Starvation Mode

Screw this thread. Some of you people are ridiculous. Yes you can starve yourself if you actively try. Nobody's "accidentally" in starvation mode. She said she doesn't feel hungry not because she has daily been depriving herself but because that's just where she's at. Then some of you start throwing around "starvation mode" like she's got an ED or something. None of you know her metabolism, health etc so let her eat what she's comfortable at and take down your nazi attitude a bit

starvation mode for me its a huge myth.... Ok, lets accept the fact that eating 500 calories everyday would be dangerous for your body, cause you are not getting enough nutrients/protein/vitamins/calcium etc...
But no way you would enter a starvation mode, or, explain anorexia to me, those girls barely eat 500 cal a day, and they keep losing weight.
I normally eat 900-1100 a day (ive never gone over my daily 1200), and look, 37 lbs less!.. And Im never hungry, i feel satified with what I eat, nothing in this world would change my mind about it. Maybe if i was eating the 900-1100 and i was with the 200 lbs i had before, i would believe it, but not when im a few pounds away from the 150s.

So again , that starvation mode is BS for me.. IMO

Really? Does it need to be explained AGAIN?

I'm declaring a pandemic of deliberate misapprehension of the term "Starvation Mode."

first, I NEVER SAID anorexic was healthy, yes people die from that I know it and Im really aware of it.
second, if people die from anorexia then that proves my post, if starvation mode was real, no anorexic people would die, why?, cause they would stop losing weight as soon as they started eating less than 900 cal. The word anorexia wouldnt even exist.
thirt, im not starving myself, eating 1000 cal a day, for me is enough and I feel full. If I eat more than that I feel bloated.
fourth, maybe for me eating 1000 works, maybe for you dont, to each their own, every body is different.

So stop judging people that dont believe in that myth. Ive lost 37 lbs eating 1000 calories everyday, and u are not gonna change my mind nor make me eat more just cause you say so. Period..

have a nice day!

I cannot wait to see you in 1, 2, 3 or 6 months from now crying because you can't have a slice of pizza or normal meals at all for that matter without gaining an instant 5 pounds---people like you deserve to be in the 95% who regain ALL the weight back and usually more. In the face of the information regarding metabolism and healthy weight loss, that the unfortunate regainers lack, you stick to an unhealthy and unsustainable way of doing things. It's completely absurd.

fyi I eat anything I want.. I had a slice of cheesecake today, last week I ate mexican food and a piece of chocolate donut.. EVEN that way I lost 4.2 lbs... So nope, You wont see that, im sorry.

What I think people are saying about starvation mode isn't that you gain weight by eating less than 1200 cal a day it's that when you reach your goal and you are trying to eat at maintenance calories you gain because your metabolism has slowed. So if you are loosing weight by eating less than 1200 cal a day and not under a doctor's supervision then when you are ready to maintain your slower metabolism means you have to eat less to maintain than a person that lost weight slower and ate BMR calories.

But if you are under the care of a doctor then you should be fine he or she will guide you through the maintenance phase your your journey as well. Remember dietitians are licensed and educated professionals and nutrionalists are not necessarily so. Some may have a PhD while others are operating on a "he said, she said, I read a book once" kind of way.

If you are under the care of a doctor or other licensed professional FANTASTIC!! Keep it up and listen to them and do what they say and keep seeing them. Insist that when you reach your goal weight that you stay on with them as a patient for another year so you get in the habit of eating to maintain. If you are not then be careful it IS POSSIBLE to damage your metabolism and it will cause the yo-yo effect. I.e. Wooo! I'm at my goal time for maintaining, I need 1850 cal to maintain and then you are on here asking why you are gaining when your calories are set to maintenance.

At least that is what I understood from the research that is out there. If you get all your information from the boards here I can understand why you think you eat more to lose more. I think people are combining cycling with starvation mode to come up with the "eat more now, lose more now" theory. That's not what I understand. I can go on but I think I am repeating myself. If you want to know my theory and what I take away from these papers and stuff then message me. I'll try and get my sources together and send you something a little more coherent not in babbling book format.

