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People can have all the opinions they want but the issue of "starvation mode" is not up for debate. The body simply has no mechanism for being able to dramatically slow or halt it's bodily functions and continue living. The majority of calories we burn are the ones we need to support our lives. Your heart, for example, cannot stop beating. It takes a lot of energy to keep it working.

As to your question, will 4 calories make a difference? In theory yes, every calorie counts but for practical reasons it makes no difference at all. Here is a good article you should read.

JohnP, thank you very much for the answer & the article -- VERY helpful in seeing where it is that I may not be doing things right!

I use to believe in 'starvation mode' when I first started getting into diet and fitness. I personally do seem to hold onto weight when I cut my calories too low and sometimes even have to add calories to get the scale to drop at my normal rate of loss. I just think the whole concept is blown way out of proportion, a misinformation per say.

There is a very large difference between weight loss and fat loss. People are incredibly impatient and make poor conclusions. Combine these factors and this myth persists.

While you were exercising, did your hair and nails stop growing? Did you lie in bed all day (when not exercising) due to extreme lack of energy? If not, I suggest you were still in a calorie deficit and still losing fat -- and that your apparent plateau was due to temporary water retention or something similar.

I guess I believe that if you had persisted with the exercise and 1,000 cals per day, your plateau would have ended and you would have continued to lose weight, just as you did without exercise.

I don't believe any of us can outsmart the first law of thermodynamics. And I agree (based on my reading) with John's statement that the lion's share of BMR comes from bodily functions that cannot be compromised, such as breathing, heart pumping, blood circulation, etc.

Freelance

In my observations around weight loss forums, starvation mode is thrown around just like the muscle gain thing. Well meaning people (I'm sure I've been one of those:o) trying to console some frustrated person who isn't losing 100 pounds a week like they want to.

Poster: I'm getting so frustrated. I'm doing EVERYTHING I can to lose weight and it just isn't happening. I ate 1199 calories for ONE whole day, and I did 3 bicep curls with 2 pounds. Why am I not LOSING!??!?!?!?! HELP ME!!!!
Response 1: You probably gained 10 pounds of muscle doing those 3 bicep curls you did, muscle weighs more than fat.
Response 2: You are in starvation mode so your body is holding on to the fat.

The term starvation mode is a lay term but you are wrong if you think that your body does not have mechanisms that reduce its consumption of calories when starved. It is a protective mechanism. Here is an article from the National Institutes of Health Database.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC292094/

This article shows how muscle actually uses less glucose (and also how its metabolism changes to using primarily free fatty acids) after 3 days of starvation. The study demonstrated the effects up to 24 days.

In regards to dieting we all have to accept that we are going to lose some amount of muscle with weight loss and that with IP it should be less because we are taking in extra protein. This article explains how studies have shown that the muscle lost with ALL diets causes a reduction in RMR or resting metabolic rate making weight loss more difficult and harder to maintain. The article further states that weight training can help counter these effects.
http://link.springer.com/article/10....00636030-00005

:lol:

The problem is crash dieting always winds up being gained back so you have to eat in a way that's reasonable (and in moderation) yet sustainable for life. I don't believe in starvation mode either.

I don't think anyone is denying that this happens. Clearly it does. What some of us are denying is that the reduction in energy expenditure is great enough for people not to lose any weight AT ALL on a very-low-calorie diet.

If you eat 500 cals per day, every single day, your body will do everything it can to conserve energy, but you'll still be in a deficit and still lose weight. Maybe not every day or every week, but over time you will.

F.

This was probably the best and funniest comment I have read on this website lol so so true.

Well, my body tried to hold on to the fat today but I took it for a walk instead.

I think what a lot of people call 'starvation mode' is actually Metabolic adaptation. Eating too few calories will cause the body to try to get you eat more. Hunger, fatigue, feeling lethargic when consuming very few calls is your body letting you know you are not eating enough to sustain yourself. Like someone a few posts up mentioned, this can cause you to binge or eat unconsciously which can stall your weightloss and bam you think you're in "starvation mode'.

If you ate a low calorie diet for an extended period of time (and was strict about it) like those on Medically Supervised VLCD's, you would lose weight. Like Freelancemomma said, it may not be everyday but over time you will.

But I cannot believe that my old 280lb body or even my current 235.8lb one is going to go on a rampage if I cut calories. Even to something crazy low as long as I am getting all my nutrients (vitamins and minerals).

Now if I was 130lbs, I think I would be having a different conversation. But my body has got a little excess (most would call it a lot of excess) and I think it's smart enough to know that no matter how low I could go it's gonna use that.

Good idea Ian G...haha! :)