Starvation mode. Myth or Fact?

TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »

First of all yes your right it can be pretty snarky here lol.

But dont give up hun. You can do this. You already lost 21 pounds.
So stick to your plan and be determent, despite what others say.

Its the internet people are like this.
Just try to step over it....

You can do it!!

yep!!

just because some peoples advice isn't fluffy, sugarcoated or didn't say what you wanted to hear doesn't make them wrong.
when coming on a public internet forum, you definitely have to put your grown up pants on and also develop a thick skin. Take or leave what you wish.
But leaving the forum isn't going to be of any help to you, and you'll miss out on lots of great advice and info

It's not all about you @MrM27 . A few posters have made comments about accurate logging, as they do when someone is posting about a weight loss stall. These comments often come across as accusatory. There are also comments from posters who haven't bothered to read the thread that are arrogant and unhelpful - to be expected on these forums.

I didn't have a scale for about the first 50 lbs of weight loss. A scale is not necessary for weight loss. Logging is not necessary for weight loss. Both can provide useful information that helps make sense of how things are going. I've certainly been surprised by what I've learned from each.

One poster mentioned a HRM, despite OP not eating back her exercise calories. I wish I had read a post saying how useless they are before I bought mine. They are expensive, don't track activity calories very well in many situations, and some work better than others at the ones they do work with. That being said, mine is fun to play with, and is easier to take my pulse with than watch and wrist during a jog. OP, if you are considering one down the road, you may want to take the time to do the research before commiting to a $100+ item.

+1 for possible water weight and logging cheat meal. When you get the nutritional information for the restaurant, you will probably be able to find a meal there that stays within your goals. It's annoying to have to look everything up, but knowing is powerful, and give you the info to make choices that work better for you in the future.

OP, I know you asked people to knock off and stop posting, but I clearly have impulse control problems. The forums can be helpful. I've gotten some great advice on increasing my running speed, and running on ice. Just try to avoid certain topics, which are sure to bring out the trolls i.e. sugar as health concern, sugar (or food) as addiction, starvation mode, carbs/keto, gastric bypass, weight stalls, using loose instead of lose, or why are people on the forums so rude. If you are curious about these topics, you have the option of searching for previous threads, rather than exposing yourself to the (insert word that will get this post flagged here) of the forums.

You are only starting out, and are already doing a lot of things right. As you go, you may want to make little tweaks (like buying a scale) that can make the journey easier. Congrats on your work so far and your great attitude

mckenzienatosha wrote: »

Can someone pls look at my diary and give me advice. I started my new lifestyle Nov 21 2014 and have list 47lbs but it is slowing down. Any advice about my diary or anything? Feel free to add me I could use some reinforcements. Thanks

This should be it's own thread, rather than adding on to someone else's.

Either you aren't logging water, or you aren't drinking enough. Not drinking water can lead to water retention.

Protein should be .8g/kg bodyweight or 1g/lb lean mass minimum - MFP amt may be too low. Your protein intake looks like it is too low to properly protect your lean mass.

Fiber should be 25 g minimum.

You eat a lot of packaged foods where the sodium is high. Sodium can cause water weight retention and mask weight loss.

I would suggest exercising to earn more calories, or trying a smaller deficit. You have been eating very low calorie, and might be missing out on some micros. Was that a splurge on Sunday, or a planned treat day? Binges can be caused by too high a deficit.

You may want to try weighing some of your food (i.e. mayo) to make sure your servings are right, if you aren't already.

I think there is a sticky on "why am I not losing weight", or on logging...correct logging can make a difference.

Weight loss isn't linear, and can stall for no apparent reason (like time of month). How long have you been stalled?

But seriously, I should stop hijacking this thread and just advise you to start a new thread specific to your concerns. Good luck:)

aziapatrick wrote: »

I'm beginning to think the boards aren't a place for me. There have been several posts full of great information, but that is getting overshadowed by the snarky and rude comments. Being a morbidly obese woman dieting is hard but I am determined and when I ask for advice I'm looking for positivity and constructive criticism not "you're sloppy and aren't doing it right". So I want to really thank the posters who gave me advice and constructive criticism in a positive way.
I originally posted because I was curious about starvation mode. I wanted to know opinions on it. So I've gotten what I needed and I'm done.

Hiyah hope dont be put off lots of good advice here and you are doing a great job. keep up the hard work. x

You've lost 20 pounds in like 2.5 weeks and you're having a 2 week stall? That's called normal! It happens all the time after a big loss. Starvation mode is absolutely not whats going on. And chances are you are not overeating either. Although if you are eating a lot of pre-packaged foods, you may be getting a lot of sodium which you may be seeing the effects of on the scale. I definitely agree that you need to log EVERYTHING… including your cheat meals. And I think you should be weighing and measuring everything as well. Knowing what proper portion sizes look like will be a great benefit to you later on.

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

MrM27 wrote: »

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

@WholeFoodHealthy‌ I agree 100%. Very well written. I also do IF

@christinev297
Woohoo! Glad to "meet" another IFer, and thank you, I discovered it by complete accident. I used to work for Starbucks (best job in the world, at the right location lol) and I'd work long days as I was an hours hog. Some days when we were busy I'd eat basically nothing but drink a LOT of coffee and I had a crapton of energy. Of course I attributed it to the coffee until recently (I no longer work there) when I had a bunch of errands to run and accidentally ended up not eating for ~22 hours. The whole day I was extremely energetic and alert, so I googled something like "No eating energy" and came across IF. I was amazed and read into it a whole lot more and it made perfect sense!

I've tried a lot of "diets, and alternate day fasting is the ONLY thing that has worked to get the weight off, rather quickly and effortlessly.

