starvation mode

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  • simplepuremaddness
    simplepuremaddness Posts: 33 Member
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    Im sorry if i caused any outrage. it was the last thing i wanted. Sorry about ur lack of gall bladders/bileduct spasms. It cant be a nice thing to go through (dunno bout treatments for these things) but hope your symptoms get better/more controlled.


    big loves and sorry if i offended anyone

    I don't know that you really offended anyone, I think we're just upset because we honestly care about other people here. We want everyone to be as healthy as possible, especially while losing weight. There are so many dangerous ways to do it, so much damage that can be done to your body. We have a ton of knowledge that we are all willing to share if people will listen. We just want to help and it gets frustrating when someone seems intent on using methods that will hurt them.


    i have taken on board everthing that has been said. And ill read back over what i wrote but i dont think i portrayed that i was intent to keep to this low calorie deal. Im just finding it hard at the moment to up them so to say.
  • AngieMMc
    AngieMMc Posts: 152 Member
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    When you eat so few calories and your body begins to take its nutrients from muscle to be able to function normally, one of the muscles it takes it from is the heart and other vital organs. And while you may see immediate results from your calorie restriction, if you ever begin eating normally, the weight is going to pile on like crazy. I really think you need to rethink your calories in take. You joined MFP for a reason, why not use all the the recommendations to become a healthy eater!!!
  • simplepuremaddness
    simplepuremaddness Posts: 33 Member
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    Im sorry if i caused any outrage. it was the last thing i wanted. Sorry about ur lack of gall bladders/bileduct spasms. It cant be a nice thing to go through (dunno bout treatments for these things) but hope your symptoms get better/more controlled.


    big loves and sorry if i offended anyone

    It's ok, girl. **** happens. People are so mean to each other on message boards, it's no wonder some folks automatically read incorrect tone/inflection into other people's posts. Hopefully she gets the drift now. :)


    Thanks for the kind words. Bile duct spasms are no joke! Neither is missing two months of work while they figured out 'oh gee, we left the duct unclamped a bit, no WONDER you are in so much pain....you're filling up your abdomen with bile!" :-| Yay for routine surgery, eh? LOL

    I dont think people are intentionally being mean. I just think its difficult to get the right tone aross in a written message board apposed to talking with someone in person. People can take things in many different ways which sometimes wasnt the intial persons intent.

    God it sounds like what your going through is awful. :( now thats a real problem that people should be supportive on.
  • CeleryStalker
    CeleryStalker Posts: 665 Member
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    Do you eat nuts? Nuts are a good source of healthy fat, protein, and of course, calories :)

    What does your daily eating plan look like? It's REALLY not very easy to get in 1200-1500 CLEAN calories in because healthy food is lower in calories typically. I know I struggle with getting my calories in, too, just not at the level you do.

    You can eat more than just fruit and veg. Try some steelcut oatmeal. This is vegan :) Good source of fiber, healthy carbs, and will give you a nice 200-ish calorie breakfast. I put agave nectar and fresh berries in mine to sweeten it up some.

    I have a pack of nuts every day. I know you are across the pond, so to say (did you watch the royal wedding? :) ), so I know the food items offered there will differ from what is available here, but maybe you have something similar to what I eat. The are Planter's brand mixed nuts, and come pre packaged in single serving baggies. 200 calories, its my mid-day snack.

    Lunch is usually a big ol' salad with stuff on it. I put meats and a bit of cheese, but being vegan, you could opt for dried cranberries (mmmmmm), walnuts, almonds, all kinds of stuff. Olives, avocado.....both good sources of healthy fat and will up your calories.

    Between the salad, the nut pack, and the oatmeal, we've already doubled your caloric intake :D
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    Im sorry if i caused any outrage. it was the last thing i wanted. Sorry about ur lack of gall bladders/bileduct spasms. It cant be a nice thing to go through (dunno bout treatments for these things) but hope your symptoms get better/more controlled.


    big loves and sorry if i offended anyone

    I don't know that you really offended anyone, I think we're just upset because we honestly care about other people here. We want everyone to be as healthy as possible, especially while losing weight. There are so many dangerous ways to do it, so much damage that can be done to your body. We have a ton of knowledge that we are all willing to share if people will listen. We just want to help and it gets frustrating when someone seems intent on using methods that will hurt them.


    i have taken on board everthing that has been said. And ill read back over what i wrote but i dont think i portrayed that i was intent to keep to this low calorie deal. Im just finding it hard at the moment to up them so to say.

