Perhaps a silly question, but everybody talks about having to eat at least 1200 calories to avoid a major starvation mode stall. I don't know a lot about gastric bypass, but it would seem that if your stomach has been reduced to the size of a walnut, you would have difficulty getting your calories. Assuming this is true, how are bariatric surgery paitents able to lose weight?

I ask because I sometimes have trouble eating 1200 calories a day. Between work, school, family, and a greatly decreased appetite it can be a struggle. On the upside I don't have cravings for anything I shouldn't be eating!

Well... its all kind of theoretical, IMHO. Your thyroid and other bodily functions do respond when carbs are calories are low by turning down. Some people have said this effect can be up to 30% slower metabolism. One way you could monitor this yourself is to take your temperature every day at the same time. If it starts getting lower, you might want to take that as an indication that your body is adjusting to lower carbs/cals and then try to eat more for awhile and turn it back up.

Or you can just live with losing weight more slowly.

Hi Enna,

In my view, 1,200 calories wouldn't qualify it as being on starvation mode.

If you were regularly consuming around 800 cals or so for a period of a few weeks, then you might approach the dreaded starvation mode.

If you're eating anywhere from at least 1,200 - 1,500 cals and getting all of your daily nutrients, then I agree with you on not eating when you're not hungry.

Either way, don't fret it if you're eating 1,200 cals per day. Don't let the dreaded "starvation mode" chisel away at your sanity while lc'ing if you're eating until satiated.

Best of luck!

Sorry Enna, but with 1200 calories and 238 pound body weight you ARE in starvation mode. This comes close to anorexia.

At 238 pound I gues you should, when doing some exercising, have some 2000 cal or more each day. If you eat less you are destroying your body.

Starvation mode takes time to get into it is not something to worry about if you are eating well and exercising if you have excess weight to lose.

I disagree that 1200 cals is starvation mode.(just my thought)

Just as an aside, I've known people of weight who are doing very low cal/carb, mixed with higher cal/carb days, and they're losing weight quite nicely. I don't think its such a concern for people who have a lot of weight to lose, at least according to Lyle McDonald.

I lose weight at between 1200 and 1500 cals. I find that if I go lower than say 1000 that's when the starvation bit kicks in.
You are right to wonder about it, but let's say one day out of 5 you're not hungry, then it's no big deal if you can't get the cals up that day. The thing is, if you start to see a stall occuring then adjust things.
Don't worry, if you're losing then that's ok.

Thanks for the input! Last week I started adding up the calories I was consuming and was shocked that on several days I had less than 900 calories. On other days I was up to or a little over 1200. This is probably a temporary situation as I am eating a lot of high bulk, low calorie items to keep up with the output of the garden. We are picking a dozen 15-18 inch English cucumbers and filling a 2 gallon bucket of green beans every other day! We are passing as much as we can off to the neighbors and our families and I am freezing and canning like crazy - yet we still have vegetables stacked up on the kitchen counter. I wish I could send them down to Louisiana and Mississippi.

In any case, I feel great despite the lower than expected calorie consumption. My weight loss is a little slower than I had expected but it's steady and as long as I feel good, I'll be satisfied.

I think anorexia is closer to ZERO calories. I have worked with people with anorexia and 1200 calories is more like a week's worth for them...

Gotta agree...I dont think 1200 calories is a bad level to be at for weight loss. When I first ever lost weight (14 years ago or so)...I lost 100 pounds on a low-cal diet and it melted off. I hated it...boring, boring, boring way to eat for me and I love Atkins...but it DID work...and I had no health issues whatsoever.

A pound of weight translates into about 3500 calories, so this means cutting your intake by 3500-7000 calories a week or 500-1000 calories per day. Now having said that...we're talking deducting that from a normal, healthy diet. So if, when you're eating properly...you consume 2200 calories a day...then an 800-1000 calorie deduction is reasonable and would result in a 1-2 pound weight loss per week.

Is 1200 calories starvation mode? It depends on your activity level. I would say that if you are active then yes you are in starvation mode. If you are sedetary then I would say that you would be getting close to starvation mode but probably not quite there.

Why do people lose weight after gastric bypass surgery even though they are in starvation mode? I can only theorize. My belief is that your body can only turn your metabolism down so far and then beyond that it must consume calories to function. It is extremely unhealthy though.

Tom

Ana is consuming under 500 calories a day on a sustained basis. I don't think you have to worry about starvation mode at 1200 calories...no matter how much you weigh...lol.

Starvation mode is really overrated, and the majority of people here don't have to worry about it, because over a period of time, they are never, ever going to eat such low calories over a period of time. Its not something that happens in a day or two and its one of my pet peeves how people toss it around. I mean...if someone weighs 200 lbs. and eats 1000 calories a day....they are not in starvation mode, people...lol.


L

Yeah, their body is pillaging the fat stores for fuel.

Just eat plenty of protein, like 1g or close to it per pound of weight, so that your muscles won't get pillaged to make glucose.

Counter to what some people are saying here, Starvation mode is real. I have read that it takes anywhere between 3 and 4 days of consecutive undernorishment before it kicks in.

You can prove it to yourself if you wish. First you need to ascertain your daily burn rate. That will give you your breakeven point (you will neither gain nor lose weight at this amount of calorie intake). Then begin to consume that amount of calories to create a baseline. Then drop your caloris by 1200 or so. (This will induce starvation mode). Closely monitor your progress. In the first three days you should lose approximately one lb. Because 1200*3=3600 deficit. If there were no starvation mode then this trend should continue. It won't. You body will lower its metabolism to counter act the decreased intake.

Then begins the vicious cycle. Now that your metabolism is low and you begin to eat normally the weight will come back with interest (due to lower metabolism).

Test it for yourself before you call this issue a farce.

Tom

I don't think your test really shows it. Whenever you diet you always lose a lot of water weight at first. Especially if you're going lower carb. And yes, its about the first three days all that water whooshes off. Weight loss isn't linear, especially if you're female.

And the effect is limited. Some people would have you think if you lowered your calories enough you wouldn't lose weight at all, which is preposterous.

And lastly, no one knows at what point your body starts to conserve energy, or even exactly how, or why. It could be that people who think they aren't limiting calories simply because they don't count them, actually are. It might be that low carb also sends the body into "starvation mode" or it could be that starvation mode is actually insignificant unless you're restricting your calories to insanely small levels for a long period of time.

The other thing is, the effect of a lowered metabolism isn't permanent according to an article recently published and quoted in the media area. Although, I suspect people don't realize that being much lighter they don't require as many calories each day. Also, if you diet poorly and don't eat enough protein you will lose muscle mass and that will also cause you to require less calories.

Does calorie restriction permanently poop up your metabolism?

This study suggests no:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...3&dopt=Citation



And another study: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/49/5/745

I found searching scholar.google.net using "low calorie diet" was the best results.