Starvation mode myth

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  • purrrr
    purrrr Posts: 1,073
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    Great post..I tend to agree with it 100% now I dont think Im the majority however Its very hard to determine if anyone is in starvation mode via the net so I believe the post has some relevance here on MFP...the reasons for this being impossible are people are generally not 100% truthful on their diet and excercise routines..when they cry out "starvation mode" I feel a lot of people tend to use it as a crutch ...I personally have been on 1200 calories since Jan 1 and have not hit any plateaus.. I am 100% accountable and stick to my plan 100% to achieve my goals...I do work out 2hrs daily...usually a nice walk because the weather is so nice...I stay away from bread rice and pasta and potato however I do NOT deny myself anything and stick to a 3bite rule for anything sweet......Ive lost a consistent 2-7 pounds per week....great post thks:flowerforyou:

    welcome back, mya, you were missing from the boards lately... :flowerforyou: let me once again add the note that when you say "i did this or that and lost weight" it's good to mention you are 5 feet tall. it makes a lot of difference to someone 6 feet tall, even if you are the same weight because there is about 15 points difference in the BMI. same scenario like MacMadame, 1200 is a lot of calories for someone petite but it can be starvation for someone else...
  • KatWood
    KatWood Posts: 1,135 Member
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    Starvation mode isn't a "myth" but it is very commonly misunderstood. If you have a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. Period. However, MacMadame is correct, there is a diminishing return on weight loss for highly restrictive caloric intake. There are many who have successfully lost weight in this manner, there are a few who have managed to keep that weight off. However, the more common outcome is the yo-yo diet weight loss/weight gain merry-go-round.


    It's not a healthy way to lose weight , nor does it have a very high success rate in terms of maintanence, and unless you are morbidly obese and under a doctor's supervision, I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

    I agree with this.

    And why would anyone want to starve themselves to lose weight when you don't have to? Why is everyone in such a rush? No thanks I'lll take the slow and steady approach. That way I know I will stay healthy and that my weightloss can be maintained. Oh, and as a bonus I get to eat too!
  • sarabear
    sarabear Posts: 864
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    Starvation mode isn't a "myth" but it is very commonly misunderstood. If you have a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. Period. However, MacMadame is correct, there is a diminishing return on weight loss for highly restrictive caloric intake. There are many who have successfully lost weight in this manner, there are a few who have managed to keep that weight off. However, the more common outcome is the yo-yo diet weight loss/weight gain merry-go-round.


    It's not a healthy way to lose weight , nor does it have a very high success rate in terms of maintanence, and unless you are morbidly obese and under a doctor's supervision, I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

    I agree with this.

    And why would anyone want to starve themselves to lose weight when you don't have to? Why is everyone in such a rush? No thanks I'lll take the slow and steady approach. That way I know I will stay healthy and that my weightloss can be maintained. Oh, and as a bonus I get to eat too!

    Talk about rush, did it take everyone over night to gain? No, it's going to take more than over night to get it off, don't starve yourself, it can be done with healthy eating and exercise.:happy:
  • FUZZBUZZ4
    FUZZBUZZ4 Posts: 334
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    i didnt mean to create controversy and agree with you guys that every1s body is different..
    myself.. i was dangerously under on my calories and lost 30 pounds! it was great but it didnt last too long.. gained 15 back (freshmen 15!!!!!!!) and i cant lose it so i am back here to do it the healthy way.. but for some reason the healthy way itsnt working for me :ohwell: so, i was just interested on ur takes on the starvation mode question.. :)
    :flowerforyou:
  • purrrr
    purrrr Posts: 1,073
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    i didnt mean to create controversy and agree with you guys that every1s body is different..
    myself.. i was dangerously under on my calories and lost 30 pounds! it was great but it didnt last too long.. gained 15 back (freshmen 15!!!!!!!) and i cant lose it so i am back here to do it the healthy way.. but for some reason the healthy way itsnt working for me :ohwell: so, i was just interested on ur takes on the starvation mode question.. :)
    :flowerforyou:

    "the healthy way" typically means you are losing weight to be in a healthy range... from your pictures i get the idea that you are someone in the healthy range possibly trying to make it to the unhealthy/underweight range... i'm sorry if i am wrong on this but you really look very skinny to me and if that's the case, to make it to the unhealthy range you have to lose the weight in an unhealthy way... if i am wrong, then i have no idea why you aren't losing any :ohwell:
  • FUZZBUZZ4
    FUZZBUZZ4 Posts: 334
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    i didnt mean to create controversy and agree with you guys that every1s body is different..
    myself.. i was dangerously under on my calories and lost 30 pounds! it was great but it didnt last too long.. gained 15 back (freshmen 15!!!!!!!) and i cant lose it so i am back here to do it the healthy way.. but for some reason the healthy way itsnt working for me :ohwell: so, i was just interested on ur takes on the starvation mode question.. :)
    :flowerforyou:

