Comments on: Starvation Response: Why drastic calorie reduction does not work

By: Tim Webb

Tim Webb — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:02:24 +0000

I have read some of your comments, but did not have the time to ready all of them. By from what i gather you are talking about the starvation response and how it is or is not good for you. What fitnessmantra is saying is very true. You may feel and see that you are loosing a lot of weight fast because your body is burning threw its fat stores. But eventually it will begin to eat away at lean muscle tissue, which will in turn slow down your matabilsm,. And with out going into to much detail, will deprive you of all your vitamins and minerals, which is bad for a number of things. I suggest cutting out no more than 200 cal from your diet, and loosing 200 threw daily exercise. This is a total of 400 calories. This will in able you to still loose around 2-3lb per week, as well as preventing you from reaching the starvation response. And to the question

How do i regain my normal metabolism ?
I would suggest doing some resistant exercises. As well as cradio.

If you would like more information and workouts, please visit my facebook page (shown bellow) and like it. I hope i have helped resolve some of your questions. Take care

facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Platinum-PT/110355392380504

By: Chaz

Chaz — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:38:40 +0000

I’m 17 years old, 5’6.5″ and I weigh 115lbs approx. I’ve been on a VCLD for about three months and barring my one day off day per week (Saturday or Sunday) I generally eat between 450 and 800 calories. Lately I’ve been eating 450 but I don’t want my metabolism to crash irreperably so I increased to 550. I’m getting mixed messages from these BMR calculators online so I don’t know what my maintenance weight is or what it would take for me to lose weight.
Anyway, I was wondering: to increase my calorie intake to 1000-1200 without gaining weight, would increasing by 50 per week work?? So it didn’t shock my body.
Thanks

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By: Johnny

Johnny — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:24:39 +0000

Hello, I have a couple questions, if I may…

Let’s say someone wants to lose fat from their mass, so they engage in physical activity, maintain a calorie deficit and all that. Textbook style healthy way to live, right? Well, what would happen if someone completely cut fat out of their diet, but still maintained an otherwise healthy calorie deficit and received vitamins and minerals from supplements as well as foods? Would there be some sort of negative repercussion due to the loss of this one nutrient? (fat) Or would they simply notice a faster decrease in fat stores?

I am a huge fan of starving for quick weight loss, but I am in my mid 20s now and I fear I might end up doing more harm than good; in conclusion, I am entertaining the notion of an alternative lifestyle. I currently (in this 3-day cycle) am consuming roughly 400-600 Calories per day, and I find that I (obviously) have significantly less energy and am less able to perform relatively simple thought processes and cognitive tasks.

The second part is, what do vitamin supplements do (if anything) to combat the “starvation mode?” Can some adverse medical issues be combated by turning to these alternative sources for nutritional replenishment? (i.e. multivitamins, herbal supplements, common stimulants in reasonable doses, etc.)

By: April

April — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:20:50 +0000

I am told by a nutritionist that I am in starvation mode. I have gained 7 lbs back in the last 6 months. I work out 6 days a week at a very high intensity. I do fairly heavy resistance training 3 days in addition to high intensity cardio (spinning, running, interval). My calorie intake was 1500 per day. The “bodybugg” I wear tells me that I burn 2800 cal/per day on average. I have increased my intake to 1900 cal/day. I am getting flabby and bloated by the fiber, beans and veggies. Can I get out of this mode? I am trying, but feel defeated. All I want is to reap the benefits of my fitness routine.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:59:59 +0000

Is reduced metabolism do to eating too little permanent? If not, how do you fix it?

By: fitnessmantra

fitnessmantra — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:46:35 +0000

Hi Rachel,

First of all, while I don’t know the specifics of your situation (especially things like your height, weight and activity level), 800 calories a day is downright dangerous!

This is especially true if it’s mostly fruits and vegetables you have been eating because while you might have just stocked up a year’s worth of vitamins, minerals and fiber, you almost certainly have denied your body two vitally important macro-nutrients it needs to survive and grow: protein and fat!

I would advise you to immediately up your calorie intake to at least 1200-1250 calories (believe me, unless you are about 14 years old or younger, you need that much!). Ease yourself into this by introducing healthful fats like those found in olive oil, almonds and avocados. Then branch out to lean meats like chicken and turkey (if you eat meat) or other sources of protein like dairy and eggs.

Finding your maintenance level (or weight-loss level) of calories is an ongoing experiment for most people (your body reacts to every change you make so you need to constantly adapt as well!), but again, like this post mentions so blaringly, drastic calorie reduction simply does not work and you might be harming your body rather than doing it any good!

-FM.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:11:09 +0000

Does anyone here know how to fix your metabolism after eating very little for a while? I kinda went crazy and started eating mostly fruit and vegetables for a while and i realize that i need to increase my caloric intake. i was eating about 800 a day but it was only just over a month. i think that i should raise that about 100 a week for a while. can i do this without gaining weight?

By: fitnessmantra

fitnessmantra — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:45:09 +0000

Hi Kaila,
First off, congratulations on the wedding! Sometimes it takes a life-changing event to get us focused on the things we desire the most and I am very glad you have been successful so far in losing weight.
I am a little concerned about the 600-800 calories you mentioned – I feel that might be a little too low for a person of your weight and your body’s metabolism might already be drastically slowing down to accommodate this sudden decrease in input calories.
A lot depends on how you feel right now. If you are more tired than usual or feel a general lack of strength, it might be a sign that your body feeling the effects of too little food. You can calculate your caloric needs using this calculator. I plugged in some basic information using what little I know of your situation, and it shows a maintenance level of atleast 2200 calories. Even you tack on a deficit of 700-800 calories (a lot!), you should still be consuming about 1300-1500 calories and it would still lead to weight loss (I am happy you mentioned “quality calories”, because right behind number of calories is their quality!) Do avoid foods that will trigger high insulin responses and opt for fresh foods where possible.
As long as you maintain a sensible eating plan and incorporate an exercise regimen (cardio and weight-training), you should not be too concerned about raising your input calories a little more.
Good Luck!
-FM.