Don't believe in "Starvation Mode"?

I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

If you read my first post where I stated that there are alot of controversial topics then you would understand that people, researchers included present information in such a way that their point of view is correct. SO we can agree to disagree...

CNN actually reported this exact article also.
http://perfectbodyrx.com/2010/12/12/starvation-mode-doesnt-exist/


I think this one makes a good point... people don't accurately assess and record activity and food intake. Especially when they rely on the estimates given by MFP.
http://www.tomvenuto.com/asktom/starvation_diets_and_fat_loss_plateaus.shtml

What does your screen name stand for CutMD?

I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

My point exactly. Although most of us want starvation mode to be our problem, the vast majority of those of us who have plateaued are underestimating their calories or overestimating their burns. Since people tend to go off their diets and then get back on the wagon, I think starvation mode only applies to less than 5-10% of mfp.

I couldn't possibly estimate such a thing (knowing very few of them). I was not trying to say it doesn't exist (it does), but that people who DO NOT eat their exercise calories and lose weight, usually do so because their numbers are skewed. And that people who say they're eating 800 or 900 calories a day might be eating a bunch more.

I know what nutritional deprivation (I prefer term to starvation mode) feels like (it sucks). I would go so long without food that, when I finally did eat, the food would cause blisters to form on the roof of my mouth. People thought I had mono because I was always falling asleep. I was foggy and cranky and most certainly not skinny. It was ugly and has taken me more than a year to reset my metabolism and start losing fat. It did take a long time to get there (more than a year) and at least a year to recover. IT does not happen overnight or just because you are under your calories one day. But given time, it will.

Do you honestly think someone is going to have the time or patience to go to all those links? Could you not summarize their contents. This left me confused. :noway: I don't understand what it is you are trying to say.

I thought she did summarize them- she said a lot of people who have hit plateaus have shown signs of starvation mode, or nutritional deprivation. Then she provided links to a) posts that fully explained what starvation mode is and how it works and b) a list of cases where people were begging for advice on why they had stopped losing- where it turned out that those people were only netting 6-900 calories a day.

If you don't have the time or patience to read the information that doesn't mean the OP is wrong for posting it. It just means you either: 1) have no time or 2) have no patience.

I would bet that at least 80% of people who say they are eating 1200 a day and can't lose are really eating a lot more. When their attention is drawn to it and they say they're going to bump it up to 1400, they actually track better and really eat 1400. I just find it hard to believe that there are so many people that actually eat 1000-1200 calories a day, can't lose any weight.

I agree. Once you start measuring every last thing, and weighing every single item and logging every tiny bite...your calories tend to be a lot higher. In addition, some of them could be like me....I'm a former athlete and my body happens to be very efficient at exercise (even though I'm way frikkin out of shape). So I don't burn 500 on the elliptical, I burn 200 (per my FitBit). Back when I was relying on the machines and MFP estimates and eating back the majority of the 500 calories, I wasn't losing. Now that I know exactly what I'm burning, I'm able to maintain my deficit and lose.

My point exactly. Although most of us want starvation mode to be our problem, the vast majority of those of us who have plateaued are underestimating their calories or overestimating their burns. Since people tend to go off their diets and then get back on the wagon, I think starvation mode only applies to less than 5-10% of mfp.

1)Not a super ton of people asking for help on here are going to be former athletes. A lot of them are just people who are unhappy with their bodies and tryign to lose really quickly. They think LESS CALORIES=LESS FAT *kitten*!! But don't consider the road to moderation.

2) I can't speak to what percentage of MFP this includes, but I would say that when we get an influx of newbies it can be like 40-60% (or more) of the posters will freak out and post something with titles like "Staying under my cals, but can't lose!" "Working out is not working out!" THOSE people (and there are a hell ton of them) are all starting to go down the road to starvation mode- They are eating 1300 and burning 1000 and won't eat anything back. These are the types of people that the OP was pointing out. And she found a good collection of them.

I, personally, from what I've seen on the boards, think there a lot more people suffering from under eating that you are seeing or admitting to.

DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!!!!

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Ipummell73- Most of the time the only point at which I'm hungry is when I first wake up in the morning. I eat every 2-3 hours to get my calories. Sometimes I'm just really not hungry but I know I need to calories so I shoot for smaller meals that pack a high but healthy calorie load.

Here is a quote from an article discussing a 360 lb female who logs 1200 calories per day and is not losing weight. I completely agree that undereating for long periods of time is unhealthy. I just don't believe that is the issue with so many people on this site. Not everyone measures and logs every bite they take and if you go by the exercise calories this site or machines at the gym give, you are probably overestimating calories burned.

The more likely (and exceedingly common) issue is that she’s simply consuming more food than she’s aware of or self-reporting. Because even in studies of insulin resistance, when calories are reduced (and and accurately monitored), weight/fat loss occurs. So either she’s a physiological anomaly or she’s not really eating 1200 calories per day. And my experience (along with a large body of research) suggests that it’s the latter issue that’s the cause of the problem.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/permanent-metabolic-damage-followup-qa.html

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I am just wondering if the contestants on the biggest loser were also told to eat back their exercise calories. Would be good to see what kind of diet plan those guys were all on.

From what i understand and from what has been said by previous contestants is that they eat about 1000-1200 calories a day and work out 4-6 hrs every day. That being said, a previous winner of TBL said he gained back over 30lbs 5 day after being on the diet because of water weight and how dehydrated he was. I think the overall goal is to be healthy, fit and a good weight that your heart isnt straining to keep you alive. One contestant on TBL developed an eating disorder which is another extreme.

My way of seeing it is that if i burn 500 calories at the gym, and im satiated and not hungry at all, why should i stuff myself with the extra 500 calories? In the end, I want this to be a lifestyle change for me and something that 1 month, or even a year after I reach my goal, i slip back into bad habits.

Yikes....they must burn pretty much all the calories they consume, and then some. 30lbs of water weight is insane! Did he not drink water at all??!?!?!!? Well, it seems like I their method is on the extreme side and not suitable for average folk like us - I have a job and a life, no way I can spend 4-6hrs in the gym every day, lol!!

I'm the "ate 1200 calories or less and now within 5 lbs of my goal weight and stopped losing" person.

I've increased my calories to 1450 per day, and guess what after a week of doing that I've started losing again after not losing and actually gaining 1 kg over 3 weeks.

Today I'm having a hard time reaching my calorie goal but I know that have some calories spare if I feel like a coffee after dinner or if I want my mint choc chip Skinny cow ice cream tonight.

So, I have around 130 pounds to lose. With exercize, the site gives me close to 3000 calories a day. It sounds insane that I could LOSE 2 pounds a week eating 3000 calories a day.

Also, how do they explain gastric bypass or lap band patients? Their calories are severely limited and they lose weight, mostly.

To be clear:

What 75% (my estimate) of MFP users would define "Starvation Mode" as...

THAT, I do not believe in.

Testimonials, anecdotal evidence, all of it means NOTHING in my opinion. Show me scientific evidence of a starving person that gains weight as a direct result of their starvation.

Starvation (as a clinical term) and "Starvation Mode" (technically adaptive thermogenesis or famine response) are NOT one and the same. They can be related, and can correlate, but trying to use the terms interchangeably is part of the problem.