Is starvation mode a myth?

people will argue no because of the word choice

semantics.

prolonged eating at such a low calorie amount is a recipe for disaster metabolically, hormonally, mentally, you name it.

read...educate yourself...you feel satisfied, but your body doesnt know better...you have trained it to accept low amounts of food and feel full.

This is how I feel too. I haven't been reaching my calorie limit, but I just don't feel hungry.

Of course if you haven't eaten in 48 hours it's (starvation mode) is obviously not a myth.
.... But just eating less than 1,200 calories when your body is happy surely can't be starvation mode.
Can it?

I have only eaten 890 calories today and feel satisfied and full of energy. According to MFP, I should be in starvation mode but my body is telling my otherwise. I have read several worrisome responses about people eating less than 12,000 calories but don't believe it.

My theory is that your body knows better than some written nutritions rules.

This idea came from a Minnesota study were men were placed on a low calorie diet (1500 calories which is about the equivalent of 1200 calories for women). Keep in mind these men had low body fat % to start with, and were on this diet for several months. They did see a reduction in their metabolism but it wasn't as nearly as large as some quoted figures (eg I have heard 80% cited). You have to remember as you get smaller your metabolism does decrease.

So it is a myth that eating 1200 calories a day will put your body into starvation mode unless you're already very lean. It's a myth that not eating for 24 hours will put you into starvation mode.

Here is an article for more information http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm

http://lifehacker.com/5856345/10-more-stubborn-food-myths-that-just-wont-die-debunked-by-science

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science

people will argue no because of the word choice

semantics.

prolonged eating at such a low calorie amount is a recipe for disaster metabolically, hormonally, mentally, you name it.

read...educate yourself...you feel satisfied, but your body doesnt know better...you have trained it to accept low amounts of food and feel full.

^ This. Pretty much the main concern is your body adjusting to the lower calorie intake (slowing of metabolism) over time (won't happen right away). Say someone was to eat at 800 cals for several months (6+) to lose weight and they stall out for say another 3 months. Thus they have now been eating 800 cals for 9+ months, the body has adapted by slowing the metabolism so that now they are close to eating at maintenance. Said person then decides to overcome this stall they should increase exercise and lower calories some more. This person is now getting into dangerously a low area. This is why MFP warns you when your net is under 1200. It can also cause other health problems. You can easily adapt your body to not enough calories and as such not feel hungry. Doesn't mean it's healthy.

That being said, there is no one size fits all method. Everyone has different amounts that they should eat to lose weight at a healthy rate. You will get a bunch of different opinions on the matter.

While I feel that you probably aren't eating enough. I think it is up to you to decide where to go from here. Some threads you might want to read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/963088-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/919536-get-your-metabolic-rate-tested-my-metabolic-reset-story?hl=get+your+metabolic+rate+tested
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

it's not a myth and you will eff yourself up. read the thread on here about metabolism reset. undereating caused her metabolism to drop by like 50%.

How has this person measured their metabolism?

She went to a doctor and had her resting metabolic rate tested.

Okay - so she got it measured before and after she reduced her caloric intake? How much did she reduce her calories by? Also how much weight did she lose?

it's not a myth and you will eff yourself up. read the thread on here about metabolism reset. undereating caused her metabolism to drop by like 50%.

How has this person measured their metabolism?

She went to a doctor and had her resting metabolic rate tested.

Okay - so she got it measured before and after she reduced her caloric intake? How much did she reduce her calories by? Also how much weight did she lose?

I posted the link. Read it for yourself and make a decision about it. That is why I posted it. It is better for you to read it yourself then to have me give a biased summary of it.

It's a fact that your body is an amazingly adaptive responsive organism that does change in response to food intake or lack thereof. The argument is in the variables and terminology.

One rarely discussed but very important variable is micro-nutrients, like vitamin and minerals. If you are taking in an enormous amount of micro-nutrients it will take longer for your body to experience problems on a lower calorie diet, than if you are not. Eating a huge deficit on a low nutrition diet will speed the issues dramatically. But the issues are real and will hit no matter what, sooner or later. Your body has multiple levels of response, from short term to long term. Short term energy deficits are made up by glycogen stored in the muscles and then in the liver. Longer term deficits must be met by burning body fat, still longer term deficits the body will start to eat muscle and still longer it will break down organs. But well before breaking down occurs the body adapts to the deficit by signalling energy saving throughout the system, fatigue, tiredness, lethargy, muddled thoughts are all symptoms of a body slowing down to save energy.

Bottom line it is not a myth but it also has layers of affect and many variables involved in how soo you will feel it. I prefer not even to dink with the short term slow down signals, I want my metabolism boosted so I am working to STOP skipping meals, something that statistically speaking most overweight people do. It hits the metabolism and it hits binge eating later in the day. So I "try" to eat no less often than every 4 waking hours, starting as soon after waking up as possible.

Can you lose weight eating only once a day? Yes. Can you lose weight skipping meals, and binging? Yes. Can you lose weight on twinkies and hohos? Yes, if you can get them. Can you lose weight with an amebic metabolism? Yes. It's just easier and faster if you don't fight nature! Do you have to over complicate weight loss and follow a million rules? NO! But again, the more care you take to play by each bit of science you can bring to bear the faster and more healthfully your weight loss will occur. I follow what I can when I can, but let the rest go. Anguishing and fretting and feeling guilty about every little mistake I make are behaviors that work against my forward momentum so I let it go.

However, I do not throw the baby out with the bathwater and decide that just because something may seem difficult to begin with it should be ignored. I take it all in and apply it as I am able, neither doing it all nor ignoring it all and doing nothing. Because I realize I can grow and adapt over time. Were it not so, I would not have burned 56 pounds of fat in the past 15 weeks.

Myth? No. Something to worry about to the point of stopping forward progress? No. Something to pay attention too, as you become willing and able? Definitely! Long term you will not be doing yourself any favors by over restricting calories!