Starvation mode is a myth, so why do we keep saying it exist

I have done it. Sooo ummm what now?

We fatties can also supply part of the daily fuel from the fat reserves we put on eating too much fuel in the past.

Hence we don't need to put gas in the tank and the same rate as the motor burns it 'cos we're running down a big tank too.

Prove it, eat VLCD then say that again.

Open your diary, and show us.

Oh My God, FINALLY!! Someone who also believes this starvation mode is a big wobbly myth. We are a generation of very well-fed humans, we are not going to starve or waste away into nothing or have our body go into an overdrive of panic if we haven't eaten in several hours. If this happened then we would disintegrate in our sleep when we decide to sleep those extra few hours.

Resting energy expenditure (REE), weight, and body composition were measured up to seven times in 13 obese women during a 24-wk study. Patients were randomly assigned to a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD, 500 kcal/d) or a balanced-deficit diet (BDD, 1200 kcal/d). After 8 wk of supplemented fasting, REE of the VLCD patients decreased by 17% whereas that of the BDD patients was virtually unchanged. REE of the VLCD patients increased during 12 subsequent weeks of realimentation such that differences in REE between the two groups were not statistically significant at week 24 (VLCD = -11%, BDD = -2%). Reductions in weight and fat-free mass (FFM) were 12.1% and 3.6% for the VLCD patients and 10.6% and 4.1% for the BDD patients, respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in pre- to posttreatment changes in REE normalized to FFM. Results suggest that REE recovers partially after consumption of a VLCD. They also provide evidence of a possible metabolic advantage of weight loss by a more moderate restriction.

Here is my experience of starvation mode.
I was anorexic for 3 years. Some days I ate an orange and a piece of toast and thought I was wonderful for it (more fool me)

In the short term (1-6) months eating under 800 or 900 cals a day:
Makes you irritable, grumpy and a pain to live with
Your breath will smell
Your face skin will dry out and/or you'll get spots
You will feel nauseous with hunger
You stomach will make noise all the time
You will lose hell of a lot of weight (up to 7lbs a week)

6 -12 months
Your period will stop
Your appetite will be gone.
You will have trained yourself to go without food.
Your energy will be non-existant
Your circle of friends will have whittered away as you fall out or cut out all of them in turn because of your eating
Your family will be in a panic about your appearance
Your weight loss will slow down to about 1lb a week (or less)
Your hair will thin

12-18 months
You are really ill now
You panic about your weight loss and drop down to 300-500 cals because some other anorexic on an internet forum said this worked for her
The other Anas on the forums are your only "friends" now
All your muscle has gone
The skin all over your body and your face will be in a shocking condition
You are cold all the time, a horrible soul sucking coldness that seems to come from within
Organ damage has started
Your hair will stop growing and may start to fall out

18 months +
As well as everything else above
The symptoms of mental illness appear (paranoia being the most common)
Irreversible organ damage may have started
Lumps of your hair will fall out leaving you with bald patches

After recovery:
Your body clings on to every calories like a dying man to a shipwreak and you put on weight. You think dropping back to your previous habits will lose it - it doesn't. What do you do then?

Those are the consequences of surviving on anorexic portions of food. Those are the ones I saw myself and others in real-life support groups go through. Some lived, some died. Those that lived took years to get over the consequences of our eating habits. That is the reality of eating half what a woman needs to survive on.

Do you know that anyone can edit wikipedia? Do you really want to ruin your life because someone thought it would be clever to justify their lifestyle choices by lying about the consequences of eating like this?

Is this really the path you want to go down? I am begging you now to stop before it is too late and you embark on a lifestyle that negatively shapes the rest of your life.

Right now, I am now losing 2lbs a week eating around about 2000 cals a day. I am happy, healthy and energetic.

Be smart before it is too late for you.

Yes, i discussed this earlier. this is the result of still eating under their maintenance. They don't get all anorexic looking, a lot still look over weight, They're not all "ripped and lean" the question is. WHY NOT? even if they're eating super low calories.

Resting energy expenditure (REE), weight, and body composition were measured up to seven times in 13 obese women during a 24-wk study. Patients were randomly assigned to a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD, 500 kcal/d) or a balanced-deficit diet (BDD, 1200 kcal/d). After 8 wk of supplemented fasting, REE of the VLCD patients decreased by 17% whereas that of the BDD patients was virtually unchanged. REE of the VLCD patients increased during 12 subsequent weeks of realimentation such that differences in REE between the two groups were not statistically significant at week 24 (VLCD = -11%, BDD = -2%). Reductions in weight and fat-free mass (FFM) were 12.1% and 3.6% for the VLCD patients and 10.6% and 4.1% for the BDD patients, respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in pre- to posttreatment changes in REE normalized to FFM. Results suggest that REE recovers partially after consumption of a VLCD. They also provide evidence of a possible metabolic advantage of weight loss by a more moderate restriction.

Excellent. That really is the first study I've seen which suggests an increase in REE over what is expected based on the size of calorie restriction. However, this same study also said that those returning from VLCD (and wow, 500 kcal/d is really, really low) to a 1200 kcal/day diet did have a rebound in their REE.

Interestingly, the paper concludes with this: "We are unable to determine, at present, whether results for the BDD patients are an anomaly or evidence of a possible metabolic advantage for those who lose weight by a more moderate caloric restriction." So ultimately, it's inconclusive. The sample size was 16 people. And 500 kcal/day is crazy low. Nevertheless, I appreciate you taking the time to find this article because it is by far the best evidence I've seen so far that supports an increase in AT based on size of restriction.

Kudos :drinker:

Your body holds on to fat when you don't eat enough, this is how the skinny fat thing happens. It's loss of muscle mass. This is because your body is precieving there isn't enough food. Look at the most fitess, healthiest friends on MFP you have, i can promise you they eat a lot more than you think.