1000 Calories a Day, Not Hungry - Bad/Ok?

Keeping this short. I'm 25, female, not in great shape/don't currently exercise, 5'6, trying to lose 10 pounds (142 right now, aiming for about 132). I've been aiming to eat 1200 calories a day, and I've been doing pretty well, haven't been too hungry because I generally choose the right foods. I'm wondering if it's okay to eat less than 1200 calories per day if i'm just not feeling hungry? This usually happens when I have emotional distress, which I have right now. Will my body go straight into starvation mode making it harder for me to lose fat? Thanks for your advice.

It is 'okay', if you deem it to be so. You will lose more quickly. Starvation mode is a fallacy. However, you will stress your heart with that few calories; there may be other adverse effects. Your choice.

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OP - add some peanut butter or something similar.

1200 is too aggressive if you only have 8lbs to lose, imo.

Start with some workout plan and drink lot of water (6-7 liters). I think that time you will feel hungry .

And sometimes go for cheat meals once in a week.

If it's only the odd day every once in a while or even once or twice a week then yeah it's fine. I tend to have some days where I eat even less than 1000 because I'm busy/not hungry/too lazy to cook etc... but if you average my week it settles at around 1600 calories a day. Try to sum your calories for all days in the week, if they are less than 8500 (preferably 10,000) you may have a problem. Eating too low for extended periods of time will put you at risk for deficiencies, energy dips, fatigue, and uncontrollable hunger pangs.

What is so ridiculous about 1000 anyway if starvation mode doesn't exist?

We don't have to get emotional. It's late, I'm tired.

Yikes. Really?

Starvation mode doesn't exist. Starvation does.

Starvation mode, as most people on the internet think of it, is a myth. It is this thing that people think causes one to gain weight or stop losing weight if they eat less than 1200 (I don't know why the magic number is 1200, I never will). This will not happen. If you eat at a deficit, you will continue to lose weight. Period.

Starvation is the act of being starved. This is to say that your body isn't getting adequate nourishment or sufficient calories. We need both to survive, obviously. Nourishment keeps us healthy, calories give us energy. Both work together to keep us going. Without sufficient vitamins, minerals, calories, etc. we will enter starvation. Not 'starvation mode'. Starvation is why eating 1000 calories or less consistently (as in more than just once or twice) is bad. Starvation is horrible. No one wants to experience it. It is scary. It causes dizziness, depression, anxiety, physical pain, and sporadic fainting.

So, to summarize; you should not be scared of eating 1000 or less consistently because of starvation mode, but you should be scared of starvation. And to give an idea of starvation, the men in the Minnesota study (Google if curious, interesting read) were on 1500 calories a day. So, you can starve on any deficit if you remain on the deficit for too long.

I am not a dr. or claiming any medical knowledge however, as a woman that has been stuck at almost 300 and over that for a large majority of my 30's NO ONE CAN SAY WHAT IS GOOD AND BAD FOR YOU!! All of our bodies are different. for instance, I am eating around 500 calories a day. I am on a stricked diet plan I eat no fat carbs ect to make me gain weight. Friday I ate an approved beef patty that was 98% fat free and It made me gain a whopping 3 pounds. The next two days I did not eat beef and ta daaa.. it went away! Our bodies chemically react differently to foods than others. if you sit around a lot and you are not an active person, not that that's a bad thing some people are just such, then you need fewer cals to sustain you. We all need good nutrition! make sure those cals are healthy choices and eat as clean as you can. I have lost 60 pounds since march and have learned heaps about my body and how to use foods to fuel it not to comfort it. If you would like to talk more add me I'd love to share what I use with you and chat about what your looking into

A) you have much more fat to lose than the OP so there is less risk of you using lean body mass up.

you may have gained 3 lbs of water weight overnight. Which disappeared again. You know you are supposed to be losing just fat right? All that other stuff, food In Gut, waste, muscle glycogen, water, bone, muscle you should be hoping to keep, and even make more of! That means you'll be able to eat to your full potential and be slim.

C) humans generally metabolise these different elements at the same rate (barring medical conditions and medication). If my brain went into your body, I would be able to make you look the same as I do now by doing the same things I've done to burn fat, build muscle and feed myself properly. There's no way I'd be eating 500 calories. This website doesn't support very low calorie diets by the way, particularly if you try to encourage others.

Great news on your loss so far!

Not a good idea. 1200 is barely the minimum you should consume, let alone 1000 calories.

What is so ridiculous about 1000 anyway if starvation mode doesn't exist?

We don't have to get emotional. It's late, I'm tired.

Yikes. Really?

Starvation mode doesn't exist. Starvation does.

Starvation from a day or two or even three at 1000 doesn't exist, either. No one said anything about eating 1000 long term.

NO

Keeping this short. I'm 25, female, not in great shape/don't currently exercise, 5'6, trying to lose 10 pounds (142 right now, aiming for about 132). I've been aiming to eat 1200 calories a day, and I've been doing pretty well, haven't been too hungry because I generally choose the right foods. I'm wondering if it's okay to eat less than 1200 calories per day if i'm just not feeling hungry? This usually happens when I have emotional distress, which I have right now. Will my body go straight into starvation mode making it harder for me to lose fat? Thanks for your advice.

Try to eat at least 1200 (more, really, that's not enough for you). When I was your age I didn't want to eat when I was distressed either, but not eating aggravates it and makes you feel worse. You need to take care of yourself. And try to exercise. That will alleviate stress and help you get in shape.

Unless you have VERY LITTLE body fat then you do not need to worry about starvation mode. Sorry to break the bad news to the crowd of people who want to believe that 'eating more promotes more weight loss' but the only things you need to worry about eating 1000 calories a day are:

- you MAY not be getting sufficient nutrients (not a problem if you are eating a diet full of plants, whole grains and protein)
- you may get hungry and binge

yes ^

You're not getting enough calories, being 5'6 you should be able to lose weight at 1500-1600 (specially if you track your macros and exercise). Right now you're starving your body, the minute you start eating normal again you'll gain all your weight back.

I don't believe in "starvation mode" but I do believe in metabolism damage, I experienced it and it's not worth it

I know it seems like you gain all the weight back, but a lot of that scale gain is water, food, waste, glycogen etc.

That's why it's a good idea to go a few pounds UNDER your goal weight before going back to maintenance cals.

When you starve your body you will lose weight. Everything goes, fat, muscle, water, bone density, glycogen, food and waste in gut, these things add up and get replenished in a day or two of normal eating, then we panic and probably binge from the undernourishment. It's not necessarily metabolic damage. It's just the body pumping up again.

Targeting fat loss, and muscle gain is the way to go. You want all the other stuff to be as pumped as possible, eat as much food as possible, fill those tanks up. I'm at full tank at the moment, but my body fat is so low, my waist is 24", no bloat.

Wow. I thought this forum was for supportive and motivating people, not snarky judgement.

OP - No, this, in fact, isn't bad. Starvation mode does not exist as commonly thought, MFP is just covering its butt with a disclaimer. A quick search of this forum for "starvation mode" will be helpful and explain the concept/myths about it.

You're correct about the myth that is starvation mode.
But there are many other reasons why a too low calorie diet is bad bad bad for health and weightloss, and a lifestyle that is sustainable after the loss.

Your definition of 'supportive' and 'motivation' is another persons definition of 'enabling' and 'denial'. Or just plain support even though there is no knowledge or experience.

Health is far too important to be left to the ill informed to police.