    If you want to add me as a friend and message me I can give you a bunch of tips on how to increase your calories. When I started here I was in a situation similar to yours. It was incredibly difficult to eat 3 times what I was used to, but it didn't take long before I was eating the right amount of food. I know it's hard, especially when your body is telling you that you aren't hungry. But if you want, I can help you out.
  • simplepuremaddness
    simplepuremaddness Posts: 33 Member
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    Do you eat nuts? Nuts are a good source of healthy fat, protein, and of course, calories :)

    What does your daily eating plan look like? It's REALLY not very easy to get in 1200-1500 CLEAN calories in because healthy food is lower in calories typically. I know I struggle with getting my calories in, too, just not at the level you do.

    You can eat more than just fruit and veg. Try some steelcut oatmeal. This is vegan :) Good source of fiber, healthy carbs, and will give you a nice 200-ish calorie breakfast. I put agave nectar and fresh berries in mine to sweeten it up some.

    I have a pack of nuts every day. I know you are across the pond, so to say (did you watch the royal wedding? :) ), so I know the food items offered there will differ from what is available here, but maybe you have something similar to what I eat. The are Planter's brand mixed nuts, and come pre packaged in single serving baggies. 200 calories, its my mid-day snack.

    Lunch is usually a big ol' salad with stuff on it. I put meats and a bit of cheese, but being vegan, you could opt for dried cranberries (mmmmmm), walnuts, almonds, all kinds of stuff. Olives, avocado.....both good sources of healthy fat and will up your calories.

    Between the salad, the nut pack, and the oatmeal, we've already doubled your caloric intake :D

    haha i did watch it :) kate middleton looked amazing in her dress. and here wot my plan looked like today :

    Breakfast
    Douwe Egberts - Pure Indulgence Coffee, 1 cup (Black) 1 0 0 0
    Add Food Quick Tools 1 0 0 0
    Lunch
    Asda - Soup to Go - Tomato and Red Pepper, 330 g 104 14 4 2
    Rivita - Multigrain Crispbread, 2 slice (11g) 64 13 1 2
    Douwe Egberts - Pure Indulgence Coffee, 1 cup (Black) 1 0 0 0
    Add Food Quick Tools 169 27 5 4
    Dinner
    Fresh - Banana, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 105 27 0 2
    Fruit - Apple (Medium), 182 g 95 25 0 0
    Add Food Quick Tools 200 52 0 2
    Snacks
    Add Food Quick Tools
  • Triquetra
    Triquetra Posts: 270 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:

    Everyone is different. When you're shorter you can get away with eating a little less because your BMR is (generally speaking) lower than someone who is taller. I would still eat at least some of your exercise calories though. You have to feed your body, if you burn all your calories in exercise and your net calories are 0 or even negative, it means your body isn't getting the nutrition it needs. Experiment a little with different amount of calories so that you can figure out your optimal caloric intake (the max you can eat while still losing weight).
  • Crystal_Rudolph
    Crystal_Rudolph Posts: 632 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:

    Listen to your doctor and wait for some results. If it doesn't work, then change it up. I do not eat my exercise calories back unless I needed to use them because I went out to eat or just wanted something a little extra. I try to stay as close to 1200 as possible. but also don't get all weirded out if i stay under or go over.
  • Melissaol
    Melissaol Posts: 952 Member
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    So im only eating 1200 calories a day. But must of the time im under by 50-200. Some where in there.
    Is that ok. Or am i going to go into starvation mode. Im losing about 2 lbs a week. If its not enough i will eat more.
  • simplepuremaddness
    simplepuremaddness Posts: 33 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:


    If you work at it you will soon see results. :) Have u tried drinking green tea as a boost to your metabolism? x
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:

    People who have BMIs in the obese or higher range and have 50 pounds or more to lose can go lower in calories than someone in the overweight or normal range and 5-30 pounds to lose. Put simply, obese people have more fat available to burn than comparatively leaner folks do.

    You are also under a doctor's supervision while on this fairly low-calorie plan.

    If you weren't losing, my suggestion would be to check all of the following:

    -Are your portion sizes accurate? If you aren't weighing them on a food scale, they probably aren't. Everything should be measured, every time.

