The Starvation (mode) Myth

Please remember that we don't just eat for weight loss but for nutrients. I can tell you that it is possible but very challenging to get enough nutrition from less than 1200 calories a day.

Eh. I think we this is a great example of confirmation bias. I can go online and just as easily find an article about how starvation mode is in fact a real thing.

I think the truth lies in what the above poster said. Sure, you can eat under you calorie goal, even under 1000 calories a day, to the point that your body is putting out far more calories then it is taking in. And in the long run, you will lose weight, but at what determent. Doesn't make it healthy.

Yup THIS, consider the source of the article.

Personally, do what works for you.. I tried 1200 calories a day and gained weight. My dr said that it was because I was eating too few calories for my weight. I figured eating less was good for me and I wound up 10lb heavier. Once I started with 1500-1600 a day, I felt better and started losing and have lost 41lb so far.

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Great to read a good topic like this. The only thing I will add, is do what works for YOU. We are all different, and scientific research deals a lot with averages. For myself, I need consistency in my calorie intake. I used to not eat breakfast, have a small lunch, a huge dinner, then a supper.... midnight snack... etc.... So I starved then binged. That's how I got the body I did NOT want, and I knew I would have to change my eating patterens to change my body. Now, eating regularly the approximate same amount of calories per day split roughly evenly is working well for me.... Not so much on the scales, but in the mirror, on the tape, and mentally I FEEL GREAT! Find what works for you, experiment. Stick with what you find works, and be patient!

Eh. I think we this is a great example of confirmation bias. I can go online and just as easily find an article about how starvation mode is in fact a real thing.

Article? Yes. Article from a peer-reviewed journal? Doubtful. And while I don't advocate a VLCD, the facts are the facts. You're not going to cling to fat because of it. However, you may be micronutrient malnourished (multivitamins really don't provide as much as you'd think). Also, you will have a lot less energy to do any type of exercise which then makes you lose the health benefits of said activity.

I can give you peer-reviewed articles confirming "starvation mode" all day long.

Also, yes, based on how we digest and metabolize, you may very well hold on to fat while you "eat" muscle. I highly suggest a nutrition class for those that don't understand this. Fat, carbs, and protein are digested very differently - some things are easier for the body to break down than others. This is why athletes "carb up" before a run, or lifters focus on more protein - calories are not just calories, because they are all broken down different in the body.

I wrote a blog entry and cited sources that explain what the term means medically and why I get so riled up about it. Please read it, I promise it's not just an aimless rant. Share if you like, vote up if you agree that it tends to be a blanket response situation.

FYI, the gist is, why we need to eat, what it's used for, professional and medical definitions of starvation and how it affects us, as well as a personal story of being diagnosed in starvation mode.

How could diagnosis be given to people if it did not exist?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Quasita/view/let-s-be-truly-honest-about-starvation-mode-199121

As I read the thread I see many impressive weight loss tickers from the people posting, 25 pounds lost, 80 pounds lost and even more. But yet here we judge that someone is doing something that is "un-healthy" or not good for their body. When was being 25 to 100 pounds over weight ever a healthy thing? When was that not caused by doing things that were "un-healthy"? Its my guess that the mass of the MFP members have been very "un-healthy" and have done many things that were not good for their body.......or there would have been no reason to join a site like this.

Who here got over weight by doing the right thing?

Dude, this is just ridiculous. Stay on point.

As I read the thread I see many impressive weight loss tickers from the people posting, 25 pounds lost, 80 pounds lost and even more. But yet here we judge that someone is doing something that is "un-healthy" or not good for their body. When was being 25 to 100 pounds over weight ever a healthy thing? When was that not caused by doing things that were "un-healthy"? Its my guess that the mass of the MFP members have been very "un-healthy" and have done many things that were not good for their body.......or there would have been no reason to join a site like this.

Who here got over weight by doing the right thing?

