Weight Loss
Moderators: duke3522, devilish_patsy, topanga1485, nycgirl, spoiled_candy, cmillington, coach_k For those of us who are on unhealthily low-calorie diets...
I've noticed lately that quite a few people are describing their eating habits, and they are deliberately dipping WAY below the recommended 1200 calories/day (1500 for males, but most seem to be female) in order to accelorate their weight loss. I'm not talking about people who are eating 1100 under doctor's care, I'm talking about the people who are eating 500 calories a day so they can look like models. I thought I would post a little information that may help them make more informed decisions on their diet and lifestyle choices.
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I just thought you might be intereted in a little bit of information to help you on your diet.
Are you eating significantly fewer than 1200 calories/day so that you'll lose more weight? If 1200 makes the pounds melt away, 1000 or even 500 calories should work even better, right? Simple math. You probably feel good that you have the self-control to stick to that, too, right? I would. However, what matters isn't whether you stick to the diet or not, is it? It's whether the diet WORKS. You're in this for the end goal, are you not? Well, I can tell you, 500 calories per day will work for about a week and a half, two if you're lucky, and then it will backfire on your newly bony behind. Here's why.
When you get fewer than 1200 calories per day, 1500 if you are a man, your body is convinced that you are in the middle of a famine. Maybe you just wandered into a desert with no food, maybe you've been taken prisoner by people who only feed you applesauce--who knows? Your body can't tell, because its response in both situations would be the same, programmed in by years upon years of evolution. You're not getting enough calories to maintain your day-to-day functions. You're starving. Your body will try to take action to keep you alive as long as possible.
Its first priority is getting calories. If you're not getting them from external sources, it will turn inwards. The first thing it will do is start to burn fat--after all, that's the reason we HAVE fat. It's stored calories in case of a biological emergency such as this. Past a week and a half or so, though, it will stop burning fat, because it will stop seeing this as a short-term dry spell and start thinking in terms of long-term drought. Your body's ultimate goal is to keep you alive as long as possible. Therefore, it will start saving fat, predicting even more deprivation ahead and wanting to stockpile for it so that you don't die.
Welcome to "starvation mode."
Your body still needs those 1200 calories to live, and if it can't get them from food or fat, it's going to need to find them someplace else. Muscle is the obvious first choice, since you can lose a lot of muscle tone without actually dying. Your body has to burn more muscle than it would fat to get the same amount of calories, though, since fat is a more readily convertible energy source, so you'll lose muscle tone a lot quicker than you lost fat, and you'll soon start to get weak. This is why illnesses such as anorexia that cause serious caloric deprivation leave their sufferers with wasted, stringy muscle instead of healthy, strong bodies. After your body has used up all the muscle it can, it will turn to other sources of calories. It will attack your bones (which is why calorically deprived people often develop osteoporosis), hair, teeth, and, eventually, your internal organs. It will leave your fat stores to the last, though, because it's still saving them for when everything else has run out. It saves the fat to the last because it will get more efficient use out of it. Once your body has consumed most of its own tissues, it requires less energy to keep itself going, because there's less of it to maintain. Also, with weak muscles and brittle bones, you will move less, and therefore burn fewer calories. Therefore, your body will get more "mileage" out of fat when you're at the brink of starving to death, and so will save it to the very end so that it can keep you alive that little while longer.
Once you stop eating at those low, low rates, your body, overjoyed that the lean times (if you'll pardon the pun!) are over, will use proportionately fewer of the calories you consume to fuel itself and will instead store more of them as fat than it did before. This is because it is trying to guard itself against another famine, to make sure you stay alive. This means that even on normal calories, you'll be gaining more fat than you should, so you'll gain weight much more quickly than before. Before long, you'll have gained it all back, and it may seem like the only way to get rid of it will be to dip those calories too low again. The cycle can continue, getting worse and worse every time.
In contrast, if you eat over 1200 calories a day but still maintain a deficit of 500 or so (meaning you burn 500 more than you consume, but you're still consuming at least 1200), your body will think to itself, "well, I still have enough food to keep my basic systems operational, but not quite enough to do all the things I've been doing" and will start to burn fat to make up the difference. It will burn fat because you're not eating enough to cover all the calories you expend, so it needs to burn SOMETHING, and it will choose fat because, since you're not starving, it doesn't think you'll need the fat in the weeks to come. Best of all, once you've lost the fat you wanted, when you start eating enough calories to cover your daily expenditure, it won't panic and store it all as fat, because it knows that it hasn't been starving.
So starvation diets don't work. The only good thing about them is that you get to feel strong and in control because you're ignoring pain and difficulties and sticking to your plan regardless, which seems like something a strong person with a lot of willpower and self-control would do. Well, think about this. It's a lot easier just to count calories and keep yourself under a certain number than it is to accept the challenge of learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and it's certainly less glamourous and dramatic to eat wholesomely than it is to starve, but, as with most things in life, you take out what you put in. If you're willing to expend the effort to learn to eat healthily, you'll have far better long-term results (which WILL matter to you eventually, even if it's hard to picture now) as well as the satisfaction of knowing that you have the willpower, grit, and determination to do something REALLY hard and succeed at it. The choice is yours to make. It's your life and your body; do what you want.
