Story about starvation mode
Options
LastFighter
Posts: 175 Member
Found it while surfing CNN
(CNN) -- Last year, Karen Daniel was feeling great about her weight. She had gone from 375 pounds to 200 in 24 months.
She was working out nine times a week and thrilled to have turned her life around. She no longer had to purchase two seats on an airplane. She went hot-air ballooning for the first time.
Daniel, one of Fit Nation's first success stories, said in February 2009, "Fit feels so good."
That feeling didn't last long.
Daniel started feeling bad after a trip to New York. She had a sinus infection, upper respiratory infection and bronchitis, she said recently from her home in Arizona. She started feeling better, but then got sick again. And healthy again. And sick again.
She went to two doctors who told her that her body was in "starvation mode," she said.
"I went way under on calories, and I got really sick," she said. "I went to under 1,000 calories a day, and I was working out between two and three hours a day. It was not a smart decision."
She felt like she was eating right, but she was gaining weight.
"It really is awful when you are doing everything you can and your body isn't cooperating," she said.
iReport: Share your weight-loss success story
Daniel says by the time she had gotten her health back, she had gained 35 pounds. She needed to make changes again.
She now eats about 1,500 calories a day, more if she's had a hard workout. She decided to drop her trainer, and now she works out with her friends at a new gym. And she adds in new types of exercise, escaping the rut of cardio and lifting weights she felt that she was in, thanks to her workout buddies.
Her friend David, who is 71, teaches her boxing. Another friend who was a professional rower taught her that sport. She also wanted to try tai chi and yoga so she enrolled in classes to see if she would like them.
"I surrounded myself with positive people," she said. "If you surround yourself with people who sabotage you or people who don't believe in you, you're not going to go as far as you should."
Before she lost weight, she said, she knew certain foods were bad for her, but she had no idea how bad. So she learned about food and started paying attention to the number of calories. The cinnamon roll she used to eat had 800 calories. It'll be a great day when all restaurants start posting the number of calories in each menu item, she said.
Daniel runs a website, ihavebones.com, where she shares her story with other people who want to lose a lot of weight.
"It's so hard for them to make that first step, but no matter how many times you have to do it, it is so worth it," she said. "Being healthy is so worth it. It's so worth being able to do everything you want to do and not have to worry about things. I used to be worried about sitting in a chair because I might break it."
It just might take a few tries at that first step. Daniel said she took it a "million" times. The thing that held her back was self-doubt. Some of her restarts would last a day, some two days, some longer. She just kept trying.
And it finally worked, until she overdid it and got sick. The past year has been hard, she said, but she believes that even setbacks are part of the process of losing weight. She came out of starvation mode mentally stronger, she said. She's back on track, having shed 10 pounds in recent months.
She even gives lectures to fitness professionals to give insight into the mind of someone who is morbidly obese, telling the trainers they have to be more than just a coach.
"I tell them everything I have been through so they know what to look for and their clients don't go through the same thing," she said.
Her illness made her research more. She read more and tried new things in the kitchen and the gym. She keeps a food journal.
She shares those tips on the website and still exchanges email with scores of people who became aware of her story after the Fit Nation Summit in 2008.
She tells them about the doors that have been opened for her through her weight loss. She no longer has to make excuses. There are no more sudden illnesses that prevent her from going to an event because she won't fit in -- literally and figuratively. She went to a recent class reunion after missing so many. Her old classmates told her she looked the same as in high school.
"If you only knew," she thought to herself.
She laughs about it, and happily reflects on another recent event, a business trip/family vacation to Ireland, which to many people could have been considered a disaster. There was volcanic ash that trapped people on the island when they were set to fly home. And she had pneumonia.
"In my head I thought even with pneumonia I am a thousand percent better then I used to be," she said, adding that she still went sightseeing with her husband and two daughters. "I can't stress enough how much it means to me; of not sitting on the sidelines and being able to participate with my family. That is the biggest blessing I could have hoped for."
(CNN) -- Last year, Karen Daniel was feeling great about her weight. She had gone from 375 pounds to 200 in 24 months.
