Starvation Mode???

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!

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!

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!