Starvation mode: real, fake or a matter of opinion
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In the manner in which the term "starvation mode" is thrown around on these forums, it is a myth. In your current shape you do not need to worry about it. You are losing weight very rapidly though, and I worry about your ability to hold onto lean muscle mass in the process. Make sure that you are getting sufficient protein and doing some resistance training to help you retain muscle mass. There is the added concern about the mental effect of depriving yourself as it can lead to binging down the road. Keep in mind that you've only been at this for a couple of months and what you need is something that you can stick with for life so that you avoid the yoyo dieting path that so many find themselves. Stay in tune with your body and how you are feeling mentally in the process and slow it down now or a little later. I certainly would not increase your deficit.
As you lose weight your body's metabolism will slow down a bit though. There are a few good descriptions and discussions of adaptive thermogenesis on here and one is referenced above.0 -
In the manner in which the term "starvation mode" is thrown around on these forums, it is a myth. In your current shape you do not need to worry about it. You are losing weight very rapidly though, and I worry about your ability to hold onto lean muscle mass in the process. Make sure that you are getting sufficient protein and doing some resistance training to help you retain muscle mass. There is the added concern about the mental effect of depriving yourself as it can lead to binging down the road. Keep in mind that you've only been at this for a couple of months and what you need is something that you can stick with for life so that you avoid the yoyo dieting path that so many find themselves. Stay in tune with your body and how you are feeling mentally in the process and slow it down now or a little later. I certainly would not increase your deficit.
As you lose weight your body's metabolism will slow down a bit though. There are a few good descriptions and discussions of adaptive thermogenesis on here and one is referenced above.
^This!
You'll still lose weight but after a while you'll be weak and you'll feel terrible. You'll lose more muscle then you would with a smaller deficit which means lots of the weight will come back faster. It's not worth it unless you really need to lose lots of weight fast for serious health reasons.0 -
In the manner in which the term "starvation mode" is thrown around on these forums, it is a myth. In your current shape you do not need to worry about it. You are losing weight very rapidly though, and I worry about your ability to hold onto lean muscle mass in the process. Make sure that you are getting sufficient protein and doing some resistance training to help you retain muscle mass. There is the added concern about the mental effect of depriving yourself as it can lead to binging down the road. Keep in mind that you've only been at this for a couple of months and what you need is something that you can stick with for life so that you avoid the yoyo dieting path that so many find themselves. Stay in tune with your body and how you are feeling mentally in the process and slow it down now or a little later. I certainly would not increase your deficit.
As you lose weight your body's metabolism will slow down a bit though. There are a few good descriptions and discussions of adaptive thermogenesis on here and one is referenced above.
Agree with all of this as well.0 -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss
Read this, it's got links to a lot of research on the topic.
^this0 -
I'd be more concerned with the issue about loose skin. If you lose weigh quickly you increase the chance that you'll end up with lots of loose skin, poor muscle mass and not liking how you look.
I appreciate that that may be preferable to being overweight, but why not slow down the weight loss and make sure when you hit your goal you look the best you can.
You've done a great job so far, but personally I'd eat more, lose slower and be able to post a kick *kitten* success story when you've hit your goal. :flowerforyou:
And yes this doesn't answer your question but you've had loads of good responses about that, so I thought I'd post another reason to go slower
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In the manner in which the term "starvation mode" is thrown around on these forums, it is a myth. In your current shape you do not need to worry about it. You are losing weight very rapidly though, and I worry about your ability to hold onto lean muscle mass in the process. Make sure that you are getting sufficient protein and doing some resistance training to help you retain muscle mass. There is the added concern about the mental effect of depriving yourself as it can lead to binging down the road. Keep in mind that you've only been at this for a couple of months and what you need is something that you can stick with for life so that you avoid the yoyo dieting path that so many find themselves. Stay in tune with your body and how you are feeling mentally in the process and slow it down now or a little later. I certainly would not increase your deficit.
As you lose weight your body's metabolism will slow down a bit though. There are a few good descriptions and discussions of adaptive thermogenesis on here and one is referenced above.
This is the answer I was looking for! Thank you!0 -
This won't end well
haha!0 -
This is real!
Have a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment
it is a study that was done 60 years ago in minnesota (when research was done without funding by food/diet companies) - it was a very simple experiment - take a group of men, limit them to 1500 calories a day for a period of months, and see what happens...
GAH!!!!!!!
Those people were down to single digit body fat percentages!
Most of the people around here being told to "Eat! You are in starvation mode!" are fat!
Basically, if you are over 20% body fat, you can't be in starvation mode and any calorie deficit will result in weight loss!
Now, this is only talking about weight loss. If you eat an unhealthy diet without enough nutrients for your body to function you may have other health problems besides weight loss.
But the whole "starvation mode" thing around here is when people hit a plateau they get told to eat more and for 99% of people that is not going to make you lose weight. If you are fat, a calorie deficit makes you lose weight.