    -Are you logging everything that you put into your mouth? A bite here, a nibble there, sugar on cereal or in coffee--it adds up. Beverages also count. And there are no 'free foods' when logging calories, which sometimes takes people by surprise--vegiies and fruits get logged as well.

    -Were you eating out frequently? The calorie counts listed on websites are better than nothing, but not what one could call consistently accurate. Most restaurant food also has a shocking amount of sodium

    -Were you eating a large amount of processed foods? Anything out of a box, bag or can (yes, bread and pasta count too.) Lots of hidden sugars and sodium there.

    -Do you think your exercise calorie counts were accurate?

    -Were your goals set properly? MFP doesn't count your planned exercise in your Activity Level. Sometimes, people mistakenly choose an Activity Level that takes their workouts into account and then also log those workouts, accounting for those exercise calories TWICE. On MFP, your Activity Level only accounts for your 8-5 workday and should be set to reflect that. This is why you have to log your exercise calories.
  • Triquetra
    Triquetra Posts: 270 Member
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    :grumble: :noway: I am actually confused about all this now too because I thought the MFP thinking, eat 1200, eat back exercise calories, lose weight. I haven't lost anything in 2 months. I went to my doctor today and he told me to eat 1000, do NOT eat exercise cal's and exercise as much as I can even it I burn over 1000 in a day. I am 5'2" and 193lbs so obese but not morbidly so. I am so confused:noway:

    People who have BMIs in the obese or higher range and have 50 pounds or more to lose can go lower in calories than someone in the overweight or normal range and 5-30 pounds to lose. Put simply, obese people have more fat available to burn than comparatively leaner folks do.

    You are also under a doctor's supervision while on this fairly low-calorie plan.

    If you weren't losing, my suggestion would be to check all of the following:

    -Are your portion sizes accurate? If you aren't weighing them on a food scale, they probably aren't. Everything should be measured, every time.

    -Are you logging everything that you put into your mouth? A bite here, a nibble there, sugar on cereal or in coffee--it adds up. Beverages also count. And there are no 'free foods' when logging calories, which sometimes takes people by surprise--vegiies and fruits get logged as well.

    -Were you eating out frequently? The calorie counts listed on websites are better than nothing, but not what one could call consistently accurate. Most restaurant food also has a shocking amount of sodium

    -Were you eating a large amount of processed foods? Anything out of a box, bag or can (yes, bread and pasta count too.) Lots of hidden sugars and sodium there.

    -Do you think your exercise calorie counts were accurate?

    -Were your goals set properly? MFP doesn't count your planned exercise in your Activity Level. Sometimes, people mistakenly choose an Activity Level that takes their workouts into account and then also log those workouts, accounting for those exercise calories TWICE. On MFP, your Activity Level only accounts for your 8-5 workday and should be set to reflect that. This is why you have to log your exercise calories.

    -I do use measuring cups and weigh everything on a food scale before I put it onto my plate
    -I log everything, don't drink coffee/tea, mostly water and do log my fruit and veg
    -I only eat out about once a month or so and I always check the website to see what I can have before I go and make sure that it is within my calories allotted for the day
    -I do eat breads and some pasta, and popcorn. I try to limit everything else
    -I have a Polar HRM that I wear for exercise so I would hope that it would be pretty accurate
    -I set it up as doing no exercise and sedentary so that I wouldn't fall into those, and I only log my real exercise not when I take the dog for a walk or clean the house.

    I have been trying very hard and it has been very frustrating to be stuck for so long. I'll try what he said and see how it goes for a month or so.
  • cowpoke06
    cowpoke06 Posts: 171
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    Ok, I found those links!



    yes there is starvation mode. I'm pretty sure that I've been in it and I've been eating 1200 calories a day...sometimes less, even less than that if I work out. So the questions i was trying to figure out...how much should I as an individual be eating...and how much of a deficit is healthy to avoid starvation mode. I found these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long
    also this site:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/79181-dogmeat-s-thoughts-on-weight-loss

    These articles are is great and it's information I never would have even thought to ask. We all now that in order to lose weight we need to burn more calories than we take in. By eating fewer calories than we use, we force I bodies to use that fat stores on our body as energy. What this article explaines is that just because you create a calorie deficit of 2000 calories, doesn't mean your body can access 2000 calories worth of your fat stores at once. Thus: putting you in starvation mode. So now the trick is, figuring out how many calories it takes you just to live, deducting the number of calories your body can actually burn out of it's fat stores and voila! That's your target calories to eat per day...And if you exercise and burn calories, you need to eat those calories back to stay at that goal...otherwise, your body will slow down it's metabolism and tada: you stop losing weight or
    even worse, you gain weight.

