Starvation Mode 2

Well when I was in starvation mode I wasn't losing as much as I do now.

Doesn't matter how overweight you are, it's a matter of your body's needs being met...if you're not feeding it enough it's going to store what you do eat as fat, because your body knows it's got to make the food stretch since you aren't feeding it properly. Eating more should jump start your metabolism and actually help you lose weight.

a different stance on it.....

http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742

Did you read this one? I did post it in your other post....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

great link!!

A lot of the "starvation mode" talk is over blown, and biologically really has to do not only with low calorie, but also with low activity. To really put your body into "starvation mode" (which is not a clinical concept by the way) you need to be eating <500 calories on a regular basis and not exercising. And even if that is the case, if you up your calories, but burn more you will still lose weight. Your body is a closed system, input and output have to balance. If you burn 3000 calories and take in 1500, the balance has to come from somewhere (fat stores). You probably need to be eating more, but you should not start gaining weight, and will probably start to lose a little faster after the first week or so.

So now, I'm just wondering, how the heck it is possible for someone flabby like me (plenty of love on my handles to share) who is almost 30 lbs overweight (BMI= 27.8, BMR=1,470) to possibly ever be in starvation mode?

Drop to 500 calories and you'll find out!

When medical people discuss starvation mode, it's at the 500 cals/day level or less. When you do that to your body, it places a lot of demands on you.

The first thing you body does is start consuming fat which it has so wisely created as an energy store. Once the body fat is at "essential levels" (about 5% for men), your body will consume other tissue until death.

Eating below 1200 calories is not "starvation mode". There are many people who will gain weight at 1200 calories. My impression is that MFP recommends that you eat at least 1200 net cals/day because most people will lose weight and, generally speaking, you will not feel hunger pangs. In addition, they recommend lots of water. One of the reasons to drink lots of water is that it cuts down on hunger pangs.

Between 1200 calories per day and lots of water, most people will lose weight and not feel hungry which means that a higher percentage of people will hit their weight goals. And that's a good thing.

But, for the love of Mike (no pun intended) please don't think for a second that you're in starvation mode just because you've eaten below 1200 calories.

There's nothing wrong with eating 1200 calories while you're trying to lose weight. And, for many people, there's no problem eating fewer than 1200 calories.

I lost almost 100 pounds in 7 months at 800 to 1k net cals/day. There were days when I ate a few more than 1k but I tried to keep it at that level. The reason I chose 800 to 1000 was because hundreds of thousands of people have lost weight at that calorie level in the 40 years that Lindora have been in business (they're located here in Southern California).

Yes, hundreds of thousands of people have safely lost weight eating well under 1200 calories per day. It ain't magic.

[quoteI guess I am worried that I have messed up my body so badly by trying to eat less than 1200 calories for over 3 months that if I now start trying to eat closer to those 1200 calories that I am going to gain back the 15 lbs I have already lost...
[/quote]
I don't think you can "break" your digestive system. :-)

I've stopped losing and am trying to get to maintenance levels for calories. Like you, I don't want to gain weight back so I'm doing it slowly and carefully.

My CPD (calories per day) when I was losing was 1240 and I've bumped it to 1750. I'm hitting two problems -
1 - it's hard to eat that much food
2 - I'm training for a half-marathon in two weeks and a marathon in December so I've had to change my protein/carbs/fat percentages and I'm having a hard time eating that many carbs.

The good thing that I'm seeing is that I'm, generally speaking, in a "channel" - my weight varied only about 3 pounds since July 1.

What I've seen of the past 6 weeks that I've been in maintenance is that you won't gain back the weight unless you put the extra calories in your mouth.

So, long post I realize, please don't worry about starvation mode. 1200 calories is an excellent guideline that allows lots of people to lose weight in a healthy, not unpleasant manner. A few moments of "critical thinking" make it clear that it's not a "line of death".

One last thought - ever do any photography? Almost all cameras have an "automatic" mode. Automatic mode makes it easy for lots and lots of people to get good pictures (by which I mean the images are properly exposed and focused). Automatic mode works in the vast majority of situations and most people are very happy with the results.

1200 calories per day + 8 cups of water per day = automatic mode

Some cameras have automatic mode as well as other modes, one of which is manual mode. Folks who learn about photography often switch off automatic mode and use manual mode because there are situations that auto can't deal with or where they want control over their images in a very specific way. If you're eating < 1200 calories (+/-), you're in manual mode.

My results?

http://cbeinfo.net/weight.htm

Of course, you have to factor in that by eating less calories, your body won't simply exclusively burn the fat stores for energy. Muscle is calorifically expensive to run for your body (it costs more calories to maintain than fat) so it's logical that muscle will be one of the first tissues to be used for required energy. Your body can burn fat for energy and it will get the energy, or it can burn muscle tissue for energy and as well as getting the energy it needs, it can also reduce the energy requirement of the body for the next day and the day after - double bubble!

This is how people end up 'skinny fat' and is why I changed my goal weight down twice before I realised I had to exercise as well to maintain muscle and increase fat burn which would eventually get me the body I wanted.

Sort of forgot the point I was making in relation to this thread now... But anyway. Eat enough of the right kind of food and exercise to shape your body and increase your overall fitness.