Starvation mode

mfreeman0921 · June 2013

Hey everyone. If I don't eat the calories I burn off during excersise, will my body go into starvation mode? My goal is to lose 2lb per week. Today I burned around 750 calories. So, if my goal calorie intake is 1350, should I eat 2100 calories today? And if I just stick to the 1350, would that be unhealthy?

Also, if anyone would like to add me as a friend please do! I need as much motivation as possible

WhyFlowersExist · June 2013

If your constantly burning 750 calories a day and only eating 1350 im gonna say yes your body will go into starvation mode, however that just means your metabolism will slow to adjust for the lack of nutrients your body is recieving you really should calculate your TDEE. Then minus 20% from that too lose weight.

vecchioni23 · June 2013

I do not think so.. if you are eating the proper things your body needs then you will not go into starvation. You work hard to burn those calories so why eat them back?

mfreeman0921 · June 2013

That's what I thought too but everytime I workout and just eat my recommended 1350 it says I am consuming too few calories and could go into starvation mode. I think it's bc MFP calculates the calories it would take for me to lose weight per week without the excersise.

j6o4 · June 2013

if you eat to low in calories, yes you will lose weight but your going to lose most of it in the form of muscle which will result in a slower metabolism.

RAmelia63 · June 2013

I must admit that I don't understand this starvation mode thing. I have been consuming less than 1200 calories a day for over 6 months now. I'm at the gym between 5 and 6 am and work out 5-6 times a week, leaving 400-600 calories behind with each workout. Everyone (including my food tracker) tells me I am eating too low cause technically I should be eating the 1200 PLUS whatever I burned. But I am NOT HUNGRY so why should I force myself to eat just to go over the 1200 threshold if I am not hungry?
Also, the theory of your body hanging onto fat doesn't make sense to me. AWFUL comparison but what about folks who drop weight because they can't access food for a few days? Wouldn't that be the same concept? Sorry. I'm just cranky cause the pounds aren't coming off

TigressPat · June 2013

I must admit that I don't understand this starvation mode thing. I have been consuming less than 1200 calories a day for over 6 months now. I'm at the gym between 5 and 6 am and work out 5-6 times a week, leaving 400-600 calories behind with each workout. Everyone (including my food tracker) tells me I am eating too low cause technically I should be eating the 1200 PLUS whatever I burned. But I am NOT HUNGRY so why should I force myself to eat just to go over the 1200 threshold if I am not hungry?
Also, the theory of your body hanging onto fat doesn't make sense to me. AWFUL comparison but what about folks who drop weight because they can't access food for a few days? Wouldn't that be the same concept? Sorry. I'm just cranky cause the pounds aren't coming off

I think you just unintentionally proved the point of all the "starvation mode" advocates!

grimendale · June 2013

If you eat too few calories on a regular basis (a few days won't do it), your body will go into self preservations mode. It requires significantly more energy to maintain muscle cells than fat cells, so it will tend to canibalize muscle tissue for daily energy expenditures in order to maintain a secure source of food in the event that the deprivation continues. You'll lose weight while this happens, but a lot of it will be muscle tissue rather than fat. This is a part of the reason that anorexics look so skeletal - their bodies consumed most of their muscle tissue before tapping into fat reserves, so by the time they look "skinny", they have no muscle mass left. Case in point: the last time I lost weight, I did it by starving myself and working out obsessively (I ate only 200-300 calories a day, tops). I got down to about 185, but I was flabby and tired all the time, and I has a 38" waist (only measurement I remember). Having regained the weight after I started eating again (since I couldn't maintain that lifestyle), I decided to lose healthy this time. I'm currently 195 lbs, but my waist is down to 34" and I have a lot more energy and strength. You can lose weight if you starve your body of what it needs, but it won't be the weight you want it to be.

devil_in_a_blue_dress · June 2013

I must admit that I don't understand this starvation mode thing. I have been consuming less than 1200 calories a day for over 6 months now. I'm at the gym between 5 and 6 am and work out 5-6 times a week, leaving 400-600 calories behind with each workout. Everyone (including my food tracker) tells me I am eating too low cause technically I should be eating the 1200 PLUS whatever I burned. But I am NOT HUNGRY so why should I force myself to eat just to go over the 1200 threshold if I am not hungry?
Also, the theory of your body hanging onto fat doesn't make sense to me. AWFUL comparison but what about folks who drop weight because they can't access food for a few days? Wouldn't that be the same concept? Sorry. I'm just cranky cause the pounds aren't coming off

You're not eating enough, you've slowed your metabolism, weight isn't coming off. Welcome to what is colloquially know as "starvation mode". Eat more, you will lose more. You will be less cranky.

mfreeman0921 · June 2013

Thanks everyone. It's starting to make sense to me. I am having a hard time eating all of the calories back bc I am just not hungry enough to eat an additional 700 calories a day but I am doing my best to increase at least 300 calories on the days I work out.

MikeBenWilliams · June 2013

You're likely not losing any weight because of Metabolic Damage, similar to what everyone is talking about. Lowering calories too much and doing excessive exercise absolutely hurts and slows the metabolism. Heres a great video on what is going on.

http://youtu.be/QHHzie6XRGk

Starvation mode

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