To be uneasy/confused by what the weight loss coach said?

Starvation mode IS a thing, but not in the way a lot of people think and probably not in the way she’s meaning it. When you lose weight, particularly when you lose a lot, your body slows down your metabolism, as well as increasing hunger, cravings and food seeking behaviours. It’s a survival mechanism from when we were genuinely at risk of starving through famine. That’s why the vast majority of dieters regain weight.

When I was recovering from my ED, I was told to eat within 90 mins of waking but that was more because I didn’t really get proper hunger and fullness signals. I’m not sure it matters when trying to lose weight.

Only eating brunch and dinner isn’t punishing myself. It’s all I want to eat. If 8m hungry at different times, I eat.

You have to work out what works for you and your body, is the simple answer.

If you're hungry, eat breakfast. Make it something low in sugar and higher in protein. If you're not hungry, your body is saying you don't need to eat breakfast. Eating when we're not actually hungry is part of the problem that leads us to gain weight in the first place!

Who decided that that breaking of the fast should be between the hours of 6-11am, and not 12pm? Kelloggs?

this book was life changing for me. I think the science in it is mixed (for example Herman Ponzer is pretty scathing about the view of the prehistoric diet that it presents) but the underlying ideas are very compelling, and his suggestions worked very well for me controlling my weight.

I do think if I eat before or with my first coffee it helps massively - think all the Intermittent Fasting etc works better for men or post menopause but really screws up women otherwise / that has been my experience at least and that 3 (balanced) meals will actually get rid of that weight you can’t lose better - if you are used to kind of ‘punishing’ yourself to lose weight it can be difficult to trust the process but it pays off!

@Aria999 that article was really good. It also chimes with the work of Dr Andrew Jenkinson, a bariatric surgeon, who wrote “Why We Eat (Too Much). He talks a lot about the weight ‘set point’, and uses The Biggest Loser as a great example as to why calorie counting, in the longer term, doesn’t work.

Totally get why you’re confused—“starvation mode” is mostly a myth, especially the way it’s often explained. Weight loss is more about overall intake than meal timing. If the advice didn’t feel right, trust your gut and maybe look for a dietitian who gives more personalised, up-to-date support.

Is she a registered dietician (RD)? If not, I’d ask the GP to refer me to one rather than send me to a coach.

I think it's more of a long term thing. You can do that but it slows your metabolism, making it harder to keep the weight off indefinitely.

My husband and my daughters best friend both told my daughter that by not eating she wouldn't lose weight because of starvation mode, she's gone from a size 14 to size 8 by not eating much

Not for me it’s not. I lose weight relatively easily on two meals a day (about 11 and about 6). Not everyone benefits from early breakfast

Problem is @FoodAppropriation exercise makes you hungry. Weight training makes you very hungry. Marathon training makes you hungry.

Creating muscle requires an increase of energy..

So you're not meant to eat more, but you will be hungrier - which will make it harder to stick to a calorie restricted diet and more likely to fail.

From that study:

Exercise led to a significant weight loss (4 SR‐MAs, MDs ranging from −1.5 to −3.5 kg), fat loss (4 SR‐MAs, MDs ranging from −1.3 to −2.6 kg) and visceral fat loss (3 SR‐MAs, SMDs ranging from −0.33 to −0.56)

Maximum of 3.5kg weight loss -fat 2.6kg (so lean mass 1kg approx loss) - whilst it's statistically significant, it's not really what most obese people are looking for.

It's all about food.

If we want to tackle obesity, we need to improve our food environment and the food that we provide in schools, hospitals, workplaces and any government funded environments (I think the houses of parliament's food is pretty good)

Exercise is great for lots of things, but not significant and sustained weight loss.

"don't expect to lose a lot of weight by ramping up physical activity alone"
well, yes, I did say that...

"Montclair's Thomas warned not to count those calories burned in physical activity toward extra eating"

No-one is disagreeing with that one either

"use physical activity in addition to calorie counting and other behavioral changes."
Again, 20-30% vs 70-80%

thanks, I was just reading that in fact! Says exercise contributes to weight loss but not weight maintenance, which is interesting.

https://health.umms.org/2023/07/31/strength-training-for-weight-loss/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8365736/

https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories

there's loads of research about the impact of strength training.

Technically cardio too, but realistically most people can't reach the level of cardio needed to see a difference. It's not even rocket science, you do cardio, you burn calories, how can that not contribute.

No one has put on weight by exercise more and eating less.

See, if I eat breakfast I’m starving by 11am. If I skip breakfast I can last longer before getting hungry.

I’m rarely hungry when I get up so that’s why I don’t eat anything- though I have coffee.

when you say 'of course it does', do you just mean that should be obvious to all right thinking people, or is there some research you can point us to...?

of course it does. It's not everything, it's about 70-80% diet 20-30% exercise, but weight training has an impact.

The only problem is when people believe it gives them permission to increase their calories, or that it's enough to keep their current diet. People completely over-estimate the amount of calories they burn when they exercise. 30mn exercise twice a week is nothing, neither is "cleaning the house".

Instead of calories, we should have the number of burpees you need. That would make it more obvious. 😂

If you exercise AND diet, of course you see results.

Skipping breakfast is not detrimental - many people have found success with intermittent fasting, although it often works better for men.

Exercise has been continually shown to have no effect on weight loss, it often makes people more hungry. What it can do is help maintain a healthy weight and provide cardiovascular, mobility and strength benefits as well as improving mental health.

Starvation mode - no. Your body will need fewer calories to function in sustained calorie deficit leading to weight loss (muscle/fat mix), especially if you lose muscle which is metabolically active tissue requiring more calories to maintain it (another good reason to weight train)

It sounds like my NHS weight loss experience - it wasn't all total rubbish, but it certainly wasn't evidence based.