay alive. Fat lasts much longer than muscle. Also, fat is a major part of the endocrine system, it's considered a major organ. The body burning off only fat during starvation would be equivalent to your body cannabalizing your liver or kidneys during starvation. Fat also only takes about half the number of calories to support than an equivalent amount of muscle.

During starvation situations, muscle is simply expendable, fat isn't.

As for the eating to boost your metabolism thing, that's a myth that has been debunked thousands of times.

Here's some reading.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/88/4/906.abstract

The body does not think and make decisions. The muscles need calories and will use the calories you eat, and burn the fat for more calories. You lose the muscle when you are not taking in enough calories and you are all out of fat stores to burn for fuel. You will also lose muscle if you are not using your muscles.

The body doesn't think, but hormones control all of these 'decisions'.

This, after all, when did I ever say the body "thinks?" These are automated survival responses that kick in during extreme situations. The human body certainly doesn't think, that's why it doesn't understand that the large calorie restriction is being done intentionally to lose weight, all it knows is that food has suddenly become scarce, and physiological and hormonal changes kick in to keep the body alive as long as possible in hopes that the famine will end and food will become plentiful again. If the body could "think," it would understand that you wanted to burn fat, and wouldn't allow cortisol levels to rise, leading to catabolic states that burn lean mass while preserving fat.

I agree i also think starvation mode is a myth At least until you get to a very low percentage of body fat... Its very popular these days but dont be fooled it really is a myth If starvation mode were really true no one would be starving in the world their would be no anorexics. People need common sense .... Why would you body hold on to fat for dear life. and your metab come to a sudden hult Nope.. it might slow but you can speed it up by exercising and eating every few hours.

Your body holds onto fat because that's its survival mechanism when there is no food. You can survive a famine much longer with more fat and less muscle than you can with more muscle and less fat, so the body sacrifices muscle first. The human body doesn't understand the concept of dieting. It only understands that there is no food available, so it needs to conserve as much energy as it can in order to keep you alive until food is found.

And exercising and eating every few hours doesn't speed up your metabolism, that's a complete myth.

Source?

Tufts School of Medicine, PubMed, Mayo Clinic, lots of places to read up on biology. The human body's entire purpose is to stay alive. Fat lasts much longer than muscle. Also, fat is a major part of the endocrine system, it's considered a major organ. The body burning off only fat during starvation would be equivalent to your body cannabalizing your liver or kidneys during starvation. Fat also only takes about half the number of calories to support than an equivalent amount of muscle.

During starvation situations, muscle is simply expendable, fat isn't.

As for the eating to boost your metabolism thing, that's a myth that has been debunked thousands of times.

Here's some reading.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/88/4/906.abstract

The body does not think and make decisions. The muscles need calories and will use the calories you eat, and burn the fat for more calories. You lose the muscle when you are not taking in enough calories and you are all out of fat stores to burn for fuel. You will also lose muscle if you are not using your muscles.

The body doesn't think, but hormones control all of these 'decisions'.

This, after all, when did I ever say the body "thinks?" These are automated survival responses that kick in during extreme situations. The human body certainly doesn't think, that's why it doesn't understand that the large calorie restriction is being done intentionally to lose weight, all it knows is that food has suddenly become scarce, and physiological and hormonal changes kick in to keep the body alive as long as possible in hopes that the famine will end and food will become plentiful again. If the body could "think," it would understand that you wanted to burn fat, and wouldn't allow cortisol levels to rise, leading to catabolic states that burn lean mass while preserving fat.

Why does your body store fat, if it's never going to use it?

People will tell you that if you want to lose weight, one of the best ways to do that is to build muscle because muscle is more metabolically active. Your body will require more calories for the muscle and will also burn your fat stores for fuel (the body stores fat for the purpose of using it in times of need).

Cutting some quotes; hope you don't mind.

The problem with the above is you can't build any substantial amount of muscle while on a calorie restrictive diet as per the laws of physics. It helps bodybuilders and athletes, certainly, to cut fat in the future but for your average person it's not an effective game plan.

I agree that it's not an effective game plan for building muscle and would never recommend that. But, the laws of physics do not instantly change because a person did not eat enough calories. I'm just asking people to apply logic. Long term caloric restriction will lead to problems. But, the body still functions within the laws of physics when experiencing a short term lack of calories (if you already have muscle). I'm not recommending that. Your muscles do their job to sustain themselves and when they can no longer sustain themselves they will diminish.

People will tell you that if you want to lose weight, one of the best ways to do that is to build muscle because muscle is more metabolically active. Your body will require more calories for the muscle and will also burn your fat stores for fuel (the body stores fat for the purpose of using it in times of need).

Cutting some quotes; hope you don't mind.

The problem with the above is you can't build any substantial amount of muscle while on a calorie restrictive diet as per the laws of physics. It helps bodybuilders and athletes, certainly, to cut fat in the future but for your average person it's not an effective game plan.

I agree that it's not an effective game plan for building muscle and would never recommend that. But, the laws of physics do not suddenly change because a person did not eat enough calories. I'm just asking people to apply logic.

That's the thing. The laws of physics are the same but the numbers change. Processes (like healing/growth) are slowed and eventually shut off with heavy calorie restriction over a long period of time as a hormonal response. Thus your BMR lowers, and you burn less energy.

People will tell you that if you want to lose weight, one of the best ways to do that is to build muscle because muscle is more metabolically active. Your body will require more calories for the muscle and will also burn your fat stores for fuel (the body stores fat for the purpose of using it in times of need).

Cutting some quotes; hope you don't mind.

The problem with the above is you can't build any substantial amount of muscle while on a calorie restrictive diet as per the laws of physics. It helps bodybuilders and athletes, certainly, to cut fat in the future but for your average person it's not an effective game plan.

I agree that it's not an effective game plan for building muscle and would never recommend that. But, the laws of physics do not suddenly change because a person did not eat enough calories. I'm just asking people to apply logic.

That's the thing. The laws of physics are the same but the numbers change. Processes (like healing/growth) are slowed and eventually shut off with heavy calorie restriction over a long period of time as a hormonal response. Thus your BMR lowers, and you burn less energy.

Maybe we are having a misunderstanding because I am not talking about long term caloric restriction, I am talking about short term, and to be clear I only mean in circumstances that are not ideal. I am not at all recommending it because it is unhealthy and unpredictable how the body will respond to it.

Well if you mean not eating for 12 hours inducing Starvation Mode is crap, I fully agree

I really can't believe it when I see some people recommending to others who are working to lose weight that they should eat back their exercise calories.

You've been here so long, argued with so many people, and yet, you still miss the boat every time. You eat them back to avoid creating an unsustainable deficit that encourages hormonal responses that trigger catabolism. It's not the best system, but its a damn site better than disregarding the energy expenditure of exercise altogether.