Will this start "starvation" mode?
dcman236
Posts: 4
Hi guys, this is my first post here and I couldn't think of a better place to ask a question like this than here. So I'm generaly trying to lose weight, I've already lost some, doing good and I'm motivated but now it comes to those last few pounds (although I use kg) and more than that to body fat. So I'm really doing as much cardio as I can, basically every day, almost all of it being HIIT, also doing some work with weights in an attempt to lose body fat. I also understand that the key is in nutrition. As soon as I started my weight loss program I cut out all those bad thing I loved so much, like Coke or greasy food (I still eat a smaller pizza here and there) and in the last couple of weeks I've cut out almost everything I ever thought I couldn't live without. White bread, cheese, french fries, pasta, etc. Basically I drink a lot of fresh water, eat chicken (with a single drop of oil), boiled potatoes and green beans, tomatoes, spinach and watermelon. I'm really trying to not take many carbs from potatoes and such and more protein. When all this counts up I end up with 500-550 calories at max a day. And usualy I'll burn over 800 a day just doing cardio. But at the end of the day and during the day I'm fine, full, not hungry. Almost as if my body has gotten used to so little. So I was wondering if that is good or bad. I've read on multiple places that eating "less than" calories will get your body to starvation mode and you'll lose weight slowly. But is it really possible that with all the work I'm doing and the type of food I'm eating my body will still "work against" me? If you have any tips on how to specificaly lose body fat please share them and excuse me on such a long message, I just wanted to provide as much details as possible. Thank you in advance.
0
Replies
-
Forget Starvation mode. It is over used and misunderstood.
Regardless, eating that little will have a negative effect on your health whether it is truly starvation made or not. Actually at that level, it's closer to starvation.
Losing weight doesn't mean cutting everything out. High calorie foods aren't necessarily evil. You don't have to cut fat out, in fact, Your body NEEDS fat, likely absolutely can't function properly without it.
Add in calorie dense but also nutrient dense foods like nuts, nut butters, olive oil, avocado, add lots of veggies. You don't have to eat low calorie or low fat versions of food. They are good substitutes when you are having difficulty bringing down your calorie intake but if you struggle to hit goal, there is no need to use them.0 -
:noway:0
-
:noway:
This^0 -
Eating 500 calories a day is never good, but it is especially dangerous when also burning 800 calories. Where do you think your energy is going to come from? You risk serious damage to your health doing this. I suggest calculating your BMR and then eating close to that, at least, in calories, and you may have to add extra if you burn a lot, like those days when you burn 800. If you have a lot of fat to lose, going under your BMR can be ok for a little while, but as you get closer to goal weight, it just won't work. Eat real food: protein, fat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.0
-
I understand everything you guys just said and I've heard/read it many times before. The point that I'm trying to make is I don't feel hungry or extremely tired, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do all that cardio every single day. But I guess if I'm wrong, if because of the low calorie intake I'll still lose fat at a slower pace I can change my approach. The thing is, I'm not doing this as a one time "ASAP" thing and then get back to the way it was. I'm trying to change. All that food I mentioned in my original post is the food I absolutely like, except I made some changes to it, such as eating simple boiled potatoes instead of mash potatoes with buttter and milk or mixing green beans with rice.0
-
You might as well forget the weights because you aren't going to gain muscle at a deficit. What you are going to do is in end very sick from malnourishment by trying to live on 500 calories a day and losing a lot of lean muscle mass because you're body is going to run out of fuel.
Nobody is satisfied and not hungry on 500 calories a day. You're playing mind games to convince yourself of that. There are no bad foods so cutting out a ton of things you like isn't going to aid in anything except being deprived. Time to sit down and rethink your strategy.0 -
How do you cook chicken with "one drop" of oil?0
-
I understand everything you guys just said and I've heard/read it many times before. The point that I'm trying to make is I don't feel hungry or extremely tired, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do all that cardio every single day. But I guess if I'm wrong, if because of the low calorie intake I'll still lose fat at a slower pace I can change my approach. The thing is, I'm not doing this as a one time "ASAP" thing and then get back to the way it was. I'm trying to change. All that food I mentioned in my original post is the food I absolutely like, except I made some changes to it, such as eating simple boiled potatoes instead of mash potatoes with buttter and milk or mixing green beans with rice.
You are starving your body. Literally. You will lose weight, yes. You will also lose muscle. The biggest concern is when you reach goal how you will possibly maintain. You are damaging your metabolism, but worse, you are damaging your health.
