Starvation Mode?

Can you give me informatşon about starvation mode and why it happens?

Replies

  • metalmeow1
    metalmeow1 Posts: 110 Member
    Myth
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    True starvation mode happens because you aren't providing enough energy for your body to perform its regular functions. In that state, you will continue to lose weight, but you won't have much will to do anything but sit around and you burn calories accordingly. In extreme cases your organs start shutting down and you could die.

    What many people think is starvation mode doesn't exist. You don't reach a point where your body tries to store anything that you eat. If you are starving yourself, the last thing your body is going to try to do is to store fat when the rest of your body needs energy. Instead, it will try to turn everything you eat into energy.

    People who are staying at the same weight are not in starvation mode.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    True starvation mode happens because you aren't providing enough energy for your body to perform its regular functions. In that state, you will continue to lose weight, but you won't have much will to do anything but sit around and you burn calories accordingly. In extreme cases your organs start shutting down and you could die.

    What many people think is starvation mode doesn't exist. You don't reach a point where your body tries to store anything that you eat. If you are starving yourself, the last thing your body is going to try to do is to store fat when the rest of your body needs energy. Instead, it will try to turn everything you eat into energy.

    People who are staying at the same weight are not in starvation mode.

    Exactly. I lost weight rapidly on a 500 Cal a day intake plus exercise when I was anorexic.
  • Mendoza7121
    Mendoza7121 Posts: 14 Member
    Starvation mode survival mode same *kitten*. And yea its true!!! Lol your body dont want lose weight so it will slow down your metabolism the leaner you get the harder it gets for a reason
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    there is such a thing as starvation just not starvation mode.if there were a starvation mode people in 3rd world countries,concentration camps and so on would not be skin and bones,They are literally starving
  • Mendoza7121
    Mendoza7121 Posts: 14 Member
    It cut out my cuss word and put kitten hahha
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Most people on Myfitnesspal will tell you it doesn't exist but actually if you eat below your BMR for an extended period of time your metabolism will slow down and your body will start slowing down or shutting off various functions to preserve energy (hair and nail growth, healing, keeping your extremities warm, menstrual cycle, etc), so you don't die. You will lose muscle and your BMR will be lower and you won't have energy to exercise. You might even suffer organ damage... I don't know what other people call that but I'd sure call that "starvation mode".
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Use a slow rate of loss or a mild caloric deficit (rather than a fast rate of loss or a large deficit) to avoid this.
  • MaddMaestro
    MaddMaestro Posts: 405 Member
    "Starvation Mode" is a misnomer. Such a thing would either happen because you're eating more than you think or your metabolism is slowing down. It's not legitimate starving if you're not losing weight.
  • dustedwithsugar
    dustedwithsugar Posts: 179 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »

    Lyle McDonald details it very well here, including incredibly accurate commentary about the psychological profiles of many dieters and how it relates to the phenomenon (sounds a lot like many people on MFP):

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html/
    Thanks for the article, I really liked it!! The description of stressed out females on the internet is spot on lol