Starvation Mode... how to escape?

Ok, I think I'm in starvation mode, again!!  I was doing fine with not eating alot of calories and I still feel just fine, I am very active and I only get about 500-800 calories in on a average day, but I am getting along just fine, by not feeling like i'm starving or anything like that.

But as the week went on I noticed that my tone has decreased, and that is making me angry because I really want to be toned and have a low body fat %.  The scale has come to a stand still, and I'm debating on wheather or not I'm in starvation mode, and a little worried about uping my calories, because I don't want the scale to go up, but if I up the calories do you think my tone will come back and my weight will decrease? What is the cause of this change any way? I mean everything was fine at first?!! How long will it take to get it back the way it was??

Everything was fine at first, because it takes time for your body to realize that you are not providing it enough nutrients. It is possible that it will take 2-3 weeks for your body to recover from starvation mode. Even more time, depending on the amount of damage you have done. Just because you do not feel like you are starving, doesn't mean that you are not starving your body. Your tone is going to decrease because your body is trying to survive, it is going to eat away at your muscles and organs, anything to keep itself alive.

You need to take in at least 1200 calories per day. You need to provide your body with nutrients. Aim for a ratio of 40-50% Carbs, 25-35% protein, 20-30% fat. Under 2500 mg of sodium and over 25 grams of fiber. This information can be found once you enter information into your Food Log and using the Analysis tool from the top menu. Also drink lots of water. The recommendation is 8 eight oz glass. I personally drink twice that, for 1 gallon of water per day, totaling 128 oz.

You need to provide your body with wholesome foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and not refined sugars and fillers. I use the following website when planning my grocery shopping, it is a list of The World's Healthiest Foods:

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

yup, what she said.  here's another fun fact- the LAST thing your body will get rid of at your intake level is FAT! you will lose all your tone, b/c muscle takes more calories to maintain than fat, so your body will dump all of that "expensive" stuff (muscles, bone marrow, major organs can atrophy without you knowing it, think how long cancer can incubate before you would ever feel "bad" for an example, starving doesn't give you cancer, but it's the same sort of thing, internal damage is REALLY hard to detect till you're all screwed up).

How to get out of starvation mode?  um, eat.  Sorry to sound flip, I know I've struggled with my own eating, but that's the only way to do it.  And if you're active, to get your tone back you'll need more like 1300-1500 cals to build back your muscle.

ok, what you were saygin about fat gogin last/ other stuff.... well I usaed to be anorexic. I exercized alto and ate leik the person above was eating. the only medicval probelm I have now is that my shins are crap, as in I get stress fractures alot (I didnt' haev any calcium for a logn time). but, so you think I was takign stuff away form my organs any way, and that I jsut recovered soon enough to not have the damage be perminent? cause liek at my lightest, I relaly had hardley any fat, i was 110 and I'm 5'8. dont' worry I wiegh alot more now, but jsut curious, do you think the exercize made me burn the fat, or do you think I did do inside damge, and that the fat came off after the inner stuff was shot?
-barb

BarbaraAllen, I think that is a good question for your doctor. None of us here are professionals, and we could never possible give you an realistic opinion without knowing your history or without more data that could only be obtained through examination by a physican. It's very possible that you have done significant damage to your body that will remain with you for the rest of your life. If you are concerned about it, you should make an appointment with your doctor to discuss your unique and individual situation. They can look at your history, give you and examination, then be able to answer your questions regarding how it might have effected your body.

I'll add that if you get stress fractures a lot, you may be in early stages of osteoporosis (or more advanced).

I'm Not eating unhealthy, I'm an vegetarian.  I notice that during the day my calories are really low like around 100-250 calories, and at dinner time I eat around 300-400 calories.  At the end of the day I might end up with like 600-700 calories, sometimes more sometimes less. My main diet consist of fish, beans, vegetables, and La Choy noodles, (love asian food!!). 

I'm rethinking my eating plans, and thinking of increasing to about 1200 cals a day or somewhere around that, but I'm having trouble trying to decide how I'm going to cycle that. I was thinking maybe 200-250 for breakfast, another 200-250 for lunch, and another 250-300 for dinner. Will this work?  I really want my tone back,  I lift weights tue, wed, thurs, I take a cheat day on Fri. (Asian Rest)

5'5, 155-157, athletic,  - main goal to build tone, and decrease body fat. 

