Hmmm...starvation mode?

Got an idea to bounce off you folks.

I lost 65lbs last year, between January and June-ate healthy foods, exercised regularly, all the good stuff. As I lost, I started to increase my activity level to running and strength training to tone up my newly emerging muscles. All good. Weight just fell offa me.

And so I increased my calories. And weight loss stopped cold in its tracks. I've not only not lost weight, I gained 8lbs back-3 of which I have managed to lose again.

I told you all this so I could do the afformentioned idea bouncing.

All this fuss and debate about 'starvation mode' flicked a switch in my head. So I went back over my calorie intake for that time period. I was taking in between 1200-1300 calories daily. As soon as I increased it to 1400-1500 daily, I stopped losing and actually started gaining.

Could it be that I put my body into famine mode? It would certainly explain the lack of loss, and the weight gain on healthy foods at a reasonable calorie intake level.

And how long do you all think before I actually start to lose again, assuming an average daily intake of 1500 calories and regular exercise 3x a week?

It really bothers me that I may have set myself up for a very frustrating time until my body 'fixes' itself.

Hey, have you read this article?
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm

I know that you are not eating like that, but it has some of the ideas about how starvation mode influences the body. When I first started here back at the end of March, I ate a healthy amount of calories, all healthy choices. After 3 months I had gained 4 lbs above my starting weight! I was really frusterated. It wasn't until I was going into my 4th month, just sticking with it, that I started to lose. I'm down about 55 lbs now.

Everyone's body is different, so I really couldn't guess how long it will take your body to adjust. Just stick with it and be patient. =)

That's what happened to me last summer.  I was advised by my CC friends to eat more and I dropped 9 pounds in June.  Now I'm trying to recover from maintaining during the holidays and can't seem to get back on track.  I will though.  I'm in this for life.

Darn it. I was afraid of that. lol

I guess since I've stopped gaining, it's only a matter of time before I start losing again.

Stinks though.

Ya I know your frustrations. I increased to 1500 calories and stopped losing. Still can't figure out why like you. So...I'm going back down to what worked before. That could be your magic number. I stayed at 1500 calories about two months and was yo-yoing so bad; so I'm going back to 1200 calories a day. The only problem is that it's hard to go back to that number but you get use to it eventually. Good luck to you. I don't think there are any easy answers, just do what works for you.

Good article. 

It is encouraging to know that you can't totally kill your metabolism permanently.  One important thing is that when you do weightlifting, even if it's low weight, high repetition, you will help build muscle (which often equals more weight gain, but lower percent body fat in time) and boost your metabolism too. 

I read today that it takes around 120 minutes after lifting weights for your metabolism to kick it up a notch.  Just something to think about.

I don't think that 1200 is a very realistic number for me now that I'm running and strength training. I think I'll ride out the adjustment on 1500-I have nothing but time, I'm not on a deadline or anything, I guess.

i have only been at this for about 3 weeks now and have been eating between 800 and 1,100 calories per day . i am not tired and have been working out also i have been eating healthy meals and am just not hungry. should i force myself to eat 1200 calories

radmm you and I have very similar eating habbits and i say force it. I literally have to stuff myself between 5-7:30 (i stop eating after that) because usually I only have around 600 calories by then

I eat a good breakfast,lunch,dinner and usually have 1-2 snacks throughout the day but it doesnt add up . Does this hurt my weight loss?

I'm in a simluar situation. I've lost over 60lbs and finally reached my end goal and I thought I was eating a healthy amount the whole time... turns out I was overestimating my calories (by a lot with some foods like chicken...) and exercising all the time. Now I've started to notice signs of stavation mode in myself. For the past few days I've been forcing myself to eat at least 1200 a day and it's so so very hard for me to do. I feel so full and I'm so scared of gaining back the weight I worked so hard to loose.

I'm going back to college next week and the first thing I'm going to do is go talk to the nutritionist on campus and get some advice on the best way to get my body back to normal and not gain the weight back at the same time. Maybe you could find someone who you can talk to too? I'll be sure to post what they tell me after I go either way. 

I think what really surprised me is that I bought into the 1000 calorie = starvation thing without realising that the number might be very different for some people. I did some calculating, and I was apparently eating below my BMR for the entire time.

My new plan is to eat above my BMR so my body doesn't think it has to store everything-the famine is over, so to speak-and continue to exercise regularly. My weight seems to have stabilized, so I think the worst of the regain is over.

Which also means I get to eat more-and how could that be a bad thing right? ^_^

I'm so lost ........and I am usually good with number concepts.  Apparently I have to re-learn and forget what is in my subconscious.  But it just isn't sinking in and I am soooo confused.  Help.

I haven't started exercising yet, so my calculated calorie intake (per cc) is 1200.  So, I have been eating between 1200 and 1350 (1350 is the number for a little more exercise).  It's working.  So, I am okay so far, but want to understand the big picture since I am in this for life.

I thought the point of exercise is to burn calories, so why eat more when you exercise?  I thought over weight people eat more and thinner people eat less, so why do I increase my calories when I loose weight? 

I'm not fight the concept, I just don't understand it and want to.  Can anyone help this click for me????  I"ll read the above article, and would love to hear from anyone who can help!

Paulaannnee --

Think of it as a budget.   Your body's earning a certain amount of calories each day.  If it's getting 1000 a day and worried it might get even less, it's going to buy store brands and put aside all the spare change it can in case it needs it.  If it gets enough to buy the good things and knows that income isn't going away, that spare change starts getting lost in the sofa, 'cause who needs it?

Okay, it's kind of a tortured analogy, but the fat is the spare change -- kept around in case the money/energy stops coming in and you have to scrounge it up for a loaf of bread/keeping the body running.

Give the body the right amount, and it doesn't pinch the pennies so hard.  Just don't give it so much it stashes the extra under the mattress in your thighs. ;)

ninjakoneko,

Okay, so if I eat too little the body stores fat because the body "worries" and if I eat too much the body stores fat because I don't need it.  Right?  Okay.  I get that.  Thanks! 

Now, how do I figure the "magic number" and why/when will it change, or does it change?  Thanks for your help, I want to do this right!

Wow I read these posts and said "That's me!"

I tried to go back to 1200 calories and I was so hungry I wound up binging. And when I was on 1200 calories for too long my hair started falling out. I don't think 1200 is enough especially if you exercise.

So I keep trying different things.

This week I started eating like a weight lifter. I mean I am literally eating 6 meals a day 200-250 cals per meal. And trying to balance out the macro nutrients in each meal. It's kind of a pain eating every 3 hours but I am hoping it will give me the boost I need.

The other thing I want to try is cycling my workouts so that on some days I have a larger deficit then others. For instance I want to do 3 days of 700-1000 calorie deficit and then two at 500. This way I won't be adjusting my food so much as my activity.

Has anyone else tried these things?

I've tried many things to try to get back into 'weight loss' mode. Unfortunately, the one thing I didn't try was riding out the small regain and continue to eat enough for my body to repair my metabolism.

I may also have underestimated my activity level. I take a 30 minute walk every day, do housework, and try to slip in another 20-30 minutes of home exercise on days I don't go to the gym. So I've probably been eating under my needs for a year now. Craptastic.

The one question I've never got an answer to, in the nearly a year I've been on C-C is this: should I have set myself at 'light activity' to reflect my day-to-day housework and such, and only log my extra exercise, or should I set myself at 'sedentary' and log my walking? I just don't have the discipline to log all my housework and childcare too.

I just log my extra exercise. Why not do a quick entry and see if a typical day of housework etc... equals a day of light activity? I think that might give you a better idea of what to do.