Hi all -

I came here because I thought with all of these informed calorie counters someone would know the answer to my question .

Question: I know that the body will slow down metabolism and go into starvation mode with a very low calorie diet, but if this is the case then why do people who hardly eat at all eventually lose a lot of weight? As a life long dieter, I always wondered if after being in this starvation mode wouldn't the body eventually start to burn up the excess fat as it was designed to do. Isn't that why our body stores fat so it can use it when it needs it??

Any thoughts on this?

There is no doubt that eating very low calorie diets make you lose a lot of weight.

However, I think the issue is that when you up your calories from a low amount, even just a little, your body will store the excess as fat and weight gain will happen rapidly.

Because your body cannot survive on no calories at all. It can lower the metabolism to help you last longer, but if you're not eating or hardly eating, you're still going to burn more than you take in.

If your metabolism burned 2000 calories a day, and you suddenly only were eating 300 a day, your metabolism might drop, say, in half, to 1000 (totally making up these numbers to illustrate), but you're still 700 short.

Yep, starvation mode doesn't prevent starvation, it just slows down the process.

If you starve yourself to lose the weight, how do you propose to keep the weight off? Will you be healthy if/when you get there? I understand the incentive to lose weight quicky....I just don't think it's worth the cost and what are the chances you've learned anything about healthy eating habits to maintain?

Oh and one last reason...instead of losing fat, your body will start to lose muscle. Not good.

And, it's impossible to maintain the loss. Or at least very difficult.

Hey! It's the difference between calories and nutrition. If you are eating really low calories, you can't get enough nutrients for your body's normal growth, repair, maintenance, activities.

You don't just want to lose weight, you want to lose fat. If you are not getting enough nutrients, you will lose muscle mass and other lean body mass, not just fat. That's because the body will consume anything it can to keep the brain alive, and it's easier to break down protein than fat.

So, you can end up not weighing much, but being in really poor health--with heart damage, weak bones, hair falling out, etc.

Muscle burns fat for fuel. It's the main tissue in the body that can! So you want to keep your muscle mass, and the best way to do that is not to go too low on calories, make sure you eat enough protein, and do some sort of physical activity to keep your muscles strong and working.

Jay