Starvation Mode

Before you can "listen to your body", you have to get your hormones working properly, because hormones are what cause hunger pangs and satiation sensations. If you've been underfeeding, then it is highly likely that they are NOT working properly. Google leptin, ghrelin, insulin, and metabolic hormones.

Starvation "mode" does not mean actual starvation (ie: people in third world countries or anorexics). It means a slow down of the metabolic functions. This is not always obvious at first. I can tell when my metabolism slows down because I have less energy, my hair starts to fall out, I'm no longer hungry...ever, I get cranky and my mental clarity gets fuzzy. This is a big fat sign that I need to eat at maintenance for a week or two and get my hormones back in balance.

1200 calories is not a magic number. It's a number that was decided by the WHO (World Health Organisation) as the minimum needed by the average woman, in order to prevent malnutrition. Smaller people may less, older people may need less, men need more, more active people need more. The reason it is used on this site is because there needs to be some threshhold used when warning people not to eat too little.

Also, I make my own pizza dough from scratch and use all organic ingredients in my pizzas. They are not nutrient deficient and are a lovely treat now and then. I do not consider my pizza as "junk" any more than spaghetti with mushroom sauce (same basic ingredients, sheesh). :grumble:

Food is fuel, it keeps us functioning. Without adequate fuel, we sputter and things start to break down. There is no reason to suffer....eat, enjoy, and treat your body well. It has to serve you for the rest of your life.

I would much rather have a slower metabolic rate and eat less, but eat very high nutrient based foods than eating a high calorie, low nutrient based way of eating, which those of you that have the "I eat what I want" mindset, you are eating a very low nutrient based diet.

http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/metabolism_longevity.aspx

I have intentionally slowed down my metabolic rate through my eating and intend to keep it this way. This DOES NOT make me anorexic or anything of the sort. This makes me be a person that is very hyper-aware of how and what I eat.

Do we have any control over our resting metabolic rate? How can we slow it down?
Resting metabolic rate is largely genetically determined, but our calorie intake has an effect as well.8 Caloric restriction and negative energy balance have been shown to reduce resting metabolic rate, and in contrast overeating increases resting metabolic rate. 9,10 Furthermore, caloric restriction has been consistently shown to prolong maximal lifespan by up to 60% in animals.11 My findings have demonstrated that an optimal micronutrient intake reduces the desire for calories and reduces body temperature and white blood cell counts. This means that if follow a high-nutrient eating style that reduces calorie intake while meeting micronutrient demands, we can reduce our resting metabolic rate and potentially increase our longevity potential dramatically.

Keep in mind that although exercise raises total calorie expenditure, it does not raise the body's basal metabolism. Exercise is the only safe way to "raise metabolism" because it activates the peripheral tissues to utilize more calories and also increases muscle mass which in turn increases total calorie expenditure.12 Plus, exercise promotes longevity.13

The goal here is to eat so healthy that it reduces your desire to overeat and reduces your metabolism slowly, so you can comfortably desire less food, though not get too thin. My nutritarian recommendations actually makes you more satisfied with less food, and actually gives the ability to enjoy food more without overeating.

What an incredibly fallacious mindset. Just because you eat what you want doesn't mean it's low on nutrients. Im happy that I CAN eat ice cream, cheesecake, pizza, or even candy without flipping out. Does that mean it constitutes the majority of my diet?? Absolutely not. It's called moderation. This isn't black and white as you present it.

When it comes to oxidation at the cellular level and nutrients, yes, it is very black and white.

I don't need moderation. I need nutrients and that is what I focus on.

And let's face it, the research is starting to come out about how unhealthy corn, wheat and soy really are and that makes the foods that are MADE with these products also unhealthy.

So unless you are eating cauliflower crust pizza, pizza is unhealthy due to the low (no) nutrient content in the crust alone.

So what, I can get my mucronutrients from the 1600 other calories I eat in the day. I can 'afford' to waste those couple hundred.

You do what you want to do.

I don't eat if I am not hungry because someone says I need a certain QUANTITY of food. I eat if I am hungry, don't eat if I am not.

Some days I eat around 700-800 calories and other days I eat way more. It averages out to around 1,000-1,100 and I am happy with that.

pasta is like dead flesh. Hate the stuff.

Are you slow? Perhaps your brain is in 'starvation mode' I am not "debating" anyone. Both of my responses were in answer to the original question and I would like to know how being in said supposed starvation mode is not an ED? If you're eating too few calories to the point that it's affecting the function of your body I would call that a "disorder" so yes if you're telling the girl she's starving herself then you are "insinuating" that her eating is disordered. As far as Goodwins Theory it is a theory not the ultimate word and perhaps makes it in to threads so often because people have such an attitude of think what i think or *kitten* off