Do NOT skip out on a meal!

Jotell
Jotell Posts: 139 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I can not stress this enough! When you skip out on a meal or don't eat all of your calories your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto EVERY calorie it can not knowing when it will be fed again! Trust me, I KNOW.... I didn't eat my calories and GAINED 3 pounds! Now that I am eating ever 2-3 hours with healthy snacks and healthy meals I am losing!!! Every body is not the same, I get that. But, every body DOES and WILL hold onto everything it can! So, Please don't starve yourself to lose weight! It's NOT going to work and you'll only be hurting yourself.

Ok, rant is over...
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Replies

  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    Funny, I skip breakfast lots of days and I'm losing just fine.

    People should experiment and find what works for them and their body rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I appreciate your desire to help. Are you familiar with any research on the effects of short term fasting? You may be surprised at how efficient and resilient the human body is.
  • nlhill79
    nlhill79 Posts: 60 Member
    I'm just guessing here, but I bet it would depend on whether or not you feel hungry. So if you wake in the morning and miss breakfast, but you never felt hungry then your body wasn't in starvation mode. But if you feel hungry and then you skip eating just to save calories then your body goes into starvation mode. I don't eat much in the morning, but I am not hungry either.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    I can not stress this enough! When you skip out on a meal or don't eat all of your calories your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto EVERY calorie it can not knowing when it will be fed again! Trust me, I KNOW.... I didn't eat my calories and GAINED 3 pounds! Now that I am eating ever 2-3 hours with healthy snacks and healthy meals I am losing!!! Every body is not the same, I get that. But, every body DOES and WILL hold onto everything it can! So, Please don't starve yourself to lose weight! It's NOT going to work and you'll only be hurting yourself.

    Ok, rant is over...

    This is not going to happen by skipping a meal. Or even by skipping two meals. As a matter of fact, you could skip a meal every day. It's important to try to eat your allotted calories, but you are not going to add three pounds by not eating a meal.

    I eat two meals every day. No weight gain. Do a little research, what you've said really is not even a little bit true.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Trust me, I KNOW.... I didn't eat my calories and GAINED 3 pounds! Now that I am eating ever 2-3 hours with healthy snacks and healthy meals I am losing!!!

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTnzDXgC2IBbU5UpBNsG72TRTJ-iQdOvbgyDgKF_qsid67IyPUtZPr_CbCT
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
    There are days where I don't eat until Noon or later. It takes a lot to actually go into starvation mode. It isn't that dramatic.. It might now be the best for your metabolism but it doesn't mean you are going to starve. I can skip meals.. and still lose. Some people can't.
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    I can not stress this enough! When you skip out on a meal or don't eat all of your calories your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto EVERY calorie it can not knowing when it will be fed again! Trust me, I KNOW.... I didn't eat my calories and GAINED 3 pounds! Now that I am eating ever 2-3 hours with healthy snacks and healthy meals I am losing!!! Every body is not the same, I get that. But, every body DOES and WILL hold onto everything it can! So, Please don't starve yourself to lose weight! It's NOT going to work and you'll only be hurting yourself.

    Ok, rant is over...

    You gained 3lb over what time period? and when you say that you didn't eat your calories, do you mean you didn't eat you daily calories or just that you didn't eat them spread accross the whole day? For what period of time did you under-eat like that?
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Starvation mode is a term that gets thrown around rather easily. Suffice it to say that you can go a full day or two without food and you're very unlikely to have any lasting negative effects. You might not want to do this for other reasons but starvation mode is not one of them.
  • mackreid3
    mackreid3 Posts: 12 Member
    People, please don't listen to this nonsense.
    A caloric deficit is how people lose weight, if you gained weight you were inaccurately counting calories. Plain and simple.
    There sure were tons of people in the holocaust who were still fat from starvation mode, or what about those starving kids on the world vision commercials...total fatties!

    Gimme a break with the eat 2-3 hours every day small meal crap, the reason people lose weight doing that is because AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU ARE IN A CALORIC DEFICIT!

