Is starvation mode real?

[olivianicole094250]

Ok, so I recently started logging my calories and I found out I only eat around 900-1000 calories per day without trying to diet. I am 5'6 and 125 pounds. I heard that I you eat too few calories, your body goes into 'starvation mode' and slows your metabolism which makes it harder to lose weight, and can even cause you to gain weight. Is this true? If so, what should I do to reverse the affects without gaining weight?

Updates

+1 y

Just a side note- I'm not trying to diet or lose weight, I just logged my calories out of curiosity. I'm never hungry though and its kind of hard to eat more without worrying I'm going to gain weight, but I don't want my metabolism to slow.

[Wondahwoman]

Yes that is true. Calorie intake is different for everyone.. If you want to increase yours but worry about gaining weight maybe try to increase your daily intake slowly. And be careful of what you add as well. Try to add more proteins, fruits, and veggies. Those will less likely add weight, and your body can use. Increasing with more carbs and junk food will most likely make you pack on pounds though. But don't cut out carbs completely. So many people do this and it just isn't healthy. Complex carbs which take your body longer to digest are your best bet. You're full longer and you eat less of them.

[Kiwedin]

Yes, youtube "the great starvation experiment" or "Minnesota starvation experiment" and you can see the whole study and what happened to the subjects. You can't reverse it, it's your body's defense mechanism against famine. When you eat few calories, you're body wants to save itself by storing things as fat easier, so when you go back to eating normally, you're body is still conserving its energy until you're healthy again. The human body is amazing. Don't starve it. Eat in abundance, just eat healthy foods.

[Anonymous]

It can cause your metabolism to slow down, but people often misunderstand starvation mode. It means that your resting metabolic rate will slow, but studies usually find it maxes out within a couple hundred calories of what it would normally be. Your body can only shut down so much before it has to pull calories from other places to survive.

900 calories is unhealthy and I would say that losing weight this way isn't possible healthily (nor desirable). You need to up it to 1200 then exercise if you want to be in better shape to create a calorie deficit.

[Rodismus]

From what I understand... which is very little. Starvation mode is when you get little to no calories and your body starts to burn every bit of fat to keep going. Followed by muscle and then organs to keep the brain and heart alive.

[Rodismus]

I forgot to add, marathon runners can force this by avoiding all sugar and carbs since fat has more energy in it that your body will store in sugars, about 90 minutes worth of energy. But since they do eat they don't lose muscle mass or suffer organ failure.

[Goldie757]

1. Yes its real.
2. At 125lbs and 5'6" you don't need to lose weight but I would reccommend general healthy eating and exercise.
3. Very low calorie are unhealthy and you will most likely gain the weight back plus a little extra when to stop the diet.

[Sam_1722]

900-1000 is good and you don't need to lose weight.. Yes you do go into starvation but that's like the extreme! if you want details send me a message.. I'll explain it to you

[cinderelli]

Yes it is very very VERY true