Body in Starvation Mode

[Celeste 0]

Does anyone know or have personal experience of your body going into starvation mode because of not reaching the caloric goals required. I was banded 3/1 and have lost 40lbs. I got my first restriction 4/20 and not since the 3 days of liquids following have I lost a pound. It has been difficult for me to reach the caloric requirments daily but I am trying to intake a little more each day. I'm awesome at getting my Protein in but thing is I am not very hungry throughout the day until about 4-4:30. I have a good, balanced dinner (not near what I used to eat but more than I think I should have... need another restriction... is this sick or what? In my head I feel like I shouldn't be able to eat even a whole lean cuisine but realistically know I have to be able to each that much to survive).

I know at some point your body goes into starvation mode, holding onto every bit you intake but how do you come out of this mode? I don't know at this point if this is my problem but I'm exercising and doing "everything correctly" as far as I know.

I appreciate anyone's input.:help:

[SkyeBlu 0]

I had my surgery 2/10 and lost 35lbs pretty quickly then I hit a plateau. I spoke with my surgeon about it this last week. He gave me some input on the situation. My first question for you is, what was your weight before the surgery?

Skye

[cashley 0]

You both have to remember that it's your average that is important. If you lost that much since 3/1 then you have to expect to have some weeks with no lose at all. (or maybe even gain).

My surgeron says a 1 - 2 pound average per week is what is expected. You're average is way higher then that; at about 10 weeks out your average is about 4 pounds per week.

[Marimaru 7]

How much are you eating? What are your caloric goals?

My theory is that you should eat as much as you can while still losing. That way, if you get stuck, you still have room for adjustment, you know?

You definately need to be eating 3 meals a day, at the least. Many people do 5 or 6 smaller meals. If you can't eat in the morning, drink a protien shake, or at least a glass of milk or something.

The way to beat 'starvation mode' is to basically eat enough that your body feels that it's safe to let go of some of it. IE; if you are eating 500 calories, do your best to go up to 1500, and then adjust from there to continue losing weight.

The thing about starvation mode is that basically at some point, you will start losing weight, but it'll be in the form of lean muscle mass, not fat, and then when you start to eat more again, it'll go back into your muscles and your weight will go up (at least, to the best of my understanding).

[DonnaB 3]

Eventually your body will let go of it's fat to produce energy - you may have to wait a couple of weeks for it to happen but it will. A better way to jump start your weight loss is to eat some simple fat during the day. If you eat 12 almonds twice a day before you reach your dinner, your body will start to release it's fat stores and you'll start to lose weight again. Best of all almonds have the kind of fat that's GOOD for you - the kind that helps keep your arteries clear which is good for your heart and your brain. 12 almonds isn't so much that you'll feel sick after eating them and they will make a difference to your weight loss.

(EDIT TO ORIGINAL POST: I forgot to post that to benefit from nut oils, the nuts MUST BE RAW! Roasted nuts lose their benefits and may actually be harmful to your body. Thanks PhotoNut for reminding me I had to be more explicit!)

Of course, the BEST way to start your weight loss is to eat 3 balanced meals per day but if you just don't want to eat, and who here hasn't dreamed of that scenario (!), try the almonds. Take care though, if you start eating more than 24 a day, or you begin eating meals AND the almonds, you may start gaining because of the additional fat.

[Wheetsin 714]

know at some point your body goes into starvation mode, holding onto every bit you intake but how do you come out of this mode? I don't know at this point if this is my problem but I'm exercising and doing "everything correctly" as far as I know.

Here are my thoughts, along with a LOT of TMI that maybe someone out there will find useful. There are a lot of misconceptions about how the metabolism process works.

You didn't have restriction until 4/20, so about two weeks ago. You're not going to be in starvation mode from not your goal caloric intake (I see "1000 - 1200 calories" stated as the threshold frequently, but I believe the true threshold is 50% of your BMR) in two weeks. It takes a while to get into starvation mode, and it takes a while to get out... it's a process, not an event. Also it isn't really a matter of your body "holding onto everything it gets", it's more a matter of your body using its calories more effeciently, and getting energy from the source that takes less energy to break down, which unfortunately happens to be our lean body mass long term, and glycogen short term, which causes a Water release & is why there's an inital fast weight drop (you aren't losing fat, you're losing water). You'll hear people say, "You can lose a lot of weight by fasting." They're so totally wrong in saying that.

That's also why it's more dangerous for lower BMI patients to lose weight through a starvation-type diet... they have even less fat than MO so their lean body mass is gobbled up that much quicker.

When you decrease your caloric intake, your metabolism also decreases. However, your metablosim doesn't decrease because your calories decreased. It decreases because your body begins to break down the lean mass (remember -- muscle tissues are easier to break down than fat)... in essence it starts to eat itself. At the same time your body also has the programming to know this shouldn't be happening, so it slows down your metabloic (and other) processes so that its lean masses are broken down slower... kind of a vicious cycle.

Anyway, the body's goal in decreasing the metabolism is not to keep up with however many calories you're eating, the goal is to have to feed off itself as little as possible. Then you get into the irony of that fuel that was created by metabolizing your lean mass being converted to sugars by your liver, with the goal of keeping your fat stores in place. Losing weight by metabolizing lean mass is going to produce a really weak, flabby, unhealthy end product. They key is to avoid burning muscle and get the body to burn fat, so ideally you'd target between your BMR and AMR, and not a fixed number like "1,000". That's another misconception.

