Starvation Mode???

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jbenton091011
jbenton091011 Posts: 99
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All
I recently joined this week and I've spent the past few days just reading different posts and getting myself familiar with this site. I'm enjoying it and I've found tracking my food informative and a great help. My question is about "starvation mode". How does one know they're in starvation mode? Some posts speak about your body going into starvation mode from as low as 1200 calories (which is what MFP has put me on) and two days ago when I was under my 1200 limit (by 53 calories), one of the highlighted messages from MFP was a warning about under eating and going into starvation mode. Yesterday I was over by 171 calories and MFP didn't mention anything about over eating??

Thanks all for any advise offered here.

Replies

  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    it's my understanding that ' starvation mode' kicks in after a prolonged period of eating very little. how ' prolonged' the period is, would vary from person to person, but I'm quiet sure your body won't enter it if you drop your eating for a day or so. some folks even fast and deliberately under eat..they must know what they are doing because I eat if i get hungry...simple.

    12,000 is an arbitrary measure the mfp spits out at people. be sensible, eat well and have FUN!

    It's perfectly normal to be over or under by a few hundred..as I said, mfp just makes a rough estimate. if you are exercising regularly, then you should eat more...food is fuel and you are an engine!
  • swaymyway
    swaymyway Posts: 428 Member
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    'Starvation mode' get's thrown around far too easily around here for my liking, your body is not going to go into starvation mode if you eat less than 1200 now and then, or even for a few weeks. It's something that happens after a prolonged period of time when your body isn't getting enough nutrients to perform it's basic functions.
  • ecka2017
    ecka2017 Posts: 4
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    Hi there:
    I too, received that same message my first week. Luckily, one of my buddies on MFP gave me this peice of advice: "Always try to eat at least HALF of the calories you burn each day" I have to admit, that I rarely eat as much as half. I have lost only 2lbs in 2 weeks, so I am goingto really focus on what she told me. I guess I am living proof of what "starvation mode" can do to your metabolism. I work out daily, keep my calories under 1200, even though I burn between 800-1000 per day, depending on the amount of cardio I am doing. I have also been allotted 1200 per day, so at least try to hit that number....more if you excercise. MFP will give you the starvation message if you drop under 1200 cals in a day. I will let you know how my weight loss goes over the next week, as I experiment with eating up to half of the calories I burn, each day. I'm hoping for big results!!!! Good Luck!
  • Ohiopugmom
    Ohiopugmom Posts: 43 Member
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    I am a little confused on this myself. Do you get the message if you don't eat 1200 cals only or if your net cals (eat minus burned) is less than 1200?
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Welcome! You will see a lot of posts like this...it was me a couple of weeks ago. I had lost almost 40lbs but got stuck and gained a few and it didn't budge for over a year. I didn't understand as I was very careful, and I'm an instructor for group exercise and teach one, two, maybe three times a day on a crazy day. I'm now learning that my deficit was WAY under 1200 many days, so my body was holding on to every single calorie. I always wondered why I'd sometimes lose weight while eating a lot on vacation...my body was thanking me! Just make sure you NET 1200 calories. It gives you your net number on your Home page. That will include eating back some if not all exercise calories because MFP has already added in your 500 calorie deficit for the day. I am proof that going/staying under that net will hurt you big time. HTH! Good luck!
  • jbenton091011
    jbenton091011 Posts: 99
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    I am a little confused on this myself. Do you get the message if you don't eat 1200 cals only or if your net cals (eat minus burned) is less than 1200?

    I'm not really sure. From what I understood it to be, it was consumption only.

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