So when is it starvation mode?

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

sometimes my brain doesn't work right. I can't focuse on what people are taking about around me and I'm hungry at all times. Its like my body disconects from my brain. I hear them but make little sence of it. Is that what starvation mode is, or is that normal?

starvation mode is when your not giving your body enough calories to function on, so if your eating under 1200 calories every day your gunna hit starvation mode and your gunna hit a platuea and not lose any weight

You have to eat at least 1200 calories a day. I'm in a lifestyle change program with a hospital and my doctor said to ignore the Food-Exercise=Net Calories. Your food calories should be 1200, NOT your Net calories. So if your exercise causes the Net to go under 1200, that's fine. Just pay attention to the Food calories. The doctors in the program all suggest not eating the calories you burned during exercise. Their reasons are b/c you may have eaten more that day than you realize or you may not have burned as much as you think. They suggest finding your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), I don't remember the formula for that but I think MFP has it somewhere, then eating 400-500 calories less than that. So, my BMR is 1938, so they want me to eat around 1400 calories a day, no matter what MFP says based on my exercise and weight lost per week goals.

Just throwing that out there. I'm loving the LEAN program at the hospital, it's put a lot of stuff into perspective for me, at least. I know a lot of people are either majorly for or majorly against eating the calories you gained from exercise, but in my experiences, I've lost more weight by not eating those calories. Hope this answers your questions. Good luck on reaching your goals!

Wow.... can't believe all the terrible advice on here.

Ok, This is what NUTRITIONISTS have told me. Ya know, the people that go to school for a very very long time to become very knowledgeable about this stuff.

The "Starvation mode" people are referring to DOES exist, for one. Malnutrition is a totally different thing. Malnutrition has to do when a person does not get enough nutrients, regardless of number of calories.

"Starvation mode" , by definition, is eating less than 50% of your bodies TOTAL daily requirement. This causes your metabolism to drastically slow. You will still lose weight, yes, but you will be losing muscle, fat, and you can feel constantly tired, which will also hinder your weight loss attempts.

In addition, you will be losing weight at a slower rate than is optimal.

Just because you are eating MORE than 50% of your bodies needed total daily calories does not mean that you aren't slowing your metabolism. Nutritionalists will tell you not to go lower than a 1000 calorie deficit, to keep your metabolism at an optimal rate, while still losing fat.

You will lose the LEAST amount of muscle, have more energy, and keep your metabolism top notch to get healthy if you stay within 1000 calories of what your body is using.

Personally, I am burning around 3500-4000 calories a day (BMR + Exercise). That means I need to eat 2500+ to keep myself in top condition, while still losing fat.

Don't starve yourself people, its not the smart way, its not the healthy way, and its not the fastest way to lose weight. Exercise consistently, eat consistently and healthy, and you WILL lose.

EDIT - Disclaimer: There ARE people that do not fall into this category. If you have been seeing a doctor or nutritionist because you have a actual medical reason to have a different plan, LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR OR SPECIALIST.

Edit: Another side note - this is for moderately healthy people. People who are grossly obese can actually cut a bit more than normal people and do fine. It's a fine line though.

"Starvation mode" , by definition, is eating less than 50% of your bodies TOTAL daily requirement. This causes your metabolism to drastically slow. You will still lose weight, yes, but you will be losing muscle, fat, and you can feel constantly tired, which will also hinder your weight loss attempts.

The effects are what determine starvation mode, Loss of muscle mass, fatigue, and hinder weight loss attempts. This can happen to any athlete who needs 5000-8000 calories a day to maintain their performance and weight, if they drop down to 3000 calories. Or on any caloric reduction program.

I also believe that "experience" out weighs "education." I am a majoring in computer science, there was a time long ago I read the NETWORK+ book. I read that thing a ton, took a ton of notes... if you put me in a real life situation to apply my skills... I couldn't do a damn thing.

I pretty much taught myself programming, i have been doing it for about... 7yrs or so, I have done a "ton" of programming. When I went to school and we took programming classes, I would code circles around everyone else, even the dean of our computer science dept who has a phD in computer science... I would let him be aware of the errors he has made in his book. I could do this form "experience" not from theory/education.

Last semester I took a course on electronics... we learned the "laws" out of the book yes, but we had a lot of experiences. On our final, the instructor said "The book won't help you one bit on your final, these are real world problems, you have to know HOW things work the principals of it. You can sit there and apply math formulas till the cows come home, it won't help you one bit."

My uncle is a electrician we where talking, he said "sometimes we get new guys straight out of school, it's funny how they sit there and try to calculate everything making formulas and everything when all they have to do is cut a wire."

sidenote -
there's quite a bit of difference between learning a process and studying a scientific equation.
I could read books on driving a car, but could never have learned to drive without actual experience. However, the fact that i have experienced the effects of gravity keeping my feet firmly attached to the ground my entire life does not mean i'm an expert in physics, or that i even fully understand the law of gravity.