Question about "starvation mode"

brandypinky22
brandypinky22 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am not sure whether or not I believe in starvation mode. However, a lot of people on here seem to swear by it. My curiosity about starvation mode is why do people who get weight loss surgery and thus decrease their calories to extremely low levels still continue to lose. I am not commenting on whether or not surgery is a good or bad option just wonder if starvation mode is so prevalent when it comes to weight loss it somehow doesn't seem to apply in these situations.

Replies

  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    First, I hate the term "starvation mode." It is very misleading and there is a lot of myth around it. Without knowing more about your situation like how many calories you intake daily and how long you've been on that plan, there is no way to say whether you are eating at a level that would cause some metabolic and hormonal adaptation.

    When you eat a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) over an extended period of time, you experience certain adaptations. One of these is metabolic, where your metabolism downregulates to adapt to the low level of energy (food) intake. This adaptation can be fairly permanent and hard to reverse. The negative of it is that when you have hit your weight loss goal, you will always have to eat at a fairly reduced amount of calories because you have effectively lowered the amount of energy your metabolism will use daily.

    Another adaptation is hormonal. Leptin and Gherlin, the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety get out of whack.

    Lastly, when you are on a VLCD for a prolonged period of time, you lose critical lean muscle tissue.

    The best strategy is a conservative deficit and workouts to maintain lean muscle mass while losing fat.

    Took a look at your diary and you seem to be eating a fairly reasonable level of calories. A little low but not likely in a range that might cause adaptive thermogenesis (what I described above). Have you been in calorie restriction for a long time without a break? Why are you concerned about "Starvation Mode"?
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Lastly, when you are on a VLCD for a prolonged period of time, you lose critical lean muscle tissue.

    The best strategy is a conservative deficit and workouts to maintain lean muscle mass while losing fat.

    This is what you basically need to know about not eating enough.. Surgery is only really used in life threatening obese situations where a person may have 200+ lbs to lose (atleast I think those are still the qualifications).. and yes that person does at a very low calorie level but they are monitored by a doctor AND if they eat certain foods they have a chance of getting sick or worse.. so they are forced into eating that way and thats for most of their life..
    With you having alot to lose, you could go with a bigger deficit than some of the people on here, however if you go too low with your calories there is always the chance that once you eat something normal or out of your norm, you will just gain weight.. I would suggest looking up your TDEE from the numerous calculators posted around and take a cut from that (20%) .
  • brandypinky22
    brandypinky22 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks for both the responses. I'm not really concerned about starvation mode for myself was just more curious how this concept applied to those who get surgeries. I already work my calories off of my tdee and have a large deficit now because I have a lot to lose. But, I'm far from perfect and there are days that I of course go over or way over. I myself am going for more of a lifestyle change as something I can maintain long term. For this reason there is usually one or two days a week I don't track simply because I don't think I can say realistically I want to track every calorie for the rest of my life and I am trying to develop skills long term like making better food choices and choosing appropriate portions without measuring every morsel. So thanks for the info!
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I really think when a lot of people use the term, they really mean that because you are eating too low of cals, your metabolism will slow down, because your body is not getting enough cals, it will slow to adjust to your intake. When your body is properly fed, it keeps your metabolism up.

    From reading what alot of people say after using the term, it seems to be what they mean. I don't think that actually mean you are starving to death.

    I would blame this term on physicians and such, because mine even uses the term still, but I understand what he means lol

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