What is real "starvation mode"?

Govtgirl

Govtgirl

Cathlete
So I've been thinking... (uh oh!) :eek:

I think this whole "omigod I must eat all the time or if I miss a meal I'll go into starvation mode" thing is a lot of hooey. I think it was dreamed up to sell snack bars and protein powder. I think "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was dreamed up by the people that make breakfast cereal.

It really takes days for your body to go into starvation mode, not hours. How in the world did we stay on this planet so long and evolve and get bigger and stronger otherwise? Our ancestors didn't have the luxury of eating every few hours, and sometimes they didn't know where their next meal was coming from. I think it made them stronger.
I had a nurse at the doctor's office wag her finger at me and tell me that I should eat 6 meals a day to keep my metabolism up, but I couldn't take it to heart as I weighed about 30 pounds less than her. Not being catty, but it was just sort of ironic.

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud....
 
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Govtgirl said:
So I've been thinking... (uh oh!) :eek:

It takes days for your body to go into starvation mode, not hours. How in the world did we stay on this planet so long and evolve and get bigger and stronger otherwise? Our ancestors didn't have the luxury of eating every few hours, and sometimes they didn't know where their next meal was coming from. I think it made them stronger.
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The body does not go into starvation mode by not eating breakfast. It goes into starvation mode if it feels that it won't get sufficient calories for a longer period of time and therefore slows down the metabolism. Usually if you just eat 1000 kcal or less a day, but these numbers vary for everyone. Some people don't take in enough calories if they eat 1200 or 1500 kcal. I can eat, e. g., up to 3000 kcal a day and not gain weight. If I go down to 2500 I lose weight. If I go below 2000 I think I am starving.

The body wants to be as efficient as possible and that's why you burn less calories during exercise if you are in excellent shape.

Eating six meals a day to keep the metabolism higher has some truth to it simply because it takes energy to digest the food. So you do burn a few more calories than you would while eating the same calories in three meals. Also eating six small meals has the body use most of the food as energy right away, whereas with three big meals the body can only use so much and therefore stores the excess into the fat cells.

But basically, the most important thing is to find the calorie intake/expenditure balance that is right for YOU.
 
Govtgirl,

I cannot agree with you more on this. When I read the “The End of Overeating” book I realized the same thing. He says that snack is for children. I didn’t eat 6 times a day when I was a child! Plus eating 6 times a day gives me headache what a heck to eat. That is 42 meals/week. How can you make 42 meals without getting board with your food? So I did the same thing you did and lost 20 lbs without dieting. I went back to “ normal”. I ate when I was hungry and I ate what I craved for. In the past when I was on diet, I forced myself to eat very healthy/ 6 times a day and always ended up having binge eating attacks almost every week. I didn’t have any binge eating episode since August. So I’m very happy to be back normal. I eat for me and not for the food industry. I make wise food choices and also portion control is a must but I don’t force myself to eat anything I don’t like. This worked for me. What I realized being on this forum that we all different. It worked for me but maybe for others the 6 meal plan works better.

Krisztina
 
It gets confusing....all the different information out there. I usually eat around 1200-1500 cals a day, and I find that is good for me. I think it just varies for everyone. If I am EXTREMELY hungry, I make sure to eat more. I just try to listen to my body.

I listened to the podcast last night and found it interesting:
http://blog.adonislifestyle.com/how-many-calories-do-you-need-to-lose-weight
and read this article the other day:
http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/10/26/weight-loss-a-lesson-from-cats-and-dogs/

I have been stuck at 133 pounds for ever( and that's not bad, but I'm trying to lean out some), and just over the last couple of weeks, I've REALLY been paying more attention to what I eat and how much. I also have changed up my workouts by doing a little less intense, shorter workouts. I had gotten up to 135...got on the scale today, and was at 130. I rarely use the scale, so it surprised me.

The key is a reasonable calorie reduction, pure and simple.
 
The calorie balance is important. If someone wants to skip breakfast that is fine! However, the less meals you have during the day the greater the chance that you won't get the recommended serving of fruit and vegetables and whole grain.

But short term: it does not matter. If you want to starve yourself or lose weight with a fad diet (like the liquid hollywood diet) this is fine in the short run. If you eat just chocolate and nothing else, you would lose weight because you create a deficiency in protein and other nutrients.

There is only a problem after the diet because fad diets have not taught you anything about portion control. Even skipping breakfast but later going back to it, most people add calories to their day and not cutting calories for the other meals and therefore gaining the weight back. But if you do not do that, the weight loss should stick. It is only calories in and calories out afterall.

If you go on a strict diet and do not get all the nutrients it won't matter if you do it for a month or so. If you do it long term, however, the body will have used up all the stored nutrients and then starts to work less efficiently and you are more prone to injury and disease.

Disclaimer: This is just a general post.
 
