Starvation mode leading to anorexia

So I know that sometimes when you don't eat enough, your body goes into starvation mode and weight loss stops. What about anorexics, though? They don't eat hardly anything, but their weight keeps dropping...  If you stay in starvation mode long enough, I guess the weight will start dropping off again? I'm basically just wanting to understand how the body works. My boyfriend will skip meals a couple days in a row if his weight has been higher than he likes in order to make the numbers go down. I tell him it's not healthy and that he'll plateau when his body goes into starvation mode. Then he brings up anorexics, and how their weight drops because of not eating much, and I don't have a good come-back for that. Any ideas?

The thing with many afflicted with anorexia is that they take it to the point where the body is living off its fat and muscle reserves as a last hope for survival. Basically, their body is on its last limb before it starves. The body can't live off itself for forever-- if its metabolism isn't sustained, it's not going to sustain itself. Does that sound healthy to him?

The key is understanding the difference between metabolic slow down from undereating (starvation mode) and actual starvation.

Starving people are also in 'starvation mode'.... i.e. their metabolism has slowed down and they're burning energy a lot slower than the rest of us.  Someone that needs 2000 cals a day forced to exist on 500 cals a day should, technically, lose 3lbs a week, every week.   But if that was the case, a 100lb woman wouldn't last a month.

I wouldn't bother telling your boyfriend what he's doing is stupid any more.   He obviously 'knows best'.  I'd leave him to it.  :-)

I used to wonder about that too.. I mean, if there was such a thing as starvation mode then why the hungry people in Africa still so thin!?

But usually anorexics only gain weight when they start binging. Since their metabolism's are already super slow, they will end up gaining weight faster than a "normal" person

 

Anorexics do not binge-that is what you would call a bulimic-

Anorexics will usually eat only 300-500 calories a day and will work out for hours at a time-yes hours at a time...so the body has no choice but to "feed off of it self"-usually getting to the point of feeding off of the muscle...the reason why anoreexics die is from heart failure-too much stress on the body and no nutrients.. 

Bulimics are usually overweight and binge and purge-they usually don't exercise so they stay at the same weight...

A person can go into starvation mode-and you will halt weight loss because your body thinks it's going into a survival stage...however, the body is smart because it remembers that "yes I will eat again" So not much damage happens  ..

I don't think   JPeterson's boyfriend will become an anorexic as it is a psychological disease..

P.S. Yes I have a B.S. an Applied Psychology and I took two classes on eating disorders.. too bad it din't help me on how not to gain weight..

at first when the body is rich in nutrients from muscle, fat, organs, and bones and calorie reduction is so low the body will lose weight because it is starting to feed off of itself, there for the weight drops. but the problem is a human being cannot live off of such little amounts of calories and your body will try find a way to get what it wants. the person will constantly be thinking of food and being tempted. and if they do end up eating more than they are used to it won't be burned it will be store as fat. when a person reduces calories to lets say 500 calories and become used to it, if they eat 700 calories, the surplus will be stored as fat. It's just the same as someone who eats 1,200 calories usually and they eat 1,500 calories, the extra is stored as fat. So yes they lose weight but if they were to ever eat like normal again and not die... they would gain quite a bit of weight.