    People choose their 'diets' around their lifestyle, I have lost 80 pounds and I have been able to eat popcorn, ice cream and hamburgers, etc and fit them into my daily caloric totals all while not eating breakfast! OH NO! **SARCASM ALERT**

    You should probably do a little more research before preaching BS weight loss gospel on MFP.
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    I agree with your premiss. People shouldn't starve themselves, but you didn't gain three pounds from eating less. Your body can go into conservation mode and save what calories it can for a while, but it won't completely stop losing weight, and it certainly won't gain weight on less food.
  • Jotell
    Jotell Posts: 139 Member
    Actually, I know more than I would like to care about fasting. At my college we did a poll on both men and women about doing a liquid fast. The body allowed them to lose weight the first two weeks then plateaued and gained. 2 of the women and 1 man lost hair due to malnourishment (even with daily vitamins and minerals). Like I said, every body is different. I am NOT by any means speaking to just one person on this matter :) It is what I have learned over the years of health and nutrition. As for the not eating breakfast portion. By not eating a healthy balanced breakfast you are NOT actually breaking your fast and starting your metabolism. Why do you think you can go for a longer period of time without food as opposed to eating breakfast and being hungry within 2 hours. Again, every body is different.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    If I posted some peer reviewed research that strongly suggests that you are wrong, would you read it and moreover are you open minded enough to consider changing your position on this?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Actually, I know more than I would like to care about fasting. At my college we did a poll on both men and women about doing a liquid fast. The body allowed them to lose weight the first two weeks then plateaued and gained. 2 of the women and 1 man lost hair due to malnourishment (even with daily vitamins and minerals). Like I said, every body is different. I am NOT by any means speaking to just one person on this matter :) It is what I have learned over the years of health and nutrition. As for the not eating breakfast portion. By not eating a healthy balanced breakfast you are NOT actually breaking your fast and starting your metabolism. Why do you think you can go for a longer period of time without food as opposed to eating breakfast and being hungry within 2 hours. Again, every body is different.

    Look up the Minnesota Starvation Study or just continue to make things up
  • Rapunzelmom
    Rapunzelmom Posts: 6 Member
    "starvation mode" doesn't cause weight gain. It merely reduces the effectiveness of the caloric reduction after a certain point. . And I find that if I am eating sufficient proteins and fats, and fewer carbohydrates, I just don't get hungry. . Even when my calories are under.
  • vhansard
    vhansard Posts: 7 Member
    Just my two cents worth...my endocrinologist has been helping me in my endeavor to lose the weight. Her advice is "exercise" to get your metabolism going and get a minimum of 800 calories a day (if you're female - sorry guys, not sure for you) to avoid starvation mode. It is true, the body starts to converts ALL food into fat if it thinks you aren't going to feed it! I too was eating WAY to few calories and gained 10 pounds in one month. However, a few days fasting really can't hurt too much as long as you're getting plenty of water. That's also a key to losing weight - drink tons of water! It's a natural diuretic and flushes all sorts of toxins from your system. Good luck to all!
  • Jotell
    Jotell Posts: 139 Member
    I am very open to anything. I love to learn new things. So reading what you all have to say rude or not makes me excited to do some researching and to bring it to my professors :)
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    If I posted some peer reviewed research that strongly suggests that you are wrong, would you read it and moreover are you open minded enough to consider changing your position on this?

    I would be really interested in reading it. -
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I am very open to anything. I love to learn new things. So reading what you all have to say rude or not makes me excited to do some researching and to bring it to my professors :)

    Do you feel as though I have been rude to you ?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    I am very open to anything. I love to learn new things. So reading what you all have to say rude or not makes me excited to do some researching and to bring it to my professors :)

    382 day fast, lost 276lbs

    Features of a successful therapeutic fast of 382 days' duration. Postgrad Med J. 1973 March; 49(569): 203–209.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf
  • iRebel
    iRebel Posts: 378 Member
    Do NOT skip out on a meal!
    :drinker:
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    Acg57 beat me to it. :laugh:

    I'm not about to go on a prolonged fast, but it makes for interesting reading.
  • Jotell
    Jotell Posts: 139 Member
    No, I do not. I take things out of context sometimes, and have re-read everything. Thank you! Please, send me whatever you feel will help me in my learning journey. I know for me that if I don't eat breakfast, I will not be able to eat all of my calories. I have to eat breakfast. NOT everyone does, which is WHY I have been saying EVERY BODY is Different. :)
    The research I have done at my college was a liquid fast. Water only. There are no nutrients in water. Water is good, keeps us hydrated, but you can only live off of only water for a period of time. I guess I should have made that clear. My apologies.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,326 Member
    ....drink tons of water! It's a natural diuretic and flushes all sorts of toxins from your system.

    Now I am confused....I thought a diuretic is something that removes water from the body. How can drinking water remove water from the body? And I also thought the liver was the only thing that removed toxins from the body. I would be educated on these points, please.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    I think we need two different versions for MFP - one for Starvation adherents and one who thinks its a myth.