This thread is somewhat irresponsible, and outright ridiculous to be honest. Anyone with a brain capable of the most minimal level of critical thinking, who can do research knows how these things work. The science is out there. The information is out there. I've read it, you can to. Go freaking look for yourselves instead of harping on things you know nothing about, based on anecdotal evidence taken from PEOPLE you know nothing about.

Here's some small gems of truth taken from scientific studies...take them or leave them.

In the first 24hrs of not eating, your metabolism actually speeds up somewhat. Your body realizes it has no energy source/fuel, and starts producing/increasing hormones that will help you GET some (adrenalin, growth hormone, etc).

In the second 24hrs of not eating, this production begins to level off. Your metabolism begins to slow somewhat...from the slightly elevated level it had reached initially.

In the third 24hrs, your body has stopped producing hormones to help you 'catch' your food. It's beginning to realize there are other problems that it will soon be facing, and towards the end of this period is where it begins the process of lowering your metabolism in earnest.

72hrs, with a very low, or no calorie intake, is all it takes to begin slowing your metabolism. How low? Well, it's a sliding scale...how far below your BMR are you eating?...and you all can argue till the cows come home about what that level is...I don't really care. I do know however, that unless you are substantially overweight (and even then it's just a matter of time...not some random chance), not eating enough calories to sustain your natural bodily functions can, and will certainly do you more harm than good. There's plenty of studies on that too (yes, I've read them...if you want to, get off your lazy *kitten* and look them up yourselves like I had to). Be sure you're not reading 'e-zine' articles by the way, which are little more than rumor themselves. You want peer reviewed studies, or nothing.

So call it whatever the hell you want. Just remember...there's plenty of TRULY anorexic people on this site that are torturing themselves over your irresponsible, and overall inaccurate commentary...and using it to justify one more day of starving themselves.

Who knows how many more of those they'll have.

Bravo, on such a well thought out topic.

I think this all depends on the persons height and weight.

Im 5ft and started losing weight last year in march, i lost around 35lbs on 1200 cals a day, i then upped my calories slightly and stopped losing, i figured i was in the famous ''starvation mode'' so i upped it again all the way to 1600-1800 a day. Didnt lose ANYTHING, even though i was eating clean and working out. I tried everything and i was stuck in a plateau for about 6 months. Then about 3 weeks ago i dropped it back down to 1200 for the first time in months.... low and behold, i started losing again.

I think the 1200 rule works for more shorter women, but do what you feel works, only you know when you're hungry, not anybody on a forum

I agree But there are a lot of conflicting articles out there online...I just needed some type of clairity! Thanks

I'll share my personal experience, the site was recommending 1700 calories a day for me to lose 1lb a week, I tried it and at first it worked but then I started getting tired, sick , it just wasn't working.

I then went to see a dietitian and had my metabolism tested professionally and discovered I at the time it was 2299 calories BMR, I was under eating by a massive amount, yes weight was dropping but I wasn't healthy. Now I eat between 2800-3000 a day and I have lost 20 lbs, gained muscle mass and dropped 4% body fat.

This may not have been starvation mode per say, but metabolic slow down does indeed exist and if people chose to ignore it that's their choice but to denounce it outright is dangerous in my opinion.

FYI : Metabolic Starvation does not = Tummy Grumbling

Your story is contradictory. If you were in starvation mode then your BMR would not be a relatively high 2299 calories. You were undereating but the example says nothing about the reality of a so-called "starvation mode"

It isn't contradictory, my first attempt to lose weight was over a year ago and I ended up doing some damage to my health because of it following MFP recommended settings. I'm not blaming MFP, I like many thought that doing a low cal diet would speed up the process. I took a long break gained all the weight back and then some. I then decided to do it the right way and that's when I had my metabolism tested and the rest is in my story.

