Am I really triggering this starvation mode thing?

Tenorninja1
Tenorninja1 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
My MFP daily calorie goal is 1270, but my new diet has put me at around 950 these last few days. I'm NOT starving myself- I eat 7 times a day (3 meals, 3 snacks and a midnight snack if I think I earned it), I just eat a lot of low calorie food and have a slight giant pickle addiction. If I wasn't eating mostly diet food and pickles I'm sure I would be well over my limit (a diet brownie and a homemade brownie are two very different things) do I really have to try to fit in 200 extra calories or will my body understand?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I am genuinely worried that I might be reversing any progress I think I'm making

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    900 cals is one MEAL for me so i cant really comment!

    i like food, so if i can eat more and STILL lose weight, i will do! i bet a real brownie tastes MUCH nicer than a diet one!
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    What diet would promote such a low calorie consumption? Certainly not a healthy nor doctor-supervised one.
  • squindles
    squindles Posts: 350 Member
    950 cals??????? :noway: :noway: :noway: :huh: :huh: :huh:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/DarrelBirkett/view/post-contents-503047
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Forge the phrase starvation mode - it does exist but the majority of us do not need to worry about it. It is misused and misunderstood.

    That said - consistently eating too few will hurt your metabolism. It is also often difficult to maintain. What you are eating is too few calories. Even some people who reach 1200 are still eating too little.
    There is no reason to eat so few calories. You do not need to eat "diet food" . Eat, just not too much. Figure out your BMR and your TDEE and eat somewhere between that.

    The link above has some good info for that.
  • Tenorninja1
    Tenorninja1 Posts: 10
    I never said the diet had a specific calorie count, because it doesn't. It's a meal count, really. I could eat 2500 calories a day and still be sticking with it, as long as I avoided certain foods, embraced certain others and stuck to the meal sked. I've gone higher, but I bought a lot if diet food i wanted to test out and its just not gone higher than 950 in the last few days. It's still a lot of food, just less calories.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    I never said the diet had a specific calorie count, because it doesn't. It's a meal count, really. I could eat 2500 calories a day and still be sticking with it, as long as I avoided certain foods, embraced certain others and stuck to the meal sked. I've gone higher, but I bought a lot if diet food i wanted to test out and its just not gone higher than 950 in the last few days. It's still a lot of food, just less calories.

    Don't worry about the "diet" food. Eat real tasty food.
    Plan your diary the day before - add in each meal, and if you haven't met your target, swap things about, add things in, so that you can hit your calorie and macro targets.

    That would be better than eating each meal as low calorie as possible through the day, and then getting to the end and discovering that you haven't met your goal.

    It is really hard to see how you can be meeting your nutritional needs on just 950 calories.
  • jdhoward_101
    jdhoward_101 Posts: 234 Member
    That diet does not sound safe; if i were you i would stick to what MFP is telling you, i really can't stress enough just how well it works; i've been trying to lose a stone since the ened of January, with no luck, but since joining MFP i've lost several pounds easily. I'd say stick with this! Good luck x
  • Tenorninja1
    Tenorninja1 Posts: 10
    I never said the diet had a specific calorie count, because it doesn't. It's a meal count, really. I could eat 2500 calories a day and still be sticking with it, as long as I avoided certain foods, embraced certain others and stuck to the meal sked. I've gone higher, but I bought a lot if diet food i wanted to test out and its just not gone higher than 950 in the last few days. It's still a lot of food, just less calories.

    Don't worry about the "diet" food. Eat real tasty food.
    Plan your diary the day before - add in each meal, and if you haven't met your target, swap things about, add things in, so that you can hit your calorie and macro targets.

    That would be better than eating each meal as low calorie as possible through the day, and then getting to the end and discovering that you haven't met your goal.

    It is really hard to see how you can be meeting your nutritional needs on just 950 calories.

    Thanks, ill try that. I won't go overboard and raid the fast food places or anything, but I'll start looking around for yummy, filling meals ill enjoy more and that'll put me at a healthier calorie count while still keeping in synch with my diet plan.
  • yamsteroo
    yamsteroo Posts: 480 Member
    Even if you're eating a lot of volume, if you aren't eating enough calories to sustain your body, it can't be a good thing.

    Personally, I've been trying to avoid the 'diet' food trap as my main issue was eating too much, not what I ate so I'm trying to recalibrate what I see as a portion/healthy rather than replace it with a substitute. Most diet stuff is padded out with things you probably don't want to be eating and are never as good as the real thing - just don't eat the whole cake :)
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    if you are only getting 950 calories eating what you are eating then you need to change what you are eating.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    You are triggering lots of health issues. Research what eating a very low calorie diet can do to you. It's not worth it when you can do it eating at a sensible amount and fueling your body at the same time. It need nutrients to do well.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    I just saw a post from you about running - if you are exercising 900 calories is far far too low. Even 1200 probably is if you don't eat back your exercise calories.

    Check out this persons experience and she thought she was eating enough
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/919536-get-your-metabolic-rate-tested-my-metabolic-reset-story
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    Unless you are a pixie who sits watching Pixy TV all day and doing no exercise, then 900 calories is not going to be enough. Your body will simply slow down metabolism so that even though you will eventually lose regardless, it's going to be slow and very painful and your body will be fighting to expend as little energy as possible.

    If by 'diet food' you mean products labelled 'diet', 'low-fat' and the like then I'd suggest leaving them alone. Mass produced 'diet food' is frankenfood; it's generally low in fat/high in sugar and full of all kinds of crap to make the result taste like something. Just eat healthy and either set your MFP to the recommended weight loss (which is 1lb a week) and then eat the calories you expend in exercise on top of the number it gives you or look at the various threads to work out your TDEE and set a custom goal of TDEE -20%, not eating the calories you expend in exercise.

    And if you absolutely want a brownie - then for god's sake have a real brownie and not a 'diet' brownie that's full of crap. There's nothing wrong with eating a brownie if it fits into your day's calorie intake goal.
  • kateroisin
    kateroisin Posts: 12
    Most of the people on this site get all of their info from MFP and therefore believe in "starvation mode." Try searching for peer-reviewed articles on PubMed or another scientific database. Don't do your research on MFP! Good luck in meeting your goals!
  • Django1977
    Django1977 Posts: 73
    My MFP daily calorie goal is 1270, but my new diet has put me at around 950 these last few days. I'm NOT starving myself- I eat 7 times a day (3 meals, 3 snacks and a midnight snack if I think I earned it), I just eat a lot of low calorie food and have a slight giant pickle addiction. If I wasn't eating mostly diet food and pickles I'm sure I would be well over my limit (a diet brownie and a homemade brownie are two very different things) do I really have to try to fit in 200 extra calories or will my body understand?

    I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I am genuinely worried that I might be reversing any progress I think I'm making

    Hey there,

    that is very very very very low in calories!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I would recommend that you use a calorie calculator or let us know your weight, height, age, activity level is so that I can look at. If you want to do it your own go to -> http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ . Ok, it is only an estimation but you will see that you are eating way to less.

    See your body needs minimum BMR (basic metabolic rate) to function normal. If you don´t eat your BMR, your brain will get a signal that your body is starving. And the human body is very smart... everything you eat then will be needed for keep you alive and the other part will be stored in fat store.

    You really should read some "healthy eating and strengthtraining or cardio books". You can search the web for Tom Venutos burn-the-fat-feed-the-muscle book or something else.

    950 kcal is not healthy and you are triggering the starvation mode.

    Read that -> http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2012/12/starvation-mode-revisited.php

    Cheers.

    Feel free to add me or ask me per email.

    Django

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