Starvation Mode--myth Or Reality?

[300PoundsDown 101]

I'm not eating very many calories per day b/c I'm not hungry most of the time. I am trying to get in my 60 grams of Protein by drinking these shakes that have 30 grams per shake . each shake is 160 calories. If I drink 2 per day that is still only a bit over 300 calories. In addition to that, I usually eat maybe 1 or 2 pieces of very thinly sliced deli ham and a piece of thin deli sliced cheese which may throw in another 200 calories. I was told I need to eat way more and that this may be the reason I'm losing slowly. But I don't want to force myself to eat when I'm not hungry.Advice?

[Sassygirl06 962]

you definatly need to eat more. the whole object of losing this weight is to be healthy. if you are only eating between 300-500 calories a day you are starving your body, which is not healthy. I would try eating every 2 hours, at least something. Try to think about it like you are providing your body with medicine that it needs to be healthy. Dont make the mistake of going for empty calories either. Make it count! Good luck to you!

[guzel 11]

I think the whole starvation mode idea is a myth. If you're not hungry, you're not hungry. But with that being said I also think sassygirl has a good point. The whole point of this surgery is about health. At 300-500 calories how long do you think your body will stay healthy? Two foodlike Protein Drinks and some ham? Probably not a good idea for long term health. Keep experimenting until you figure something out that you're happy with. Good luck!

[Shae 44]

Myth or truth, stalling due to not eating enough calories does occur with a lot of people, myself included. What also makes me stall is not getting enough fruits, veggies, and complex carbs. I understand not being hungry so try this. Rather than a Protein shake, have an egg and a piece of fruit. Or some other combination of a lean Protein and a fruit, veggie, or complex carb. Eat only a few ounces total but eat it every 2.5 to 3 hours. Do it for a couple of days and recheck your weight.

Another issue you may have is Water retention due to too much sodium in your diet. The Premier Nutrition Protein Shake 30g has 340 mg of sodium. Times two for you so 680 mg. Then the ham is crazy in the sodium dept and cheese usually is too, so if you are having enough to equal 200 cals, then you are probably getting about 500mg there. My doc pre-surgery had me on 700 mg or less per day. You are having around 1,200 mg a day. This can cause problems with blood pressure, headaches, energy levels, swelling, and Water retention. The myfitness thing tracks sodium if you tell it to.

I hope some of this helps in some way.

Shae

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Who knows, everyone's metabolisms are so over the place it would be impossible to settle this debate one way or the other. Some believe it is a myth. For myself it is the truth.

I have a very high metabolism it turns out. I always thought I didn't because of how fast I gained weight a long time ago. Truth is when I had the BodyBugg running I'd sometimes burn well over 3,000 calories in one day. Of course I was in the high 200's so I'm sure its much less now. Still it was the case. Anyhow the reason I gained all that weight was because I was not working out during those times and I'd eat probably 3-4 times the amount I really needed to for survival. I have no doubt I was probably eating 10,000 calories in one day. I used to put away some serious groceries.

Now that my body is back to being fit and active, I burn likely around 1,000 calories a day alone on workouts. I know I need to scale back but we'll see... LOL Aaanywayyy, I noticed that I would really stall if I wasn't eating enough or getting in enough calories. My 3rd week stall actually happened on my second week post op. A normal persons starts between week 3 and 4. However, once I started picking up my calories again and eating more normally, my metabolism kicked back up and I was losing steadily again.

This isn't the only time I've noticed this. The less I eat, the less weight I lose. If I'm eating a little bit more (of course still less than what I'm burning because it all really is calories in / calories out) AND I'm eating healthy with a good hardcore workout mixed in, I'm losing pretty darn good.

So what's the truth? I don't know. Everyone's answer is, however it's working for each of them.

[MeMeMEEE 206]

My NUT told me 300-500 isn't even enough to run your body systems, heart, brain, lungs. It is hard to eat more when you aren't hungry so I do understand. I had to add in nuts to snack on all day to bring mine up.

[Sleevie WonderLand 41]

This post is the story of my life. I forget to eat at times because I'm not hungry and am always busy running around at work. My appetite comes and goes as well, sometimes I'm actually turned off by the smell of food, so I'm really struggling to get my counts up. I even tried to use a timer on my phone, but that hasnt worked either. I guess I just gotta put more effort forth in getting my food in.

[gracemarie 6]

Keep in mind also when you are at that low of calories the body goes into starvation mode and takes its energy from muscle and that is not good.

[DoOver 17]

Can only say that I lost at a higher rate when I got to taking 1000-1200 calories each day. That seemed to be where my body was comfortable. I had energy and felt healthy. At 300-400 calories, I was actually losing (on average) less. That was the first 4 months or so and by the time I was finally able to eat more, I was tired. Just beat. So I happen to believe that the body shifts into starvation mode to protect itself. But I don't think it happens overnight.

[Paola 62]

Now I am confused, I thought the sleeve diet says you are supposed to eat from 600-800 during your loosing phase, and 1200 in maintenance. Is this true?

[sleeve 4 me 910]

There are times when I force myself to stop and eat, only because I'm busy running around and I'm not hungry. I do get a headache or feel light headed and that's not good.

On another note, I really do believe in order to lose weight you have to feed your body. Or it will hold on to everything you put in your mouth.

[Thomas CPA 496]

should at least be 800 to 900. i am now at 1,200 to 1,500 to maintain from losing more weight and needed for stamina at gym. To few calories was killing me when working out so dietician upped my intake. At 5 months only 10-15 pounds from goal and losing about 1.5 pounds per week though with holidays it is slowing down with wife baking.

[DoOver 17]

Now I am confused, I thought the sleeve diet says you are supposed to eat from 600-800 during your loosing phase, and 1200 in maintenance. Is this true?

Research the standard method for figuring metabolism for an "average" person. You typically take the person's weight + 10%. So if you want to be 140 pound your caloric consumption should be 1400 + 140 for 1540 per day. Everyone is different. But I do not believe that very many people who up their metabolism through exercise eat as little as 1200 calories a day for the rest of their lives. Specifically, I do not believe any men eat that little and logic tells you that a woman who's 5-9 is going to need more than one who is 5-2. There are no hard and fast rules, but I would be very surprised if people who are two years out and in maintenance are consuming only 1200 calories.

I know that I averaged 2900 per day pre-surgery and very high carb. I lean toward a high Protein (higher calorie, low carb) diet now and probably average about 1300-1350 now and, due to health troubles exercising very little, and I am still in the losing window. 6 pounds last month. I just no longer feel like I am starving it off.

[lml32937 65]

I too am lucky to get in 600-800 a day maybe 4 days a week- It is hard!!

[Shea 13]

I have this very concern as well. I'm averaging between 600-800 calories and work off about 200-300 a day, and that means my body is getting a net calories of 300-400 a day. I was extrememly tired by the third day and i thought either I need to stop exercising or up my calories. I can't fit anything else in my sleeve unless I drink more calories. I'm on my 3rd week, and I've stalled for three days in week two and week 3, so i'm not sure if I need to stop working out until I can get more calories in so my body will have more fuel.