I deprived myself of calories. am i in starvation mode, help!?

Question

I deprived myself of calories.. so am I in starvation mode?
I weigh 300lbs and i always ate atleast 5000 calories or more a day. but then i went on a low calorie diet for the past week and a half cutting my calories down to 850-1200. and i was so happy a week ago cuz i lost 7lbs but then today i got on the scale and im back to 300 again! is this because of something called starvation mode? if so what is it and how can i start losing weight now that i messed up.. or did i not mess up?? ok thanks so much! oh and anyone got results from the meddatarian diet or something like that?? what is it? thanks so much guyz.

Answer 1

Eating less than 1400 calories a day will put a normal's body into "starvation mode". Starvation mode is where a a person's body will drop it's basal metabolic rate, and will try to conserve the body fat that it has by breaking down lean body tissue (muscle) to make up for missing calories.

The original weight lost may have mostly been water. Because you were eating so much less, you ingested less water (food has water content). Now, your body may be trying to hang onto water.

I'm really interested in knowing why you've gone on such a severe calorie restriction. That sounds like too extreme of a change too quickly.

Here's my canned response to people that are wanting to lose weight, and I hope it helps (forget "diets", you want a lifestyle change):

Eat only when you're truly hungry, several times a day. Think more like five or six small meals daily, so your metabolism doesn't sink and your blood sugar stays steadier.

Eat very slowly. It takes your brain about 20 minutes to realize when the stomach is full.

Eat meals about the size of a loosely closed fist which is the natural and unstretched size of a stomach. If you’re eating out, eat only half of your food, and take home the other half.

Drink a glass of water a several minutes before eating, and reconsider your hunger state. A lot of hunger pangs are actually your body asking for water. Drink tons of water, no less than a half gallon a day (shoot for a full gallon).

Eat natural, whole foods. Stay away from processed, prepackaged stuff, if possible.

Do not drink sodas! Your body has a harder time metabolizing high fructose corn syrup (it’s everywhere - look for it in anything sweet, and even things such as spaghetti sauce), so its calories are more likely to be stored as fat.

Exercise (be sure to break a sweat) for at least 30 minutes a day.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 2

I don't think you are in starvation mode. You probably are 10 days or so from your period and you will always gain 5-7 pounds of water retention then. You should be drinking 32-64 ounces of plain water a day, 850-1200 is a low calorie diet but not bad. You should never go under 700 calories in a day because your body will start stealing vitamins and nutrients from your bones and tissues. You should only weigh yourself every 2 weeks. Keep going. What you do right now will show up on the scale next month. Also, weight kind of comes on in chunks and comes off in chunks. You may go a few days and not lose anything....and then all of a sudden you lose 3 pounds. Go buy a Package of Imperial Margarine. That is what one pound is. Same weight, same amount of calories. Keep it in your refrigerator to remind you of your progress. Stick to what you are doing. Remember if you don't do this..what will you do? Think of next year and how happy you will be with your results! Start walking and you will get quicker results. Remember that muscle weighs twice what fat does. Muscle is good...it is where the fat is burned.

Answer 3

Everyones body has a specific weight point..basically you said you lost 7 lbs btu now you are back at 300..the reason is because your body is used to being 300 lbs and will go back to that unless you slim down gradually and keep it off for atleast 6 months! Sounds like a long time but it will be much more effective if you eat less gradually. The best thing g oing right now for anyone to lose weight is 5 small meals a day and DO NOT skip breakfast if anything breakfast should be the most you eat all day because it helps keep you fueled all day and eliminates you from overeating at your other meals. I am pretty sure the Med. Diet is basically greek foods such as leafy green veggies chicken fish tomatoes and so on..but I think your best bet is to just begin by eating less more.
Hope this helps if youhave any more questions just ask.

Answer 4

Don't cut so much so fast. The thing is you cut way back, and then continued the way you were, which caused the bounce.
Just lower it 100 calories every two days or so...that's lowering your intake, and causing you to make better decisions little by little...without feeling deprived...

Another thing that happens is those 7 pounds go away, you get excited, feel you can just have this because you've done so good, and then you bounce back.

I used to weigh 256 and went down to 176 and am now around 200 again.

Answer 5

Well according to the United States Army the maxium calories for the starvation diet is 500 a day, no more. I'm 5'2 140 and I ate maxium of 500 calories a day for a month, I didn't loose any weight at all but my skin got firmer, so I don't really know the answer but I do know that if you're going to do the starvation diet you need a maxium of 500 calories a day.

Answer 6

find calorie/fitness calculator on the net, enter your stats, take 300-400 calories off that number and that's how much you need to lose weight.
5-8servings of fruit and veggies a day
8 glasses of water a day
5-6 small meals instead of 3 big ones (breakfast is the most important - make sure to get complex carbs like whole wheat bread, oatmeal, fruit etc)
4-6 times a week cardio for 30-50min, light weight training, many reps
no junk food, no sodas, no alcohol, no white flour (cakes, cookies, white bread, pasta etc.), nothing high in sugar (ice cream)

Answer 7

how much you eat should depend on your activity level. most likely you are not in starvation mode. i would reccomend exercising more and eating about 100 or so more healthy calories.