Losing weight faster is pointless if you can't keep it off0 -
Are you sure that you are really only consuming 500 calories, and not netting 500 after exercise? Your diary is closed, so it is hard to give you advice, especially when you know that what you are telling us is not healthy.0
-
I'm not using this website as my personal food and exercise diary because where I'm from there's a lot of food that can't be found even in these databases. At least not accurately enough. Sure chicken, potatoes and green beans are probably the same in the US as in Croatia (where I'm from) however there is a difference in the way they can be prepared. When I said i make chicken with a single drop of oil I believe I never used the term "cooking" beacuse where I'm from it mght mean something completely different than what it means somewhere else. Basically, I put a single drop of oil on a pan and "paint it" (I don't know the term) over the pan, then put it on the small fire and make my chicken that way. It still tasty but the reason I do it is to avoid adding calories from oil. If I wanted that I could just eat McDonalds french fries every day. As for playing mind games, I do not believe I'm doing that. The reason I became overweight was because I used to eat either when I was bored or only 2 times per day but in big servings. I'm dedicated now to changing that so that when I reach my goal I can readjust my diet accordingly. Also I believe that in my OP I asked if anyone had any advice on how to burn body fat, not just lose weight, but get to low bf% becaue frankly at this point it might be all I need. But thank you all for your answers.0
-
I'm not using this website as my personal food and exercise diary because where I'm from there's a lot of food that can't be found even in these databases. At least not accurately enough. Sure chicken, potatoes and green beans are probably the same in the US as in Croatia (where I'm from) however there is a difference in the way they can be prepared. When I said i make chicken with a single drop of oil I believe I never used the term "cooking" beacuse where I'm from it mght mean something completely different than what it means somewhere else.
If you wanted to log chicken how you cook it, why don't you log the chicken raw and 1 drop of oil, and whatever else you might add to it, all separately? Then it's pretty accurate.0 -
So does anyone have any advice on how to lower bf%? What type of food should I eat, what nutrients should I prefer? Thanks in advance.0
-
First off, there are no bad or good foods, per se. It's just certain things should be eaten in a lot less amounts than many of us do nowadays. For example, even though eating simple sugars like sucrose in large amounts is bad, as it will be turned into fat by your liver, in small amounts it can give you that necessary energy boost! Although, opt for sources of sugar where other nutrients are also present, such as fruits. You can eat anything you want, as long as it fits into your diet plan. Unless the food is poisonous of course, in which case i wouldn't categorize it as food in the first place...
However, eating 500 calories per day just won't get you any long lasting results. Considering you're a dude, you probably want some muscle definition going on aswell, in which case NOT JUST CARDIO (although that applies to females too) and definitely no calorie deficit of such measure !! Do weight training, which aids in helping you lose weight, aswell. Unless you are going for that starving artist type of look, however I doubt that...?
You are probably on a path to anorexia, if you refuse to acknowledge that your body is hungry. That can happen to quite a lot of people, who really really want to lose all their weight as fast as possible and are downright hating their body fat. The downsides... well there are too many. Your body basically starts making nutrients out of your muscles first and you're in for so many health issues you may never recover from. Think again when making such drastic diet cuts!0 -
Many anorexics report not feeling hungry. That doesn't mean you don't need more food (you do, unequivocally) it just means you're messing up your hormones with the extreme amount of restriction you're putting your body through.0
-
Many anorexics report not feeling hungry. That doesn't mean you don't need more food (you do, unequivocally) it just means you're messing up your hormones with the extreme amount of restriction you're putting your body through.
This.0 -
Hi guys, this is my first post here and I couldn't think of a better place to ask a question like this than here. So I'm generaly trying to lose weight, I've already lost some, doing good and I'm motivated but now it comes to those last few pounds (although I use kg) and more than that to body fat. So I'm really doing as much cardio as I can, basically every day, almost all of it being HIIT, also doing some work with weights in an attempt to lose body fat. I also understand that the key is in nutrition. As soon as I started my weight loss program I cut out all those bad thing I loved so much, like Coke or greasy food (I still eat a smaller pizza here and there) and in the last couple of weeks I've cut out almost everything I ever thought I couldn't live without. White bread, cheese, french fries, pasta, etc. Basically I drink a lot of fresh water, eat chicken (with a single drop of oil), boiled potatoes and green beans, tomatoes, spinach and watermelon. I'm really trying to not take many carbs from potatoes and such and more protein. When all this counts up I end up with 500-550 calories at max a day. And usualy I'll burn over 800 a day just doing cardio. But at the end of the day and during the day I'm fine, full, not hungry. Almost as if my body has gotten used to so little. So I was wondering if that is good or bad. I've read on multiple places that eating "less than" calories will get your body to starvation mode and you'll lose weight slowly. But is it really possible that with all the work I'm doing and the type of food I'm eating my body will still "work against" me? If you have any tips on how to specificaly lose body fat please share them and excuse me on such a long message, I just wanted to provide as much details as possible. Thank you in advance.
