Is starvation mode real or a myth?

[Anonymous]

and, if weight loss is about calories in and calories out, why do plateaus happen? Must we assume that the people who are plateauing are doing something other than what they think (e.g. eating more and/or exercising less)?

[Anonymous]

Those are two different questions. Starvation mode ('eating too little to lose weight') is a myth. Plateaus arent.

[Anonymous]

Starvation "mode" is a myth. Actual starvation is not.

[Anonymous]

Metabolisms and body sizes vary.

The habits that allow me to steadily lose weight at 150 lbs may only let me maintain my weight at 125, or even gain weight at 105.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are two different questions. Starvation mode ('eating too little to lose weight') is a myth. Plateaus arent.

OP here. Yes, I'm asking two different questions.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what you mean by "starvation mode", but it is true that your metabolism slows down if you are always undereating.

[Anonymous]

It is about calories in vs calories out, but calories out is actually very difficult to calculate.

And it is very easy to put weight back on when you stop dieting if you are dieting by starving yourself. I always think of the Little House on the Prarie book where the family nearly starved to death over the winter. Once their crops start coming in, and they start eating normally again, they put the weight back on pretty quickly. They don’t have to eat enormous amounts of food or anything.

[Anonymous]

Yes, starvation mode is a myth. If you are eating too few calories you will lose weight, not hold onto weight. Just look at people all over the world who are truly starving, are any of them overweight?

As far as "plateaus" I think they largely occur because people stop tracking as closely, loosen the reins a little when they are seeing success and feeling good about themselves.

I also think people also don't understand that weight loss is not linear. Weight fluctuates all the time due to everything from hormones, sodium intake, bathroom habits, meal timing, more carbs, less carbs, exercises and so on. Even people who are very consistent in their habits will notice weight fluctuations if they weigh themselves daily. If you are losing 0.5-1lbs/week that can sometimes be masked by normal weigh fluctuations. I have easily seen up to a 4lb fluctuation in my weight if I have a big meal out, but I know I didn't gain 4 lbs of fat from one meal so i don't worry about it. These fluctuations are a big reason I love weighing in daily and tracking the trend over a long period of time (1 month) to really measure my success at losing weight. Now if over the month the trend line is flat then you are maintaining and not losing. In which case I would take a hard look at your diet to determine if extra calories are sneaking or if maybe you aren't being as consistent as you think you are.

[Anonymous]

Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

[Anonymous]

For the plateau, your calorie intake is in proportion to your current weight and is not a constant. A 300 pound person burns more calories than a 200 pound person, so the calorie deficit of 1,000 daily calorie intake is more for the 300 pound person than the 200 pound person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

how much do you weight?
I would also bet that you would lose even more weight faster if you ate 1200 calories a day. Not suggesting you do that as I think a more moderate deficit is better, but if you ate less you would not stop losing weight. People who claim to not lose weight on low calorie diets are not in "starvation mode" they are simply not really eating as low calorie as they want to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

how much do you weight?
I would also bet that you would lose even more weight faster if you ate 1200 calories a day. Not suggesting you do that as I think a more moderate deficit is better, but if you ate less you would not stop losing weight. People who claim to not lose weight on low calorie diets are not in "starvation mode" they are simply not really eating as low calorie as they want to believe.

Im 5'7, 190 now, down from 225, and I keep going, for quite some time, with couple of plateaus and setback
No, thank you, I won't do 1200 ever again, it's not sustainable in the long run. I'm done with yo-yo diets, they are not healthy. I'll keep eating my 1600-2000 kcal, slowly and steady loosing 1-2 lb a month until I reach my goal of 165 lb, hopefully by the end of this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

It is calories in vs calories out. But how do you really know what your calories out are? It depends on your basal metabolic rate. And starvation diets will make your BMR plummet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

It is calories in vs calories out. But how do you really know what your calories out are? It depends on your basal metabolic rate. And starvation diets will make your BMR plummet.

In other words, starvation mode is real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Starvation mode is real.
Weight loss is much more than calories in calories out, it's more about what you eat and when.
I'm loosing weight on 1800 kcal daily without excersising (just walking 10k steps).

It is calories in vs calories out. But how do you really know what your calories out are? It depends on your basal metabolic rate. And starvation diets will make your BMR plummet.

You also don't really know what calories are in - really depends on individual metabolism of fat and carbs, also how good you chew your food, etc. Calories on the lable are not equal to calories your body would use in energy metabolism. For example, protein is mainly used in groth and repair, and only once those functons are covered, can potentially be used as energy source. Yet, all 4 kcal per gram of protein counted as part of your calories in. Sometimes fats are not metabolised at all, they go in and out unprocessed, Alli mechanism is based on that concept. But again you count those 9 kcal per gram as calories in.
So, you don't know your in, you don't know your outs, yet it works ?? Seriously?
If simple methods calories in - calories out was working, weight loss would be easy. Yet here we are