--------------------------------------------- ------
I just thought you might be intereted in a little bit of information to help you on your diet.
Are you eating significantly fewer than 1200 calories/day so that you'll lose more weight? If 1200 makes the pounds melt away, 1000 or even 500 calories should work even better, right? Simple math. You probably feel good that you have the self-control to stick to that, too, right? I would. However, what matters isn't whether you stick to the diet or not, is it? It's whether the diet WORKS. You're in this for the end goal, are you not? Well, I can tell you, 500 calories per day will work for about a week and a half, two if you're lucky, and then it will backfire on your newly bony behind. Here's why.
When you get fewer than 1200 calories per day, 1500 if you are a man, your body is convinced that you are in the middle of a famine. Maybe you just wandered into a desert with no food, maybe you've been taken prisoner by people who only feed you applesauce--who knows? Your body can't tell, because its response in both situations would be the same, programmed in by years upon years of evolution. You're not getting enough calories to maintain your day-to-day functions. You're starving. Your body will try to take action to keep you alive as long as possible.
Its first priority is getting calories. If you're not getting them from external sources, it will turn inwards. The first thing it will do is start to burn fat--after all, that's the reason we HAVE fat. It's stored calories in case of a biological emergency such as this. Past a week and a half or so, though, it will stop burning fat, because it will stop seeing this as a short-term dry spell and start thinking in terms of long-term drought. Your body's ultimate goal is to keep you alive as long as possible. Therefore, it will start saving fat, predicting even more deprivation ahead and wanting to stockpile for it so that you don't die.
Welcome to "starvation mode."
Your body still needs those 1200 calories to live, and if it can't get them from food or fat, it's going to need to find them someplace else. Muscle is the obvious first choice, since you can lose a lot of muscle tone without actually dying. Your body has to burn more muscle than it would fat to get the same amount of calories, though, since fat is a more readily convertible energy source, so you'll lose muscle tone a lot quicker than you lost fat, and you'll soon start to get weak. This is why illnesses such as anorexia that cause serious caloric deprivation leave their sufferers with wasted, stringy muscle instead of healthy, strong bodies. After your body has used up all the muscle it can, it will turn to other sources of calories. It will attack your bones (which is why calorically deprived people often develop osteoporosis), hair, teeth, and, eventually, your internal organs. It will leave your fat stores to the last, though, because it's still saving them for when everything else has run out. It saves the fat to the last because it will get more efficient use out of it. Once your body has consumed most of its own tissues, it requires less energy to keep itself going, because there's less of it to maintain. Also, with weak muscles and brittle bones, you will move less, and therefore burn fewer calories. Therefore, your body will get more "mileage" out of fat when you're at the brink of starving to death, and so will save it to the very end so that it can keep you alive that little while longer.
Once you stop eating at those low, low rates, your body, overjoyed that the lean times (if you'll pardon the pun!) are over, will use proportionately fewer of the calories you consume to fuel itself and will instead store more of them as fat than it did before. This is because it is trying to guard itself against another famine, to make sure you stay alive. This means that even on normal calories, you'll be gaining more fat than you should, so you'll gain weight much more quickly than before. Before long, you'll have gained it all back, and it may seem like the only way to get rid of it will be to dip those calories too low again. The cycle can continue, getting worse and worse every time.
In contrast, if you eat over 1200 calories a day but still maintain a deficit of 500 or so (meaning you burn 500 more than you consume, but you're still consuming at least 1200), your body will think to itself, "well, I still have enough food to keep my basic systems operational, but not quite enough to do all the things I've been doing" and will start to burn fat to make up the difference. It will burn fat because you're not eating enough to cover all the calories you expend, so it needs to burn SOMETHING, and it will choose fat because, since you're not starving, it doesn't think you'll need the fat in the weeks to come. Best of all, once you've lost the fat you wanted, when you start eating enough calories to cover your daily expenditure, it won't panic and store it all as fat, because it knows that it hasn't been starving.
So starvation diets don't work. The only good thing about them is that you get to feel strong and in control because you're ignoring pain and difficulties and sticking to your plan regardless, which seems like something a strong person with a lot of willpower and self-control would do. Well, think about this. It's a lot easier just to count calories and keep yourself under a certain number than it is to accept the challenge of learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and it's certainly less glamourous and dramatic to eat wholesomely than it is to starve, but, as with most things in life, you take out what you put in. If you're willing to expend the effort to learn to eat healthily, you'll have far better long-term results (which WILL matter to you eventually, even if it's hard to picture now) as well as the satisfaction of knowing that you have the willpower, grit, and determination to do something REALLY hard and succeed at it. The choice is yours to make. It's your life and your body; do what you want.
Thanks for posting and sharing this. Good stuff!
