THE BIG STARVATION MODE MYTH.

To lose one pound of body fat, you have to reduce your calorie intake by 3,200 calories; whereas it only takes 10 to 11 calories per pound to maintain. It's a very lopsided and (to obese people) unfair equation.

Weight doesn't come off instantly. If you are honest and reduce your calories by 500 each day for 7 days, you will lose one pound. These are the scientific facts. Read it here:

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_pound.php :noway:

I'm done with this topic. Too many excuses, it's the dieters paradigm to try to ignore fact and blame it on water weight, metabolism, starvation, not eating the right type of food . . . you get the idea. I've only lost 5 pounds, but I don't blame it on anything - I know I eat too much and don't exercise enough. It's MY FAULT.

I’ve just discovered this thread so haven’t read through it yet but wanted to offer my experience on ‘Starvation Mode’.

I fully believe I am in starvation mode.

I started my journey in April 2011 at 484 lbs. By September 2012, I had lost approximately 220lbs. Since then, I have struggled to lose anything except when I did a keto diet in February and lost 25lbs in 2 weeks.

I need to lose another 50-60lbs to get towards a healthy weight but no matter what I do, I cannot shift a pound.

For the first year, I ate c. 800 cals and just walked for exercise. Once I hit a plateau, I joined a gym and bumped up the calories to 1,400. That took off another 60lbs or so but since then, with the exception of the weight lost on keto I just cannot lose a pound.

I’ve tried eating more for 12 weeks as per the road map but It didn’t help. I count every calorie so I know there is no creep there. I tried exercising more and exercising less but nothing works.

Last week I decided to try the 5:2 diet along with 90 minutes in the gym every day (a combination of cardio and weights). I did not lose an ounce. So frustrating.

So for the first time on my journey, I decided to have a cheat weekend (It was a long weekend where I live). I never ‘cheat’. I eat 99% clean with the only treat an occasional spoon of PB2. The only carbs I eat are a small bowl of oatmeal, a green apple and green vegetables. Apart from that, I eat eggs, meat, cheese, nuts etc.

In 4 days eating approximately 5,000 calories a day, I put on 18lbs! A lot of that is water weight from the carbs and I have lost 9lbs in the last 3 days (albeit 2 of those days were 500 calories on the 5:2 diet). I’m really hoping the shock to my system will help kick things off but after 9 months of practically no movement, I don’t believe it will.

Generally, if east a couple of hundred calories extra I put on a couple of pounds.

I’m just about at the point where I have to accept that I’m going to stay at c. 240lbs and for my own sanity, this mightn’t be a bad thing.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I strongly believe I am a prime example of someone suffering from starvation mode.

CINAHL isn't a medical journal. It is a index of the nursing and allied health literature that directs you to articles published in journal. Calling CINAHL a medical journal is akin to calling TV Guide a TV channel.

People say don't eat 1200 or even 1500 calories a day. They say eat more, to weigh less, but people you see on youtube eat 1200 and are losing over 80+ pounds. Can you explain that maybe it is better to eat more in the 1800s, but don't tell people that starvation will come up and get them because it's a flat out lie. Especially if your obese. Some guys did a study and that's the huge thing, that's why people think they're in starvation mode. How can you tell someone to eat more when that's what they have been doing all along, hence why they're overweight to begin with. Look at people in different countries starving, they are not going into starvation mode. No I don't think so. You need to look around you. People want you to fail in weight loss, they will make up anything to make sure you don't succeed. Why IDK. But its true weight loss and takes a long freaking time. You need to think of it in long terms, I mean like 3-5 years, it will need to be a lifestyle change. People think they are going into starvation mode because omg i hit a plateau. It happens with everyone. You're never going to get away from that. Sorry guys. JUST BECAUSE YOU HIT A PLATEAU DOES NOT MEAN YOUR IN STARVATION MODE. 1200 isn't starving yourself. What happens when you don't get enough food your body? It has to go into your fat stores, it's science people. End of story. Comments please thanks:) Oh fyi iv lost 40 pounds.

help!!!!!!! appearantly, i starved myself into "starvation mode" and it did the opposite and forced me to lose almost 100 pounds!!! please!!! i was warned about 1200 calories a day, and everything they warned me about, NEVER HAPPEND... now im trying to do maintenance, and i am still slightly losing... looks like my metabolism did NOT SLOW DOWN... so, now... either starvation mode is exactly what i thought it was... i very rare occurance that the body may experience as a survival mode towards late stages of starvation, or we really are special snowflakes, and im one of the extra special ones who didnt fall into this dooms day starvation mode death trap... which is it?

Saucy_lil_Minx wrote: »

Here is another thing to keep in mind Fat just sits there. You do not burn any energy to have an over abundance of fat. Fat is a storage shelf for the body. Think of it as the closet you jam things in you might need down the road (energy), or things you don't know how to get rid of (toxins). It just sits there closed, and you never look into it until you need something. Lean muscle is used constantly (so it needs energy constantly to maintain). It is like the kitchen in a house full of people, there is always someone cooking in it. The more lean muscle you have the more fuel it needs (the more you have to cook). If you are overweight, and you stop taking in more junk than you really need (to shove in the closet), and start building more lean muscle(cooking in your own kitchen kitchen) your eventually going to need that pan your mom bought you in that storage closet. Guess what that pan, is at the bottom of the closet so you have to clean it out to get to it, and then you find the hiking boots(exercise) you have been looking for to build even more lean muscle(means more energy is needed). So now you have to cook more food in the kitchen, but you don't have anymore pans in the closet, because you have cleaned out the junk. Now you have no choice but to go buy another set, and keep cooking more food, more often to keep up. Nothing is stored, and nothing is wasted. This is how our bodies should be. Hormones are the lubricant to keep the body functions moving, and keep us from becoming content with the closet full of junk we might need down the road, if life changes. It works for me to see it this way, but maybe not for you. I hope this info helps someone else that the only reason I am writing novels here...lol If someone has a better way to put it, or something else to add to the collective wealth of knowledge please enlighten!