Starvation Mode

[skinnyfat]

I know that everyone says that if you lower your calories too much, your body goes into "starvation mode," and you don't lose fat. This is a good theory, but does this really happen? Is there anyone out there who has actually increased their caloric intake and lost weight?

Also, can you go into "starvation mode" by eating a reasonable caloric intake but doing a lot of cardio-type stuff? I eat about 2500-3000 calories/day, but also run 85+ miles/week, and cycle for another 6 hours, and do some swimming and 3 weight workouts per week as well. I'd say that I expend 1500-2000 calories/day in training, and that my BMR is somewhere around 2000, which brings me to 3500-4000 calories/day expended.

 

[aug1516x]

Not sure about this whole starvation thing, but if you ate a low enough amount of calories then your body would try to adapt. One of the ways it would probably adapt is to store any food that it gets as fat to make sure that it has energy for later, that would cause you to stop losing fat. I would think you would have to eat a really low amount of calories a day though for that to happen, under 1000 for sure. I do not think that you can go into starvation from doing too much cardio. Your body is still getting food on a regular basis so it should not see the need to store body fat. The following is based on my opinion though, I have to evidence to support any of my claims.

 

[trial0rzgrl]

well.... i tried to drop weight this way once and yes i droped weight after a year of starving, however, it slowed my metabolism and once i came to my senses it was too late. Droping weight upto now has been impossible. I was eating nothing and cardio 2 a day. as long as there is food i dont think its a biggie. Im trying to up the cals now and see what happends. Many people have recomended it. Ill see. Not sure if this help, but good luck with your goals

 

[PwB]

There is some truth to this, but I think this concept if somewhat over-rated in terms of screwing up weight loss progress. Metabolic rate will lower between 20-25% below baseline then remain there, so fat loss can definitely continue on a very low calorie diet, as I am doing now.
Some keys are lifting weights and sprinting, these exercises preserve muscle b/c the muscle is challenged and b/c the body recieves a signal skeletal muscle is being used so it attemps to preserve it even more.
And YES, some people have continued losing weight by increasing calories, but there are so many variables. For instance, go from a very low calorie diet to moderately low, the person may be adding protein to their diet. This will a)preserve more muscle if the diet was previously protein deficient b)have a thermogenic effect from protein c)increase muscle (possibly) resulting in a faster metabolic rate d)calories are still below needs or what is burned, so fat loss is continued.

 

[plornive]

I think so-called "starvation mode" is mostly applicable to already lean individuals. You see, leptin is a function of both fatness and short-term dietary intake. If you are fat and not eating, fat cells still secrete leptin. If you are lean and dieting hard, you will have basically no leptin --- this is the disasterous "starvation mode".

In "starvation mode", your brain tells your body to secrete significanly less testosterone. Your body will be full of cortisone because of unquestionably low blood glucose levels. You will be in a very catabolic state. Additionally, your metabolism will be very very low. Increasing cardio at this point will very directly decrease short-term basal metabolic rate.

"Starvation mode" is not a black and white thing, though. If leptin is very low, this is almost as bad as leptin being non-existant.

That is why leptin increasing and dopamine agonizing substances are very useful --- they "artificially" keep your body out of "starvation mode". Most fat-burners such as EC or clenbuterol are anti-catabolic, but only because they mobilize fat to be burned, not because they actually preserve anabolism. Leptin increasers and dopamine agonists such as Leptigen (not exactly proven yet) and bromocriptine may actually help your body stay in a natural-like anabolic state. Sorry to go off on a tangent.

 

[Par Deus]

It is not just that your fat loss slows, but the hormonal millieu in the body shifts toward utilizing muscle tissue rather than adipose tissue. This is very real and there is an enormous body of literature on it. Type "leptin" into Pubmed. Or read my articles. Or Lyle's book.

 

[MASSIVEmorris]

It is not just that your fat loss slows, but the hormonal millieu in the body shifts toward utilizing muscle tissue rather than adipose tissue. This is very real and there is an enormous body of literature on it. Type "leptin" into Pubmed. Or read my articles. Or Lyle's book.

-That's where "LeptiGen" from Avant Labs steps in! [Par, can I get a free bottle for the "plug" ...that stuff is expensive.]

 

[SirWanksalot]

I think Lyle McDOnald explained this in detail and how to avoid it alltogether in his book Bromocriptine.

excellent read, whole new take on dieting.

SirWanksAlot

 

[Diesel3d]

Another reason why one must split up meals throughout the day.