To think that "you can't not eat enough"

[Abbey0134]

So I've been on a really strict diet for the last 14 days, lost 6lbs the first week and only 1lb this week. I'm eating between 600 and 800 cals a day. Apparently, I'm not eating enough. Could this be true?

This is a really good read on excessively cutting calories:

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1

Short term under strict clinical conditions 800 calories can be used to combat the effect of things like diabetes. However depriving your body of basic burn calories (which is widely accepted at 1200 calories per day for a pretty sedentary person) will have serious long term effects.

This is not a sustainable plan for losing 4 stone. Up your calories to 1200, you'll still be creating a deficit but your body will still function healthily.

For what it's worth I've lost 3lb a week for the last 4 weeks eating between 1200-1300 calories a day. I have a similar amount of weight to lose so hopefully a decent comparison for you.

4 stone is doable but it’s about finding something you will stick to and that sound depressing. I don’t believe in starvation mode but if you’re an over eater (aka a carb addict) it might help to think of food as fuel and nutrition. I’d be worried about getting adequate fat and protein plus nutrients since very low calorie diets tend to favour fake foods such as artificial sweetener - ie “it’s all about the calories-even if the calories are junk”
I don’t count calories I just eat low carb high fat and the macros take care of themselves. But I have tracked cals and I can eat 1300 to lose a lb a week according to MFP which works.
If you cut out sugar, potatoes and grains you will automatically eat less as you’ll come off the carb-glucose-insulin rollercoaster and feel calmer and less hungry.

Are you doing the Michael Moseley thing?

Starvation mode has been debunked many many times. Yes your body adapts a little but not so much that you stop losing completely - otherwise no-one would die in famines.

Also 800 cals is surprisingly doable on the blood sugar diet. As PP says after a week of feeling like death as your body desperately tells you to eat carbs and that you are on the brink of starvation despite your obvious excess weight, your hormones settle and you just get on with it - yes I know from experience.

All people are not equal.

I will put on weight at 1200 cal a day. At 800 cal a day I will lose around 1lb a week. As a result, I am v overweight. I find it frustrating that everyone assumes that because I'm overweight I must be scoffing chocolate, chips and high calorie unhealthy food. I probably eat healthier than most people, its just the way my body works. Its always pretty much been this way, and I've had plenty of health checks, blood tests etc and there's nothing wrong.

I have to eat a healthy diet (that most people would consider hard core "dieting") to just try to maintain my already overweight body.

It's shit, but it is how it is. OP may well have a metabolism similar to mine.

After a while in starvation mode your body starts preserving the important bits you will not be losing weight instead it eats away at muscle and beware some br vital muscles are your organs hence dying of starvation. No longer will it chase fat or use your metabolism to lose weight it will just shut down a bit by bit. Crossing off the bits I think you might not need in this time of preservation. You cannot live on the amount you're on and it's silly to come on here and ask the question .you will die slowly die.

Info five two, which is 500 days on two days and then eat sensible on other days. But with no snacking and mindful treats on a Saturday.
I am actively trying to lose about four stone.
So far in four weeks I have lost one stone and three pounds.
I haven't ever been able to lose weight by eating 1200 calories and excercising every day.
You will you surprised what 500 calories looks like, today I a having a mango chicken salad which is 99 calories and I am having home made chicken curry with cauliflower rice for dinner. Plenty of water and some carrot sticks tonight.
I am not hungry now at all. I have had plenty of water.
I think the starvation mode thing is bollox TBH.
As a society we eat way too much and if very little nutrition value.

@mrsm43

I am exactly the same as you, eating "normally" makes me put on lots of weight.
I don't eat shit food, I cook from scratch never rarely have take aways etc but I cannot shift weight without restricting myself.

It's like that TV show The Biggest Loser. They are all on low calorie diets and working out like crazy, but they all have weeks where they don't lose anything. It's the overall pattern of weight loss. And, yes, a study showed that pretty much all the contestants gained all the weight back again and buggered up their metabolisms.