Also when you hear a number like, "1,000" it should raise some alarms because everyone here is different and we're all going to need different numbers of calories. Someone who is starting off at 450 lbs might have a BMR over 3500. Someone at the same height starting off around 230 lbs might be closer to 2150. There's NO WAY both people are going to have the same goals for how many calories they eat per day... absolutely no way. (Which is also a reminder to adjust your goal intake regularly, depending on your current weight, and not think that what you ate 50 lbs ago is what you should still be eating today).

Starvation mode also only decreases the BMR by about 20%, so while this can slow weight loss, it's not going to stop weight loss. That's also a misconception. If starvation mode stopped weightloss/etc., no one would ever die of starvation. :eek: (As a side note, I've also seen the claim made that starvation mode will "stop metabolism". If your metabloism is stopped, you're dead...)

So what's the magical number? How much should we be eating?

My personal suggestion (worth what you're paying for it) for healthy, maintainable weightloss is to target between your BMR and AMR. That's not to say it's the right answer, but it's what I believe. (I know -- if it's that easy, why are we all fat? It's not that easy, but if we make good food choices, it's EXACTLY what our bands are going to help us do). Good guidelines for doing this without all the number-crunching is to eat only enough to where you're no longer hungry (focus on "Am I hungry?" DO NOT focus on, "Am I full?" They're NOT the same thing), eat very small servings - understanding it's easier to come back for more than to deal with the consequences of eating too much, and up your intake if you notice that you're getting tired, having a hard time focusing, etc. Generally speaking, if you follow these guidelines AND make good food choices, you will hit a number between the two rates. And you'll need to keep in mind to adjust as your weight decreases. For me, it works well to decrease the number of calories I eat by about 10 for every pound I lose (again, that's a guideline I use based on calculations I've done in the past).

Sorry for the novel, I just thought I'd take the opportunity to try and clear some waters.

[DonnaB 3]

Excellent post Wheetsin! I think we tend to forget that as our bodies change our methods must change.

[Kat817 19]

Wow Wheetsin....makes perfectly good sense to me...thanks!!! Now if someone would just sit on me and make sure I follow all this good advice I would be fine!!! Seriously, I do appreciate you and the others that take time to explain the how, when, and why of all this.

Kat

[legallyKristin 0]

I did hit a plateau too from low caloric intake. For me, it broke when I upped my exercise regemine. I'm dropping about .5-1 lb a day now. YAH!

[PhotoNut 7]

Excellent post, Wheetsin.

Just a comment about eating almonds. They are good for you IF you are eating RAW almonds. Roasting almonds, or any nuts for that matter, ruins the benefit of the natural oils in the nuts and of course the addition of salt is not good.

[PhotoNut 7]

Ok, I'm on a roll now. *laughs*

Check out this site for more great information about starvation mode and metabolisms. It has some wonderful explanations that we could all benefit from. There is also a link at the bottom of the article entitled, "8 ways to speed up your metabolism"

Happy Reading!

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/starvation.htm

By the way, for all you who don't know what st stands for, its stones. The English, and perhaps more Europeans, use stones for weight measure. I believe a stone is equal to approximately 13 pounds. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[DonnaB 3]

Excellent post, Wheetsin.

Just a comment about eating almonds. They are good for you IF you are eating RAW almonds. Roasting almonds, or any nuts for that matter, ruins the benefit of the natural oils in the nuts and of course the addition of salt is not good.

Ahhhh. I knew the almond had to be raw for the benefits but I forgot to mention that LITTLE (!) detail. Sorry about that - I hope everyone continues to read forward to get that info. Wait, I just remembered, I can go back and edit my post! Yep, I'm off to do that now.

Thanks PhotoNut - keep me in line!

[DeLarla 22]

My surgeon laughs at the "starvation mode" myth. He says the majority of morbidly obese are about the most dishonest folks around when it comes to their weight and will use any excuse possible to convince society that it's not their fault.

If you take in fewer calories than you need, you'll lose weight. If you starve for a week, you'll lose weight. When they talk about "starvation mode" it's such a temporary phase that it's not even worth mentioning, which is why people are starving to death while we speak.

[leatha_g 4]

Exactly, Delarla. If your intake is decreased, you WILL lose weight. Just ask those folks who've lived in concentration camps...

[DonnaB 3]

My surgeon laughs at the "starvation mode" myth. He says the majority of morbidly obese are about the most dishonest folks around when it comes to their weight and will use any excuse possible to convince society that it's not their fault.

Ouch! I know he's probably right, but jeez, couldn't he have found a nicer way to say it? lol

If you take in fewer calories than you need, you'll lose weight. If you starve for a week, you'll lose weight. When they talk about "starvation mode" it's such a temporary phase that it's not even worth mentioning, which is why people are starving to death while we speak.

If this were not true I wouldn't have lost 8 pounds during my week-long pre-op liquid diet! Anyone out there NOT lose weight during their (very low calorie) liquid diet? :-) Isn't it a crazy, topsy-turvy world where some people are starving to death and some are eating themselves to death? Where is the miracle of modern science when you need it? Ya, I know, that's a whole new topic.