Starvation mode

wannie01
wannie01 Posts: 3
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all.

This is my first post so bear with me please. I understand the concept of your body going into starvation mode if you eat to few calories.

But i was wondering is it safe and good for the odd day to eat few calories if you had too many the day before? For example if i can eat 2000 calories a day, yet one day i eat 3500, can i get by safely by eating only 500 the following day to get me back on track without my body switching to starvation mode?

Cheers all.

Replies

  • pftjill
    pftjill Posts: 488
    NO-if you get off track just get right back on by eating the calories in your range. Do not ever only eat 500 cals in a day. You need at least 1200.
  • Stewie316
    Stewie316 Posts: 266 Member
    Welcome :) It takes a long time to hit starvation mode. Having an occasional day of low calories won't put you in starvation mode. Do a search on here and you will find a lot of information on this topic.
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    Hi,

    There are a ton of posts and links about this issue...it's good reading :)

    Everything I've heard and read says that "starvation mode" will not happen overnight...but I don't think the body gets enough fuel to work efficiently if you only take in 500 calories for the day...(regardless of what you did/ate/overate the day before)

    I know I personally need a minimum of about 1100-1200 a day, and yes that's the minimum I try to net after exercise...I don't function well on less, and I have been steadily losing weight for the past month, so it works for me (it may not for someone else)
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    It's not ideal, but no one day will not make you go into starvation mode. It takes many days, or even weeks or months of consistent underfeeding to reduce metabolism and begin to burn muscle.

    However, I would say if you are in that situation, it may be better to spread the deficit out over a couple of days. So, instead of eating 500 the next day, try to stay at 1500 for 3 days. That way you still get the nutrients you need each day but preserve your deficit for the week. :wink:
  • Kat120285
    Kat120285 Posts: 1,599 Member
    To try and keep it short and sweet, yes.

    Once in a while is fine but it would be better to simply make the next day a healthy one by making your calories healthy ones.
  • Mandan914
    Mandan914 Posts: 1
    whenever i over indulde one day, or weekend.. I just kick up the exercising a notch for the next few days and then I am back on track..
  • EricJonrosh
    EricJonrosh Posts: 823 Member
    Eating too few calories will make you lose fat and muscle in that order, but you're a long way from that. People toss that term around on this site way too much.
  • celtickarasu
    celtickarasu Posts: 76
    This is my first year of grad school, which involved moving out of state away from my husband (long distance relationships suck) and starting an insane schedule of classes, teaching, and homework. I went into freak-out mode and stopped eating. I just didn't have the time. After a month I realized that I had gained a bunch of weight. I started counting calories and found that I was averaging 600 calories a day, 300 of which were from drinking sweet tea. Wonderful and concrete initiation into the world of starvation mode. I'm still trying to recover from that bought of insanity.
  • wannie01
    wannie01 Posts: 3
    wow thanks all.
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
    NO-if you get off track just get right back on by eating the calories in your range. Do not ever only eat 500 cals in a day. You need at least 1200.

    I beg to differ. As long as you don't make 500 Calories your regular eating pattern, your body will NOT go into starvation mode if you eat 2500 Calories one day and 500 the next. However, you may stall your weight loss if you eat 2500C/a day on a regular basis: there really is no such thing as "average Calorie intake" not even if you try to offset it by eating 500 Calories the next day. A better way is to exercise more to burn some of those Calories.
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
    This is my first year of grad school, which involved moving out of state away from my husband (long distance relationships suck) and starting an insane schedule of classes, teaching, and homework. I went into freak-out mode and stopped eating. I just didn't have the time. After a month I realized that I had gained a bunch of weight. I started counting calories and found that I was averaging 600 calories a day, 300 of which were from drinking sweet tea. Wonderful and concrete initiation into the world of starvation mode. I'm still trying to recover from that bought of insanity.

    If your daily intake was really 600 Calories a day you have performed something that is physically impossible. You say on average: were you binging on the days that you were eating? It would mean that your BMR is below 600 Calories/day, that seems rather unlikely.
  • AlwaysWanderer
    AlwaysWanderer Posts: 641 Member
    This is my first year of grad school, which involved moving out of state away from my husband (long distance relationships suck) and starting an insane schedule of classes, teaching, and homework. I went into freak-out mode and stopped eating. I just didn't have the time. After a month I realized that I had gained a bunch of weight. I started counting calories and found that I was averaging 600 calories a day, 300 of which were from drinking sweet tea. Wonderful and concrete initiation into the world of starvation mode. I'm still trying to recover from that bought of insanity.
    Methabolism doesnt stop, it slows down... Thats why there is anorexia, and thats why people die from starvation... It is not physically possible to put on weight eating 600 cals a day... Especially in a month... You must have been underestimating your calories.
  • pftjill
    pftjill Posts: 488
    Sweetie-you can beg to differ all you want. I am going to school for this. I have a dietitian as a sister and a doc as a husband. No, one day will not put you into starvation mode, but you should not be eating 500 calories. Sometimes this sight worries me with people giving out wrongful information. No, it will not put your body into starvation mode, but you should plan out accordingly where you are not only giving your body that many calories for a day. You could mess things up especially if you plan on doing this often. If you do have a binge day like I said before-just get right back on track.
  • Kat120285
    Kat120285 Posts: 1,599 Member
    This is my first year of grad school, which involved moving out of state away from my husband (long distance relationships suck) and starting an insane schedule of classes, teaching, and homework. I went into freak-out mode and stopped eating. I just didn't have the time. After a month I realized that I had gained a bunch of weight. I started counting calories and found that I was averaging 600 calories a day, 300 of which were from drinking sweet tea. Wonderful and concrete initiation into the world of starvation mode. I'm still trying to recover from that bought of insanity.

    I was the opposite. Came back from vacation with no appetite for whatever reason, so I barely ate. For that almost whole year, I was eating 600 calories a day and burning 600 or more just through exercise. Got down to a low weight, that's actually fine for my body but it wasn't done in a healthy way, so I looked and felt awful. Started P90X and obviously gained from the new amount.of calories. Went throughout a roller coaster trying to figure out the right amount for me and only now, I hope, have gotten to a number that suits my amount of working out. Stress can make us do crazy things.
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