to wonder why people say starving yourself won't make you thin?

[Ibelieveyoubutmytommygundont]

Just read an article about Matthew Mcconaughey losing a ridiculous amount of weight for a film role - by just surviving on a very small amount of food a day.

I lost a stone in 2 weeks because it was an extremely hectic time and I just didn't get chance to eat properly.

Yet so many people say starving yourself doesn't make you thin, it slows down your metabolism and you won't lose any weight.

(I don't and would never recommend that anyone starves themselves to lose weight as its obviously not healthy)

I had 15 teeth out 2 months ago. I lived on soup. I lost well over a stone and even though I can now eat again, the weight hasn't gone back on. Of course, it may do eventually. But one thing I found was I now can't eat the amount I did. I look at the huge amount of junk I took in and wondered how I did it. I think your stomach must shrink.
So I've since wondered whether this starving yourself makes you fatter idea isn't just a myth. I'd been trying to lose a bit of weight for ages and in the end nothing worked until I was physically unable to eat so much.

I did a Very low calorie diet 2 years ago and lost 2 stone in 8 weeks, since then i've gained about 6 pounds of that back.

I've sadly seen several friends go through the 'divorce diet', barely eating for several weeks in the aftermath of discovery of an affair. They all dropped significant amounts of weight, and it does seem to have stayed off.

But why go hungry when you don't have to?

our body works pretty much similar to a.n.other persons body ,a person attempting to remove excess ,if struggling ,would be advised to consider their >age, work,inc.SAHM, general health,lifestyle , if putting "on" muscle (blokes) was as simple as moving weights/sweating /"going for it" all labourers would have the body of addonis ,sadly ,not . So, if loosing weight was as easy peesy as "starving" yourself(whilst prob damaging some of your organs)does work for some it cannot work for all ,otherwise we would not be posting about same

I have a theory the "divorce diet" isn't solely emotional. It's because you get back into the habit of pleasing yourself and eating what/when you want to, rather than feeling you have to dish up big meals for someone else. Depends how you shared the cooking though, obviously.

I eat a meal every night, during the day I may have a piece of toast or cereal.
I'll sometimes have a fry up at the weekend if ds is around, then find I'm not hungry in the evening.
I don't tend to get hungry at all really, I have a small appetite and can make a bar of chocolate last a couple of days.
I've never been overweight, so maybe you can just train your body to not want as much.
Dunno really, I do smoke but even the times I stopped i didn't put on weight.

Cigarettes can act as an appetite suppressant LadyB

Lady, I'm the same and always have been. I can't eat more than one meal a day.

The only times in my life I've eaten anything approaching normal amounts were my pregnancies as I forced myself to for the babies' sakes and I piled on weight.

I have never stored fat or stopped losing weight when eating a LCD. Not that I recommend it, but I think it's BS for the most part.

I get what they are trying to say but I have seen so many people take it too literally and think that if you eat a low calorie diet you will gain weight, which is bizarre. You will slow down your metabolism and when you eat normally you will probably put a lot of the weight back on but starving yourself will make you thin but is not sustainable in the long run.

I must admit that my metabolism is pretty shot. I lost five stone, I never starved myself but I did it more quickly than I should have done and now I have to eat a pathetic amount of calories to just maintain my weight. I have an under-active thyroid which I am medicated for and my levels aren't too bad so I am pretty sure it's was the fast weight loss. Kept it off for a couple of years but darn it, I have to eat very little to do so.

I always lose weight when I skip meals or go hungry. There is some truth in it.

Yes StuntGirl, I've heard that, the longest I stopped was 18 months but i didn't eat more, I did chew a lot of gum and eat polo mints though
I'm not stealth boasting here, I'm just not that food orientated.
If I eat out and have a huge portion on my plate, rather than my taste buds going yuuum, I just feel overfaced.
It's just me, but I can totally understand those who can't lose weight as it's the equivalent of me stopping smoking. Easier for me actually, because food is a necessity, smoking isn't.

When I was 19 I went on a huge detox diet because I was overweight not fat, it started with a diet book called, 'size 12 in 3 weeks'. It also involved walking and toning exercises. It was very restrictive with the calories but it did kick start huge weight loss for me- I went from about 11 stone to 8 in about 7 months. The trouble was by the end it became addictive and I didn't stop dieting or just generally starving myself.. By my early twenties I'd put on a stone but stayed at 9 stone until I had DC1, 9 years later. The fitness regime fell by the wayside a bit in my 20's but I was easily eating 2000 calories again during those latter years and I didn't go back up to 11 stone because I was eating normally again.

you may well be correct that scientifically speaking starving does make you thinner in most situations, but of all the medical myths to question I'd be happy to stand behind this one. because choosing to starve yourself to lose weight is pretty unhealthy in lots of ways and likely to have negative long-term effects, even if you do lose weight in short term.

I did chew a lot of gum and eat polo mints though

This reminded me of the "polo diet" invented by Samantha Brick.

Are you SB Lady ?

It's because when you don't eat your body goes into starvation mode so when u do eat it stores every thing it can

"I'm just not that food orientated"

Probably much more to do with it!

MadBusLady I think you're on to something with that. There's a starvation phase in the first crisis weeks, and then the weight doesn't come back on when eating in a way more closely aligned to own appetite, not considering another adult.

About starvation mode.

As I understand it, this is a set of physiological changes that occurs when you've been consistently deprived of adequate calorie intake over a long period of time - and they are ultimately very damaging because they start to eat muscle mass. It doesn't kick in because you've skipped breakfast.

It's because when you don't eat your body goes into starvation mode so when u do eat it stores every thing it can

Is that true though? ... I mean for example if for a long time I ate 2000 calories a day (so not starving myself) and suddenly I was eating 3000 calories a day then I would gain weight quickly and gain it as fat.

starving, bloody silly diets and so on do make you lose weight short term. Because it is calories in versus calories out.

but people who do this usually end up fatter because they learn nothing about healthy eating. Those who keep starving end up dead and so contribute nothing further to the discussion.

anyone who says 'the 'x' diet works for me each time I use it' is deluded. If it worked, they wouldn't have to use it more than once.

"It's because when you don't eat your body goes into starvation mode so when u do eat it stores every thing it can

Is that true though?"

No, I'm pretty sure that's been disproved time and time again.

I think one poster upthread hit the nail on the head (sorry, too lazy to go back and credit you) when she said that if you starve yourself you're more likely to binge/eat unhealthier foods when you stop starving yourself.

Isn't your metabolism heavily regulated by your thyroid function, hormones and endocrine system? And a lot more complex than simply how many calories you tend to consume?

Ibelieveyou I'm surprised it hasn't worked for you.

It seems to be very effective for anyone I've spoke to...on your eating days, did you still control the calorie intake?

The thing about the 5:2 diet is that it's important not to restrict your food intake on the non-fast days and just eat normally (don't massively overheat, either).

If you keep restricting your diet on non-fast days, your body does go into starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down. And losing weight will be much more difficult.