I've heard about starvation mode...

Lots of the time i find myself not eating all my calories after i've had an intense work out. You definitely want to eat some of them like say you've burned 500 calories consume 300, but starvation mode tends to only kick in if you're eating a SIGNIFICANT amount less than you used to. It can also take a couple of weeks for your body to get used to the new eating habits so dont get discouraged if after a week of cutting down on calories you haven't lost anything. Just stick with it and if after another week you don't see results then you can alter your calorie intake.

-Hopefully that helps! Goodluck

Starvation mode is real. Trust us. Eat your exercise calories!

see the link in my signature? click on it. There is some good reading in there.

It's real. You might not see it the first day, or even the first week, but if you consistently burn waaay more than you consume, your body will start hanging on to whatever fat it has stored.

I've been losing consistently all year.

And yes, I eat most of my exercise calories. You could eat a 400 calorie PB&J. Doesn't seem like that much more food....

Honestly...I wouldn't eat back all of those calories either. Make sure you dont go below your daily allotted amount of calories AND maybe add another couple hundred!

a couple of years ago i lost weight counting my calories..this is why i am back because it works.but anyways...lost about 25 pounds. didn't know about this webiste at the time so i just wrote it out on a piece of paper..i had no idea about the starvation mode and eating exercise calories so when i exercised ( i play competitive soccer) i didn't eat any of my calories back and i still lost all that weight..so i'm so confused as well!!!

Guys, I didn't want to go into a long thing because many of us have already posted on why starvation mode is real. Please, read the links that I provided above (or in my signature).

Look, MyFitnessPal already takes into account that you want to lose weight, so when they give you your goal, it's already a caloric deficit. If you exercise and don't eat those calories, the deficit grows.

starvation mode is what happens when you don't give your body the calories it needs to function normally. Your body CAN function normally on a caloric deficit (if it didn't, we'd never be able to effectively loose weight); BUT if that deficit is too great, the body will recognize this, go into somewhat of a panic, and start storing fat anyway it can by slowing down internal processes it deems "less necessary". This means some organs are slowed, your metabolism in general is slowed, and the body starts canabalizing muscles because it KNOWS that less muscle means less passive calorie burn. Since fat doesn't burn calories on its own, the body doesn't see fat as a problem in starvation mode. It takes a little while to really gain momentum (usually about a week or more to really kick in), but once it does, it becomes really difficult to do any good.
Starvation mode isn't a "line" you cross, it's gradual, like any other organic process. Usually you won't even notice when it gains enough momentum to hinder your progress. It IS real though.

It confuses me when people say, "I don't eat back all my exercise calories" Now if they said, "I know it's a little more then my goal deficit but I watch my deficit closely and know I'm still eating enough to stay out of starvation mode." That would be one thing, but people just do it, not even knowing what their total deficit is, and not knowing if the uneaten calories will be harmful to the work they are doing.

I post this because I want people to be informed and succeed. I hope you will all make sure you read the posts on metabolism, exercise calories, and deficits, because without the knowledge, you may just be hurting your own cause.