For those who do NOT believe in starvation mode

I won't say I completely don't believe in it, but I certainly don't think it's the threat to weight loss that I often see posted. We're all a little different… age, sex, genetics all play a role in how our bodies react, right? So, if you can eat 1200 or fewer calories a day and get all the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, then I say go for it! And, on the occasional day (rare, I admit) that I don't eat 1200 calories, I don't worry the least bit about it. On the flip side, I don't always try to eat all my exercise calories back and other times I end up over my goal. I've still lost 18 lbs in 11 weeks. I'm good with that.

That said, one thing I do worry about is that if people start saying broadly that starvation mode doesn't exist and you can eat 1000 cals a day if you want, it will encourage eating disorders, particularly in young women. It's about health and fitness, not about numbers, isn't it?

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Here's the link some people have asked for to a summary of the Minesota Starvation experiment.
http://www.joyproject.org/overcoming/starvation.html

I don't believe in starvation mode, but I do believe there is an optimum level of calorie intake for *sustainable* weight loss.

I also know, for me, that if I don't eat enough calories for a week, I don't lose anything, but if I add maybe an extra 100-200 calories on a couple of the days, I will lose 1 or 2 lb that week.

I'm using MFP as a guide to how much I should have, but sometimes I will have more calories and sometimes less. My weight is slowly going down and hasn't once gone up, so I must be doing something right *for me*.

i have found the same thing, when i eat too few calories i dont lose but with increased intake i lose quickly? weird!

i always thought that startvation mode was when your body was holding onto the calories as it "freaks" out at the sudden change in calorie intake due to it running on x amount and suddenly being restricted. ive never really thought much more into it so this post has been really informative thankyou for sharing:)

I am SO GLAD someone started this thread! Anorexia and it's results basically disprove the starvation mode. I think I read an article based on Lyle's research and at that point I was like, yeah starvation mode is pretty much bull****. I mean MAYBE it DOES happen to SOME people, but it is very rare and won't happen if I eat 1199 calories everyday for a week, or 6 months even.

Actually this thread is saying the opposite. It is saying that it does exist but not in the form that we see most used often on the forums here. Also as another poster has pointed out Lyle does say that 'Starvation mode' exists but again not in the form that it is used most often on the forums here.

This is certainly an interesting thread and I think I'll keep coming back to it.

I think it exists - i suspect I've experienced it when on ww. but it's used too easily as an explanation for everything on here and i don't think that helps anyone.

Eating vlc for a long period certainly messes with metabolism. but it won't happen in a week or two. and i think true sm rarely produces gains, but does produce very slow losses and plateaus, as well as muscle wastage.

Totally off topic ... Meerkat - happy birthday for last week and congrats on hitting your goal.

Cheering you on ! Every one of you !

Starvation mode does not exist in the way that many people refer to it. So many people will announce that if you go below a certain number of calories your body will go into starvation mode, will hold onto all of your fat, and you will not lose weight. This is not accurate at all.
Starvation mode exists in a sense, but it is actually called ketosis.
First of all, our bodies are not stupid. Your body does not eat away at your muscle first when you are starving, it eats away at fat and any other foreign tissue in you body first. It will only target large quantities of muscle mass when fat stores have been depleted.
Ketosis occurs during prolonged fasts or during true starvation, when glycogen stores are depleted. It doesn't occur when you are eating a low amount of calories. The majority of the body is able to use fatty acids as an alternative source of fuel, but they can't cross the blood brain barrier. Your liver then produces ketones, which are able to cross the blood brain barrier, and are used for lipid synthesis in the brain. After a couple days of this process, your brain starts burning the ketones and using them as a direct source of energy from the fat cells that your body is now depending on. Your body then is reserving glucose for absolute needs so that it avoids tapping into the protein stores in muscle.
That is what real starvation mode is.
People who claim that your body will eat your muscle and will hold onto fat are misinformed. You lose a minimal amount of muscle in the first two days and then your body converts to full ketosis in order to preserve it and to keep you alive. Your body is not stupid.
People also claim that if you don't consume enough calories your body will hold onto fat and you won't lose any weight. This is absurd. If this were true then anorexics would not become emaciated and near death and there would be no true starving children in this world. Those people still have muscle mass or they would not be walking around. Only when all fat stores have been depleted does your body has no choice but to tap into the protein that is stored within muslces for energy. This is why emaciated people often drop dead due to heart attacks - because their body has eaten all of their fat and the body actually attacks the heart, which is a muscle, for protein.

Maybe the people who eat back all their exercise calories do so because it's a great excuse to continue eating more or whatever they want, and want us all to join in to make them feel better

If I want anyone to join me, it's because I feel frickin' AMAZING, and want other people to feel this amazing! Someone else eating like I eat isn't going to make me feel any better, because I feel great. It might make THEM feel better.

I've tried losing weight before, and it felt like punishment. This is the only time I've lost weight successfully, reaching and surpassing goals, and as a bonus, I felt fantastic the entire time.

I realize not everyone loves food the way I do or wants to eat the way I do. I'm not saying everyone should do what I do.

I'm just trying to reach people who feel like I used to feel, that the only way to lose weight is to eat less and less and less and are frustrated and feel deprived. I want them to see there's another way, that it doesn't take radical changes in the way you eat to have great results.

If someone is happy with what they're eating and happy with their progress, continue doing what you're doing because it's working for you.

BUT... if someone is unhappy, hungry and bummed out, don't be afraid to try eating more. It might be the key to success for you like it was for me. That's all.

Lorina, that is a lovely reminder for those that need it - but I doubt if many here think your way at all.

For most of us here we have been trying to be heard with difficulty. Most of us don't feel hungry!!!

For myself if I feel like it, I can eat PLENTY - I don't make this choice every day, but if I do, I just make the food choices that suit me.
I can actually get bored of the amount of chewing and eating that I do some days and I also feel very full when I want to.

This thread is ABSOLUTELY NOT about people who feel starved or deprived in any way.