A trick around starvation mode?

PenguinPrincess
PenguinPrincess Posts: 101
edited October 4 in Food and Nutrition
Everyone threatens if you don't at least 1200 calories a day you'll put your body in starvation mode and not only stop losing weight, but probably gain weight.

I read an article that said you could eat around 800 a day for two days in a row, then eat at least 1200 calories (more if you exercise) that next day and this continued pattern would make you lose weight, but prevent your body from going into starvation mode.

Any thoughts?
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Replies

  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    OR, you could just eat enough on a daily basis and lose weight the healthy way.
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
    Interesting fact, thanks for sharing.
  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
    I didn't eat a "net" of 1200 cals every day and was fine. Im maintaing now, no probs! I think some ppl put too much into "starvation mode".
  • owlcalls
    owlcalls Posts: 16
    Some say starvation mode is a myth, so who knows.
  • xLyric
    xLyric Posts: 840 Member
    While I'm sure (in extreme situations) starvation mode exists and all that, it's called starvation for a reason. You're not going to starve on something a little less than 1200 calories. Yes, that's a healthy guideline, but scaring people into thinking they're in starvation mode is silly. Go out on a mountain and eat a handful of berries every day and you'll go into starvation mode. Eat 900 calories? No. No, you won't.
  • irunforfun
    irunforfun Posts: 113 Member
    Eat clean, move your body more. I started this whole eating under 1,200 calorie thing. The only thing it did for me was make me depressed, sure I lost weight but I felt like ****. I'd rather have the calories in me to do the things I enjoy. I still eat between 1,200 and 1,300 most days but I never go below that.
  • CarlyC08
    CarlyC08 Posts: 63
    OR, you could just eat enough on a daily basis and lose weight the healthy way.

    Exactly!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Zig-zagging calories is quite common. Starvation mode occurs if you go under calories for weeks to months consistently, not one or two days.
  • karine05p
    karine05p Posts: 1
    I don't get why you would want to do that... How could you not be constantly hungry with 800 calories? How could you possibly build strength, muscles, tone, or just have energy at all?. Plus if you eat just 800 calories a day (which is probably half of what you should be eating to maintain if NOT exercising), what do you think happens when you get back to normal?

    Someone has to explain to me the whole point of wanting to eat so little because it isn't the first time i read this and i just do not understand. 1200-1500 is already VERY little of a calorie-intake and is good if you have quite a bit of fat to lose in my opinion. Otherwise you will lose fat, but pretty much eveything else
  • Vahana
    Vahana Posts: 3 Member
    Yeah I pretty much ate 1300 calories a day but with exercise I only netted 500-700 each day. I lost a pound a week for the last 5 months very consistantly. Do what fits you the best! Every person't body is going to react different....
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    I suppose it could work.. but 1.5 pounds a week is good, don't screw it up.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    While I'm sure (in extreme situations) starvation mode exists and all that, it's called starvation for a reason. You're not going to starve on something a little less than 1200 calories. Yes, that's a healthy guideline, but scaring people into thinking they're in starvation mode is silly. Go out on a mountain and eat a handful of berries every day and you'll go into starvation mode. Eat 900 calories? No. No, you won't.

    Actually, eat 900 calories consistently over a few months and yes, you certainly will. As your body catabolizes muscle to make up the difference your BMR drops, once your BMR drops to 900 or below, you will stall on weight loss, and then start gaining. It doesn't happen over night, but it does happen eventually.
  • sara709
    sara709 Posts: 170 Member
    I didn't eat a "net" of 1200 cals every day and was fine. Im maintaing now, no probs! I think some ppl put too much into "starvation mode".

    You didn't net 1200 but you still ate 1200
  • Fat2Fit2012
    Fat2Fit2012 Posts: 18
    calorie zig zaging its called i believe ! have not tried it
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
    I would rather enjoy food and not be miserable.

    Thanks for the trick, though! :flowerforyou:
  • paper_doll_
    paper_doll_ Posts: 64
    Sounds like a similar theory to intermittent fasting. Like any weight loss idea, it will work great for some people and not for others. There will be people who say it is a great idea and safe etc, and people who will say it isn't.