Now I will agree you don't enter the so-called " starvation mode " in 2 days, of course not but people here are talking about following a relatively low calorie diet and adding on extra exercise on top of it and that can be very unhealthy. I don't honestly care what you call it but you need to fuel your body to keep it running correctly.

starvation mode for me its a huge myth.... Ok, lets accept the fact that eating 500 calories everyday would be dangerous for your body, cause you are not getting enough nutrients/protein/vitamins/calcium etc...
But no way you would enter a starvation mode, or, explain anorexia to me, those girls barely eat 500 cal a day, and they keep losing weight.
I normally eat 900-1100 a day (ive never gone over my daily 1200), and look, 37 lbs less!.. And Im never hungry, i feel satified with what I eat, nothing in this world would change my mind about it. Maybe if i was eating the 900-1100 and i was with the 200 lbs i had before, i would believe it, but not when im a few pounds away from the 150s.

So again , that starvation mode is BS for me.. IMO

Really? Does it need to be explained AGAIN?

I'm declaring a pandemic of deliberate misapprehension of the term "Starvation Mode."

first, I NEVER SAID anorexic was healthy, yes people die from that I know it and Im really aware of it.
second, if people die from anorexia then that proves my post, if starvation mode was real, no anorexic people would die, why?, cause they would stop losing weight as soon as they started eating less than 900 cal. The word anorexia wouldnt even exist.
thirt, im not starving myself, eating 1000 cal a day, for me is enough and I feel full. If I eat more than that I feel bloated.
fourth, maybe for me eating 1000 works, maybe for you dont, to each their own, every body is different.

So stop judging people that dont believe in that myth. Ive lost 37 lbs eating 1000 calories everyday, and u are not gonna change my mind nor make me eat more just cause you say so. Period..

have a nice day!

I cannot wait to see you in 1, 2, 3 or 6 months from now crying because you can't have a slice of pizza or normal meals at all for that matter without gaining an instant 5 pounds---people like you deserve to be in the 95% who regain ALL the weight back and usually more. In the face of the information regarding metabolism and healthy weight loss, that the unfortunate regainers lack, you stick to an unhealthy and unsustainable way of doing things. It's completely absurd.

fyi I eat anything I want.. I had a slice of cheesecake today, last week I ate mexican food and a piece of chocolate donut.. EVEN that way I lost 4.2 lbs... So nope, You wont see that, im sorry.

Yes, but at 1000 calories a day, you didn't eat much more than a slice of cheesecake.

I was grossly over weight a few years back.I decided I had to lose weight at any cost.And so,I lost 23 kgs[50 pounds approx] in about a year.It was perfect.I used to eat abt 800 calories a day and used to burn all the 800 calories in the gym.And I got married after that and stopped gymming all of a sudden.That was when I put back about 6 kgs.I starved myself but i didn't loose the weight.I used to eat abt 300 calories a day and wonder why I wasn't losing the weight.As a last resort,I started using fitness pal and I'm eating 1200 calories a day as it says and miraculously I've started losing weight.I thought all the stuff about eating right in magazines was a load of old tosh but now,I understand that your body needs the calories for it to lose weight.If you really don't want to finish the calories that you have to eat every day,then try eating fruits or something that's nutritious to fill up those calories.But,I suggest,don't ever eat less than the calories recommended as your body will get used to getting only those calories and anything after that,will be converted into fat.And when you actually indulge yourself,lots of fat gets stored in your body.If you have noticed people who are born thin(the lucky few),they don't starve themselves but they eat a little of everything.I am writing this because I have gone through it and don't want all of you to have the wrong notion of "lesser food,thinner you become".You might lose weight initially but you won't be able to keep it off.Even in the gym,i suggest you don't do too much rigorous exercises because if you are body gets used to the exercise,when u skip it,u put the weight back on...

I love the people who get their knickers in a twist about starvation mode and start bragging about how much pizza and cheesecake they can eat. That's so HEALTHY!

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...

Well, I don't think gastric bypass is a particularly healthy method of weight loss, rather a last resort for the morbidly obese. Many, many people get very ill, but at least they're under the care of a doctor - which is much different than not eating enough on your own, which in my opinion leads to long term issues and ultimately, unhealthiness or failure. Why would you purposely want to eat too little and not fuel your body properly? For me, when I used to do that I felt dizzy and crappy - I've been eating up to my net calorie goal for over a year and feel really healthy and happy (not that I'm the healthiest person ever, by any means).

I think this all depends on the persons height and weight.

