[suechef]

I often hear people talking about how you have to make sure you're getting ENOUGH calories, so your body doesn't slow things down so you don't starve. Fair enough, makes sense to me, but I am interested in reading more about this subject - scientific studies that have been done, etc. Can anyone here point me in the right direction?

tia,
Sue

[Suzanne 3FC]

It takes a very long time to search through the records and find them, but you should be able to find published studies online via JAMA, Medline, or similar source.

Recommendations by dietitians, nutritionists, and physicians making this statement can be found much more quickly, if you are looking for a reputable source for validation.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/2/1700_51644.htm
Dr. Dean Ornish

Member: I read that diets too low in fat cause your body to go into "starvation" mode and store fat, is this true?

Ornish: When you reduce intake of calories by eating less food, your body thinks you are starving and your metabolism may decrease. For the past 100,000 years or so the major problem has been getting enough calories. Our bodies have evolved dealing with starvation and famine by burning calories more slowly during those times. As a result, if you just reduce the amount of food in your diet by eating one-third less, you will lose weight at first, but your metabolism slows by one-third, since your body thinks you are starving. Your body then will not lose weight.

[suechef]

Thanks for your response. I think I had too much of a calories in/out deficit, since I am doing just about double my usual exercise, so I am slowly upping the calories I'm getting smaller all the time, but not lighter!
cheers,
Sue

[Ilene]

suechef -- It IS ok to get smaller and not have the scale move... I'd much rather see my clothing size go down and my hips go down in inches than see the scale move...

[ameliaamy]

not exactly what you're looking for, but on a similar note: yo-yo dieting does not appear to lower metabolism:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/health/17real.html?

[slimmingsi]

hi do you live near a college or uni? if so you should be able to get access to their library if only on a non removal access. look for books by wilmore and costil and mcardle katch and katch. these are sports science books but are predominantly to do with physiology they cover things like enery system and various interesting stuff to do with exercise and they are suprisingly easy to read.