Starvation Mode

[mmv671 25]

My dr said it only exists at extremely low calories. 300-500 for six weeks or more. I was just curious what othere opinion was in this.

[mmv671 25]

Sorry for the typos. What I meant to say I was curious of others opinions on this.

[honk 780]

I don't really have a professional/medical answer. My surgeon wanted me to go on the HMR 500 diet. This is a 500 calories liquid diet; which some people do for MONTHS. I ask him would'nt I go into starvation mode since I do over an hour of cardio daily. His reply " You have a lot of fat to burn". Did'nt really sound like an answer to me. I tried the shakes for about 6 days. Lost NOTHING and they gave me an tingling/allergy type feeling in the back of my throat. I talked to the nurse and stopped drinking them. Neither the nurse or the Nut. liked that diet.

[Cazzy 725]

My dr said it only exists at extremely low calories. 300-500 for six weeks or more. I was just curious what othere opinion was in this.

Totally agree with your doctor, no one here will ever get near starvation mode

i was on a pre-op diet of 600 calories for 10 weeks lost nearly 40 lbs and never got anywhere near starvation mode .. your doctor is absolutely right !!

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I actually spoke to my nutritionist about this a couple months back after a ton of debates about this on here. What we call "starvation mode" in terms of dieting isn't starvation at all. When you eat far less calories than your body needs to sustain itself, you create a sort of self-induced metabolic syndrome. When you dip below a certain point (everyone is different, btw, there is no magic number) your metabolism will slow considerably. This very often results in a plateau that wouldn't have happened if you were eating more. However, self induced metabolic syndrome or not, it is inevitable you will start losing again eventually just by basic math. Burning more calories than you are consuming and the pounds come off.

Some people truly do need more calories to successfully lose weight. I hit a plateau a couple months ago eating 1000 calories a day, increased my calories by only 100-200, and the weight started falling off again. Currently, I am only eating 800-900 calories a day not because I'm restricting myself to that amount but because I have really good restriction and I'm simply never hungry enough to eat more.

So "Starvation Mode" is a bad name for it because you're not starving. But, everyone's body is different and needs a different amount to successfully and consistently lose weight.

[highland 168]

Cazzy and Mis73 spot on!!!! Starvation Mode is sooooo over used on this site. Our bodies need much less calories than we think. I have been under 800 calories for the past year and closer to 600 the past couple of months. If I have a bad week and go up to 900. I either gain or don't lose, but this is just ME. We are all sooo different. Find out what works for you and stick with it.

[muelle 64]

From day one my surgeon said, "Don't eat if you are not hungry." Well I lost all hunger sensation after having surgery, so I ate very very little. At my one month post op check I told him I was never hungry and only ate once every other day, but was taking Vitamins. He told me as long as I wasn't having nutrition issues, like Hair loss and other types of poor nutrition symptoms, that I could continue this. I hit my goal weight at nine or ten months post op following this. I never felt like I was being deprived and if I wanted a cookie, I ate a cookie So long story short, I agree that the starvation mode phrase gets overused on this site. When I joined it a year and a half ago, a post like this would have been shunned and some people would have really been upset by this, but it seems to me that more surgeons are starting to give the advice my surgeon gave all along I am not advocating for people to not eat, follow what your surgeon tells you please. I don't want anyone to take what I am saying as medical advice.....it's not, it's just my personal experience. Good luck to everyone with your journeys!

[Sojourner 2,446]

From day one my surgeon said, "Don't eat if you are not hungry." Well I lost all hunger sensation after having surgery, so I ate very very little. At my one month post op check I told him I was never hungry and only ate once every other day, but was taking Vitamins. He told me as long as I wasn't having nutrition issues, like hair loss and other types of poor nutrition symptoms, that I could continue this. I hit my goal weight at nine or ten months post op following this. I never felt like I was being deprived and if I wanted a cookie, I ate a cookie So long story short, I agree that the starvation mode phrase gets overused on this site. When I joined it a year and a half ago, a post like this would have been shunned and some people would have really been upset by this, but it seems to me that more surgeons are starting to give the advice my surgeon gave all along I am not advocating for people to not eat, follow what your surgeon tells you please. I don't want anyone to take what I am saying as medical advice.....it's not, it's just my personal experience. Good luck to everyone with your journeys!

Proper nutrition would be a concern using the pattern of eating and taking Vitamins you write about. Vitamins are not properly absorbed if you are not eating a balanced diet every day, as some vitamins are fat soluble, and others Water soluble.

My surgeon tracks fat loss, as well as any muscle loss. We definitely want to loose the fat and not the muscle.

Short term fasting is not harmful if medically supervised, and that it worked for you is a positive. I know that my surgeon would not approve of the diet you followed. Another of the many examples of the differences of instructions a doctor will issue to their patients...

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

Every dietitian and doctor I've asked about this has said that yes, starvation mode in WLS patients exists in that extreme calorie deprivation will eventually cause your body to do everything within its means to conserve calories and store fat for current and future use, but not in the sense that we're actually going to starve to death. That could contribute to weight loss plateaus, but it's not necessarily going to permanently stop weight loss.