Im 5ft and started losing weight last year in march, i lost around 35lbs on 1200 cals a day, i then upped my calories slightly and stopped losing, i figured i was in the famous ''starvation mode'' so i upped it again all the way to 1600-1800 a day. Didnt lose ANYTHING, even though i was eating clean and working out. I tried everything and i was stuck in a plateau for about 6 months. Then about 3 weeks ago i dropped it back down to 1200 for the first time in months.... low and behold, i started losing again.

I think the 1200 rule works for more shorter women, but do what you feel works, only you know when you're hungry, not anybody on a forum

Honestly, your activity level plays a huge role in how much you can eat in a day. I'm only 5'3" (was recently measured and come to find out? I'm not even 5'4".. *sniff* lol) and I weigh around 150lbs. I can easily lose weight while consuming 2100-2200 NET calories and I can easily maintain while consuming 2300-2500 NET calories in a day. I work on my feet and am constant motion. So, I burn a lot more than someone who is the same height I am and has a desk job. So, a lot of it depends on how active you are too.

Here's a weight watchers article. I skimmed it, and it sounds pretty online with what my old nutritionist told me. "starvation mode" is real, it's just not the right wording for it. Your body will burn fat for energy if you eat fewer calories than your body naturally burns. But if you start bringing in WAY to few calories your body does react, by lower metabolism. It doesn't shut down or start eating your internal organs, just moves slower. http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
You will still lose weight, but you will lose less than you think, and you will feel sluggish since your body is trying to conserve energy. This makes sense to me, if you think about our ancestors. Sort of a way to get through dry spells. (My nutritionist said for women, your body wants to make sure that should you get pregnant, you could support the baby)
Anyway, I tend to eat about my 1200 a day, just because I am hungry. And you do need to eat something to help jump start your metabolism for the day, never mind getting all the nutrients you need. Everyone's metabolism is different, and I think MFP is just covering itself legally. You know your body better than any one-size-fits-all computer program. Just eat so you're not hungry- not until you're "full" or "stuffed", just satisfied.
Personally, I'd rather lose weight slower than starve myself. If I hate the process, I'm more likely to give up.
Feel free to add everyone, as always!

Starvation mode only starts when you get below 6% body fat at that point you are super ripped. So dont worry about it. To get this lean it takes a lot of cardio, low calories, and intermittent fasting. I am a member of a pay site were we (100's of members) have been practicing these strategies for years, theres your proof.

uuuh NO! you can go into "Starvation Mode" as they call it, without any exercise whatsoever if your calories are low enough. You also don't have to do IF ...not sure where you're getting your information. Sure you CAN do all of those things and reduce your metabolic rate but they aren't NECESSARY.

I only meant proof of starvation mode kicking in at under 6% body fat. Obviously you can go on a hunger strike or put on a muzzle if you want to.
http://www.adonisindex.com/how-to-get-into-starvation-mode/

If you research the starvation mode theory, when they tested it people's metabolism slowed when they were at about 5% body fat and had been on extremely low calorie diets for quite a while. Even then they still lost weight just at a slightly slower (about 10% slower than before) rate.

If the starvation mode thing were really a huge problem, anorexics would never lose weight and people wouldn't die of starvation.

I think that the starvation mode is a scare tactic to discourage people from taking extreme methods to losing weight like starving themselves...

Exactly and none of here have this issue.

Also, not everyone has a large appetite OR eats processed foods. Eating whole foods like I do there is no way to get to 1600-1800 calories and I eat large amounts of fat and my calories still barely go over 1100 per day

The rate at which the metabolism is so minute that it is not even noticeable. I have spoken to several Metabolic Endocrinologist and all have said that "starvation mode" is nothing but a myth and a perpetuation of getting people to eat more, which keeps people fat.

not everyone follows the eat more to lose more religion.

especially the guy that wrote the body weight simulator at http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ which does model accurately the metabolic rate and weight loss patterns seen in the Minnesota Starvation experiment etc but cannot be induced to reproduce eat more to lose more.

I'm always wary of cults. Perhaps it's actually the "eat more, exercise even more and lose more" religion, but like the Rosemary Conley "Hip, Thigh and Breast Reduction Diet" had a name change for PR purposes ;-)