She was working out nine times a week and thrilled to have turned her life around. She no longer had to purchase two seats on an airplane. She went hot-air ballooning for the first time.
Daniel, one of Fit Nation's first success stories, said in February 2009, "Fit feels so good."
That feeling didn't last long.
Daniel started feeling bad after a trip to New York. She had a sinus infection, upper respiratory infection and bronchitis, she said recently from her home in Arizona. She started feeling better, but then got sick again. And healthy again. And sick again.
She went to two doctors who told her that her body was in "starvation mode," she said.
"I went way under on calories, and I got really sick," she said. "I went to under 1,000 calories a day, and I was working out between two and three hours a day. It was not a smart decision."
She felt like she was eating right, but she was gaining weight.
"It really is awful when you are doing everything you can and your body isn't cooperating," she said.
iReport: Share your weight-loss success story
Daniel says by the time she had gotten her health back, she had gained 35 pounds. She needed to make changes again.
She now eats about 1,500 calories a day, more if she's had a hard workout. She decided to drop her trainer, and now she works out with her friends at a new gym. And she adds in new types of exercise, escaping the rut of cardio and lifting weights she felt that she was in, thanks to her workout buddies.
Her friend David, who is 71, teaches her boxing. Another friend who was a professional rower taught her that sport. She also wanted to try tai chi and yoga so she enrolled in classes to see if she would like them.
"I surrounded myself with positive people," she said. "If you surround yourself with people who sabotage you or people who don't believe in you, you're not going to go as far as you should."
Before she lost weight, she said, she knew certain foods were bad for her, but she had no idea how bad. So she learned about food and started paying attention to the number of calories. The cinnamon roll she used to eat had 800 calories. It'll be a great day when all restaurants start posting the number of calories in each menu item, she said.
Daniel runs a website, ihavebones.com, where she shares her story with other people who want to lose a lot of weight.
"It's so hard for them to make that first step, but no matter how many times you have to do it, it is so worth it," she said. "Being healthy is so worth it. It's so worth being able to do everything you want to do and not have to worry about things. I used to be worried about sitting in a chair because I might break it."
It just might take a few tries at that first step. Daniel said she took it a "million" times. The thing that held her back was self-doubt. Some of her restarts would last a day, some two days, some longer. She just kept trying.
And it finally worked, until she overdid it and got sick. The past year has been hard, she said, but she believes that even setbacks are part of the process of losing weight. She came out of starvation mode mentally stronger, she said. She's back on track, having shed 10 pounds in recent months.
She even gives lectures to fitness professionals to give insight into the mind of someone who is morbidly obese, telling the trainers they have to be more than just a coach.
"I tell them everything I have been through so they know what to look for and their clients don't go through the same thing," she said.
Her illness made her research more. She read more and tried new things in the kitchen and the gym. She keeps a food journal.
She shares those tips on the website and still exchanges email with scores of people who became aware of her story after the Fit Nation Summit in 2008.
She tells them about the doors that have been opened for her through her weight loss. She no longer has to make excuses. There are no more sudden illnesses that prevent her from going to an event because she won't fit in -- literally and figuratively. She went to a recent class reunion after missing so many. Her old classmates told her she looked the same as in high school.
"If you only knew," she thought to herself.
She laughs about it, and happily reflects on another recent event, a business trip/family vacation to Ireland, which to many people could have been considered a disaster. There was volcanic ash that trapped people on the island when they were set to fly home. And she had pneumonia.
"In my head I thought even with pneumonia I am a thousand percent better then I used to be," she said, adding that she still went sightseeing with her husband and two daughters. "I can't stress enough how much it means to me; of not sitting on the sidelines and being able to participate with my family. That is the biggest blessing I could have hoped for."
0
Replies
-
I read this on CNN recently too! I'll be eating my exercise calories...0
-
Scary! Thanks for sharing.0
-
Thanks for sharing...sad but true many are doing exactly that...
B0 -
But wouldn't getting sick make you lose more weight?
