Starvation mode?

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McKayMachina
McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
in Food and Nutrition
WHY did you just click on this thread? You KNOW it's only going to frustrate you! :laugh:

So, per IMDb:

"The producers of the film claim that Christian Bale dropped from about 173 pounds in weight down to about 110 pounds in weight to make this film. They also claim that Bale actually wanted to drop down to 100 pounds, but that they would not let him go below 120 out of fear that his health could be in too much danger if he did. His diet consisted of one can of tuna and an apple per day. His 63-pound weight loss is said to be a record for any actor for a movie role. He regained the weight in time for his role in Batman Begins."

While under-eating is awful on your body, I find it hard to believe starvation mode affects weight loss the way everyone around here believes it does.

I just don't buy the "I was netting 900 calories a day for a whole year and gained 10 lbs.!" argument. It's thermodynamically impossible.

Discuss! :drinker:
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Replies

  • choconuts
    choconuts Posts: 208 Member
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    I agree, but I'm curious how difficult it would be if he ever tried to drop weight again.
  • Doogieboogie
    Doogieboogie Posts: 2 Member
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    He dropped weight for The Machinist and for The Fighter... it must be do-able
  • chuckyp
    chuckyp Posts: 693 Member
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    I agree that I don't think it's possible to gain weight in starvation mode. I do believe, however, that your body will convert metabolically active muscle into metabolically inactive fat in order to conserve fuel. So while you would lose weight, you would most certainly also lose muscle mass.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    I agree, but I'm curious how difficult it would be if he ever tried to drop weight again.

    IN3fC.jpg
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    :heart: him.

    before-after-christian-bale-beforeafter-gym-by-panchovilla-b.jpg



    ^ as if you just beat me to it, with a better pic too!
  • GvMeSmthn2Lstn2
    GvMeSmthn2Lstn2 Posts: 73
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    wasn't that also probably rapid weight loss? He may have been able to maintain for as long as needed but in order refrain from regaining, wouldn't he have to continue to malnurish his body? I don't know how easy it would be for a human to constantly surive on a can of tuna and an apple
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    I agree that I don't think it's possible to gain weight in starvation mode. I do believe, however, that your body will convert metabolically active muscle into metabolically inactive fat in order to conserve fuel. So while you would lose weight, you would most certainly also lose muscle mass.

    I agree that you would lose muscle mass in a deficit. But muscle > fat? I understand those to be totally different tissues and one can't convert to the other. Is that right?
  • denisegolden
    denisegolden Posts: 206 Member
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    well lucky me, after gastric bypass sugery i only consume between 400-850 calories a day! so hmmm? i had my surgery on july 20, 2011 and now, 11 weeks and 2 days later i weigh 59 pounds less.
  • ETC80
    ETC80 Posts: 28 Member
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    Great question...

    I've done a little reading on this topic myself.

    Google the Minnesota Starvation Experiment when you get a chance.
  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
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    Yes I agree with the original poster. For the ones that are eating 900 calories a day, (THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY and you can admit your faults or not), they aren't including cream, sugar in their coffee, they aren't including the 140 calories of oil they use to fry an egg, they aren't truly measuring their food, they don't know what an ounce is or feels like. They aren't eating 900 calories a day.

    I clicked on this thread because I wanted to see what bogus idea about starvation mode was being discussed this time.

    Starvation mode is for when you are 90 lbs and your body is literally starving.. not when you are 110+ lbs. But also, the idea that Muscle weighs more than fat.. is ridicoulsy misunderstood as well. Some people just want to hear excuses. I've always said the "muscle weighs more than fat" is what you tell "fat" people to make them feel better about the water gain in their body while working out.. Why lie to them? It is what it is.. It's OK :) It's a good thing!!

    WHO cares :) Be happy, workout because you want to be healthy and fit, not because the scale NEEDS to go down :) Live life, eat some chocolate, eat some blueberries, don't limit yourself and enjoy.. you have the rest of your life to lose 50 lbs.. Why rush? What's the big hurry?

    It's calories in, calories out! I had gastric bypass surgery too. 5 years ago. I lost 30lbs in 30 days.. I was barely consuming calories. Calories in, Calories out.. It gets complicated when you are trying to build muscle or training for an event.. if you aren't, it's just calories in, calories out.. not rocket science.

    Ok I'm done :) Good Luck to all :)
  • mrrodriguez
    mrrodriguez Posts: 158
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    I've wondered about the starvation mode theory myself. When you read the information on the "cleanse" fasts that are out there they give some pretty convincing data that starvation mode is misunderstood. I remember reading a whole discussion on that with references (which I read) and which was pretty thorough.

    I had a friend that swore they ruined their body with rapid weight loss, and couldn't do it anymore. DK if it was true, but they were pretty bright. I think that is the problem with the Christian Bale story. He apparently is able to lose weight and regain it rapidly, but at what cost? I would think it would stress your internal organs too much to Yo Yo like that. I guess we won't know until we see how long Christian lives. By then it won't matter for us, just for our grandchildren.

    Great topic.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
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    Great question...

    I've done a little reading on this topic myself.

    Google the Minnesota Starvation Experiment when you get a chance.

    I had never heard of this, and it was rather interesting to see some of the findings (thanks for sharing it). These men's calorie intake was only cut down to 1560 (a big cut considering they were eating twice that previously), and they had severe issues mentally, physically, psychologically, emotionally, and sexually.

    I do believe you could lose weight eating that little...anorexics do it all the time. That does not mean it's HEALTHY. Big difference. Anorexics are in danger of organ failure, including heart failure (Karen Carpenter). To me the picture of Christian Bale at 120 pounds looks like the picture of an anorexic. Not healthy, and not attractive. And who knows what adverse effects he may experience down the road?

