Starvation mode -- want to hear from people who dealt with i

When I was still playing around with numbers and trying to figure out what works for me, I was on the minimum 1200 diet and not eating my exercise calories back. I thought- the less calories I eat, the more I'll lose. Well I didn't lose a thing for a month. I didn't understand and I almost quit. I hung around and learned quite a bit, and upped my calories to 1450 with a goal loss of. 5 lbs a week. I eat all my exercise calories back so I'm often around 1800 at the end of the day. I didn't eat anything specific, just more. I eat what I want as long as its under the calorie goal. I drink alcohol, eat peanut butter...and I'm losing a steady pound per week. For me, the most helpful changes I made were: getting a hrm so I know exactly what I'm burning, and eating enough to fuel my body- again it didn't matter what (tho I don't eat fast food). I have definitely found my numbers. You just need toplay around until you figure it out.

there might not be any scientific evidence and it might not exist, but here is my experience.

mine wasn't just a month or months worth of under- eating and not losing weight. it was 6 years. and i wasn't over- eating or being dishonest with my diet either, because in those 6 yrs i didn't gain weight either.

it started while preggo with my 3rd. i was giving up meat and became a vegetarian and then took it one step further and became a vegan. i figured i would lose weight because i was hardly eating anything. i now had 3 kids under 3 and barely had time to think much less feed myself and thus under eating became my life.

i had been physical til we moved north in the dead of winter ( left the sunny south). and my weight just hung out. no ups, no downs. just there. i tried a million things but they always included eating LESS.

2006 i was diagnosed with gallstones. the doc told me it was caused by my under- eating. a diet of under 1000 calories had made my digestive tract sluggish. in 2007 i went to jenny craig. quickly learned from them i wasn't eating enough either. i was breastfeeding and working out and was eating about 1200 cal a day. tried WW online, but my goals were ALWAYS to under eat. ALWAYS! worked with a personal trainer last summer and she repetitively got after me for NOT eating enough. we were doing bootcamp together 3 days a week and i was logging about 900 calories a day. not netting, LOGGING!!!

i never believed any of them. after all i had been told for years, it's calories in vs. calories out. so, if i burned more and ate less, eventually i would HAVE to lose weight! right!!??!!

it got to the point where i was anti food. i ate because i had to, but not because i wanted to. and i was NEVER hungry. EVER. i joined mfp a month ago, and about a week in i made it my goal to eat my 1200 calories. regardless of what my work outs were. it was hard. it's often STILL hard! but, i'm doing it.

and amazingly enough, i have started to lose weight! my work outs are basically the same. but, i'm losing inches pretty fast now! as for what i started eating. it wasn't just one thing i started eating, but my diet has always been higher in protein. i often have a mental block with carbs. i won't eat pasta or rice period. usually no cereal. no snacky type foods. if i'm having a planned high calorie day now i will. but not on a normal day. protein shakes and bars because mentally they are easier for me to eat. but, i do try to eat more real food if i can.

most people laugh at me when i say this, but my favorite food is salad. if i am going out to eat, that's what i order 9 out of 10 times.......

so, that's my story.

doesnt exist...

there is NO scientific proof of this..

ya eating 1600 cals and stalling, going down for a week and still not losing weight, then going back up to 1600 and lost is NOT proof of starvation mode dude.

exactly. I think the "starvation mode" theory was thought up in between sets of bicep curls.
Eat 500 calories a day and tell me if you body goes into starvation and you don't lose weight.

I am starting to think it's not really about calories, there is something going on that we 'don't know yet. I have a bodybugg it tells me how many calories i burn per day, based off my temperature, body conductivity, sweat, and movement. Here is what happened to me, I was eating about 2,200 calories a day, my bodybugg said I was burning 3,500 calories a day. I was stuck like this for 2-3 weeks. I increased my calories, and went low carb, I went to 2,700 calories a day, and lost the weight instantly, within a day or 2, I broke the plateau.

The theory is, we stop losing weight because our metabolism slows down. If this was true, my bodybugg would have said 2,200 calories, not 3,500 calories when I was stuck in my plateau.

I am doing a very intensive diet right now at 1,500 calories a day, and losing at a very rapid pace. How come I wasn't losing at 2,200??? As I said, there is something going on I believe science hasn't uncovered yet.

You lose weight because of low carb diet....

You lost water weight.

by the way bodybugg is innacurate i hear from people.

I know my ticker only says 3 lbs down, but I haven't ever lost weight before, not in 6 years, 3 lbs over the last 8weeks feels fantastic!

For the last 6 years of my life, I have routinely eaten under 1000 calories a day, following what I thought was a very healthy, vegan diet. What I didn't realize was that yes, my favorite veggies are great for the body, but it isn't all the body needs. The body needs fuel from protiens and carbs too. Typical day was: oatmeal, carrot sticks, salad, veggies lightly stir-fried in olive oil with hot sauce, occasional splurg for thai food, pasta, or fajitas. Otherwise, very little rice, wheat, or potatoes because I was always told that starches make you fat.

Starting on January 2nd, I increased my portions and introduced wheat/whole grain, rice, and potatoes I previously avoided, and increased my use of beans, nuts, and lentils. And immediately I noticed 2 things: 1) My cardio endurance exponentially increased, 2) I required 1 hour less sleep a day.

I lost my 1st lb in 6 years during week 5. I then got sick/injured and can't exercise, but I continue to stick, the best I can, to the calories while I can't exercise and lost 1 more lb. in both weeks 7 and 8. I LOST WITHOUT EXERCISE!!!!

Exercise - Last summer I did the couch to 5k program and never could make it past the week 5 regime, my endurance was never there, but continued until the snow started to fall. I switched to elliptical four days a week for 30 minutes a day. I gained 15lbs and 2 sizes during this time. On January 2nd, along with the calories, I increased from 4 to 6 days a week of elliptical and even did 3 days of 30 day shred (prior to injury) noticing a fantastic increase in muscle mass, decrease in inches, and increasing cardio endurance.

I'm a believer in "Starvation Mode", I'm a believer in Carbs, I'm a believer in Starch, I'm a believer in Protein. And I believe that with exercise and calories, I can continue to lose, I think it took my body 4-5 weeks to figure out that I wasn't going to starve it anymore.

I am sure starving Ethiopians are having a real difficult time shedding weight because they aren't getting enough cals

I think everybody's different, and it's not right to say whether starvation mode is real or not. I think it's real for some and not for others. I was stuck for 6 weeks at 196 after dropping 28 pounds. I was working out, and eating 1310 calories for a goal of 1.5 lb loss a week. It has always been hard for me to eat enough calories, and prior to mfp I was not eating close to 1200 calories a day, but I was at 233 pounds.

I decided to do a few things. I upped my calories to 1440. I also decided to incorporate what I call muscle confusion into my workout. I was only doing the elliptical for 30 - 45 minutes 5 times a week. I started spinning, and weight training.

I also started to eat more protein and less carbs.

As soon as I did all of this, my weight started coming off again and it still is. Coincidence?