[highland 168]

There is a great article that was written by Dr. Simpson about restriction in banded people. Basically he says that banded people do not go into starvation mode or metabolic syndrome because our pouch allows the hormone that regulates satiety in our stomach to be stimulated quickly since it is in the upper part of the stomach. So your brain is fooled when you eat very little because the hormone is stimulated as if you ate enough to fill your entire stomach, therefore since the brain is fooled,

" starvation mode" does not kick in for bandsters. Here is the link. Very interesting!

http://drsimpson.net/newsletter/March-2010-Lap-band-surgery-newsletter/March-2010-Lap-band-surgery-newsletter.html

[brenty 27]

One thing that I've read and also experienced personally is that varying caloric intake -- so long as it averages out over the course of the week -- keeps the metabolism 'on its toes' so it doesn't settle into a rhythm and plateau.

Most important is making sure you are getting all the nutrition you need, as Sojourner said, of which is absorbed much more efficiently from foods themselves or -- failing that -- from supplements taken with a meal; it is especially hard to meet these requirements when severely restricting your calories, since it can be difficult even on a high calorie diet.

It is imperative that you get enough Protein, both to support your body's muscle mass and because it is needed to maintain all of the body's systems. A weakened, deprived (nutrients, not calories) body has a much harder time fighting off illness, burning fat, and just plain getting around. So while you need to take in fewer calories so that your body uses its fat stores, you still need to take in enough of everything to ensure it can operate efficiently.

You just have to experiment a little to (and track your stats to find patterns!) to find what works best for you.

[judych 225]

I actually spoke to my nutritionist about this a couple months back after a ton of debates about this on here. What we call "starvation mode" in terms of dieting isn't starvation at all. When you eat far less calories than your body needs to sustain itself, you create a sort of self-induced metabolic syndrome. When you dip below a certain point (everyone is different, btw, there is no magic number) your metabolism will slow considerably. This very often results in a plateau that wouldn't have happened if you were eating more. However, self induced metabolic syndrome or not, it is inevitable you will start losing again eventually just by basic math. Burning more calories than you are consuming and the pounds come off.

Some people truly do need more calories to successfully lose weight. I hit a plateau a couple months ago eating 1000 calories a day, increased my calories by only 100-200, and the weight started falling off again. Currently, I am only eating 800-900 calories a day not because I'm restricting myself to that amount but because I have really good restriction and I'm simply never hungry enough to eat more.

So "Starvation Mode" is a bad name for it because you're not starving. But, everyone's body is different and needs a different amount to successfully and consistently lose weight.

well spoken. i use the term starvation mode, but i use the term loosely.. ive known that my body shuts down with weight loss very easily. ive never been at that point where i would say i was literally starving, its just that my body kicks into survival mode, whatever you like to call that. i dont lose weight at all when i drop my calorie intake below 1200... i try to move my intake around a lot from day to day. it varies from about 1000 to perhaps 1400-1500 the next day... that does work for me. however, i know that my metabolism is very slow and very efficient. i had so many goes on the Atkins diet that im sure i did something to my metabolism then.

[brenty 27]

well spoken. i use the term starvation mode, but i use the term loosely.. ive known that my body shuts down with weight loss very easily. ive never been at that point where i would say i was literally starving, its just that my body kicks into survival mode, whatever you like to call that. i dont lose weight at all when i drop my calorie intake below 1200... i try to move my intake around a lot from day to day. it varies from about 1000 to perhaps 1400-1500 the next day... that does work for me. however, i know that my metabolism is very slow and very efficient. i had so many goes on the Atkins diet that im sure i did something to my metabolism then.

Judy, I think you'll find that you'll see a lot of variation in your metabolism over time as you progress. This is only natural, as your body tries to adjust to the New You. Just keep it up. Don't get discouraged and stay patient. I think you'll be surprised by how resilient your body is in the end -- Atkins or no.

[judych 225]

Judy, I think you'll find that you'll see a lot of variation in your metabolism over time as you progress. This is only natural, as your body tries to adjust to the New You. Just keep it up. Don't get discouraged and stay patient. I think you'll be surprised by how resilient your body is in the end -- Atkins or no.

i agree... and, you know?? i think this is the only way that was left for me to go...my weight loss is slower but steady and im really happy with that. I dont think i would have been disciplined enough to stick with small portions and eating slowly if it hadnt been for the band. This band has helped me through days when i lacked the motivation of positive mind set to keep going . I couldnt be eating huge amounts now even if i wanted to. Ive just had my second fill.. it was only 1 cc. that was over a week ago. im still feeling the tenderness in my pouch. the dr made an appointment for me for two months time. i dont think i will get any more fills .... if im continuing to lose i dont see that its necessary. I have to wait so long after a fill before i settle down again that im inclined to give the next fill a miss. i guess it will depend on how my weight loss goes in the next two months. we will see. There is no way that i could have been consistent,before the band, like im being made to be now.