If a bout with pneumonia made me lose 20 pounds BRING ON THE PNEUMONIA!!!!0 -
But wouldn't getting sick make you lose more weight?
If a bout with pneumonia made me lose 20 pounds BRING ON THE PNEUMONIA!!!!
I sure hope this was sarcastic.0 -
Very interesting. Thanks for posting!0
-
But wouldn't getting sick make you lose more weight?
If a bout with pneumonia made me lose 20 pounds BRING ON THE PNEUMONIA!!!!
I sure hope this was sarcastic.
Seconded. If it wasnt...well.... :noway:
I'm certainly glad that woman figured out what was going on; I think what scares me the most is that there are people in the medical profession that actively TELL people to do similar things to what she was doing.
To my mind, Doctors (unless they are actually qualified in a nutritional field and keep closely updated on things in that area) should just point their patients in the direction of a qualified nutritionist/dietician.0 -
Thank you for sharing. If we look at it as a lifestyle instead of a diet and don't undereat or overexercise, we should feel healthier. Making yourself sick by overrestricting your calories is counterproductive to your goal of "getting healthy".0
-
But wouldn't getting sick make you lose more weight?
If a bout with pneumonia made me lose 20 pounds BRING ON THE PNEUMONIA!!!!
Good luck with that.0 -
But wouldn't getting sick make you lose more weight?
If a bout with pneumonia made me lose 20 pounds BRING ON THE PNEUMONIA!!!!
you'll lose more muscle mass than fat this way....I say bring it on!0 -
Oh dear lol. Losing weight from being sick is never permanent. I feel so sad when I see some of these responses.0
-
I think it was a pretty awesome attempt at sarcasm. Or trolling. Or...whatever.0
-
Interesting article, but I would recommend caution about drawing conclusions. By her own words, this woman was woefully ignorant about just about everything-and even now, instead of showing any personal accountability, she seems to assume a position of "helpless victim of circumstances". She reminds me of a lot of people on this website who mindlessly chase every fitness and diet fad out there and then complain about a lack of results, even though they are "doing everything right".0
-
If you go to her website, she adds more to her story:
"CNN's Story Update On Karen Daniel
By Karen
Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 12:10
CNN ran an update on me yesterday. There were a few things that were not included in the story. I wanted to explain.
As the story said I had gotten sick off and on for 6 months. I had to take antibiotics and then steroids to calm down my infections. I was against the steroids, but wanted to get better. I was sick of being sick. When I got sick, I had been on a eating plan and exercise program for 2 1/2 years and had eliminated 175 pounds.
Right before I went to New York for CNN Fit Nation Summit (11-08) I was eating under 1,000 calories a day and working out for about 2 to 3 hours a day. This is when I restricted my calories too much and my body went into starvation mode. Starvation Mode is where you have deprived your body of needed energy (calories) for an extended amount of time. Your body reacts to this by getting sick and then hoarding the energy (calories) intake.
This is when I got in trouble. The damage was already done to my metabolism. It takes awhile for your body not to worry about not getting enough calories.
This was a very difficult time of my life for me. I was not use to my body not working and not eliminating weight. I was embarrassed and ashamed about the weight gain.
I went to a nutritionist to make sure my eating plan and my vitamins / minerals intake were correct. I adjusted my eating plan. I went back up to eating 1,500 calories. I added different vitamins and an electrolyte mix to replenish my electrolytes I had lost during my workouts. I worked out 1.5 to 2 hours a day. I was eating healthy, working out and trying to get my body healthy and back to eliminating weight.
I had an upcoming lecture at ASU, so I had to get my PowerPoint ready. The PowerPoint included pictures of my weight elimination journey. While I was looking at the pictures I realized how far I had come. I was so focused on my body not cooperating with me I forgot how far I had come.
The students at ASU are future Doctors, Physical Therapists, Trainers and students that will help obese people when they graduate. I tell them my story; so they can learn from me. Most of students have not met a person who weighed 375 pounds. I explain what it is like to be 375 and not living, just existing. I am very honest with the struggles that obese people face everyday of their lives.
