Starvation Mode...is it real?

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ladyj802
ladyj802 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not one to competely skimp on my coloric intake, but what's this "Starvation Mode" i keep hearing being tossed around if you don't eat enough calories?
Does this affect only those who are sedentary? i understand if i sat around and never ate, then my body would hold on to all the fat content it could, but if i eat my 1200 calories (safe diet for my weight) but i exercise a lot, wouldn't that just be bonus calories burned?

so i guess the bottomline question is...Wouldn't the body be forced to burn fat if you exercise and not be stuck in a "starvation mode"?

Replies

  • CroakerNorge
    CroakerNorge Posts: 165 Member
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    What most people consider "starvation" mode only occurs after months of sustained malnutrition (think famine cultures around the world). If you're eating 1200 cals/day, you're not "starving" yourself.
  • fit_nyc
    fit_nyc Posts: 25
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    Try this article: http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
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    .
  • mccorml
    mccorml Posts: 622 Member
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    I can just picture the search button covered in dust :noway:..their are tons of articles out there i even have been prone to asking but what i find is that if i use the search i can pretty much find anything including 200 topics about hrms or the ever elusive starvation mode



    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/binary_jester/view/starvation-mode-dispelling-the-myths-49538
  • Timkerbelle
    Timkerbelle Posts: 53
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    Try this article: http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742

    What an interesting read! Thank you for posting the link.
  • lisafrancis629
    lisafrancis629 Posts: 287
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    I can just picture the search button covered in dust :noway:..their are tons of articles out there i even have been prone to asking but what i find is that if i use the search i can pretty much find anything including 200 topics about hrms or the ever elusive starvation mode


    That's why I don't post a lot of topics on here. I find what I need by searching past topics 99% of the time. Just today, I've searched "knee pain", "chicken recipes" and "exercise calories".
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I'm not one to competely skimp on my coloric intake, but what's this "Starvation Mode" i keep hearing being tossed around if you don't eat enough calories?
    Does this affect only those who are sedentary? i understand if i sat around and never ate, then my body would hold on to all the fat content it could, but if i eat my 1200 calories (safe diet for my weight) but i exercise a lot, wouldn't that just be bonus calories burned?

    so i guess the bottomline question is...Wouldn't the body be forced to burn fat if you exercise and not be stuck in a "starvation mode"?

    There are multiple topics and articles posted that answer this as other explained. But I will give you the short answer in case you don't have time to search right now.

    Starvation Mode is very real and it can affect even people who are insanely active (in fact, I have found that this is the demographic that it most affects since they add more and more exercise to break a plateau yet can't do it...what they should be doing is eating more...)

    There's a certain amount of food that your body NEEDS everyday just to live and do what it does (brain functions, breathing, etc). When it does not get that amount of energy from food, it takes away the energy from your muscles and robs them of their fuel. So what does that mean? Your metabolism slows down to a crawl because your muscles break down since they don't have the right fuel just so your vital organs don't bow out. So then, no matter how much exercise you do, your muscles aren't working at optimum since they are consistently breaking down to feed your brain. The body fat that you have doesn't move because your body's first "thought" is to eat up your muscles.

    I was in starvation mode back in 2008 and didn't realize it. I was pounding my body with P90X and extra cardio to lose more pounds and inches, but the scale wasn't moving at all. I was only eating about 1200 calories a day, but since I was burning about 1000 per day with exercise, I only left my body with about 200 calories to live on. :noway: I didn't lose anything, and I actually GAINED an inch on the waist. My muscle tone actually went away and my triceps were kinda mushy again. It wasn't until I started feeding my body the fuel that it needed that I started losing body fat and gaining that lean muscle mass back. Of course the scale went up immediately when that happened, BUT, my clothes were getting smaller and my body fat percentage went down. I don't trust scale, BTW, for this very reason.

    Trust MFP. Eat your minimum, then eat some of the exercise calories back. Your body will be healthier, and you will not be hungry, either. :flowerforyou:
  • mymelody_78
    mymelody_78 Posts: 657 Member
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    Try this article: http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742

    Thanks for sharing!
  • CroakerNorge
    CroakerNorge Posts: 165 Member
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    I was in starvation mode back in 2008 and didn't realize it. I was pounding my body with P90X and extra cardio to lose more pounds and inches, but the scale wasn't moving at all. I was only eating about 1200 calories a day, but since I was burning about 1000 per day with exercise, I only left my body with about 200 calories to live on. :noway: I didn't lose anything, and I actually GAINED an inch on the waist. My muscle tone actually went away and my triceps were kinda mushy again. It wasn't until I started feeding my body the fuel that it needed that I started losing body fat and gaining that lean muscle mass back. Of course the scale went up immediately when that happened, BUT, my clothes were getting smaller and my body fat percentage went down. I don't trust scale, BTW, for this very reason.

