Am I in starvation mode?

njaj1984 · January 2012

Hello all

First post on here.

Basically I decided two weeks ago to start losing weight and went down from 18 stone 11 (263 pounds) to 18 stone 3 (255) within a week and although I'm now down to 17'12/13, my body seems to have stopped losing weight and I've been stuck at that weight for about 4/5 days in a row now. I've been told by a few others on diets that it's normal for a body to stop losing weight for a while after an initial good start, but will then start up again, but not entirely sure whether it's simply this or starvation mode.

My daily target is 1,700 calories, I'm consuming just shy of my target every day, but the exercise (mainly biking to/from work) is meaning that I usually have a lot left over, 853 to be precise for today. I've read quite a few things saying that the "easy" way to counteract this is to increase calorie intake and only being within a few hundred of my daily target, but I'm just nervous that increasing my calorie count will see me put on a bit weight as my body has always been very dodgy when it comes to putting on weight, especially as I work in an office and don't often get the chance to exercise other than the aforementioned bike to work during the week.

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with the 12 or so pounds lost so far, but given my target is 200 pounds, slowing down isn't great.

What is realistically a good end of day NET calories target that will get me out of starvation mode and get me back losing weight, with exceeding the 1,700.........1,500 maybe?

I hope all of that made sense.

Angeleyes713 · January 2012

Personally my daily goal is 1200 currently. I try to get as close to that as possible without going under. Example if I go 50 calories over, I don't worry about it, but under is not acceptable (to me). I earn around 550 calories from exercise when I work out (min of 4 days a week, cardio) but I don't use those calories. I've been doing MFP for less than 2 months and have lost 17 pounds (technically 7 of that before starting my diary on here), my goal being around 50-60 total.
So my advice is eat the 1700 calories and if you feel hunger pains coming have something on hand (for me trail mix just 1/4 cup is 108 calories). You wont feel full but it will keep you from going into starvation mode without having too many calories.
My friends parents are currently losing 1-2 pounds a day using the HCG diet so I've thought about trying it myself. Only thing is while you're on it you're limited to 500 calories/day. I'm not sure yet how that works with exercise. I'd suggest taking a look at the website for it hcgdiet.com.
Let me know if you have any questions about what I said? I'm not a know it all but I've been researching a lot the last couple months.

RonSwanson66 · January 2012

Basically I decided two weeks ago to start losing weight and went down from 18 stone 11 (263 pounds) to 18 stone 3 (255)

Unless you're 9 feet tall, there is no way you are in starvation mode. Your initial losses were primarily water weight. It's natural for this to slow down.

And stop weighing yourself every day. Your weight will naturally fluctuate during the week (due to things like water balance, the amount of food in your system, etc.)

I'd suggest taking a look at the website for it hcgdiet.com.

Don't do this.

Rackle9990 · January 2012

It is very normal to hit a plateau after an initial weight loss. I'm going for around 1200 calories a day, and also doing the P90X workouts. After the first week I had actually gained two pounds. I've continued with the same amount of calories, and have now lost that two pounds. It is unhealthy to lose more than two pounds a week. Also, if your bike ride is generally the only exercise you get then your muscles/ body might be used to it. I've always heard that you constantly need to change up your workout routine. I know it's hard, but it can be done. I work for 10 hrs. a day sometimes and don't get to do my workouts until 10 pm, but I don't skip them just because I'm worn out. Try incorporating some other form of exercise into your day and see if that helps. It might also do some good to do some work with weights. i hope this can be of some help. Great job on your weight loss so far!

Pebble321 · January 2012

No weight loss for a few days is very normal - that's why it's really better to weigh in just a week.
The risk you run when cutting calories too drastically is that your body tries to work more efficiently on the limited energy it is getting and this can mean that your weight loss can slow down or stall. 1700 sounds pretty low for a man - I would start eating at least some of those extra calories and see how it works out for you in 2 or 3 weeks time.
You aren't going to see huge and long lasting results in 2 weeks - you have to take time, try a few different things to fnd the "sweet spot" where you can lose weight but get enough good nutrition to keep your body working well.

njaj1984 · January 2012

Thanks for the advice all. My phone had warned a few times about starvation mode but that's only when I had told it that I had consumed less than 1100 calories, although I had forgotten to add a few things in. Luckily with the weekend coming up I should be able to get a bit more variation in my exercise....planning a 12 or so mile walk tomorrow......uphill, that should burn quite a few calories, will have to make sure that I eat enough calories to cover it. I'm thinking if I aim for a net total minimum of 1,400 then I should be ok.

I think I just didn't take into account that this is a long term thing, not a quick fix. I've said that I'll be happy if I reach my target by my birthday, which is in September. So that's roughly 50 pounds in 8 months, I think that's doable.....I hope. It's really bizarre though because when I lived in Nottingham I lost 3 stone in about 2 months and I wasn't even trying to diet, it was really bizarre.....it did eventually start coming back on my only because I got a bit greedy (for lack of a better word).

And no, I'm not 9 feet tall :P, I'm 5'11.

Am I in starvation mode?

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