[fikustrees]

I have heard so much about making sure that you are eating enough calories to not go into "starvation mode" and I am worried this is going on with me. I exercise for and hour 6 days a week and eat between 1000-1500 calories a day. Sometimes a little less. I have been working really hard at diet and exercise for just over two months and I haven't seen many results. Can anyone help me!

[MrsJim]

We had a really interesting discussion regarding the "Starvation Mode" theory at the Support Forum recently - here's the link:

So what am I doing wrong?

[fikustrees]

Thanks for turning me on to this thread. Let me add a little bit more about my workouts and eating so that might help. Before I started 2 months ago I ate mostly at restraunts, drank a lot of soda, ate about a pint of Ben & Jerry's a week, etc.

Since I started working out 6 days a week, a mix of strength training and cardio with one day of pilaties and yoga I have started eating 100 percent better. I use fitday and sometimes i notice that I go down into the 800-900 range of calories, but I figure that it all works out because some days I eat a little more, never more than 1500.

I eat non fat yogurt or Kashi cereal for breakfast with half a bananna.

A small spinich and tomato salad with a tablespoon of homeade salad dressing or leftovers from dinner.

non fat cottage cheese or yogurt for snack

Dinner is usually a small chicken breast (baked) or a tofu-vegetable stir fry. Sometimes a bean salad or chili.

I snack on olives (1 or two a day) and yogurt covered almonds (1 or 2 a day)

I don't eat any convienance foods or anything that I don't make myself.

So I really don't think that I have been overeating at all. And I workout hard. As hard as I can, maybe I should add another 30 min of cardio? I read somewhere that you shouldn't workout for much more than an hour.

[Meldiggety]

I agree with the fact that we aren't starving ourselves by eating 1500 calories per day. However, I do know that if you go from eating 3000 calories per day to 1200 calories per day, your metabolism will slow down significantly and it will take your body longer to lose weight. It is advised by nutritionists/dieticians to slowly drop your caloric intake and also to fluctuate your calories by 200 -300 calories every 3 days so that your metabolism stays at a high functioning rate. They also recommend you do not eat 500 calories below your caloric maintenance level. If you are in the high 100's (lbs) and above, your body can afford to eat more calories while still losing weight. This is implemented in WW - the more overweight you are, the more calories (points) you are allowed while still losing weight. As you lose weight, of course your body doesn't need as many calories to sustain itself.

You are never suppose to go below 1200 calories per day - your body needs those calories just to live and sustain itself. Your body burns that each day without exercise - just from functioning.

There are many women who have posted that they were eating 1200 calories per day and were experiencing a plateau - they got advice to eat a few hundred more calories and then they later post that it took them out of their "slump" and they were able to lose again.

Everyone's body is different and burns calories at a different rate - each person should do what works for them.

IMHO
Melanie

[fikustrees]

thanks Melanie for your help!

[Meldiggety]

Not a problem at all - it would be interesting to see what would happen with your weight if you experimented a bit and added a few hundred calories to your daily intake (never going under 1200 per day).

I wish you the very best!

Blessings,
Melanie

[MrsJim]

Great summation, Melanie.

I've been reading up some on WLS patients - people who have weight loss surgery (Jiffypop could probably pop in here with some better info). For the first year or so after surgery, their average daily caloric intake generally averages less than 1,000 calories - and they still lose weight (as long as they stick to their plan - it IS possible to out-eat the surgery, from what I've seen and read).

And of course for 12 weeks in 1990, I was on a 800 calorie a day liquid fast, and lost pretty rapidly - but I do remember the first week of the fast I lost something like 8 lbs on the scale (mostly water of course!) and the second week less than 2 lbs, even though I didn't cheat or anything.

Many WLS patients, right after surgery, plateau and don't lose weight for a few weeks.

I wouldn't call either instance a case of "starvation mode" - I'd call that a plateau or body adjustment.

I'm sure there are studies of concentration-camp survivors - many of whom lived on FAR less than 1000 calories a day (from what I've heard, probably less than 500 calories a day) while being forced to do hard labor AND having to survive extremes of hot and cold weather, with very little clothing to protect them. THAT is what I would call starvation mode.

Come to think of it, I've recently read about studies being done that show that reduction of calories (what we would probably consider a SEVERE reduction of calories) might actually increase one's lifespan! (I read about it in Time magazine a few months ago...will have to dig that one up).

IMO - the "Starvation mode" theory is JUST a theory.

However, there is a lot to be said for zig-zagging your caloric intake - instead of eating the same amount of calories day after day. Zig-zagging calories might help you break the plateau, if you're on one - there are a lot of plans that implement zig-zag, including Burn the Fat Feed The Muscle.

[fikustrees]

I think you are probably right about the zigzagging. It seems like one of the best things you can to avoid platueas is to change your intake every day.

People in concentration camps do lose lots of weight but an amazing number of them did survive on almost nothing for years at a time which I think does give credibility to the starvation mode theory. Plus, they were doing lots of manual labor and in an extremly stressful situation. I couldn't compare my eating style to theirs at all.

Thanks for the advice!