    That sounds like an absolute nightmare, I hate killing myself with exercise, it is so un-fun on every level.
    Most of those workouts include mealplans and are all about "fueling' your body, I guess you thought you would lose quicker or something?

    I trust the scale, though, I realize it's only ONE indicator of weight loss. I also only weigh myself once a week, at the same time.

    I like to keep it simple and sane BUT that's just me.
  • CMcBryer
    CMcBryer Posts: 139 Member
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    The thing you have to think about in your situation is not starvation mode, but atrophying of muscle. Your body requires so many more calories than you are intaking that not only does it use your excess fat stores, but it will break down muscle to keep itself going. I have been in the situation where I was eating 600 - 800 calories a day and I was 5'5" and 220 pounds. It was a very unhealthy routine that dropped me down to 175 pounds quickly, however I had lost quite a bit of muscle mass. There is a specific amount of calories that you need to get to maintain, lose, or gain weight in a healthy manner. I suggest you search out the answers to what those caloric intakes are and be as healthy as you can be.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Try this article: http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742

    I hate this article. firstly because the person who wrote it confused starvation mode, with a starvation diet and plain old starvation (three different things with three different meanings).

    second, his statements about the starvation study done in Minnesota are wrong. I've read that study (it's LOOOONG, and not very exciting, but yes, I did read the whole thing, you can get it at pubmed if you want to pay for it). If you can get through the science of it, it's a fascinating insight into the mental aspects of starvation (true starvation, not just starvation mode).


    here's a scientific study done relatively recently and actually puts forth facts based on good solid science.

    http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=789564&jid=PNS&volumeId=54&issueId=01&aid=789556#


    anyway, this article is junk IMHO.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I was in starvation mode back in 2008 and didn't realize it. I was pounding my body with P90X and extra cardio to lose more pounds and inches, but the scale wasn't moving at all. I was only eating about 1200 calories a day, but since I was burning about 1000 per day with exercise, I only left my body with about 200 calories to live on. :noway: I didn't lose anything, and I actually GAINED an inch on the waist. My muscle tone actually went away and my triceps were kinda mushy again. It wasn't until I started feeding my body the fuel that it needed that I started losing body fat and gaining that lean muscle mass back. Of course the scale went up immediately when that happened, BUT, my clothes were getting smaller and my body fat percentage went down. I don't trust scale, BTW, for this very reason.

    That sounds like an absolute nightmare, I hate killing myself with exercise, it is so un-fun on every level.
    Most of those workouts include mealplans and are all about "fueling' your body, I guess you thought you would lose quicker or something?

    I trust the scale, though, I realize it's only ONE indicator of weight loss. I also only weigh myself once a week, at the same time.

    I like to keep it simple and sane BUT that's just me.

    I was stuck on a plataeu...I had eaten 1800 calories a day and lost weight, got to plateau, lowered the cals, lost again...and so on until I just got to that 1200 mark and nothing happened. I was one of those people that didn't realize that you had to eat your exercise calories, so I thought that by eating just the 1200 minimum I was doing good. I was wrong.

    People always go on and on about how P90X is not for weight loss, but I disagree. They also always say that they don't have you eating at a calorie deficit, but once again, I disagree. And here's why. I was calculated by their nutrition guide to eat 1800 calories. It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't really. It took MFP to show me, lol. MFP has me at 1200 calories, BUT, they say to eat the exercise calories back. So since my HRM tells me that I burn 600-700 calories per workout in P90X, I am actually supposed to be eating at 1200 + 650 which is exactly what P90X tells me to eat. So, that is a 500 calorie deficit for me! It's just that with P90X, they add in your exercise calories for you beforehand and MFP does not, but it is the SAME AMOUNT in the end. So it IS a deficit. And I lost a lot of weight doing it.

    Once I finally got it through my head that eating exercise calories is essential to good health and weight loss, it was all good and then I lost all the weight to take my profile picture. :flowerforyou:

    It's all a learning process when it comes to starvation mode and eating exercise calories...but when we finally understand that we need to eat to lose weight, we stop killing our bodies.
  • Natural
    Natural Posts: 461 Member
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    i don't want to find out. i like food and so does my body. i was never afraid to eat my calories, though not all of them. i think that helped my weight loss and strength training.
  • CroakerNorge
    CroakerNorge Posts: 165 Member
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    Good for you for learning/educating yourself/knowing what your body needs.

    I recently finished Chalean Extreme and LOVED It, and wasn't crazy/weird like P90X and I definitely saw results.
    Leaner, stronger, and I lost a few pant sizes. Though, I've always taken a simple approach when it comes to diet/exercise.
    I used some of the meals included in the meal plan, but, I'm all about eating so it wasn't hard for me to "eat to burn" as it were.

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