    "the healthy way" typically means you are losing weight to be in a healthy range... from your pictures i get the idea that you are someone in the healthy range possibly trying to make it to the unhealthy/underweight range... i'm sorry if i am wrong on this but you really look very skinny to me and if that's the case, to make it to the unhealthy range you have to lose the weight in an unhealthy way... if i am wrong, then i have no idea why you aren't losing any :ohwell:

    the pictures of me are me when i was 15 pounds lighter.. i have since gined 15.. i am trying to get back to my weight in the picture.. not in the unhealthy range at all :)
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Fuzz, it's a loooooooong road for your last few pounds. Trying to do it too fast just makes problems for yourself. Take it slow, make this into a lifestyle, then you will be able to stop worrying so much about 15 lbs.

    Wouldn't you rather take 5 or 6 months to lose it, never once stress about it, and be happy?

    as opposed to

    unhealthily trying to lose it all in 6 weeks by starving yourself, eating at a level that you can't sustain, and stressing out all the time about 1 pound.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    i didnt mean to create controversy and agree with you guys that every1s body is different..
    myself.. i was dangerously under on my calories and lost 30 pounds! it was great but it didnt last too long.. gained 15 back (freshmen 15!!!!!!!) and i cant lose it so i am back here to do it the healthy way.. but for some reason the healthy way itsnt working for me :ohwell: so, i was just interested on ur takes on the starvation mode question.. :)
    :flowerforyou:

    "the healthy way" typically means you are losing weight to be in a healthy range... from your pictures i get the idea that you are someone in the healthy range possibly trying to make it to the unhealthy/underweight range... i'm sorry if i am wrong on this but you really look very skinny to me and if that's the case, to make it to the unhealthy range you have to lose the weight in an unhealthy way... if i am wrong, then i have no idea why you aren't losing any :ohwell:

    the pictures of me are me when i was 15 pounds lighter.. i have since gined 15.. i am trying to get back to my weight in the picture.. not in the unhealthy range at all :)

    that is perfect!! Motivation baby!!
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
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    Phew! I made it....I actually didn't but did anyone mention that your metabolism slows the closer you get to a healthy weight? That is why the last few pounds always seem so daunting.

    All in all, everyone loses differently. Personally I can't eat the exercise calories..not because I don't want to but this method only helped me maintain or gain a little. I tried but when I reached 10lbs gained I had to play with the whole exercise calories as "bonus" calories thing.

    All information shared is always great, if anything it should make us do a little more reading outside of the community so we can inform ourselves because there are sooo many different studies on weight loss etc and that is why so many people find it hard to stay motivated and on track.

    Let those last few pounds come off in good time, even if you only lost a lb a week you would still be at your goal weight in 15 weeks, not a long time in the grand scheme of things :wink:
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    Of course, when you can't and don't want to explain and agree that this happens, you say it's an anecdote.
    Stories are anecdotes. They aren't clinical data by definition. Clinical data shows that the metabolism slows when you are on a diet, but not enough for weight loss to stop. Some story about some crackpot who went on a cleansing diet doesn't change that.
    On the other hand, on other threads here I have seen you give yourself as an example of how weight can be lost by sticking to a diet of 1200cals or lower. Yes you lost weight but aren't you an anecdote yourself then (since you are not part of a clinical research)?
    I'm definitely an anecdote. :laugh: I was using myself as an example, not to prove a point, but to illustrate it.

    (Though I am also part of a clinical study. But that's another topic for another time.)
    You also forgot to mention along the lines that you are only 5 feet tall and you had gastric bypass (which I may be wrong but.. doesn't this mean food leaves the stomach too fast and is not thoroughly digested?)
    I am 5'1". That extra inch is important! :tongue: Anyway, my net calories for the past 6.5 months have definitely met the definition of a starvation diet even at 5'1".

    It's the nature of weight loss surgery -- it takes a while for the swelling in the stomach to go down and to learn to eat so you can get more calories in. We really don't have a choice -- unless we want to eat ice cream all day, which would completely undermine our long-term success -- so that's why we have so much follow-up with the doctor.

    I didn't mention it in this thread because it wasn't relevant to my point and it's in my sig ... plus I have repeatedly said that people not under a doctor's care shouldn't be on a VLCD, so it's not like I'm telling people "eat like I do, you'll be fine!' because I'm not saying that.

    And, no, I did not have gastric bypass. As it says in my signature, I had a vertical gastrectomy. I have a completely functional stomach that digests food normally. My stomach emptying half-life is 90 minutes, same as yours. It's just a lot smaller and doesn't make ghrelin any more.

    However, gastric bypass patients' food doesn't leave their stomach "not thoroughly digested" any more than the rest of us. Everyone's food goes through further digestion once it leaves the stomach. But that's not really relevant to the discussion of starvation mode. :wink:

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