the legitimacy of starvation mode. (possibly triggering)

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cmonskinnylovee
cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
in Food and Nutrition
I was just wondering if starvation mode actually exists... I am recovering from an eating disorder, and at one point I ate around 200 calories a day and was losing around 2 lbs every three days. I did not get skinny fat, and my weight loss did not stall. I kept at this for a few weeks, until I obviously got very sick and was hospitilized.

With that in mind, is starvation mode really as severe as people say it is? Obviously it is a real thing- but is it as legitimate as we MFPers make it out to be?

I have no idea, this is an honest question. DON'T HURT ME
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Replies

  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    Or... is it me getting very sick and almost dying what "starvation mode" actually is?
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    You can't lapse into "starvation mode" with a single day of extremely limited eating. It takes several days to get there.

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501&sc=801

    Check out the articles referenced in the footnotes of this article for the science behind the real "starvation mode."

    I wish you all the best in your journey for health and happiness :smile:
  • aa1440
    aa1440 Posts: 956 Member
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    I think you answered your own question. You got sick doing it. I understand it was an eating disorder but starvation mode was the bottom line. Hope you are doing much better now.
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    You can't lapse into "starvation mode" with a single day of extremely limited eating. It takes several days to get there.

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501&sc=801

    Check out the articles referenced in the footnotes of this article for the science behind the real "starvation mode."

    I wish you all the best in your journey for health and happiness :smile:

    I believe I mentioned that I was eating that way for several weeks.
  • Helice
    Helice Posts: 1,083 Member
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    bump
  • nikki91950
    nikki91950 Posts: 647
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    i think the real problem is that members of this site just throw that term around like it's nothing. in your case, starvation mode is a very realistic issue, but that's not the case for most the people spreading the term all over the site like a wildfire.
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    I think you answered your own question. You got sick doing it. I understand it was an eating disorder but starvation mode was the bottom line. Hope you are doing much better now.

    I know, but everyone on this site says that eating less than the recommended calories is counter productive because it makes you gain more weight, or at least stalls your weight loss.

    Now I am in NO way saying that it is a good thing to eat that little amount, it still affects your health in DRASTIC ways, just maybe not in the ways everyone thinks...
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    i think the real problem is that members of this site just throw that term around like it's nothing. in your case, starvation mode is a very realistic issue, but that's not the case for most the people spreading the term all over the site like a wildfire.

    True! I see people telling those who eat 1,100 calories a day that they are going to go into starvation mode, which at one time I myself believed (only because I have a messed up sense of calories and what not), but then there are people like me who eat in a day what most people eat in half a meal... and never stall... I just don't get it D:
  • wxgal7
    wxgal7 Posts: 13 Member
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    I am not a doctor, medical professional or nutritionist in anyway, but as a late night peruser I thought I would chime in. What you were doing was actually starving yourself. I am very glad that you have gotten help and are interested in eating and monitoring your weight in a healthy way. With my understanding of starvation mode you would have to eat enough calories for your body to function. At 200 calories that was impossible so your body would have to use the fat and muscle tissue to keep going therefore you will lose weight. Starvation mode kicks in when you are getting a close to sufficient amount of nourishment, but not quite enough making your body look for easier ways to find fuel like just shutting off or slowing down a minor function or even pulling fuel from nearby muscle tissue instead of fat that may be farther away from the place that's needed. I am sure you will get more in depth and scientific answers, but yes starvation mode is real and yes actually starving will supercede that and it will also kill you if not corrected.
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    I think there's starvation mode and actual starvation. Less than 200 is actual starvation.

    Congrats on your recovery!
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,453 Member
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    I think you answered your own question. You got sick doing it. I understand it was an eating disorder but starvation mode was the bottom line. Hope you are doing much better now.

    I know, but everyone on this site says that eating less than the recommended calories is counter productive because it makes you gain more weight, or at least stalls your weight loss.

    Now I am in NO way saying that it is a good thing to eat that little amount, it still affects your health in DRASTIC ways, just maybe not in the ways everyone thinks...

    Yes you are right.
    The way most people on this site use the term is - they say that being a bit below recommended calories causes your body to magically decide to hold onto all its fat or even to gain weight. Obviously that isn't true. It's not healthy to eat that low, as you know, but you're right that most people around here are a little confused about the term.
  • Alexdur85
    Alexdur85 Posts: 255 Member
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    I think you answered your own question. You got sick doing it. I understand it was an eating disorder but starvation mode was the bottom line. Hope you are doing much better now.

    I know, but everyone on this site says that eating less than the recommended calories is counter productive because it makes you gain more weight, or at least stalls your weight loss.

    Now I am in NO way saying that it is a good thing to eat that little amount, it still affects your health in DRASTIC ways, just maybe not in the ways everyone thinks...