    The important thing is to eat enough to make sure your body is healthy. Speaking of which...time for my last snack of the day! :happy:
  • newarkco05
    newarkco05 Posts: 240
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    Yes you can lose weight eating less than 1200 calories. However, ask anyone who has eaten so long of calories how long the weight loss lasted... I'm not talking 4 months, 8 months or even a year. Anyone kept it off for 10 years? Most likely not! I ate 1000 calories a day and my body finally crashed and I gained all 50 pounds I lost. Why would you WANT to eat so low? It just makes it easier for you to gain weight after you start eating more again. I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't be happy eating 1000 calories a day the rest of my life
  • kimtpa1417
    kimtpa1417 Posts: 461 Member
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    I rarely eat 1200 calories. Not because I dont want to its because I am just not hungry enough to and I dont believe you should eat just to reach the calories. If I start eating just to eat I will be back to my old ways. I've only hit one plateau and my weight loss varies.

    I believe starvation modes exist if you are the type to eat only once a day or goes days without eating. You body will hold on to whatever fat you put into your body which will cause weight gain or no weight loss and the loss of muscle.
  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
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    I rarely eat 1200 calories. Not because I dont want to its because I am just not hungry enough to and I dont believe you should eat just to reach the calories. If I start eating just to eat I will be back to my old ways. I've only hit one plateau and my weight loss varies.

    I believe starvation modes exist if you are the type to eat only once a day or goes days without eating. You body will hold on to whatever fat you put into your body which will cause weight gain or no weight loss and the loss of muscle.

    I'm sorry but your body would start to use the fat for energy, it won't hold on to it. That's why you can see his bones.. the fat is being used for energy.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    WHO cares :) Be happy, workout because you want to be healthy and fit, not because the scale NEEDS to go down :) Live life, eat some chocolate, eat some blueberries, don't limit yourself and enjoy.. you have the rest of your life to lose 50 lbs.. Why rush? What's the big hurry?

    Well, for some people it's not a matter of "I want to lose some lbs. for summer". I'm on a time limit. I want to enlist in the USAF but the cut off is 27 so I have 13 months to get down to 140 lbs. or less! Not going to be a problem with only 30 lbs. to go til I can enlist. Also, some people here lose weight because they are at serious risk for diabetic or other health complications. I have a friend who is a model/actress in a new country with more stringent weight limitations whose livelihood depends on it. Just to give you a few examples. :) But yes...chocolate! Gimme! lol Cheers.

    Oh and ETC: I've read about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment on Wikipedia! Interesting stuff.
  • denisegolden
    denisegolden Posts: 206 Member
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    gandhi fasted a total of 17 times throughout his career, and two of those times were three weeks each. after each fast he would resume HIS normal eating patterns, and always was considered a thin man.

    david blaine, while performing many of his stunts, fasted for multiple days. the longest fast i can recall by him was 44 days long. mr. blaine often loses weight during his stunts, and usually gains the weight back after, but i have never seen him "overweight".

    im sure there are lots more cases such as these and maybe even more extreme. so i think it depends on the person and their biological and chemical makeup.
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
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    I have nothing to contribute. I just want to be able to find this when I want to read it again.
  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
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    WHO cares :) Be happy, workout because you want to be healthy and fit, not because the scale NEEDS to go down :) Live life, eat some chocolate, eat some blueberries, don't limit yourself and enjoy.. you have the rest of your life to lose 50 lbs.. Why rush? What's the big hurry?

    Well, for some people it's not a matter of "I want to lose some lbs. for summer". I'm on a time limit. I want to enlist in the USAF but the cut off is 27 so I have 13 months to get down to 140 lbs. or less! Not going to be a problem with only 30 lbs. to go til I can enlist. Also, some people here lose weight because they are at serious risk for diabetic or other health complications. I have a friend who is a model/actress in a new country with more stringent weight limitations whose livelihood depends on it. Just to give you a few examples. :) But yes...chocolate! Gimme! lol Cheers.

    Oh and ETC: I've read about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment on Wikipedia! Interesting stuff.

    That's an awesome reason and a good goal!! Nice! Go get 'em! Also, I wasn't saying you shouldn't want to lose weight, I was just simply stating I wish everyone wasn't in a big hurry and thinking they have to do these drastic diets. I wish everyone could discover their bodies and find out what works for them on a healthy level. The "drastic diets" are usually rushed diets.. I just don't understand what everyone is in a rush.. a FAST rush. I wouldn't consider you in a rush. You have more than enough time to lose a healthy amount of weight and you got it all figured out and I'm sure you can plan for chocolate :) I plan for ice cream everyday! Now, if I was a model, then I could understand that I can't have ice cream due to work reasons.. that's different. You gotta do what you gotta do.
  • egaal
    egaal Posts: 19
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    I think the issue with starvation mode is maintenance. I agree that if you actually starve yourself, you will lose weight and lose weight rapidly. I don't think you could be gaining weight because you're eating too little. I always cringe when I see that on this site. However, I do think eventually the body gets scared that it's not getting enough nutrients and will try to hold onto any little it has left and if you go back to eating normally, you will gain it back just as quickly as you lost it. Plus, starving yourself may also make it more likely that you will want to overindulge and binge. After all, you can't just live on tuna and an apple. And as soon as you go back to a higher calorie diet, your body may pack on the pounds. Starving yourself may also mean that losing those last few pounds becomes even harder because the body is so reluctant to let go of it. It will try everything to try to slow your metabolism down. You'll feel tired, less energetic - possibly too tired to work out. Meanwhile if you just continued to eat normally (obviously less than whatever got you overweight to begin with) and worked out a little more, you'd still lose the weight, albeit more slowly but without feeling like crap and reducing your chance of ending up in a big dieting yo-yo cycle.

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