Seriously stay on point... Your post is a waste of BS

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Food=Fuel!!!!
Not rocket science people. If someone put me on a 800 to 1000 calorie diet a day , that is NOTHING I could sustain long term. Honesty I doubt I could go for a day eating so little without severe headaches and crankiness. I do NOT believe it is enough for most people long term - we are looking at LONG TERM here- not just short term I need to diet to look good at my class reunion silliness. We are looking at health. THat's why I eat back exercise calories- maybe not ALL of them- but I listen to my body. Yesterday I burned over 700 calories exercising. Sure if I only eat 1200 calories I may see weight drop off fast. I am NOT looking for fast, I am looking for steady LONG term, something I can live with in a healthy way.

perfectly put.....totally agree.

Interesting convertation!

As I read the thread I see many impressive weight loss tickers from the people posting, 25 pounds lost, 80 pounds lost and even more. But yet here we judge that someone is doing something that is "un-healthy" or not good for their body. When was being 25 to 100 pounds over weight ever a healthy thing? When was that not caused by doing things that were "un-healthy"? Its my guess that the mass of the MFP members have been very "un-healthy" and have done many things that were not good for their body.......or there would have been no reason to join a site like this.

Who here got over weight by doing the right thing?

I put on most of my weight thanks to the side effects of infertility meds. Should I not consider that cause a "right thing?" :huh:

Wow. I love your answer. :flowerforyou:

Why does everyone feel you do it my way or your doing it wrong..please get over yourself! She posted the article followed with the fact she is under a doctors care and there is a calorie intake that works for her.I hate people saying I'm not eating enough calories or I'm starving myself,are you crazy! I'm not mental..not meeting your calorie intake is far from true starvation,their are people really starving..and it is not fat as Americans! I hate we use the word starvation in this lose term. Look your calorie intake and my calorie intake maybe different for weight loss please stop with all the absoulutes! Read the article..ponder it..take what you will and leave the rest! But lets stop all the this is the way it is self righteousness! Its one point of view thanks for sharing.

As I read the thread I see many impressive weight loss tickers from the people posting, 25 pounds lost, 80 pounds lost and even more. But yet here we judge that someone is doing something that is "un-healthy" or not good for their body. When was being 25 to 100 pounds over weight ever a healthy thing? When was that not caused by doing things that were "un-healthy"? Its my guess that the mass of the MFP members have been very "un-healthy" and have done many things that were not good for their body.......or there would have been no reason to join a site like this.

Who here got over weight by doing the right thing?

Although I think the other posters are correct that you should stay on point, I'll address this since I happen to be one of the "tickers" you're talking about. In no way, shape, or form did I get that far over weight doing the right thing.... NOR did I ever, one time, try to tell anyone that they should over eat! Under eating is no healthier than over eating... so, as stated before.. your point in mute.

I won't argue what the article says because I don't know if is true or not. The truth is, Starvation Mode is NOT a myth, otherwise it wouldn't be taught at school. Starvation Mode in simple words is, when your body is not getting the necessary nutrients and calories that it requires to function and the individual starts doing physical activities such as workouts or any type of work that demands the body to perform beyond what's normal, basically after a while (is not going to happen in one day) your body WILL have to find other sources of energy because the individual is NOT eating enough, so the one place the body will look is in the muscles. It will use muscle fibers as energy source and it will basically decreases muscle mass. By the way, when I say NOT eating enough, I'm not talking about junk food that lacks the nutrients our bodies need to function.

And as many have stated here, the internet is a place where anyone can find good and bad articles. Unfortunately, people don't have any knowledge of what's the right thing and just because a company as Weight Watchers, known to provide weigh loss services post an article like this, they will assume it is true. If you're planning on working out or you already are, and you're doing a diet to lose weight, please, try to compare facts before believing the first thing you read. You need to feed your body so you don't hurt yourself.

And for those saying that what matters is the weight loss, if you don't mind losing muscle fibers and stressing your body to the point that it needs to do what it shouldn't do because you don't eat enough, good for you, but don't argue that it is the healthy way of doing it.