    My opinion:

    There is a starvation response - but most people who are overweight are unlikely to see it. If you are severely underweight and trying to lose more, maybe.

    See
    http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267

    There is a true phenomenon known as the starvation response and it is well documented in the Minnesota Starvation experiments and the Hunger Fasts that have been studied. However, it only happens in humans when they lose enough body fat that they fall below the level of essential fat. In a man, this would be below around 5% fat and in women just above that.


    I have gone on three day fasts (not to lose weight but to detoxify) water only not a single calorie of food and I lose weight as expected.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Actually, I know more than I would like to care about fasting.

    Intermittent is the key word in the phrase Intermittent Fasting. It is not only perfectly safe, but quite successful for SOME people. EDIT for clarity:

    People who intermittent fast will still be eating the appropriate total number of calories daily or weekly. They are just doing it with a different feeding schedule. For example, I may wake up at 6am and not eat anything until noon, or even 2pm. I'll also eat most of my calories at night. I guarantee you that I'm eating a reasonable amount of food and that I'm not suffering from any starvation response.



    . By not eating a healthy balanced breakfast you are NOT actually breaking your fast and starting your metabolism.

    Breakfast does not kickstart anything. Every time you eat you burn a portion of that food through Diet Induced Thermogenesis or Thermic Effect of Feeding. This thermic effect is based on the calorie and macronutrient content of the food you eat but it is not frequency based. Your metabolism will run at roughly the same rate regardless of whether or not you are eating breakfast or not eating at all.

    Energy metabolism after 3 days of fasting:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3661473

    Resting metabolic rate INCREASE after short term fasting:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2405717

    Resting energy expenditure INCREASE after short term fasting:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837292

    Ramadan fasting and body composition changes:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17909674

    Different meal timings (eating later vs breakfast):
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3508745

    Weight loss vs body composition changes. Large evening meals vs large morning meals:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9040548


    I would suggest you take a good look at these.

    I would also suggest the following resources. Your intent is great, but the information you've presented is not supported. I am not trying to attack you when I say this, I'm glad you want to help people.

    Lastly, you say that we are all different. I have a good article on that too (not my article, let me stress that. This is Lyle and he is brilliant):
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

    EDIT: Posting a few other resources in a moment.

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    No, I do not. I take things out of context sometimes, and have re-read everything. Thank you! Please, send me whatever you feel will help me in my learning journey. I know for me that if I don't eat breakfast, I will not be able to eat all of my calories. I have to eat breakfast. NOT everyone does, which is WHY I have been saying EVERY BODY is Different. :)
    The research I have done at my college was a liquid fast. Water only. There are no nutrients in water. Water is good, keeps us hydrated, but you can only live off of only water for a period of time. I guess I should have made that clear. My apologies.

    To be clear though, while this does make for interesting reading, what *most of us refer to in terms of fasting and indeed what I suspect Sidesteel is talking about is not the kind of fasting you decribe above. It involves eating the same amount of cals as you would over the entire day or week, just in a shorter window of time.

    ETA - he beat me there...
  • Jotell
    Jotell Posts: 139 Member
    I'm too full by that point to eat anymore. I am at 1500 Cals a day. I can barely eat that amount even with breakfast.
  • Mzchasenpaper
    Mzchasenpaper Posts: 37 Member
    the less water you drink the more your body holds onto it. causes swelling or water weight gain and improper organ function, I got sick when i was 17 from not drinking enough water. I drink it now but this was what my physician told me at the time.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    I can not stress this enough! When you skip out on a meal or don't eat all of your calories your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto EVERY calorie it can not knowing when it will be fed again! Trust me, I KNOW.... I didn't eat my calories and GAINED 3 pounds! Now that I am eating ever 2-3 hours with healthy snacks and healthy meals I am losing!!! Every body is not the same, I get that. But, every body DOES and WILL hold onto everything it can! So, Please don't starve yourself to lose weight! It's NOT going to work and you'll only be hurting yourself.

    Ok, rant is over...

    And my calories are usually only 600 a day, by my choice and I'm losing just fine too and I'm NOT going into this "starvation mode". OMG people it's not something that people in this country have to worry about. One missed meal or even a day without eating, and even 9 months on 500 calories a day will make you go into "starvation mode". Doctors put their patients on these amounts every day and for months on end and they may gain their weight back after the diet is over but they sure as heck don't go have this problem...get freaking real.
  • Jotell
    Jotell Posts: 139 Member
    Thank you SideSteal for the information. I will be reading these and discussing them with my professors!

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