ETA: it's also the only woe that has saved me money lol I've spent a crap ton of money on supplements and stuff like plexus etc none of which worked

If only more people knew... I mean it seems like almost common sense: Don't eat=Lose weight, but people (myself not excluded) don't think of it because no one talks about it as an option. Makes sense I guess, I mean there would be no $$$ made by supplement manufacturers, diet food companys, diet plan companies, myfitnesspal (haha) hell if every overweight person didn't eat for 2 days a week all major food companies (suppliers, restaurants, EVERYONE) would be losing money. So there's that lol.

I'm sorry but what makes you think people don't talk about IF? Are you new here? Do you really think many of us haven't practiced IF? Have you bothered to look and see how many IF groups there are?

Don't believe you are paving the way for some miraculous thing. Also, IF is an eating protocol. It's not a magical solution to losing weight.

1: Yes, I'm new here (I bet my "3 posts" counter gave it away didn't it. Aw, man)
2: Yes I have checked the IF groups. Do you have a point?
3: I'm speaking of people in GENERAL. Not specifically MFP users.
4: I don't know what version of IF you used, but the 24 hour "Eat Stop Eat" version is both a way of eating and you WILL lose weight. (I don't remember ever mentioning anything about magic or sorcery?...)

Anything else?

The point that you are not getting is that even with IF in your feeding window you can eat at a surplus in one sitting. I know I can easily eat my entire day in one meal and so can a lot of people. So that you WILL lose weight is wrong.

First of all, its excellent that you are on here and trying, no, succeeding in being healthier. Great job on the 20+ lbs. There have been some great suggestions on here so far so I won't touch on what I've read. There's a couple of things I haven't read that I'll mention, though.

First: When we eat too few calories our body will hold on to fat and water in self preservation. Make sure you are within 500 - 800 shy of your calorie needs. Now, in order to know that you will have to measure food AND exercise as good as you can. The numbers on here are the closest I have found to getting it right.

Second: I go to a Mexican restaurant with friends after church every Sunday. When I started going I was 250 and would eat chicken chimichanga with melted cheese and chips and would get my own bowl of salsa and just snack on chips until the meal arrived, sometimes 30 or 45 minutes. There's no telling how many calories that was. I really don't want to know. Now I weigh 209 and I still go every Sunday but I quit having the cheese. I drink water and watch how many chips I have. I like the taste of Mexican but I can get the same taste by having a salad and a couple of tortillas and making tacos out of them with salsa. Turns out everything tastes like salsa after you add salsa.

At first, me eating healthier while my friends kept eating the loaded nachos and the fried whatever got some snide remarks. They cracked jokes about it being weird and calling me a vegetarian. But after a few months, when it was obvious I had lost quite a bit of weight, they realized I was their friend not because of what any of us ate, but because of who we are. Now, they still haven't changed their diet (secretly hoping they will) but we just enjoy the time together.

You can do this! Just remember how hard you worked on those 3 workout days and refuse to give any of it back just because of a bowl of cheese and a burrito. You can do this!

MrM27 wrote: »

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

MrM27 wrote: »

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

WholeFoodHealthy wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

@WholeFoodHealthy‌ I agree 100%. Very well written. I also do IF

@christinev297
Woohoo! Glad to "meet" another IFer, and thank you, I discovered it by complete accident. I used to work for Starbucks (best job in the world, at the right location lol) and I'd work long days as I was an hours hog. Some days when we were busy I'd eat basically nothing but drink a LOT of coffee and I had a crapton of energy. Of course I attributed it to the coffee until recently (I no longer work there) when I had a bunch of errands to run and accidentally ended up not eating for ~22 hours. The whole day I was extremely energetic and alert, so I googled something like "No eating energy" and came across IF. I was amazed and read into it a whole lot more and it made perfect sense!

I've tried a lot of "diets, and alternate day fasting is the ONLY thing that has worked to get the weight off, rather quickly and effortlessly.

ETA: it's also the only woe that has saved me money lol I've spent a crap ton of money on supplements and stuff like plexus etc none of which worked

If only more people knew... I mean it seems like almost common sense: Don't eat=Lose weight, but people (myself not excluded) don't think of it because no one talks about it as an option. Makes sense I guess, I mean there would be no $$$ made by supplement manufacturers, diet food companys, diet plan companies, myfitnesspal (haha) hell if every overweight person didn't eat for 2 days a week all major food companies (suppliers, restaurants, EVERYONE) would be losing money. So there's that lol.

I'm sorry but what makes you think people don't talk about IF? Are you new here? Do you really think many of us haven't practiced IF? Have you bothered to look and see how many IF groups there are?

Don't believe you are paving the way for some miraculous thing. Also, IF is an eating protocol. It's not a magical solution to losing weight.

1: Yes, I'm new here (I bet my "3 posts" counter gave it away didn't it. Aw, man)
2: Yes I have checked the IF groups. Do you have a point?
3: I'm speaking of people in GENERAL. Not specifically MFP users.
4: I don't know what version of IF you used, but the 24 hour "Eat Stop Eat" version is both a way of eating and you WILL lose weight. (I don't remember ever mentioning anything about magic or sorcery?...)

Anything else?

That^^^^

You do the 24 hour version but have no deficit then yout won't lose weight.

The 24 hour fast is a vehicle for a deficit. It also lowers your appetite. If yo have the willpower to go 24 hours without eating then you're gonna have a weekly deficit.


That's as simply as I can put it. Maybe you'll be able to comprehend a shorter sentence. If not, your loss.

If you're into books try the book. Then see if you still want to come back and try to make your point.