Could it be that you have been eating anything saltier than you usually would? If so, it might just be you’re holding onto a bit more water this week. What have you been eating? I think legumes are another food that can cause some people to retain water. Maybe worth switching things up this week and see how that goes.

I’m not sure if the starvation mode theory is exactly correct as we understand it but your metabolism will definitely slow down if you under-eat which will make weight loss harder.

This is magnified if you have an underactive thyroid. Where the thyroid thinks the body is starving and 600-800 cals a day certainly won't convince it otherwise. You need to eat enough for the thyroid to know it doesn't have to hang on to the fat.

Starvation mode isn't bollocks.

It's biology. You're an idiot to think you can override it.

Look up the Minnesota Starvation Experiment

I meant a general your, I'm not singling anyone out in particular.

To those who say that starvation mode is bollocks I would like to point out that of course people who are literally starving have gone beyond that point.

I've just been reading Dr Michael Moseley's Fast 800 Diet and according to him slow and steady isn't always best. Recent research shows that losing weight quickly is motivating and leads to better results. This makes sense to me as I have a lot to lose and working hard and losing a pound or so is very frustrating.

I also think that my diet is way too carb heavy (and too food heavy if I'm honest!) so I'm going to give it a try.

You are correct, there's no such thing as not eating enough to lose weight. What people mean is that it isn't sustainable and it encourages you to fall off the wagon (the starvation mode thing is a myth and has been discredited by many scientific studies). If you actually stick to this religiously over a long period of time then you will lose a lot of weight. The amount of weight you lose will slow down every week though because the thinner you are, the less calories you need to live, so you would need to cut calories even further to continue losing weight at the same rate. You're already eating so few calories though - be careful OP!

Your body will think you're starving and boost metabolism to get as much energy as possible from anything you eat. This will make you put all the weight back on as soon as you go back to normal eating.

It will also alter your hormonal balance to make you want to eat more. Pretty counterproductive really.

Just exercise and eat healthily (veg and nothing processed) and think about health, not weight.

What you're doing at the moment is not at all healthy. You might as well be eating take-aways.

Starvation mode just means that your body starts to adapt to eliminate non-essential functions. If you are eating below your basal metabolic rate (the calories needed to sustain you in a coma) you will always lose weight. Starvation mode brings your total daily energy expenditure a bit closer to your BMR, that is all.

@Abbey0134 just wanted a solidarity 'gastric band didn't work' high five! I was fitted with one 10 years, and although I did lose a substantial amount of weight, it essentially sprang a leak and stopped working. I piled almost all the weight back on, so am starting from scratch again.

I considered doing a VLCD, but I know how much I would struggle with that. I also looked at the 800 cal diet. I've actually gone down the route of keto, so v low carbs (under 30g a day) with a 1400 calorie limit. This has been really successful so far, and I've found it much easier than Slimming World or any other diet, because it helps with my portion control. That is what I struggled with in the first place!

I'm combining it with intermittent fasting as well, and so far so good. I am aiming initially for a 4 stone loss, although technically I will have another 4 to go after that.

Happy to chat, if you want a buddy :)

Starvation mode doesn't stop weight loss, it slows it down. Your body will try to fight the famine and cling on to fat stores, you will become very lethargic and lose less weight than on the correct calories for a sustained loss that doesn't shock the body.

@calilark the failure of the gastric band sucks doesn't it! I still have mine but it's loosened off. One of my biggest mistakes. But there we are, it is what it is. I've tried so many different diets in my life and tbh this one has to work! So I've started a VLCD to try and kick start the weight loss and then intend to move over to a low carb diet.

Even though I'm eating very, very few calories I have felt absolutely fine no headaches or bad side effects. I'll plough on for the next week until I go on holiday and then take it from there.

I've also had a gym referral from my GP which I also intend to begin after my holiday.
Likewise happy to buddy up if you would like.