Starvation Mode - Interesting Science!

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  • deverez
    deverez Posts: 34 Member
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    Yeah, I gotta say I would be pretty upset with almost 30% lean mass loss. And while you can look at it as only 11% decrease in RMR, that's not really indicative of actual loss. You dropped from ~2300 to ~1800. That's a 500 cal decrease overall. Now some of that is normal decrease, but still a 500 cal decrease in RMR? That would seriously derail anyone depending on usual BMR calculators for determining their deficit and would certainly result in overestimating necessary intake.

    I don't think I would call it a wash. I'd call it a good reason to avoid VLCDs. JMO.

    He said 30% of the weight that he lost was muscle. He didn't say that he lost 30% of his total lean mass. If you weren't confused about this, my apologies.

    Please consider the numbers:

    On week 2 (his heaviest) he was burning 9.77 calories PER pound of body mass.
    On week 8 (his lightest) he was burning 9.19 calories PER pound of body mass.

    This is VERY different than the complete metabolic halt that some people think 'starvation mode' apparently is.

    While his overall weight was reduced by about 18%, his RMR (per pound) was only reduced by 6%.

    This doesn't seem as outlandish as some of you are making it out to be. Am I missing something here? Did I mess up the calculations?
  • robertf57
    robertf57 Posts: 560 Member
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    These results are quite similar to well conducted controlled studies of VLCD in obese adults (AM J Clin Nutr 1991;53:826-30 to quote just one). There are slight variations in the actual numbers because of individual diversity and particularly the method used to measure Lean Body Mass. Even in the original Minnesota study demonstrating reduction in RMR during calorie deficit. There were no instances of weight loss stopping because of low caloric intake which is the oft repeated mantra of starvation mode on this site. The bulk of evidence also suggest that resistance training can help to mitigate loss of Lean Body Mass during calorie deficit..
  • Yocum1219
    Yocum1219 Posts: 400 Member
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    Interesting. Would like to see a female results, as someone said, but still worth reading for informational purposes.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Congratulations on your loss. I am glad you are satisfied with the results.

    But wait a second here... Your RMR is now lower by a whopping 525 and you've lost significant muscle mass. For many, those results would be unsatisfactory. These are precisely the reasons many of us here warn about VLCDs.

    And this experiment isn't over yet - you have to now ramp back up to maintenance, hopefully getting your RMR back to normal, and hopefully not gain any significant weight. Also, are you planning on building back that lost muscle?

    Please post follow-ups as you continue. I am very curious to follow your progress.

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