Suggestions Please!!

use the tools here on calorie count and find out how much you need to eat to eat.  Most everyone agrees that you should never eat less than 1300 calories a day.  Anything less will put your body into starvation mode and it will hang on to those fat cells.  I know this goes against everything that you have heard but it seems to be true.  If you are exercising you need to feed you body. 

Go through all the tools and peruse the past posts of CoachDee.  Good luck

gamer, unless you're a vegan, it should be trivial to cycle that many calories in a given day.

For example: my wife makes these great oat bran muffins, sweetened with bananas and raisins. Two small muffins is ~350 calories right there, and between that and a "demi-breva" (latté made with half half-and-half and half whole milk -> ~200 calories), that's over 500 calories for breakfast, and it is filling enough to hold me until lunch.

Heck, a typical cereal bowl, filled to the top, and then enough skim milk added to get almost up to the rim of the bowl, gives you almost 400 calories (check the serving size on the box: 1 cup of dried cereal with 1/2 cup of milk is *not* a lot--it won't fill your bowl by a long shot).

Add some nuts to your diet, unless you're allergic. If you're into lifting weights, you need lots of protein--easily 1.5-2g of protein per kg of body mass, per day. You also need enough carbs to fuel your exercise. Whole grains will get you there.

Add some flax seed meal to your recipes, too--there's lots of goodness there, and it can partly substitute for shortening.

If you're an active person, you can afford to eat, and eat well, and yet still be under your target calories for the day. *DO* it! :-)

Wait a minute--you say you're a vegetarian, yet you eat fish? How does that work?

Also, i believe Gamer is a guy? Your cals should be at a minumum of 1500.

Based off of your other posts Gamer, you should really get to the doctor to let them check you out and explain your situation; the gas and bloating problem you are describing sounds like you are producing extra gas because your body is breaking itself down and retaining fluids which happens when your body consistently doesn't receive the proper nutrition and food intake.

 Some things that will happen to you is your organs becoming smaller and I would imagine lately your work outs are becoming harder than before; my friend got to the point of passing out during work outs. It's a pattern that takes some people years and others months, either way it must be corrected if your are planning on living a full healthy life. It took my friend 3 years before her body gave out albeit it was a combination of several things; but everything is related. Oh and your immune system goes into a low functioning mode as well opening you up to more serious colds and other sickness.

Ive been hesitant to post on these types of issues because it really hits home for me; I had a close friend who died mostly due to not eating; your body can only take so much.

Heres a link on starvation and some tips on how to avoid it! This is very cursorary, I highly recommend speaking with your doctor before it's too late; some of the damage you have done will come back to you later in life!

http://www.edietsuk.co.uk/b2b/msn/archive.cfm ?article_id=1699

Hey gamer, since you're Vegetarian, let me suggest some books for you...

Right now, the gf and I have two Moosewood Cookbooks: Moosewood Lo-Fat Favorites and Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

Both of those cookbooks offer entierly vegetarian dishes... at least 600 between the two of them: Soups, Salads, Meals, Breakfast, all of it!

The honest answer is, you're going to need to eat more, gamer. At LEAST 1500, but probably more if you're very active.

I'd try to slowly try to ramp up your calories. Maybe try to add an extra 50 today... and then once you can do an extra 50, try for 100, and then for 150.

I also suggest going to see a doctor. You might have caught this before it got bad, but... I'd really just go get a check up.

Good luck!

Hi,

I took everyones advice and tried to eat more.  Friday I had my cheat day and went out to a chinese Rest. . But yeasterday, I felt guilty about eating so much friday that I didn't get very much cals in for yeasterday. 

I feel that I can eat up to or more than 1500 cals a day, but it's just the guilt I feel when eating that much.  It's a hard process but, I'm getting there and I'm gonna make it work.  Thanks for all the advice, and I will keep all of you updated.  THANKS!!!

You can afford to add some fat and carbs to each meal.  A piece of buttered bread with your meal, a baked potato with sour cream, a tablespoon of olive oil brushed on that fish and some brown rice with it.  If you add just 200 calories to each meal it would be a start.  If you add 3 pieces of fruit, that should do it.

Hey Gamer, I know, especially as a guy, there's alot of stigma about us going to see counselours and all that, but have you considered talking to a professional?

I have a thought. Would you be willing to find and consult with a nutritionist about how to slowly work from where you are to where you should be to lose weight properly? It's not a shrink, just a sort of doctor. Would you consider that?

Yes, I would be willing to work with a nutritionist about working with my diet.  I would like to know the best ways to reduce my body fat and still be healthy, with sports.

This is my first time on this website and I have just read through some of your comments. I am an athlete because I enjoy it and because I am always trying to lose those last 5 lbs that I can't seem to lose. I got so obsessed with losing it that I was working out more than 3 hrs a day and still not losing it. I eventually crashed, my cortisol levels (stress hormone) when through the roof, I was constantly fatigued, among many other problems. I am now seeking counseling for an eating disorder-not eating enough and working out too much. I would like to give some advice to some of you. It never hurts to talk with a psychologist or to a see a dietitian. There is more involve in losing weight than just cutting your calories. You must do it properly. If you are not eating enough, you are only doing yourself harm (some irreversible). I highly recommend you eat more calories (around 2000) and exercise. You will feel mentally and physically better by losing weight the proper way. I know it is easier said than done, from my own personal experience. That is why I recommend seeing counseling to help you see the big picture. Eating disorders lead to lack of self-esteem, depression, and other issues. (I would also like to mention that I am a biochemist and I know a bit about metabolism.)

-If you eat less than 1200 calories, your body is in starvation mode (that doesn?t include calories for exercising). Your body will store any energy it gets (into fat) in order to survive. Therefore, your body is breaking down muscle for energy. FYI-The more muscle you have the more calories you burn. Men honestly don't like women too skinny. They find women with muscle tone beautiful.

-Make sure you are taking your vitamins. I'm sure most of you are on a low-fat diet. Make sure you get your Omega-3 (polyunsaturated fatty acids)! Your body can't make polyunsaturated fats and are essential! It is a proven fact that Omega-3 helps you lose weight. I recommended taking flax seed pills 3X/day. Omega-3 produces the good eicosanoids (hormone-like chemicals) that reduce inflammation, depression (mental health), fatigue, and so on. Diets rich in fruits and vegetable (usually low in calories, but high in nutrition value) are your best bet if you have a low-calorie diet. Eat complex carbohydrates (whole grains) rather than simple carbs, because simple carbs raise your blood sugar level (glycemic index) as make you crave more carbs.

gamer, so long as you are keeping a calorie deficit of 500-700 calories per day, you will eventually lose the weight you want to lose. With that in mind, it does not matter what your total calories consumed is, so long as it is at least 1200 and you have that deficit.

Some days, when I've done a lot of bicycling, I will eat more than 3,000 calories, and I will still have a deficit of greater than 700 calories. I don't worry about it at all--eating what I want is my reward for having gone out and done the exercise (of course there are limits--too much exercise leads to overuse injuries). On days that I don't ride much, if at all, I just trim back the intake to maintain the target deficit.

Focus on the deficit, not on a target total number of calories for the day.

I haven't weighed in here because I have never gotten into the starvation mode.  However, I agree that the physiology is such that your body jealousely gaurds your weight.  If you drop your intake too low, then you body starts to conserve.  First, by dropping your BMR (basal metabolic rate), then by choose protein (muscle) over fat as it's initial "emergency fuel" source.  It is simple to change amino acid (from protein breakdown) into a simple sugar (it takes two enzymatic reactions-- compared to 10 to 20 reactions it takes to denegrade a fat molecule to drop into the Kreb's cycle).  Therefore, it is imperative not to get into starvation physiology, unless you are really starving.  It is better to gradually lower your calorie intake while exercising so that you body can gradually tap into you fat stores.  You didn't get heavy overnight...and you can't expect to be light overnight either.

Gamer...

I would really encourage you to see a doctor.

As you note, 500-800 calories per day is starvation mode. But the greater concern is that you are able to maintain such a low intake of calories without a problem.  <500 calories per day is almost certainly anorexic behavior. If you feel fine doing it, you should probably get some professional medical advice as to why.

good luck.

I second what sciguy said. That's some very sound advise.