About eating many times a day: it does seem to work for people wanting to pack on muscle (like actors for certain rolls, or body builders), partly, IMO, because it's otherwise difficult to get the calories they need.

But is it the healthiest? Many things people do to look (what they think is) better, or get bigger are not healthy in the long run.

According to Dr. Fuhrman (who reads a lot of research), studies have shown that, given the same amount of calories, people who eat fewer times a day (2-3) live longer than those who eat more often.

Also, if the body is always or often using its energy to digest, it has less resources available for general 'clean up' (like immune-system cells going on search-and-destroy missions for abnormal cells).


As for 'starvation mode': if you are eating below the number of calories needed for metabolic functions, you can probably survive off fat stores for a while, but you are training your body to be very efficient using calories, so one you start eating a normal amount of calories, it will be much easier to gain weight. (That's in addition to probably not getting enough nutrients, which would lead to other problems).

I do agree that the "eat every X hours" (as well as the push to eat LOTS of protein) is very much fueled by manufacturers. Unfortunately, some health care providers buy into it as well.
 
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Grazing all day makes me hungry and I never seem satisfied with small meals.
Intermittent fasting has helped me get in tune with how I feel. The hungry feeling passes when I fast. I think timed eating becomes too much of a habit and leads to eating when I really don't need to.
I'm fasting this morning and when I'm finished, I will eat a plate full of green veggies( with some olive oil) and some lean protein. :)
 
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I agree about the 6 meals a day thing....and I don't believe breakfast is a MUST. Since I quit "forcing" myself to eat when I'm not hungry (got past that 5-6 meals a day thing and I eat breakfast when I get hungry) I feel so much better. I have digestive disorders and eating several times a day made them worse! I have more energy and feel less bloated (still getting too many calories for wt loss though, but thats another story) My husband eats 3 meals a day, only snacks IF he is hungry and he doesn't have a weight problem. He's a full time farmer and works very hard so that whole eating several times a day does not apply! I say do whatever you're comfortable with. This whole diet thing is over analized IMO. Keep it simple, eat when you're hungry and eat foods as close to their natural state as possible.
 
I go back and forth with this one. On one hand, I lost a good amount of weight when following Body for Life which is 5-6 meals a day. Yet, I love END of OVEREATING and I know that my *natural* eating pattern is 2-3 larger meals and I am very satisfied. It's all very confusing, but right now I'm going to focus on following my natural body cues!

Lots of wonderful advice and information in the above posts! Thanks for sharing! :D

Becky
 
What an interesting thread!! I too am tired of trying to eat ALL the time to prevent starvation mode!! One look at me and you'll know I am not starving anything!

But frankly, as a new mom, it is almost impossible to eat 6 meals per day and I'll attempt this, then fail, then beat myself up. I don't need that!

I too did the 6 meals thing when working with an IFBB pro fitness/figure competitor. Yeah, I lost weight, leaned out, and gained muscle. But, that was inconvenient before a baby and now seems impossible.

So, I am also going back to eating when hungry, less processed food, and stopping before I'm too full. I lost 30lbs once doing it this way.

My main exercise for weight loss (20lbs of post baby weight) is going to be pushing myself away from the table. Just say no!! Take away the over analyzed headache of healthy eating--I'm over it!!!!
 
Couldn't agree more with all of you:) For years i struggled with 6 mini meals. I was constantly hungry and thinking about food all of the time. I brought it everywhere i went in my trusty cooler and often times stressed about doing things throughout the day in fear that i wouldn't be able to eat every 3 hours. It was terrible. This also set me up on this binge cycle. Since i never felt satisfied with my meals and was always hungry i would go about a week and then i would just eat as much as i could just to feel full. Finally i realized it wasn't working for me and decided to go back to 3 meals a day. I love it. I've lost weight doing this and i no longer obsess. I feel satisfied after my meals and don't think about food all the time. Plus its nice to eat more in a sitting. I think everyone is different so just because eating 5-6 meals a day works for one doesn't mean its going to work for all of us.
 
Well, I guess I'm the exception here! I lost a whole helluva lotta weight (125 lbs) eating 3 meals and 2 snackish-size meals - it kept me from being hungry and I didn't feel like I had to eat a lot, knowing that I only had to eat enough to not be hungry for a few hours, instead of worrying about eating enough to make sure I wasn't hungry for 6 hours. And my snacks are nutritious, so I get valuable nutrients. I know that if I don't eat some protein every few hours, my body will get it from my muscles - and I like them just the way they are, thank you very much. I consider eating every few hours to be one of the smartest things I ever learned to do to treat my body better. I didn't do it because of "starvation mode", I did it because I didn't want to make poor nutritional choices because I was hungry.
 