I told the students how my intake of calories went down to under 1,000 calories a day. It was followed by gasps and the oh no, you went way too low comments.
Weight elimination is a funny thing to understand sometimes when you haven't walked in my double wide Fred Flinstone's shoes. Being obese is not just about your physical body. You don't get to 375 pounds by not having an emotional eating problem. I explain to the students the feelings and emotional pain of being obese.
It took almost a year for my body to come out of this mess I put my body in. I told this story to CNN so people can learn from my mistakes and not have to go through what I went through.
I have learned a lot during this past year and a half. Belief it or not, I am better off learning this now then later. I'm sad I regained 35 pounds; but it has taught me a valuable lesson. One that I can pass on to others that are struggling with their weight.
I have a friend who says; "following footsteps in the snow of someone else is a lot easier and you know where to go."
My goal is to make the weight elimination journey easier for you. I didn't say it was going to be easy. If I did I would be lying to you. What they say is true about it being a lifestyle change. This journey is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It is also the most rewarding thing I have done.
I was asked to lecture in Spain about my weight elimination journey. My family was by my side. We then took a trip of a lifetime in Europe. I would have never been able to do that at 375 pounds. Not only would it have been impossible because of flying (look at Airplane Flight Video under Audios and Videos), but also I physically couldn't walk in Europe.
I was finally living not existing with my family. That was the biggest reward of all! Everyday I discover things I was not able to do before when I weighed 375 pounds.
I went to my first high school reunion in June. I never went before, because I gained so much weight since I graduated back in 1980 (did I just admit that?). I promised my friend Shelley the last time she came from Canada for the 20 year reunion I would go. All I can say is I am glad I eliminated most of the weight I had gained over the years after graduating high school. I was really surprised how many people said I did not change; I looked exactly the same as I did in high school. I weighed 145 in high school. The whole time in my head I laughed and thought to myself - If they only knew I weighed 375 pounds at my heaviest point in my life. I enjoyed seeing all my friends from high school that I lost touch with. The best thing was I kept my promise to Shelley. I'm not sure I would have done if I had not eliminated that weight.
If you have any questions, you can email me at karen@ihavebones.com.
I'll be talking to you soon."0 -
bump to read a bit later, thanks0
-
Bumping to get back to thanks for sharing :flowerforyou:0
-
Blood Sugar Gone Crazy
Potential Kidney Problems
Potential Liver Problems.
Body in pain thanks to not giving it enough time to recuperate after working out.
Bad case of 'the shakes'
All things I experienced after 6 months on around 600-800 cals a day.
Be careful peeps, it took you ages to get your body to where it is, it's not going to take 2 weeks to make it better again.
Edit - This time 1500-1800 cals a day. Excersizing 3-4 times a week and enjoying the small changes.
Edit - Oh, the feeling of Euphoria... not worth it when you're in constant pain.0 -
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
Then I guess the above article from Weight Watchers is a total lie, as it debunks the myth of starvation mode.
But I know I'm in the minority here as I don't buy the starvation mode idea. Nor do I buy the idea that there is a magic number of calories one must eat every day. I think weight loss is as individual as the person. No two bodies will react the same way to the same food. Find what works for you and stick with it.0 -
Anyone who does any kind of research knows that a 'normal' person should never go below 1200 calories for a woman, and I'm not sure what it is for a man. So why would you do it? It's common sense that spending your life in the gym, is just not safe or healthy. I guess I'm just shocked people can be so naive.0
-
Anyone who does any kind of research knows that a 'normal' person should never go below 1200 calories for a woman, and I'm not sure what it is for a man. So why would you do it? It's common sense that spending your life in the gym, is just not safe or healthy. I guess I'm just shocked people can be so naive.
Yet I was doing both.
And I proved it's not safe or healthy.
I'm not saying I was in any kind of 'starvation' mode. Just that if you do something like I was for an extended time you're going to give yourself health problems, just as you would if you ate 2 extra large pizza's every day for six months. Overloading and Under loading are both dangerous.
Edit: It's all about the balance.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 402 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 998 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions