Starvation mode

I lost 24 pounds in 27 days.  After tracking my calorie intake for the past 9 days, I have come to see I am only taking in about 600-700 per day.  I am eating 3 meals plus snacks.  I went over 1000 twice and I felt very ashamed of myself.  I mentally find it very hard to increase my calories even with reading about "starvation mode".  How do you know if your going into starvation mode and what can you do to come out of it without gaining weight?  I almost feel obssesed with watching calories and eating as few as possible.  I weight myself 2-3 times a day and if I see it climb up, I cut back even more.

W1derful....I want to advise extreme caution with this.....you shouldn't be consuming any LESS then 1200 calories a day....if you do, things can get very dangerous. You do go into "starvation mode", and it also sounds as if you're beginning to get obsessive over the food you do eat....which I know from experience can turn into something much worse.

I'm recovering from a bad eating disorder, and it started out almost exactly like that....don't weigh yourself so often, and budget your calorie intake--make sure most of your calorie intake is healthy and low-fat or fat-free, like fruits and vegetables and low-fat complex carbs. If you're really worried, space it out throughout the day--eat a few calories here, and then go out for a walk afterward.

Just make sure you don't sink into an eating disorder...it's a scary and disparaging thing, and it was getting on the verge of really messing my life up....good luck, and I know you'll fair better then me.

like you i am obssed with calories I think today it was only 300. And I cant bring myself to eat anymore. I have children so I end up either cooking 2 different meals or just eatting a salad. I dont have a scale but I do go to a docter once a week where i am weighted. But if I did I probally would be on it too. This stravation mode... what is that? I ony have 11lbs  to go till my goal its 105, when I say that people say I am crazy but I am 5 ft and maybe 1 in and that is a good weight for me. what about you?

feliciamohammed (especially) and w1derfulmom,

I can't believe you eat so little. How can you have any energy to do things during the day if you don't absorbe any food? I agree with allyc2007, it is very dangereous. You don't want to end up in the hospital due to starvation and leave your children behind...

There are a few threads about starvation mode.You can find them easily with the search tool.

I wish you good luck and please be careful

C-

w1derfulmom and feliciamohammed, please seek help.  You both seem to have the beginnings of an eating disorder, and from what you've described, you don't feel like you have very much control anymore.  Ask your doctor about it, or even do some research (www.healthyplace.com is a great resource for various psychological disorders) on your own.  We here can provide you with support, but perhaps not enough that you need.  I say all of this out of complete support and compassion.  Please, please, talk to someone about your eating habits and try to eat as healthily as possible. 

::hugs::

oh my -- i want to cry for both of you -- you need to be healthy - especially for your children -- what good are you to them if you don't have the energy or the health to play and be with them.  You are starving yourself.  They will learn from your actions and believe me -- I am a teacher --  the kids whose parents constantly worry like this end up having the eating disorders themselves.

I do not feel as if I have a eating disorder, every girl worries about there weight. I appericate your concern. But as I said I do see a dietian docter once a week, I am on such a low calorie diet to get rid of the weight, once i reach my goal i will maintean by eating a little more, But if there were concern then Im sure he would have said something. I have allways been small but have had to work on it. My mother is overweight and some of my brothers and sisters to, I had my third child 3 years ago and have been strugling to get back the weight I was. With the other two before the weight did not come off easiey but withen a year or two I was back to the way I wanted to be. Again thank you for your concern...

yes its great that you are losing weight!!...HOWEVER, at that low of numbers you are slowing your metabolism down big time. so once you get to your goal weight and if you try and eat a meal, you will gain weight because your meal will then have the same number of calories that you used to eat in a single day. at this rate, you will hit your goal quickly, but then continue to lose weight, making you boney gross thin and no longer attractive. after you get to that point, you will find it really hard to gain weight to look healthy again. since you are so obsessed with the scale and the numbers, that i fear you wont be able to fix it until you have reached your ideal weight and wont want to fix it until you are underweight. i would suggest increasing your diet by a 100 cals a day at first. that is one extra fruit a day. but for once, i agree with others, get some medical help. this is a mental problem, just like eatting while overweight has its mental problems too. best of luck to you

My 300 calories was just today my nomoral day is

monoring- 1 bannana or med apple

afternoon- more fruit or slice turkey

dinner- chicken breast and salad/ or grilled fish /lean steak/ corn

the only thing that I need to work on is trying to eat more veggies.. I do not like them. but i do cook them everynight for my children who may i add eat very health. I think you all misunderstud me I am just tired of looking at all my clothes that are just hanning in my closet. I work out 5 times a week and have have tremendous engery.

Please be careful...That's all I have to say...

Wow,  The two of you are eating so little. Don't you worry about your organs at all. Well, I am not one to preach.. But girls the both of you need to eat. I am afraid if you do eat.. ALL  that you have lost.. Man oh Man. If you every go back to eating once you lose all that weight. It is going to slap back on your ass like quick sand.. QUICK. Not only QUICK but heavy.. I mean really.. Why don't you all eat right to lose the weight?

The Starvation mode don't break down your fat. It goes for the best part of you.. Your muscles and your bones.. I mean really. The organs are muscles anyway. When you mess with your body like that. You are going to break down the part of your body that you need. I mean really..Eating that less really scares the S**t out of me.. That is really something.. 600-700 or 300 to nothing. I know you didn't say that.. But that 300 is 10 more calories than my morning breakfast, and that is all you had.. WOW! I can't bring myself to even try to miss a meal. I am not a breakfast person.. But i force it down, because i readied missing a meal helps you to gain weight as well..  U BOTH NEED HELP... REALLY!

Well, I done said my peace.. Maybe a little to much. But i think you both sould just eat right to lose your weight.. I wish you the best of luck.. LYnn

Felicia, What kind of pills are you on. You have to be on something.. Because of you are working out like that.. You have to be on something. AT 7 i have to kick my ass out of bed and go to the track to walk. I mean really.. What drugs are you on? If you got it like that with the endless energy.

Just pointing out again, if fat loss is your goal, the human body can't lose more than 3 lbs of fat a week. Anything more than that and you are losing, muscle, bone, tissue and water. You will end up with osteoporosis later in life. Also you are starving your brain and studies have shown that restricting that much will actually lower your IQ (in other words it can actually make you stupid O.o). Plus it causes depression and can lead to obsessive compulsive disorders and distorted body images. So yeah, I'd seek help before you do irreversable damage to your body. I seriously doubt you'd want to pass out in the car while driving around with your kids.

phendimetrazine 35mg 2 at 8am and 2 at 3pm also ditex w/chromium.1

Hi. Just thought I'd point out that Phendimetrazine is an anorectic drug (stimulates central nervous system) and is closely related to amphetamines. That taken with Ditex, also an appetite suppressant is very hazardous. You really should not be taking TWO appetite suppressing pills at the same time.

You have lots of energy because of these drugs. They push y our body to do what it normally cannot do without them. Once you are off these drugs, your body will basically flip out.

Also, Phendimetrazine is also one of the few highly addictive diet pills on the market.

Please be careful.

felicia drop the pills and educate yourself on how to eat....

Try this... dont do the pills for one week, see how much and how fast it comes back. There is no miracle to weightloss. Its hard damn work. If you want it to last, you better do it the right way or your just wasting your time, its all comin back. Unless you live on the pills, and that will kill you.

My doctor has me on (1 1/2 pills) of phentermine 37.5mg per day and my dietician put me on a 1000-1200 cal/day diet.  When I first started I was not counting calories but going by how many servings and quantity of each food group my dietician directed me to eat.  Then when I started counting calories of what I was eating by her plan is when I realized how few I was eating.  I never started this with the intention of only eating 600-700 calories a day.  Maybe it is a good thing I started counting because if I didn't I would have no idea.  Seeing those low numbers did obsess me with wanting to stay with those numbers and the first time I hit 1000 I wanted to puke.  However, the past 3 days I have hit my 1000-1200 range but now I don't see the results like I was and it is very depressing.  I'm sticking to it though.  I am fluctuating lose 1 lb one day and gain 1/2 pound the next and then lose a pound again etc.  I am not seeing the 1 - 2.5lb loss every day anymore.  It is hard to deal with a slow loss as I am a very impatient person.  I am the type that when I want something I want it now.  It is going to be a lot of discipline to eat what I should but I am trying my best now.  Even though today is one of those days I would just love to drop it down to see something move on that damn scale.      

By the way, another reason I ended up eating so little is that I was eating those frozen lean cuisine meals for lunch and dinner and cereal and fruit for breakfast.  Once again, did not realize how few calories I was taking in until I started counting and doing research on it.

w1derful, congratulations on making the hard choice.  It's erally hard to go over 1,000 sometimes.  I just had to step up by 200 calories and I'm having an incredibly hard time doing it, but I know that in the end my body will thank me by not developing osteoporosis or digesting its own organs.  It's really hard to weigh those "probable" evils that will maybe show up eventually against the tangible feeling of success starvation can bring, especially when the scale stops moving. 

Just remember that you starved your body for long enough that it is trying desperately to store something in case you do that to it again.  Once your bod figures out that it is NOT dying (scary thought, but try giving it a 1300-1500 day once a week to fool it into thinking it's going to get that all the time) it will stop storing everything you eat.

Again, good job, and good luck! We'll be here for you if you get discouraged.

Speaking as the person who was on the edge of letting an eating disorder take over her life, I have to be blunt and ask this question:  do you want to be remembered as the skinny, thin individual who never allowed themselves to enjoy a night out with their friends at a restaurant...or would you rather be (dread the thought) at a normal weight, but at least able to enjoy your life?!?  I was able to do the extreme diet thing for about 3 years before I realized I wasn't having any fun!  I watched friends all around me eat whatever they wanted, and granted, no one had a model's figure or could wear a size 0, but they were HAVING FUN...enjoying life.  I sat back, swore off sweets, junk food, alcohol...and then even went so far as to only eating a salad at night.  I exercised like a fiend, pretty much every day, just so I could get down to a size 0.  Sure, it was great feeling like I had lost all of that weight, but it was extremely unhealthy.  I stopped having periods for a while, and I really could have been throwing my life into physical danger.  

Now, 4 years after I initially started dieting, I have a much better understanding of the bigger picture.  Life isn't about sizes, pounds, or if you can fit into those tight leather pants worn by models on magazine covers across the world...it's about enjoying your life...who you are and who you have around you...in your case, your children and family.  I'm not saying dieting and exercise is a bad thing...just please don't obsess over it.  Yes, it's always nice to feel thin and in shape, but if missing a morning workout or eating an ice cream cone sends you into a depression, there's something wrong.  You need to find a balance and give yourself a little credit for who you are deep down inside.  I went from exercising every day...gym 4 days a week, tae bo three days a week, and yoga every day...to now just power walking, tae bo and yoga...nothing on the weekends...and I'm not denying myself any food.  I eat intuitively...I listen to my stomach and try not to eat mindlessly...if I'm hungry, I'll eat...and if I'm hungry enough to eat that piece of cheesecake, I will.  But I can't allow myself to fret about the number of calories in every bite.  Exercise and moderation really are the two things in life that will help you KEEP the weight off...dieting alone will only provide temporary weight loss until you start eating normally again.

Let me put it this way:  in 10 years, will you be wishing you could go back and enjoy all of the moments tainted with calorie watching and nutritional fears?  Don't let food/weight control your life..enjoy it! 

I think katopong said it all.

Obsessions are not healthy, especially when they are centered around food, calories and weight. I've been over to the dark side and it's not a fun place to be. This is why I can no longer keep a scale in my apartment. I'm glad that you've noticed that you are consuming to little; now it's just a matter of taking action. Best of luck in your journey! Be healthy! :D

On another note, I'm wondering how these doctors get off telling patients that eating too little is ok, or simply not educating people on proper food intake AND prescribing them uppers to help lose weight. Are they serious? I think that's the most infuriating aspect of all.