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My two cents...

kariev said:
I think everyone is different so just because eating 5-6 meals a day works for one doesn't mean its going to work for all of us.
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Different strokes for different folks is how I see it. When I put clients on meal plans, no two are exactly the same. Every body has different nutritional needs, different lifestyles, and different likes and dislikes that must be addressed when meal planning. I have clients that I put on 3 meals a day and I have clients that I put on 6 mini meals a day. The bottom line is that your caloric needs are met in moderate manner and that you are getting essential vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. I do think breakfast is key for more reason than "starvation mode". I think it gives you energy for the day and prevents you from overeating later in the day no matter how many meals you eat. Ever gone the whole day without eating, only to sit down at dinner and gorge yourself??? That's because your body didn't get the nutrients it needed earlier in the day so it's screaming out for nutrients, nutrients, nutrients all in one sitting and it won't stop until it feels it's needs are met. Dangerous. Many have led that sort of an eating pattern and later in life had a heart attack. That's a lot of food for your body to process at once and it's hard on the heart.
Regardless of how many meals you have each day, it's important that you find what works with your schedule, your likes and dislikes and your nutrient needs. Food and meal planning should be enjoyable as well as healthy, rather than stressful. Find what works for you and stick with it - make it a lifestyle change rather than just a diet you go on and off of. Change your behavior = change your body.
 
JodelleFitzh20 said:
Different strokes for different folks is how I see it. When I put clients on meal plans, no two are exactly the same. Every body has different nutritional needs, different lifestyles, and different likes and dislikes that must be addressed when meal planning. I have clients that I put on 3 meals a day and I have clients that I put on 6 mini meals a day. The bottom line is that your caloric needs are met in moderate manner and that you are getting essential vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. I do think breakfast is key for more reason than "starvation mode". I think it gives you energy for the day and prevents you from overeating later in the day no matter how many meals you eat. Ever gone the whole day without eating, only to sit down at dinner and gorge yourself??? That's because your body didn't get the nutrients it needed earlier in the day so it's screaming out for nutrients, nutrients, nutrients all in one sitting and it won't stop until it feels it's needs are met. Dangerous. Many have led that sort of an eating pattern and later in life had a heart attack. That's a lot of food for your body to process at once and it's hard on the heart.
Regardless of how many meals you have each day, it's important that you find what works with your schedule, your likes and dislikes and your nutrient needs. Food and meal planning should be enjoyable as well as healthy, rather than stressful. Find what works for you and stick with it - make it a lifestyle change rather than just a diet you go on and off of. Change your behavior = change your body.
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Awesome advice.:)
 
JodelleFitzh20 said:
Different strokes for different folks is how I see it. When I put clients on meal plans, no two are exactly the same. Every body has different nutritional needs, different lifestyles, and different likes and dislikes that must be addressed when meal planning. I have clients that I put on 3 meals a day and I have clients that I put on 6 mini meals a day. The bottom line is that your caloric needs are met in moderate manner and that you are getting essential vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. I do think breakfast is key for more reason than "starvation mode". I think it gives you energy for the day and prevents you from overeating later in the day no matter how many meals you eat. Ever gone the whole day without eating, only to sit down at dinner and gorge yourself??? That's because your body didn't get the nutrients it needed earlier in the day so it's screaming out for nutrients, nutrients, nutrients all in one sitting and it won't stop until it feels it's needs are met. Dangerous. Many have led that sort of an eating pattern and later in life had a heart attack. That's a lot of food for your body to process at once and it's hard on the heart.
Regardless of how many meals you have each day, it's important that you find what works with your schedule, your likes and dislikes and your nutrient needs. Food and meal planning should be enjoyable as well as healthy, rather than stressful. Find what works for you and stick with it - make it a lifestyle change rather than just a diet you go on and off of. Change your behavior = change your body.
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Perfect advice perfectly put! A voice of reason and wisdom.
 
morningstar said:
Well, I guess I'm the exception here! I lost a whole helluva lotta weight eating 3 meals and 2 snackish-size meals (125 lbs) - it kept me from being hungry and I didn't feel like I had to eat a lot, knowing that I only had to eat enough to not be hungry for a few hours, instead of worrying about eating enough to make sure I wasn't hungry for 6 hours. And my snacks are nutritious, so I get valuable nutrients. I know that if I don't eat some protein every few hours, my body will get it from my muscles - and I like them just the way they are, thank you very much. I consider eating every few hours to be one of the smartest things I ever learned to do to treat my body better. I didn't do it because of "starvation mode", I did it because I didn't want to make poor nutritional choices because I was hungry.
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ITA. This was the case for me as well. I lost the most amount of weight eating 5 to 6 meals a day. I consider "eating" fuel for my body and my workouts. Breakfast is important to me because I workout in the evenings and wake up hungry. My meals are balanced and not huge. I eat just to feel satisfied.
 
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