Health & Fitness
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
is 'starvation mode' a myth?
hmmm. google has lots to say about starvation mode and most of it is contradictory.
Do you think it's a myth? Or do you think it's real? How do you define starvation mode? And have you ever experienced it?
I was wondering about what happens when people say that they are eating too little to lose weight effectively. I know lots of people who have had this experience, and I believe them when they say they had to eat more to lose more, but it doesn't make any sense. Why does this happen? how does it work? is this 'starvation mode"? or is it something else?
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Re: is 'starvation mode' a myth?
I wonder this too. If starvation mode is a myth than how come anorexics get so skinny? I don't doubt they damage their metabolisms, but as far as losing weight goes, not eating will = massive weight loss. Look at famine ravaged countries.
I know this is flammable, but the "you aren't eating enough" thing is thrown around a little too much, IMO. I think a lot of the time the problem is people don't realize how much they are actually eating, b/c they don't weigh and measure, and think they are eating much less than they actually are.
I am certain there are instances where people are not eating enough to fuel their bodies for the amount of activity they are doing and this can stall weight loss, but I always pause at the term, "starvation mode".
DD #1 born 9/07 ** DD #2 born 7/11 ** Operation Take Back My Body has begun 10/11
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Eventually your body can no longer sustain and starvation mode peters out.
I've gotten into starvation mode by eating a low number of calories and weighing more than the numbers say I should. I'm still trying to get my metabolism right again. Starvation mode is more the principle of diminishing returns. Anorexics do eat some, but according to most equations 300 cals a day doesn't translate to 70 lbs or whatever.
Its evolution. People used to go through starvation periods and their metabolisms would slow to adapt. You can read some great stories about how not to diet at The Great Fitness Experiment. She over-exercised and under-ate until she gained 10 lbs. I love the blogger there. I empathise with the learning after failing.
I can say that I have thought the same things as you. I have gone through extreme financial hardship, and lost a lot of weight, from just not eating. I was not healthy, I know that, but I wore a size 2 jean, just the same.
I particularly agree with the opinion that a lot of people under estimate their calorie intake.
Please note, I have nothing scientific to back up my opinions, but it just doesn't make sense to me.
Starvation mode and metabolism are really all about trying to match your body's need for energy (in the form of ATP). Your body has minimum requirements just to keep you alive, and then of course your activity level adds to those requirements. Your body will use nutrients in the blood, then glucose stores, then fat stores, and finally protein. The major problem is using protein is that we don't have "stockpiles" of protein, like we do glucose and fats. So in this case, the protein will come from your organs and tissues. But these are also the things that are using energy in the first place - so as starvation continues, you will require less and less calories because you don't have the same need for them. The whole slew of hormones which control metabolism will work to slow down your metabolic rate to prevent this, though they aren't sure how that all works. It's a really hot topic in medical research, mostly since anything they find could be used on the flip side, to increase metabolic rate. HTH!!
TTC #1 since May 2010. BFP #1 - 5/31/10; m/c on 7/22/10
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