No way are you not hungry. This is just the fast track to disaster. Mind boggling.
Why are you so scared of oil? Or carbohydrates? You're currently living off your lean body mass and that's going to run into dangerous territory soon enough. And even if you don't get there the minute you stop this diet you will pile all the weight back on far faster than you lost it, and you'll have a higher body fat percentage at the same weight than you did before. Not worth it.
Re-train your body to recognise hunger cues (probably a coping mechanism from this starvation diet you are eating), eat more and take the slow, scenic and more certain route to weight loss.0 -
Many anorexics report not feeling hungry. That doesn't mean you don't need more food (you do, unequivocally) it just means you're messing up your hormones with the extreme amount of restriction you're putting your body through.
This.
This can't be quoted enough.0 -
I started out eating 1200 calories a day and just was not loosing the weight. I was working out almost everyday and was feeling just worn out. I bumped my calories up to about 1500-1600 a day and noticed that I started really burning the weight off. So I guess what I'm saying is that less calories sometimes is not better.0
-
My advice is to set MFP to lose 1 lb per week. Meet your calorie goal and don't undershoot it. Eat more protein than MFP tells you. Lift weights, and eat back at least half of your exercise calories.
That's the best way to lose fat. Losing fat is different than losing weight. You'll lose weight doing what you're doing, but you'll be unhealthy and you'll be sacrificing a lot of muscle, which is very hard to get back.0 -
You're an adult and will make up your own mind, but a 2 year old requires about 1000 calories per day. Good luck!0
-
Also, the sad truth is it will not start, it has already started starvation mode, because when your body is that hungry, it believes there will be no more food,causing hunger to subside. And that is probably why you feel what you eat is enough.0
-
This^^You're an adult and will make up your own mind, but a 2 year old requires about 1000 calories per day. Good luck!
My 8 month old eats more than 500 cals per day...0 -
Forget about calories. Stop counting calories at all. You ARE playing mind games with yourself, no matter what you're saying. You're so obsessed with losing weight and counting calories that you cheat yourself that you're not hungry.So does anyone have any advice on how to lower bf%? What type of food should I eat, what nutrients should I prefer? Thanks in advance.
Look, the less you eat, the slower your metabolism gets. You have to understand that you body DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE FAT. Fat is energy storage, the less energy you provide with foods, the more desperately your body wants to preserve whatever remains. You see how counterproductive your actions are?
I know, you fear calories. You were conditioned to think that calories are the worst of all evils. So stop counting them. Really, forget them altogether. Count MACRONUTRIENTS. Eat at least 1g of protein per pound of body mass. Eat fats! Cut carbs. Your body can run on proteins and fats alone, in fact many people (including myself) find that their bodies run more efficiently on high fat / low carb diet.
Meat, fish, eggs, raw nuts (almonds are universal, for high fat diet macadamia is the way to go), if you tolerate dairy then soft cheese. That's calorie dense food, you don't have to eat a lot in volume to provide enough nutrients. Add plenty of non starchy vegetables -- avocado, lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant...-- it's a guilt free food, aim to add some to every meal.0 -
Minimum 1200 calories a day. If you work out THAT much, 1200 calories a day should be a minimum. Yes you will go into starvation mode eating only 500 a day (!!!), not only that, when you start to feel hungry and low on energy, nothing good is coming from it. AND you are at risk for gaining the weight back faster than you lost it...so I would definitely recommend eating more and throughout the day. I highly suggest weight watchers for people who are still learning about the types of foods that are good to eat. It incorporates not only calories, but also fat and fiber and carbs. I tried it in the past, and then I joined MFP and realized i'm pretty much eating the same things.
Good luck to you!0 -
My advice is to set MFP to lose 1 lb per week. Meet your calorie goal and don't undershoot it. Eat more protein than MFP tells you. Lift weights, and eat back at least half of your exercise calories.
That's the best way to lose fat. Losing fat is different than losing weight. You'll lose weight doing what you're doing, but you'll be unhealthy and you'll be sacrificing a lot of muscle, which is very hard to get back.
This.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions