Starvation mode?

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Ok so as of right now I'm "starving myself" if you look through my diary I'm averaging most days about 500 calories and sometimes getting up to 900 but extremely rare. I have been reading online that there have been some research studies showing where starvation mode isn't real. And if i was starving myself wouldn't I stop loosing weight?? Help!

Replies

  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 503 Member
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    OH FOR GOD'S SAKE! Are you??? Are you losing weight? Do you have energy? How is your general health? Is your hair falling out? Or do you feel good? Only you can answer and only you know what works for you and what doesn't. For crap's sake you lost 95 pounds!!!! I would say your doing freaking awesome. And unless your DOCTOR (who you should be seeing if you are eating that low cal and losing that much weight), tells you otherwise, not a bunch of amateur know it all's on this board tells you, keep up the good work!
  • NathanFronk
    NathanFronk Posts: 137 Member
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    OH FOR GOD'S SAKE! Are you??? Are you losing weight? Do you have energy? How is your general health? Is your hair falling out? Or do you feel good? Only you can answer and only you know what works for you and what doesn't. For crap's sake you lost 95 pounds!!!! I would say your doing freaking awesome.
    Agreed, though I would have used fewer question marks :)

    and exclamation points.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 503 Member
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    It is a disorder...What can I say?!?!?
  • ashbash115
    ashbash115 Posts: 24
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    Ha thanks for your help I am loosing weight Im averaging 3-4.5 pounds a week and although in the shower if I run my fingers through my hair it does come out a bit but it's always done that even when I was heavier. Everyone is just freaking me out with the whole eating your organs thing
  • Binkie1955
    Binkie1955 Posts: 329 Member
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    this is a useless idea. where did you get this idea? starving makes no sense. it only consumes your bodies existing fat and protein stores. the weight that you're trying to lose is the 'fat' which you can only lose by limiting carbohydrate consumption and eating proteins and fats. Please read 'Good Calories Bad Calories' and get the science under control and go back to eating.
  • lucystacy71
    lucystacy71 Posts: 290 Member
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    I actually do the same thing, and I've talked to my dietician about it. I've lost 11lbs in a week so far, so it is working for me, and I'm not overly tired. At least I'm not any more tired than usual. I have to eat very few calories because of some of the medicines I'm on cause weight gain and I get some calories from my dialysis solution. I rarely eat over 700 calories, and I average a little over 500 a day. If I drop below 400 I do get tired and weak, so I know I need to stay above that. Your body usually knows what it needs.
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    Judging by your pics you would lose weight eating 2000 calories. You don't want to eat less than 1000 because your metabolism will slow down to support bodily functions. You've lost weight, awesome. But, you will gain it back the minute you start eating because yes, you've practically entered "starvation mode" where your body basically takes energy from any where possible. You will lose weight but at what expense? You will eventually enter CNS fatigue depending on how hard you train.
    Anyways, good luck.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    sigh... try listing your food at nutiion.com and see if you get enough nutrition.
  • VeinsAndBones
    VeinsAndBones Posts: 550 Member
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    this is a useless idea. where did you get this idea? starving makes no sense. it only consumes your bodies existing fat and protein stores. the weight that you're trying to lose is the 'fat' which you can only lose by limiting carbohydrate consumption and eating proteins and fats. Please read 'Good Calories Bad Calories' and get the science under control and go back to eating.

    not_sure_if_serious.jpg
  • born2drum
    born2drum Posts: 731 Member
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    I just can't believe 400-900 cals a day. I'm sure runway models eat about that and boy do they look hideous. Blah lol.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
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    You look like you are on some kind of high protein diet. Protein is good, I could do with eating more of it and cutting my carbs back, I have to admire someone who can eat turkey bacon, ham, turkey burger and chicken breast all in one day.

    however I would be a bit concerned at the lack of veggies in the days I looked at. They give you all kinds of nutrients and vitamins.

    But if this is working for you, I guess you will keep doing it, but I do think you could eat more and still lose weight, sorry but I am always a bit disturbed by such low calorie diets.

    But good luck to you and I hope you can sustain this long enough to reach goal and then you can go to much higher calories for maintenance.
  • roxo89
    roxo89 Posts: 13 Member
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    Well if you stop eating at all you will lose even more faster!

    but seriously... I don't think that eating so little is healthy. You will probably slow your metabolism and when a day comes when you hit plateau you wont be able to cut anymore because your body will try to hold every bit from the little fuel you are giving to it. And when you will start eating normally again you will gain it all back plus more. And you probably now are losing muscle too from malnutrition. Do you want to eat 400-900 cals for the rest of your life?

    A lot of people have this mindset that they need to restrict themselves into a "diet", but really it must be a life adjustment so you can keep up for the rest of your life and keep the weight away the healthy way. Just my opinion. Please take care.
  • NathanFronk
    NathanFronk Posts: 137 Member
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    Well if you stop eating at all you will lose even more faster!
    Yup.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 503 Member
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    Go to your Doctor.
    I will say there is a HUGE difference between a 100 lb model starving herself and a man of 200 lbs. You got some junk there to spare. And if you are moving at all and eating protein I doubt your metabolism has shut down - especially with your weekly loses. Crap, I would eat that everyday if I could lose 3-4 lbs a week, but it doesn't work like that for me. I would heed the words of wisdom regarding when you start increasing calories. BE planful.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,154 Member
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    Starvation mode is very real. There is a massive misconception that it somehow prevents you from losing weight. It does not. In starvation mode, you will lose weight, but it will be unhealthy, and much of it will be lean body mass, not fat.

    You need to make sure you eat enough. It seems counterintuitive, but eating too few calories will hinder fat loss. When you enter all of your vital statistics into MFP, it comes up with a total number of calories you should be eating. This number includes a healthy deficit below what you would need to eat to maintain, so you should try to get as close to that number as possible. When you burn calories, your body pulls both from fat reserves and muscle tissue, but the ratio of the two can change. When you eat at a small deficit and exercise, your body will tend to pull from fat reserves since they are easier to access and your muscles are being used. When the deficit grows too large for too long, your body will start to shift towards burning muscle tissue rather than fat. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat cells, so when your body expects to not get enough food for an extended period, it will hoard fat cells to try to maintain an energy reserve for future use. You will still lose weight, but most of that weight will be muscle, not fat. As long as your deficit is small, your body isn't worried about getting enough food and will be comfortable burning through the fat reserves.

    I've done what you are doing, and it does not lead to a good place. If you keep this up long term, you run the risk of doing damage to your metabolism and ending up at a low weight, but high body fat. It took me years to undo all of the damage I did eating about 300 calories a day for six months. Don't make the same mistake.
  • NancyKhuu
    NancyKhuu Posts: 87 Member
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    I can tell you my experience with the "starvation mode". Back in my HS days I went into a 400 cal or less diet per day after being called "fat" by some guys at school (I was only 103lbs back then. Kids are mean!) I persisted with that unhealthy diet for 3 weeks. What I noticed was my hair loss, and I mean tons of them. Also, my nails started to break like they were made of crackers; they also looked yellow-brownish disgusting. My skin became slight green and my eyes were red. I had extreme headache, I couldn't think and started to lose my grades, which was what got me to stop dieting like that (couldn't risk my grades... I was a nerd :) )

    Yea... horrible experience. Don't do that.
  • symonspatrick
    symonspatrick Posts: 213 Member
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    Being healthy is what is important. With a low calorie diet it is important to make sure you are getting adequate nutrition. If you are taking in less calories than your body needs you will lose weight. If you are obese the majority of that weight will be fat. If you have low body fat the majority of that weight will come from your muscles and your bones and your organs. You don't have to starve to lose weight. You only have to eat and drink less calories than your body needs.