The term has come up in a couple of threads recently, and I’m not sure how it works. Basically, I guess the idea is that if the body doesn’t get a certain level of calories, it goes into starvation mode, and slows the metabolism down to conserve energy?
How low does your caloric intake need to be to trigger this starvation mode? How does one get out of starvation mode, and how long does that take? And how exactly does the body function while in starvation mode? What’s the physical impact?
I am sure it depends on how much you weigh, but I would not venture lower than 1200/day assuming you do nothing. If you exercise at all that number would change.
I am not a doctor, nutritionist or otherwise credible expert. I have only heard this through the grapevine.
I was in the middle of posting a rather harsh reply and then I stopped. Stepped back. Did some more looking and realized I needed to ask another question. Are you trying to put yourself into starvation mode, or keep yourself out of it?
I’m just curious, that’s all. Relax.
Hey thats why I made a point of saying I stopped and took a breath and realized hey maybe this guy is feeling like he is entering starvation and wants to make sure hes not. Dont assume the worst. As a recovered(ing) anorexic this is a sore subject with me and I am more knowledgeable than I would like to be.
To put an end to ‘‘Starvation Mode’’ consume copious amounts of bbq ribs and PB sandwiches. Once you awake from the bbq/carbo induced coma your metabolism should racing and back on track.
I think I started that thread. I wasn’t eating enough calories for my weight and activity… my body went into fat hoarding mode… that is why I’ve been the same weight for 3 months.
Right, you are the guy I was thinking about.
OK, so I get that you weren’t eating enough to meet your energy needs. I don’t understand how that works, I guess. You aren’t taking in enough calories to meet your energy needs, your body is not burning fat- or apparently muscle- to make up for the deficit, so where is the energy coming from?
The energy comes from the reality distortion vortex where someone is still fat and they think they only eat 1200 calories a day, or think they work out 2 hours a day.
But really they work out 30min a day, and not hard enough, or eat 4000 calories a day. From this reality/perception dissonance arises a distortion field that unleashes 1000 calories of energy per hour.
If someone is in starvation mode they wouldn’t be able to train for a triathlon. A brick would kill you…unless you are cruising at 14mph then running a 40 minute 5k
Right, you are the guy I was thinking about.
OK, so I get that you weren’t eating enough to meet your energy needs. I don’t understand how that works, I guess. You aren’t taking in enough calories to meet your energy needs, your body is not burning fat- or apparently muscle- to make up for the deficit, so where is the energy coming from?
*That’s *funny.
I’m inclined to agree, absent some expert opinion to the contrary.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Anecdotal example:
My brother and I (identical height and frame build) take up triathlon four years ago. He is five years younger and admittedly in a little worse shape than I was, but we were both pretty far gone and starting from scratch in all three sports. We hired a coach and began the journey.
Six months later we had both lost tens of pounds and increased our fitness to the point that we could actually do some BASE training. Upon enterring and following some 8-10 hour weeks I continued to see fitness gains, weight loss, and improved energy levels while my younger brother stagnated, became injured and was always tired.
We went to a nutritionist and took a Basal RMR test to determine our bodies base metabolic demands, then estimated our energy demands based on our training logs and estimated daily routine. The result…My brother was dramatically under fueling and was deficient in three or four major nutrients. By pure luck alone, mostly due to my spouse’s great cullinary ability, I was taking in almost exactly the correct amount of calories and due to supplemenation was at or above all the RDA’s for vitamins and minerals. Following healthier eating patterns and eating more, my brother began to see better results from his training, but ultimately quit the sport due to one of the nagging injuries incurred while undernourished.
While his body was in Starvation mode (and he was eating over 2000 calories a day) it hung onto fat stores, stopped recoverring fully, and began to break down. I know these are not scientific enough for most of the readers on this forum, but I this is what I think of when people speak of starvation mode. The RMR really was suprising. I never believed that I would need 1800 calories a day to function normally if I stayed in bed all day! Including workouts, I needed over 3000 calories on average per day as did my brother. He was over a 1000 calories per day deficient. Idealy you should be no more than a hundred or two hundred calories deficient a day and maximally hydrated to keep your body systems fueled and to keep your body from fat hoarding according to the dietician we spoke with. Worked for me. I’m down 35 lbs and have kept the same weight for over a year and a half now.
