Starvation mode hysteria

Can anyone here post me a picture of a fat African famine victim?

Terrible logic. Obviously starvation is an effective way to burn fat, but it's also an effective way to simultaneously destroy muscle tissue, damage your organs, deplete vitamins/electrolytes, etc. Moderate net calorie reduction is the only way to emphasize fat stores as the energy reserve. Severe calorie reduction will result in your body de-prioritizing fat stores for as long as possible (thus wasting muscle etc), followed by a global deterioration of health.

Your logic is like saying "Hey, when you're late for work, just drive 150 miles per hour. You'll get there faster."

Agreed I've been saying that for a long time about the famine thing. If anything my binges should be addressed and scolded before a low day.

From the 'OP'

First, thank you all so much for the interesting and informative replies. What led me to post this subject is the fact that I burn 1000+ a day through exercise, every day. I take a day off when I feel tired, about once a month. People on here had me worrying about 'starvation mode' as I eat about 1500 cals a day, but burn 1000 - 1200 a day walking/running etc (measured via Polar FT4). I simply cannot eat-back my exercise calories (I know - another contentious subject). I have porridge and fruit for brekkie, home made veggie soup for lunch, and a reasonable evening meal. I snack on stuff like quark, yoghurt and grapes, but can't shove in 1000-1200 calories extra every day into my diet. So far I lost 27lbs over 12 months. Am I ill? I hope not...

Best wishes to all in your journey to better health and fitness!

regards,

David

Are you ill? Can't say, as I'm not a doctor, but I ate roughly 2500 calories a day, and lost 50 pounds in 6 months. So I ate almost double, and lost twice as much weight in half the time. Like I said earlier, calling it "starvation mode," is the problem. The condition is real, it's called "Famine Response," "Storage Mode," or "Conservation Mode," more accurately.

THIS! here, is exactly why i ended up at MFP in the first place. 6 yrs. i've been the same size, same weight for 6 yrs. i have been to WW and Jenny craig. i have been with a personal trainer and seen doctors. for the past 6 yrs i was told i wasn't eating enough to lose weight, mainly because of the exercise i was doing. gym nightly for 1.5 hrs doing cardio and weights.

i never believed any of them. after all, calories in vs. calories out, right?? so, if i consume 800 calories in a day, but i burn that many in a work out, surely i should lose weight!! i did this for 6 yrs.

i am STRONG! and i am very very healthy!!! but, i cannot lose weight! so, i come to MFP and i log all my info in and it give me my 1200 cal for the day and i start logging. my days look like 800-900 cal. my work outs, are burning 300-700 calories, a day. slowly, i start to increase my calories because everyone here says " eat your calories, even your work out ones!!" so, i start to do that and guess what???


BAM! i start losing weight!! suddenly my pants are loose and my bras are getting too big. low and behold. i actually have to eat in order to lose weight.

however, my BRAIN still thinks like you think. i'm finally starting to see results after 6 yrs and today all i could think was " if i'm seeing results now, i should eat less and i'd see even better results, faster." and eating less for me would mean i would stall. i would not lose more weight. i would stay the exact same. it was be VERY easy for me to eat less. i would have NO PROBLEM with it. but, i know, for me, it would be counterproductive.

so, it's not always as easy as * eat less, move more*. i move a lot. i just found a million other things to do, besides eat, for the past 6 yrs!!!!

Agreed! The most over used term in the diet communities. If you're not losing weight, eat less or move more.

No such thing as starvation mode.

From peer-reviewed research article I can say that your body's metabolism slows down by 10%.

People should count calories very carefully

I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to slow down my metabolism by any percent. 10% is a LOT!!!

Your metabolism is how much energy you need to fuel your body, that changes with your weight and lbm.

The more you starve yourself the more you lose lbm, the lower your metabolism gets.

Sure, its broscience but its not hard to see.

