Starvation Mode Rant

I am sorry I have to say this, and after reading a good amount of post, I want everyone to know: starvation mode is not the answer to everything!

I don't know if it's just me, but I have noticed a lot of useless comments about starvation mode and it seems to be a reply to every question. "Why aren't I losing weight----Oh your in starvation mode". "Why do I have irregular bowel movements---it's cause you are in starvation mode". And you know what else, people are always telling other people that they have eating disorders and are eating to little. Being helpful is one thing, but being disrespectful is another.

When I ask a question, I usually want an answer because I don't know the answer. I'm sick of hearing about starvation mode. If everyone was starving we would all be skinny!

I'm really conflicted on this topic because of personal experience. I once lost more than 70 lbs in about 90 days by restricting calorie intake and performing light exercise on a regular basis. At the time I was eating 2 small meals a day. I never once encountered any starvation mode, I just kept losing weight.

Amen sista! I totally agree with you and Im sick of seeing that everywhere also. And the lack of knowledge on that subject bugs me also! Anyone ever heard of fasting?!?! People do it for all sorts of reasons including religion, detoxing, and losing weight! You can fast for up to 10 days safely and NO your body doesnt go into starvation mode!

Starvation mode has become the boogy monster of dieting!

I agree. I know that I pick at things and miscalculate amounts, I don't weigh things... A lot of times when I have recorded 1400 calories it has probably been more like 1800 (+) I bet that a lot of the people who are 'eating 1400 calories a day and aren't hungry and aren't losing weight' do the same thing. All that can add up to a lot of calories. Another way to miscalculate the 'expenditure' is to trust the numbers on gym cardio equipment! It is usually way off!

We are going to get heck for these posts...

I'm actually considering starting each day with a calorie intake margin of error so to speak. I'm going to add a margin of error of at least 200 calories to assure that I don't miscalculate my calorie consumption. So, if I eat 1,400 calories in day, I'll add 200, to bring me up to 1,600, and so forth.

Lol ya we are going to get heck for these posts, I am just waiting for someone to go on a rampage and yell at us. But seriously all I am saying is we are freaking ourselves out over "starvation mode".

Original Post by mortalmonkey:

I'm actually considering starting each day with a calorie intake margin of error so to speak. I'm going to add a margin of error of at least 200 calories to assure that I don't miscalculate my calorie consumption. So, if I eat 1,400 calories in day, I'll add 200, to bring me up to 1,600, and so forth.

That's really smart!

For me, that would give me even more permission to cheat! I am such a cheater! I am the kind of person who spends my tax refund twice before I even file... :(

Its not as if people are giving that answer to be disrespectful, they're giving that answer because they believe it is the right one.  This message board is not full of doctors and nutritionists; its full of amateurs and everyday people.  I agree with you that "starvation mode" is a bit of a go-to answer, but people are just giving the best advice they can.  If you want better advice go to a better outlet like your doctor or a dietician.

MortalMonkey, doing that will surely leave you in starvation mode, which you'll have to beat BigMac to get out of. And trust me BigMac's one tough cookie to beat. I'm a big fan of God Mode, I believe thats IDDQD to enter.

On the subject, my profile has an interesting CC article about the truth of starvation 'mode'.

Ok. Failing to resist temptation here... I'm not eating dessert today, but I am responding to this post...

The Original Poster says that she is back on a Fruit Diet, after failing to stick to the same crash diet earlier.

I wish the OP the best of luck in her attempt to lose weight quickly with severe calorie restriction and an eating pattern that is not sustainable over the long haul.

On this site, many people are attempting to lose weight slowly by changing our eating patterns, and being more active, in ways we can sustain for the rest of our lives.

from an article I read...

 

Starvation mode is a state that the body supposedly enters when caloric intake is reduced to low levels. It is hypothesized that in this mode, the body becomes more efficient at absorbing calories from food and drink and begins burning lean tissue and muscle in order to conserve fat reserves.Thus, is often believed to be counterproductive to cut calories below a certain level if the goal is weight loss.

However, some health advisers, especially advocates of fasting, believe that the opposite is true – that the body responds to reduced caloric intake by cleansing itself of toxins and burning fat reserves first, and only consumes muscle and other tissues when those reserves are exhausted. More specifically, the body begins burning fat reserves after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen (sugar) reserves stored in the muscle and liver cells. It is even argued that the "starvation mode" theory helps promote the interests of the diet industry, which would not be able to sell as many products (e.g. Slim Fast, diet pills, etc. along with the panoply of "light" foods and beverages) if people lost weight simply by fasting. Escott-Stump S. K. Mahan opins that people who frequently fast may prime their bodies to abstain from food without burning lean tissue.

Sometimes it is questioned, If the body goes into starvation mode after only several hours' abstinence from food, then would we not go into this mode during sleep? Indeed, the body does show some symptoms similar to fasting during sleep.

Original Post by alevin:

Ok. Failing to resist temptation here... I'm not eating dessert today, but I am responding to this post...

The Original Poster says that she is back on a Fruit Diet, after failing to stick to the same crash diet earlier.

I wish the OP the best of luck in her attempt to lose weight quickly with severe calorie restriction and an eating pattern that is not sustainable over the long haul.

On this site, many people are attempting to lose weight slowly by changing our eating patterns, and being more active, in ways we can sustain for the rest of our lives.

 

I am not on the Fruit Diet, and I did it just to try it and I am still alive so 4 days of eating fruit did not kill me...I am in no way restricting myself of calories. I don't write in my journal everyday so you can't read something that's a few weeks old and come up with assumptions.  I am not encouraging eating disorders, I have never had one and probably never will.

shaikha- dont pay attention to what alevin said. There are plenty of people that go on a raw foods diet for life. They dont eat anything cooked. So that means mostly fruits, veggies and nuts.

Poeple that want to fast but cant abstain from food sometimes do an all fruit fast or an all veggie fast, it can work and does for a lot of people.

Dear alevin, I started this topic to talk about Starvation Mode and how people use it as an answer to virtually everything.

What I did not start this topic for is to discuss my eating habits, whether I am healthy or not has nothing to do with this.

You can not assume that I am unhealthy just because I feel that starvation mode is exaggerated on this site.

And this is exactly what I am talking about when I say people are quick to assume and hint at an eating disorder. I do not have one, and god forbid going on a fruit fast classifies me as an anorexic.

And people who argue against the existence of starvation mode may have a desire to advocate for their own personal practices of fasts and other extremely calorie-restricted diets.

Original Post by alevin:

And people who argue against the existence of starvation mode may have a desire to advocate for their own personal practices of fasts and other extremely calorie-restricted diets.

I am not arguing over the existence of starvation mode, I am merely stating that it is exaggerated. And again for the millionth time, I do not restrict myself of calories and how is it that you know what my daily caloric intake (you don't) for you to be able to come up with these assumptions?

Another poster on this thread is clearly using the argument against starvation mode to advocate for fasting.

Ok Alevin, I am just going to ignore you, thanks for you opinions take care

Cool. I'll return to ignoring a rant.

"Starvation mode" is typically raised as a concern when a poster says that s/he is eating less than 1200 calories per day and/or less than their BMR, and is not losing weight.

Folks on this thread can continue to advocate for fasting and other diet tactics that have people eating less than 1200 calories and/ or less then their BMR. 

Folks on this thread can also argue that if someone who is 5'10" 220, claims to be eating 1400 calories per day and not losing weight, then that person must be miscalculating, because eating lower calories will always result in more weight loss.

Have fun with those arguments.