"Starvation Mode"

aminahzjohnson
aminahzjohnson Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay...everytime I complete my food and exercise log for the day, it says that "you are eating too few calories" in red...and it goes on to say that I may be putting my body into starvation mode. Okay...question. How is it that if you eat too few calories, you can put your body into starvation mode...but then doctors perform gastric bypass surgeries which in turn reduces the number of calories consumed far below what a normal person would consume. Wouldn't that put your body in starvation mode if all you could eat was a baby jar of food? I'm confused...can someone please clear this up for me? Thanks :)

Replies

  • santini1975
    santini1975 Posts: 175 Member
    I don't buy the "starvation mode" conspiracy. Ever see a fat anorexic? Didn't think so.
  • jodyw83
    jodyw83 Posts: 38
    "starvation mode" is one of those great diet myths! This is what will happen. Say you cut 500 cals a day, you are looking at a net loss of 1 pound a week. 1000 calories is going to be 2 pounds a week. So.. now you cut yourself down 1500 cals and you are only looking at a net loss of 2.5 pounds for the week. The loss slows down exponentially once you cut yourself below 1200 calories a day. Your metabolism slows down because you're body just doesn't need to burn that extra energy that it uses to digest the food in your stomach. The worry is that you will not eat enough and you will constantly feel hungry and you will lose your motivation to diet. But as long as you're getting all of your nutrition and you're not going TOO low on your caloric intake you should be just fine. Hope that cleared it up a bit!
  • angieleighbyrd
    angieleighbyrd Posts: 989 Member
    I don't buy the "starvation mode" conspiracy. Ever see a fat anorexic? Didn't think so.

    Well that just sounds healthy >.<
  • BrownEyedDiva
    BrownEyedDiva Posts: 35
    They are just covering their butts in case if you eat under the recommended 1200 cals and somehow get sick from it they won't be responsible b/c they told you to eat more. You should speak to a nutritionist if possible so they can tell you what they think would be best for your intake. Best of luck on your journey
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    Look for one of the numerous threads here that notes the inaccurate use of the term "starvation mode."
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I don't buy the "starvation mode" conspiracy. Ever see a fat anorexic? Didn't think so.

    I've seen a skinny fat anorexic though. When you don't eat enough your body burns muscle along with fat for fuel. Which makes you skinny and small, but mega flabby with a sluggish metabolism. Typically, those that eat very little for a long time, gain ALL the weight back AND more when they go back to normal eating.

    That being said, I don't think it hurts you if it happens every once in a while, but if you are consistently eating under 1200 calories AND exercising AND not eating your exercise calories, you will run into some problems.
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
    Okay...everytime I complete my food and exercise log for the day, it says that "you are eating too few calories" in red...and it goes on to say that I may be putting my body into starvation mode. Okay...question. How is it that if you eat too few calories, you can put your body into starvation mode...but then doctors perform gastric bypass surgeries which in turn reduces the number of calories consumed far below what a normal person would consume. Wouldn't that put your body in starvation mode if all you could eat was a baby jar of food? I'm confused...can someone please clear this up for me? Thanks :)

    I would recommend that you speak to a licensed dietician in your area for advice, you're going to get a lot of opinions from arm-chair experts in the forums but someone who has studied in the field for a number of years should be in a better position to explain it.

    I have been to one myself and followed her guidelines to a tee and it has worked marvelously for me, this is my personal experience and it would be labeled by most of the people responding here as hogwash and urban myths but I have seen it in my own body.
  • Drawberry
    Drawberry Posts: 104 Member
    While I am not going to touch half of these responses with a ten foot cake covered pole...I took the alert to be a warning that you are currently working on a large calorie deficit that can be harmful if prolonged over a long period of time.

    I was working on a 750 calorie deficit one day, and got the notice when I completed my diary-this I can understand as that really was quite a large amount of left-over calories. However I take it more like a way that the website is covering it's hide and issuing a warning that what your doing may be dangerous.
  • Anthonydaman
    Anthonydaman Posts: 854 Member
    I don't buy into it either, I think it is a urban myth

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