in no way am i condoning or thinking about becoming an anorexic...?

Question

I always thought if your energy output was less than your energy input, you would loss weight

but why do they say that if you don't eat enough, your body will go into 'starvation' mode and hold onto any calories you consume?

Why then do anorexics keep losing weight? Shouldn't their bodies be in 'starvation' mode?

Answer 1

In a sad way, it's like cannibalism. The body will feast on itself, causing muscle atrophy. Anorexia deprives the body of protein and prevents the normal metabolism of fat. In an effort to protect itself, the body slows down.

Though in starvation mode, people with anorexia continue to lose weight as muscle deteriorates and they lose bone density (due to loss of bone calcium). Even when in "starvation mode", one's body will continue to have some capacity to metabolize.

Answer 2

Anorexics bodies are chronically in starvation-mode. However, your body can't just "hold" every calorie it consumes. Even an anorexic, a -severe- anorexic (BMI less than 12) will have some level of a basal metabolic rage, or BMR.

A normal person's BMR can be anywhere from 1200-2000 calories per day. That's the amount of calories you burn just by existing, digesting, breathing, etc. Anorexics, just like any normal person, breathe, have cardiac function, digest, all that. And all that requires energy. "Starvation mode" is a lowering of the BMR.

Say a 130-pound woman with a BMR of 1250 calories per day decides she doesn't want to eat one day. As a response to the stress and in anticipation of long-term starvation, her body will lower her BMR (say to about 1000 calories per day, I'm pulling numbers out of the air now so don't take this as creed!). Instead of using that extra 250 calories for body function, it will be put into fat stores.

So if an anorexic that weighs 70 lbs. has a BMR of even 500 calories per day, she will only store food after she passes that point. Otherwise, she will continue to burn off more calories than she consumes even if she (or he) doesn't exercise and does still eat.

As an aside, this is why weight loss is the LAST thing that happens when you don't eat. The first thing to go is brain function-- coordination, short-term memory-- and the second thing to go is your ability to stay awake. Because your body isn't allowing these functions the proper amount of energy to perform their tasks, these are the first things that are compromised.

Answer 3

Stop being ridiculous. Starvation mode is not a state you 1) want to get your body into unless you have a death wish and 2) Just breathing uses calories up so even if the person sat in a vegetative state they would still lose weight if they are not putting energy into their bodies.

Answer 4

Their bodies do go into starvation mode- but in the end the body has to burn something, and so it does- any fat, and then finally, it will eat muscle. The heart is a muscle, and many anorexia deaths are from heart failure. What starvation mode means is that the body will lower it's metabolic rate to conserve energy, making weight loss more difficult. Ultimately, if you eat nothing, you will become progressively more thin until you die.

Answer 5

Really thin anorexics I believe are in starvation mode. His/her metabolism has slowed way down from consistent lack of proper food. But he or she is eating SO little, that their body has to get the cals from somewhere just to sustain breathing, organs, and any physical activity.

If the person were to go back to a "normal" diet, their metabolism has slowed so much that they'll probably gain weight pretty fast--fat rather than muscle, since their body would want to store those calories in case the person were to stop eating again.

Answer 6

Anorexics dont gain weight rapidly when they begin to eat again. They actually require a lot more calories to gain weight than an average person. Their bodies sometimes go into a state of hyperburn and they require very high calorie levels to continue weight gain. This is common in very severe cases.

Answer 7

Their bodies ARE in starvation mode, but because of the tiny amounts of calories they consume, their bodies are incapable of sustaining weight indefinitely.
You cannot run in starvation mode for long, you'd eventually die of multiple organ failure.

Answer 8

They don't consume any calories to keep hold of.

Each of us has base rate calorie intake we need just to get into the shower, drive to work etc. Anorexics eat below that base rate so there's nothing 'spare' to hold on to.

Answer 9

Mmm yeah I agree with the BFG. I think it's called "keytosis" or something similar. A housemate and close friend of mine went on a weird diet consisting of well, powder mostly and it kind of trains your body to digest itself. A bit unnerving if you ask me but if worked for her.

And for anyone wondering, no it wasn't that sort of powder...

Answer 10

Because your body needs calories to survive. It takes energy to pump blood, to keep warm, to breathe, to think...so if you eat nothing or next to nothing you will keep losing weight just to keep you alive. Contrary to popular belief you burn muscle as well as fats.