Fine - lets say that the effect is different for people with high body fat percentages - a 1300 calorie diet for a grown man IMHO is not safe - in fact even caloric deficit preachers limit the calorie deficit to 1800 for men and 1200 for women, which brings me to - caloric deficit is NOT the only parameter for weight loss!
For example, my caloric deficit is less than 1000 calories a day, yet for the past 5 weeks I have been loosing 4 lbs a week - according to calorie deficit math this should have only been achievable with a 2000 calorie deficit, that I assure you is not the case.0 -
First off, 55 days is almost 8 weeks, so rounding that to 8 weeks means that you've lost 3.375 pounds per week on average. Generally most doctors recommend not losing more than 2 pounds per week on average. While I don't see anything wrong with losing more (I have been losing more than 2 pounds were week also), I also don't think your numbers "should be" higher. Over 3 1//3 pounds per week is a very good rate of loss.
As for starvation mode... like most things there is a little truth to it. However, most people who think that is their problem are actually probably experiencing a normal, temporary plateau in weight loss, or have gotten careless in calorie counting.
There is definitely a thing I call metabolic slow down, which is easily remedied by eating more for 2 or 3 days, then returning to your deficit, and by making sure you are including strength training in your plan, and by mixing up your exercise routine a little.0 -
Oh, and I'd like to add, if anything you might need to consider getting a slightly lower deficit. 2 pounds a week is a fine loss too... so while getting a 1600 deficit is fine right now, it will become more difficult to do as you lose more weight (it takes less calories to move a lighter body). So relax your expectations a bit. Its fine to keep getting that big of a deficit for now, as long as you aren't hungry all the time, but when it eventually drops down to 1200 or 1000, don't panic, don't starve yourself, and don't think you must spend 2 more hours in the gym every day.0
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This is real!
Have a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment
it is a study that was done 60 years ago in minnesota (when research was done without funding by food/diet companies) - it was a very simple experiment - take a group of men, limit them to 1500 calories a day for a period of months, and see what happens...
the results were stunning... Among the conclusions from the study was the confirmation that prolonged semi-starvation produces significant increases in depression, hysteria and hypochondriasis, most of the subjects experienced periods of severe emotional distress and depression - but more to the point, when the study ended, they all gained back the weight fast, and most of them exceeded their starting weight.
You can also see a small segment on this study in "The men who made us thin" BBC series
http://youtu.be/I-_LoAm_etU (minute 8 is where they describe this study and their findings).
I can also personally attest, that every time I did such a severe diet, I found my self bouncing back really fast...
While these are very valid concerns, they were not 263lbs and were on low cals for 6 months.
Already posted by someone else, but this link is very good: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/0 -
I'd be more concerned with the issue about loose skin. If you lose weigh quickly you increase the chance that you'll end up with lots of loose skin, poor muscle mass and not liking how you look.
I appreciate that that may be preferable to being overweight, but why not slow down the weight loss and make sure when you hit your goal you look the best you can.
You've done a great job so far, but personally I'd eat more, lose slower and be able to post a kick *kitten* success story when you've hit your goal. :flowerforyou:
And yes this doesn't answer your question but you've had loads of good responses about that, so I thought I'd post another reason to go slower
^^agree with this, plus there are adherence concerns with low calories.0 -
OP, i'm no expert, but this is what i've learned thus far:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/stellabellamoonpie0 -
starvation mode is when you do not eat anything for an extended period of time and your body turns on itself for energy; the initial effects of this usually start to occur when you eat nothing for 72 hours...so an extended fast of 72 + hours will put you into starvation mode.
Most people confuse this with missing snack five out of six and say "you are in starvation mode" or they will say that if you skip a meal you are in "starvation mode"; this is where the myth comes into play because you are not in starvation mode if you skip a meal or a snack ....
If you under eat for a long period of time then you can damage your metabolism as it readjusts to lower levels of calories, but, again, this is not starvation mode...
Starvation mode is a boogie man that has been made possible by diets that sell you on six small meals a day, DR Oz, etc....0 -
oh and you probably could of ran a search on this and found about a thousand similar threads...0
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sounds legit...
Bro, muscle memory goes hand in hand with skinny memory. That's why if youAs real as muscle memory, lol.
Lose weight and then gain it back, you can get skinny again within a week.
Everybody knows this.0 -
I find the problem with starvation mode is that I am always so hungry ! I did beat it once though by eating my Shatner's Bassoon. But I did add salt so it wasn't so bad. But then my veins starting pulsing and I thought my heart would explode. I got a new SB on Ebay and you know what ? The guy who sold it to me was complaining because he was not losing weight - due to being in starvation mode ! I asked him if he was always hungry...........0
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If you could lose close to the same amount of weight while eating a lot more, feeling a lot better, and not losing as much lean body mass... why would you want to continue to starve yourself?
are yah dumb?0 -
Although you're losing weight now with the large calorie deficit, you're likely to hit a plateau before you reach your goal weight and also more likely to put the weight back on after losing it.0
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