From the 'OP'

First, thank you all so much for the interesting and informative replies. What led me to post this subject is the fact that I burn 1000+ a day through exercise, every day. I take a day off when I feel tired, about once a month. People on here had me worrying about 'starvation mode' as I eat about 1500 cals a day, but burn 1000 - 1200 a day walking/running etc (measured via Polar FT4). I simply cannot eat-back my exercise calories (I know - another contentious subject). I have porridge and fruit for brekkie, home made veggie soup for lunch, and a reasonable evening meal. I snack on stuff like quark, yoghurt and grapes, but can't shove in 1000-1200 calories extra every day into my diet. So far I lost 27lbs over 12 months. Am I ill? I hope not...

Best wishes to all in your journey to better health and fitness!

regards,

David

Dude, you're not hungry because you've slowed down your metabolism soooooo much. That's what people are taking about here. Maybe ''starvation mode'' is not the proper term to use, but the fact is you're screwing your metabolism.

This. I'm a rather small woman and ate about 1800-2000 a day (1350-1500 plus exercise calories) to lose 30# in about seven months. Men have a higher muscle mass and testosterone, which requires a lot more calories than a woman. Granted, I have a huge set of metaphoric testicles, but I don't think they produce nearly as much testosterone as the kind men have.

I think the term is used for lack of a better word.... No one is using the term starvation mode in the context of not eating food for days on end, or some sort of famine diet..... They are basically using this term in the form when you run a large caloric deficit for sometime that it eventually will cause your metabolism to slow to the point that your weightloss stalls and you hit weeks of plateau's. That is the way I have used the term in the past and will continue too for lack of a better one....... And I don't use it because I eat to much but through trial and error I can tell you for me now I have to eat more to lose weight. I am in the camp of eating to fuel my workouts and I am losing a pound a week 32 months and 302 lbs. lost into this journey..... Just my 2 cents.......

Nicely said. My main kudos, however, are to you for your weight loss!! Way to go, brother!

From the 'OP'

First, thank you all so much for the interesting and informative replies. What led me to post this subject is the fact that I burn 1000+ a day through exercise, every day. I take a day off when I feel tired, about once a month. People on here had me worrying about 'starvation mode' as I eat about 1500 cals a day, but burn 1000 - 1200 a day walking/running etc (measured via Polar FT4). I simply cannot eat-back my exercise calories (I know - another contentious subject). I have porridge and fruit for brekkie, home made veggie soup for lunch, and a reasonable evening meal. I snack on stuff like quark, yoghurt and grapes, but can't shove in 1000-1200 calories extra every day into my diet. So far I lost 27lbs over 12 months. Am I ill? I hope not...

Best wishes to all in your journey to better health and fitness!

regards,

David

So you're netting 300-500 calories each day for your body to run all it's functions? And you have lost 27# in 12 months a year of doing this? I would say you're a living example of starvation mode, i.e. your metabolism slowing way down. Either that or you are chronically under-reporting calories eaten and over-reporting calories burned.

yeah... with all that working out, and eating so little losing about 2lbs a MONTH proves that it DOES exist (starvation mode=messed up metabolism).

I agree that your not going to go into starvation mode in just a few days It takes a week-two weeks of under eating for that to get started. However i dont think its an excuse for people to eat. Everyones body is built differently. I personally have a lot of muscle mass which believe it or not only takes a week of under eating For me to start losing I want to be fit not skinny So i have to eat enough to keep my muscles

If you're not losing weight, eat less or move more.

Unfortunately, as much as I agree that your statement seems logical, it simply doesn't work.
I have not eaten more than 1200 on any day for over 6wks and, although I initially lost a little, I am now GAINING weight.
As some one raised with the belief that it's as simple as 'energy in v energy out' and that the less you eat the thinner you'll be........I'm now about 100lbs heavier than I was before the word 'diet' came in to my life.
I truly believe that if I'd never started 'dieting' I would not be as fat as I am today, and I'd still have a metabolism that knows how to function properly.

i can only put it this way... 90% of all dieters fail. of the ones that actually do it, 90% of them gain all their weight (and sometimes more) back.
most people are not educated on the subject.... and they fail.



if you dont want the results of most people on here, dont listen to most people. dont do what they say. dont do what anyone says.

learn. understand. then apply.

and for the record, MFP and sites like it are NOT the place to learn.

Where might the places to learn be ?