    Ultimately, a couple of days a week of very low calories is not going to make you unwell, as long as you make sure you are getting enough nutrition overall.
  • LisaJ135
    LisaJ135 Posts: 5
    Your probably right , I would say 2 days would be Max before the body decided to slow down your metabolism ,but I would think by the 3rd day you well eat to much.
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
    whyyyyyyyyyyyyy would you ever want to eat so little? it's absolutely ridiculous.

    with a good diet and a bit of exercise you can eat MORE than 1200 calories and lose weight.

    i work out 25 minutes a day and eat around 1500-1700 calories and have lost 21lbs in 2 1/2 months.
  • robinso5
    robinso5 Posts: 310 Member
    Starvation mode does exist and i am a blatant example of it! i have maintained an unhealthy weight of 245 lbs. for well over 7 years! wanna know how, because i was eating too little! i would go days without eating anything but breakfast and maybe a sub trying to lose weight only to notice i never really LOST anything! i was in maintanance mode. whatever my body got it used to keep me alive and comfortable so therefore i never let go of anything i put in my body. now i know i need to eat atleast 1200 to keep me going and help in this weight loss journey so i try to eat atleast 1200 and some of my exercise calories even if i have to drink an additional protien shake after dinner!
  • robinso5
    robinso5 Posts: 310 Member
    and starvation mode isnt on purpose you just kind of get used to eating a small amount and that actually fills you up.
  • thinminmeg
    thinminmeg Posts: 1
    I thought of this idea myself.
    They say that after a while your body gets used to your routine.
    Well, if you keep consistently changing your calories, can't that confuse the body and prevent the body from getting used to your routine? I'm gonna try this with my new elliptical that arrives along with my new BodyFit Media wristband! I cannot wait to try that!
  • johloz
    johloz Posts: 176 Member
    Here's a trick around starvation mode: eat more food. Stop acting like you can trick your body. The human body is more "intelligent" and adaptable than we give it credit for. If you consistently eat 1200 or 800 calories a day, you will lose some weight initially, then your body will adjust to maintaining your weight on that many calories. If it doesn't, you will die -- so it adapts. Then, you will either have to 1) eat even less, risking your health and ending up in the same place, or 2) eat more and gain a bunch of weight at the level you were mainting on.

    If you don't have much weight to lose (which you don't), don't make such drastic cuts to your caloric intake. Lose the weight gradually at a caloric intake level you can maintain in the long-term.

    Your profile says you are trying to be healthy. What you are suggesting is not.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Starvation mode is a tern that gets thrown around without really understanding it. You need to be eating (or not eating) at an extremely low level for months before there is a danger. Get to 5% or less bodyfat and your body will cannibalize muscle. Nobody stays fat in starvation mode, your body just can't do it.

    Eating extremely low calories only changes your metabolism because you lose muscle mass. 2 or 3 days of low eating doesn't trigger some secret switch. You will become malnourished unless you are really vigilant about making those few calories of the highest quality and nutrition.

    People in N America are not in starvation mode, a lot are in delusion mode about how much they eat though. If you want to see starvation mode, head for sub Saharan Africa. There are lots of people there that can tell you all about it.
  • bionicrooster
    bionicrooster Posts: 353 Member
    I tried 1600 cals, then 1400, then 1200 when i was losing. 1200 worked best. A few days a week I would stick to around 1000. Once a week or so I would creep up to 1600 again. Worked for me , never went into startvation mode. I think what kind of calories you take in (what you eat) is as or more important than how many (within reason).
  • scottbrown78
    scottbrown78 Posts: 142 Member
    LOL, it's going to be a good week, a starvation mode thread on a Monday morning. My favorite.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,260 Member
    Rubbish. We will catabolise muscle tissue and burn body fat if we're in a deficit all the way down to death.
  • FitNB
    FitNB Posts: 16
    Starvation mode is a tern that gets thrown around without really understanding it. You need to be eating (or not eating) at an extremely low level for months before there is a danger. Get to 5% or less bodyfat and your body will cannibalize muscle. Nobody stays fat in starvation mode, your body just can't do it.

    Eating extremely low calories only changes your metabolism because you lose muscle mass. 2 or 3 days of low eating doesn't trigger some secret switch. You will become malnourished unless you are really vigilant about making those few calories of the highest quality and nutrition.

    People in N America are not in starvation mode, a lot are in delusion mode about how much they eat though. If you want to see starvation mode, head for sub Saharan Africa. There are lots of people there that can tell you all about it.

    I like the idea of how people assume your body can make something out of nothing.
  • seansquared
    seansquared Posts: 328 Member
    There are no tricks. Just eat correctly to meet your goals. Anything else is just plain silly.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Interesting fact, thanks for sharing.

    why do you assume it is a fact?
  • shmoony
    shmoony Posts: 237 Member
    There are no tricks. Just eat correctly to meet your goals. Anything else is just plain silly.


    I'm with him. Hasn't this website and journey taught some of you people anything. Find the maintanance calories of a person at the weight you want to be at and eat that everyday. When you reach that weight, yes you will stall, but isn't that the point? Then you can just keep eating the same calories forever for maintanance. It's pretty simple really. If you're 245 pounds and you want to weigh 145 eat now what it will take to maintain at 145, no more no less. It will take a while, but when you get there, you'll be so used to that amount of food, you will never yoyo. Enough with the tricks and theories!
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