    So how do you figure out how many calories you need per day? You need to find out your TDEE (total daily exercise expenditure). There are a lot of ways to calculate, some are more accurate than others. The most accurate requires you to know your lean body mass which takes some testing. Check out this Web site:

    http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

    This site shows a bunch of different was to calculate your TDEE which tells you how many calories it takes for you to exist. That's how many calories to eat to maintain the weight you are at. Eat more and you gain, eat less and you lose. My TDEE is 1925. The first article explains that most people only have access to 500 to 1000 of their stored fat calories a day. Closer to 1000 for people who are severly overweight and it gets less the less overweight you are. I'm expirementing with a deficit of 442 calories and will increase or decrease that amount based on the results I see. All of our bodies are different and that's
    the only way to know.

    But eating 400 calories a day...you are never going to reach your goals. And if you do, it's only because you've deprived your body of essential nutrients and nutrition. People die from that. Even if you can't suddenly jump to 1500 calories a day...start slowly and gradually increase. I hope those links are useful :) Good luck!
  • cowpoke06
    cowpoke06 Posts: 171
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    ugh, sorry for the typos. I put that together while at work in kind of a haste!
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
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    Okay, for the OP: You are not eating enough. Please talk to a doctor to determine a healthy diet that will help you lose weight while still being a vegan.

    For all the people hashing out semantics: Yes, anorexia is an eating disorder. However, the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosing anorexia includes failure to maintain 85% of a healthy body weight (<18.5 BMI). So, no, the OP is not (yet) suffering from anorexia. A doctor would probably diagnose her as EDNOS at this point. However, she is well on her way to anorexia.

    So, back to the OP: Yes, you will lose "weight" while restricting your diet so severely. You'll also lose muscle, organ function, brain function, hair... your nails will stop growing and you'll grow a fine fur called "lanugo" all over your body because you no longer have fat to keep you warm.

    Sexy thought, huh? A bald, furry teenager with bones poking out everywhere.

    I'm not making light of this... I really do hope you'll seek out a physician's advice / care. A psychologist's, too.
  • altazin0907
    altazin0907 Posts: 188 Member
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    So im only eating 1200 calories a day. But must of the time im under by 50-200. Some where in there.
    Is that ok. Or am i going to go into starvation mode. Im losing about 2 lbs a week. If its not enough i will eat more.


    No you will not go into starvation mode.
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    survival mode aka starvation mode is easy to know when it has kicked in because you will simply stay static meaning no weight loss, this is usually common in those whom overtrain or undereat, both can cause it to occur you see it every day on here and they call it a plateau. If you are still losing then chances are that you have not hit that point yet.
  • kkellam1
    kkellam1 Posts: 182 Member
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    So for me, the question is why did the OP post this in the first place? When I read a question like this, I often wonder if the poster doesn't already really know the answer and is somehow hoping they will find some justification to ignore the truth. Denial.

    I am all for low calorie to lose weight and I am all for eating primarily veggies and fruit. But note that I said LOW calorie, not ridiculously low calorie. And MOSTLY veggies and fruit. Our bodies are designed to eat some meat products, that's why we are omnivores not heribivores. Everything in balance and mederation is my philosophy.

    Clearly 3-500 a day is too low and I think the OP knows it.

    Sure, starvation mode exists. Do most people worry too much about it? I think so. How many calories to eat? I think it varies from person to person and also has a lot to do with your current level of body fat. But eating 300-500 a day falls way below anyones comfort zone.

    And to the OP: I know that you hate to hear this, because I hated this attitude when I was your age (granted that was a long time ago), but you are very young and would be well served taking the advice of people who have walked this planet a little longer than you. We've learned a few things along the way...
  • heather0709
    heather0709 Posts: 110 Member
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    I agree, lately I haven't been eating much and haven't lost weight like I was when I was eating 1200 calories