    In my interpretation, starvation mode is when you are not eating enough calroies to fuel your body for weight loss thus your body holds on to the fat and that is why sometimes we hit a plateu in our weight loss. Eventually, if you eat under your daily calories you will lose the weight but you can lose the weight just the same by eating your calories as well without hitting that plateu.
  • Helice
    Helice Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Actually i think i remember reading an article about this.
    If you were to eat say 300 calories a day, everyday. Then you would go into starvation mode, but this wouldnt really effect your weight loss, atleast not noticibly.
    But then if you were to up your calories to 500 a day. Your body would still survive on the 300. And the remaining 200 calories would be stored instantly as fat.
    So i think starvation mode doesnt inhibit your ability to loose weight. I just think it guarantees a definite huge gain when you come out of it.
  • pinkmotels
    pinkmotels Posts: 39
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    i came out of recovery for an eating disorder where i consumed 300 calories and remained at a low weight for over 6 months. after id recovered i attempted losing weight in what i thought was the 'healthy' way - eating 1200-1350 calories, working out and not eating back exercise calories, leaving me at an 800-900 net calorie base most days.
    my weight has stalled for the past 9 months and i have bounced back and forth between 2 lbs but never consistently lost any weight. i think if you've been eating at a lowered calorie intake for quite some time, it will slow your metabolism and you will struggle to lose weight.
    twice during the 9 month period i experimented with lifting my calorie intake to 1600 and 1800 (being 1200 and 1400 net) and both days i had huge losses, followed by a large gain of what i now know was fluid my body stored because it had been in a lowered state for so long.
    i dont think starvation mode can just happen overnight, but i do think its best to avoid that situation in the first place and stick to a healthy net calorie of 1200 minimum.
  • gashinshotan
    gashinshotan Posts: 753 Member
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    I dunno - it depends. If you don't eat ANYTHING and just drink water your body enters ketosis and starts breaking down fat after initially breaking down a few oz of muscle (not sure how much).... if you continue to not eat you just live off of the ketones produced from breaking down the fat in ketosis... this is how religious people who fast for 40 days straight do it - they can function perfectly fine and often have better mental clarity than normal because their body doesn't experience glucose fluctuations and is fine with living on ketones (short term at least), muscle is preserved, and hunger disappears.... once all your fat is gone you enter "true" starvation mode in which muscle everywhere is catabolized eventually resulting in death.... but your body will tell you before this happens and you'll have a great desire to eat. I read something that people who were in some kind of camp (not sure holocaust or a POW camp) and those that ate the very little food given to them died while the people who abstained completely survived - it's because once you eat any carbs your body shifts out of ketosis to normal metabolism and the initial muscle break down prior to entering full ketosis. So basically their bodies kept breaking down muscle after the carb intake while the people who fasted had less drastic breakdown after the initial. I've done a week long fast and lost 14 lbs (which I was able to keep off for about 6 months) and I felt fine and had no hunger... but in my previous failed attempts, as soon as I ate I felt bad and experienced weakness....
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    I think you answered your own question. You got sick doing it. I understand it was an eating disorder but starvation mode was the bottom line. Hope you are doing much better now.

    I know, but everyone on this site says that eating less than the recommended calories is counter productive because it makes you gain more weight, or at least stalls your weight loss.

    Now I am in NO way saying that it is a good thing to eat that little amount, it still affects your health in DRASTIC ways, just maybe not in the ways everyone thinks...

    In my interpretation, starvation mode is when you are not eating enough calroies to fuel your body for weight loss thus your body holds on to the fat and that is why sometimes we hit a plateu in our weight loss. Eventually, if you eat under your daily calories you will lose the weight but you can lose the weight just the same by eating your calories as well without hitting that plateu.

    One of the times I attempted to lose weight the healthy way (my junior year of high school, 2009) I was eating 1,200 calories a day and exercising like a maniac, so my net was probably around 500 a day, but I also ate that back.

    I lost weight pretty sufficiently for a few months, and then just completely stalled out at 122 lbs. Which is where I am STILL at right now. I actually broke the plateau last week by eating 1,000 calories for a few days, and then 1600 for a few. I guess I shocked my body.

    Maybe my body just sucks -_-
  • SallieBeige
    SallieBeige Posts: 341 Member
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    There are many heated discussions on these boards about this dreaded "starvation mode".

    Clearly the part where people starve themselves occurs ...

    But .... there is a common theory around here about how the body responds to this starvation. Some seriously rude flaming often occurs when people say they don't believe that this response occurs. ... so like you, I hope it doesn't start up here in response to my post. I never can understand why people insist on being so intimidating about wanting to force others to believe they are right.

    This theory seems to be that in response to eating too few calories, the body somehow manages to reduce its energy needs drastically so that you can live on near nothing and not lose weight.

    Personally, I do believe that some adaptation occurs by the body (people who have researched it here say that the body can use about 10% less of its energy requirements which I don't think is a lot)
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    Actually i think i remember reading an article about this.
    If you were to eat say 300 calories a day, everyday. Then you would go into starvation mode, but this wouldnt really effect your weight loss, atleast not noticibly.
    But then if you were to up your calories to 500 a day. Your body would still survive on the 300. And the remaining 200 calories would be stored instantly as fat.
    So i think starvation mode doesnt inhibit your ability to loose weight. I just think it guarantees a definite huge gain when you come out of it.

    Which is why anorexia is such a hard disorder to get rid of, because as soon as girls think they are safe at their weight and want to start eating "normally" again, they gain all the weight back- and the cycle restarts.

    I think this is my favorite answer, it makes the most sense. Thank you! Ech, scary stuff.
  • cmonskinnylovee
    cmonskinnylovee Posts: 339
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    There are many heated discussions on these boards about this dreaded "starvation mode".

    Clearly the part where people starve themselves occurs ...

    But .... there is a common theory around here about how the body responds to this starvation. Some seriously rude flaming often occurs when people say they don't believe that this response occurs. ... so like you, I hope it doesn't start up here in response to my post. I never can understand why people insist on being so intimidating about wanting to force others to believe they are right.

    This theory seems to be that in response to eating too few calories, the body somehow manages to reduce its energy needs drastically so that you can live on near nothing and not lose weight.

    Personally, I do believe that some adaptation occurs by the body (people who have researched it here say that the body can use about 10% less of its energy requirements which I don't think is a lot)

    If they want to say that they can take it up with me and the rest of the self-starving ana girls who have lost gratuitous amounts of weight on a diet that by their standards should put us on a plateau so hard that we will never break it.

    I think that starvation mode exists, definitely, but it is not as severe as people on this site make it out to be.
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
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    in very basic terms you will lose weight still if you eat nothing as your body eats itself! REALLY! :sick:
    it starts with muscles and goes on insides ect then

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