I love this! A very clear, easy to comprehend synopsis of metabolism mechanics. Brava.
well said. couldnt have done it better
perfect. thanks for helping to get the truth out there. :)
great post...thanks for putting it here.
okay im off my 500 calories diet god im exercising and whatnot but im getting my stomach back a little -.-' but im doing sit ups and im running around at my local rec alot now
cosmo, honey-your body will store fat for a little while until it realises it isn't starving any more.
once it realises that, and you stick to no less than 1200 calories daily, you will lose weight. but you will lose it in a much healthier way.
once it realises that, and you stick to no less than 1200 calories daily, you will lose weight. but you will lose it in a much healthier way.
Thank you for posting this; the information was great, and it helped a lot. ^^
Oh please not everyone who starves themselves do it because they want to look like models.
I've read this a million times, not going to change anything.
I've read this a million times, not going to change anything.
yes, yes it's bad to eat under 1200 calories for ladies.
so I know it's not healthy, but I haven't been eating enough, I'm just too scared to stop because I don't want the 'starvation mode' slow metabolism gain-it-all-back thing to kick in. How do I transition into normal calories??
so I know it's not healthy, but I haven't been eating enough, I'm just too scared to stop because I don't want the 'starvation mode' slow metabolism gain-it-all-back thing to kick in. How do I transition into normal calories??
I'd start by talking to your doctor. Most of us are not professionals. Find a professional who can take you there and maybe get you some help on how to deal with your fears.
"I've read this a million times, not going to change anything. "
that may be true, seraph-but I would never knock someone for trying. :)
that may be true, seraph-but I would never knock someone for trying. :)
Well you are not me. :)
well you're in the wrong place if you're interested in starving yourself.
i've read literally hundreds of articles that express exactly what elmfaser is saying. and while it is undeniably true statement, it is not true for everyone. after talkin to my doctor about my specific body, i've learned that my body is so accostumed to less than the recommended amount ( i mean i been eating once a day for almost my 10 years) that simply breakin up those calories into different times of the day has helped me to start sheddind pounds. my problem was that i was eating 1 unhealthy meal (somethin like Mcdonalds. or pizza). now i eat somethin like:
1 plum & 1 serving of frosted shredded wheat w/ fat-free milk for breakfast = 250 cals
1 plum, 1 banana, & 1 granola bar for lunch = 285 cals
maybe a can of Cambell's gumbo w/ 1/2c steamed carrots =310
my whole day usually equals less than 1000 cals a day, but i'm never hungry. i drink a lot of water, i take a multi vitamin and i'm not too tired to workout.
i'm totally not saying that it's healthy for people to starve themselves and eat less their recommended intake, but it is possible to eat less than 1200 in a healthy, productive manner.
ps. i've been doin this for 1 month, i've lost 8 pounds, and still feel full of energy to run 1.5 miles at the end of my work day. 158lbs, 10lbs to go!
1 plum & 1 serving of frosted shredded wheat w/ fat-free milk for breakfast = 250 cals
1 plum, 1 banana, & 1 granola bar for lunch = 285 cals
maybe a can of Cambell's gumbo w/ 1/2c steamed carrots =310
my whole day usually equals less than 1000 cals a day, but i'm never hungry. i drink a lot of water, i take a multi vitamin and i'm not too tired to workout.
i'm totally not saying that it's healthy for people to starve themselves and eat less their recommended intake, but it is possible to eat less than 1200 in a healthy, productive manner.
ps. i've been doin this for 1 month, i've lost 8 pounds, and still feel full of energy to run 1.5 miles at the end of my work day. 158lbs, 10lbs to go!
Not interested in starving Alibuch.
Thanks for the great post!
Hey Seraph :)
I could be misreading, but I don't think alibuch was talking to you :)
I could be misreading, but I don't think alibuch was talking to you :)
I'm sorry If she wasn't. :)
The only thing that I don't quite understand about this is the..."Preciseness" of it all. A couple hundred calories too much under and WHAM! Starvation Mode! Wouldn't it be more about what you eat and now the exact Caloric intake?
Let's say "Person A" eats nothing all day, and then binges and grabs a Big Mac and a Diet Coke. For simplicity's sake: 800 Calories. Person A also doesn't excersize.
Person B constantly snacks throughout the day on Fruits, Lean Protien, Veggies, and Carbs but barely scrapes over 1000. Person B does stregth training to build muscle.
Now, I can easily see Person A sliding into a Starvation Mode in his/her body. Is Person B (which oddly happens to be myself) really going to go into that state?
Let's say "Person A" eats nothing all day, and then binges and grabs a Big Mac and a Diet Coke. For simplicity's sake: 800 Calories. Person A also doesn't excersize.
Person B constantly snacks throughout the day on Fruits, Lean Protien, Veggies, and Carbs but barely scrapes over 1000. Person B does stregth training to build muscle.
Now, I can easily see Person A sliding into a Starvation Mode in his/her body. Is Person B (which oddly happens to be myself) really going to go into that state?
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