While his body was in Starvation mode (and he was eating over 2000 calories a day) it hung onto fat stores, stopped recoverring fully, and began to break down. I know these are not scientific enough for most of the readers on this forum, but I this is what I think of when people speak of starvation mode.
Yeah, this is the starvation mode I think we’re talking about. Was he losing weight? I have to assume he was- if not fat, then muscle. Yes?
The energy useage equation also has an efficiency term. Maybe starvation mode is when your body is forced to learn to be more efficient in burning calories. A high efficiency would mean a slow metabolism.
I tend to believe that in many cases it’s the hidden calories that trick people who aren’t losing weight into thinking that they’re in starvation mode.
it could be that calories are saved by reducing the repair processes that should be going on, which is why you would stop getting faster, and get injured
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He was losing weight very rapidly at first, then his weight loss slowed to nothing when he clearly had plenty of weight to come off. My weight loss was very steady throughout, with a few weeks here and there of stagnation. We both had quite a bit of fat on us, but admittedly I had significantly more muscle starting out. Hydration was not an issue as be both drink copious amounts of water and avoid caffeine, so the only variable I can point to is his undernourishment as we were both working out at the same effort levels for the same time increments. I think he started at 6’ 1" and around 235 lbs. He knew something wasn’t right after ankle, knee and hip injuries and holding at 205-210lbs. After eating more and continuing training over six more months he was down to 190 before exacerbating the ankle injury and quitting training alltogether and giving back most of the fitness gains he worked for. I think he is back in the right frame of mind again now, a year later, though he put twenty pounds back on. At least he will have a better handle on the nutrition this time around.
I used to think it was just calories in/out, but I’ve been reading about glycemic index and how different foods cause different reactions in the body… so end result all calories aren’t equal. To make it on topic: I wouldn’t be surprised at what the body is capable of. I work with a guy that *claims *to have been on a very low calorie diet, but weighs a ton. Doctor says he has some disorder or something to do with the blood sugar (wasn’t really paying attention). But, he has some nasty symptoms to go along with it, he’s not out training for an endurance event.
when I hear that people are on a ‘very low calorie diet’ and ‘weigh a ton’ I can’t wrap my head around the math.
How do their bodies manage to function with limited energy? How can a blood sugar problem create a situation that makes you body SUPERIOR to a normal persons by a large margin? (in the sense that you can survive with less food)
I think it works like this: if your body isn’t getting enough calories, your metabolism will cling to the little energy it is getting, and use that energy for absolutely vital functions (read: keeping your heart and brain functioning). “Unneccesary” things don’t get taken care of - so for “physical impact” I would list brittle nails, dull/thin hair, dry skin, soft peach-fuzzy hair all over your body (I forget the name but it begins with an L), amenorrhea.
As to how the metabolism slows down - I am trying to remember from exercise phys class - there are a couple different energy reaction pathways. Glycolysis and the Krebs cycle and stuff like that. Each requires a certain energy input - like X pyruvate yields Y ATP (atp is the body’s energy currency) so I think that x:y ratio must get altered somehow.
How does one get out of starvation mode and how long does that take? — you have to gradually increase calories and as the body realizes it’s getting energy, it will try and use it. The time to get back to normal varies.
If you’re really interested, try and find some medical journals on it… like someone else said, very common in anorexia patients.
very common in anorexia patients.
Well, that’s kind of what I don’t get. Or, I *do *get the anorexia patients: They don’t take in nearly enough calories, and they lose lots of weight- fat and muscle. And nails, hair, etc etc.
I don’t get the people who say they aren’t taking in nearly enough calories, so they can’t lose weight. I don’t think a reduced matabolic rate explains it, either, and especially not if they’re training.
I can see that someone not taking in enough calories would be more injury prone, too- but I think they’d still be losing weight.