Agreed. Wholeheartedly. Experienced it.
It's a calories in vs calories out situation always. Starvation mode is a myth spawned from metabolic syndrome histrionics.

I've lost a little muscle once when restricting (heavily) but I was working out at the same time (stupidly/cleverly)- the body easily breaks down muscle when working out, and if it can't repair it, you lose it.

 

Agreed. Wholeheartedly. Experienced it.
It's a calories in vs calories out situation always. Starvation mode is a myth spawned from metabolic syndrome histrionics.
I've lost a little muscle once when restricting (heavily) but I was working out at the same time (stupidly/cleverly)- the body easily breaks down muscle when working out, and if it can't repair it, you lose it.

Interesting, I've never thought about that exercising/muscle loss thing you mentioned. Good to know, and makes sense!

 

Starvation mode is a myth

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

 

I agree with the starvation mode is crap. Your body is intelligent enough to know to burn the fat first before eating your muscles and organs especially when there is fat to spare. It annoys me when people say that to me, don't skip meals crap!

 

It drives me bonkers when people ask me about that. I'm like, "I'm built to survive a famine... skipping a day or two of eating is hardly going to kill me". Yeesh. /eyeroll/ Then of course there is the opposite where people see overweight folks eating and get all self righteous about it and start picking apart food choices and generally judging. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation out there these days.

 

I believe starvation mode happens only when you are actually starving, at a low body weight and not intaking fuel for your body. If you are over weight your body is not going to go into starvation mode obviously, because you cannot be "starving" if you're fat.. its just science.

 

I agree those of us with MORE than enough fat to spare can withstand starvation mode, better yet we can barely even see a muscle. Now once I'm lean enough I will build muscle through weight training during restricting to keep some shape.These ladies are my thinspiration. View attachment 57667

 

I absolutely agree! It's stupid to think that something as complicated and self-regulatory as our bodies wouldn't be able to tell itself to burn the excess body fat before the muscle. Back when I actually was actually keeping to my 800 or less calories a day limit I lost about ten pound in two weeks, even four pounds in one day, because my body started eating the fat not my muscles.

 

Thank you for this post.

 

Thank you for this post.

You're welcome

 

Agreed. Wholeheartedly. Experienced it.
It's a calories in vs calories out situation always. Starvation mode is a myth spawned from metabolic syndrome histrionics.

I've lost a little muscle once when restricting (heavily) but I was working out at the same time (stupidly/cleverly)- the body easily breaks down muscle when working out, and if it can't repair it, you lose it.

Both the OP post and this ^^^ makes sense to me.

I would love to know what you guys think about someone working out while fasting.

With my limited knowledge I'm assuming its not a great idea because no new amino acids are coming into the system so surely your going to just say bye bye to those muscles a little bit at a time no ?

I see loads of fasting websites well the forums mostly and everyone's like yea "the fat will turn into muscle" but how the hell can fat do that because on a molecular level they are so dam different no no no it cant right ? I mean wtf fats designed for insulation, physical protection and a fantastic energy store. Muscle tissue is mostly made up of proteins not lipids and has a totally different job.

Forgive me I haven't been to school for a very long time and cant remember a whole bunch.

It just seems clear to me that exercise and fasting don't go together but then again the body is kinda strange sometimes I guess.

Anyone got an educated opinion on this ? I would love to hear it because in all honesty I would love to understand this all better.

 

i'm skeptical about this because a couple years ago i had been losing weight (at a high bmi) and got to a point in my life where i started restricting heavily (<1000kcal per day) plus exercising and my weight loss completely stopped and stalled for more than 6 months. i was, at this point, still overweight/on the verge of obese. i started eating more and i started losing weight again almost immediately. i'm not sure what could explain this other than the dreaded starvation mode.

 

Agreed. Anyone who doesn't think this is just delusional. Most people confuse starvation mode for plateauing. People always say "eat more to lose more weight" but what they don't realize is that they are changing up their diet... something which is very effective at breaking a plateau lmfao.

 

Plateaus and the phenomenon of "not losing weight and doing everything right" are caused by stress hormones like cortisol.

Elevated Cortisol (to a detrimental point):
Water retention
Muscle breakdown for energy
Trouble losing fat
Cravings at night

Low calorie diets raise this hormone. Lots of cardio on a low calorie diet raises this. Different people react to it physiologically in different ways. If someone prolongs this way of life, it can make it worse.

I think it's more simple for people to coin it "starvation mode", but really it's this intricate hormonal issue.

 

It's b.s. for everyone, even if you aren't overweight. This is common knowledge

 

i'm skeptical about this because a couple years ago i had been losing weight (at a high bmi) and got to a point in my life where i started restricting heavily (<1000kcal per day) plus exercising and my weight loss completely stopped and stalled for more than 6 months. i was, at this point, still overweight/on the verge of obese. i started eating more and i started losing weight again almost immediately. i'm not sure what could explain this other than the dreaded starvation mode.

Lol you are funny!

 

Both the OP post and this ^^^ makes sense to me.

I would love to know what you guys think about someone working out while fasting.

With my limited knowledge I'm assuming its not a great idea because no new amino acids are coming into the system so surely your going to just say bye bye to those muscles a little bit at a time no ?

I see loads of fasting websites well the forums mostly and everyone's like yea "the fat will turn into muscle" but how the hell can fat do that because on a molecular level they are so dam different no no no it cant right ? I mean wtf fats designed for insulation, physical protection and a fantastic energy store. Muscle tissue is mostly made up of proteins not lipids and has a totally different job.

Forgive me I haven't been to school for a very long time and cant remember a whole bunch.

It just seems clear to me that exercise and fasting don't go together but then again the body is kinda strange sometimes I guess.

Anyone got an educated opinion on this ? I would love to hear it because in all honesty I would love to understand this all better.

I'm not positive on the science of this but I know that when I exercise regularly I make sure that I eat lean protein simply for muscle growth. I have this weird idea that if I eat something with a lot of fat in it then my body will store the fat but that protein is exempt from storage if I exercise. I know that is ludicrous since the body breaks everything down but... my smart brain and my emotional brain are two different monsters. =P TL;DR- lean protein doesn't hurt you. =P

 

I don't believe in starvation mode and I'm not overweight. I go crazy when I see people flipping out saying that they've only eaten 500 calories a day for weeks on end AND exercised and they haven't lost a pound or have gained weight.....it's IMPOSSIBLE. As you lose weight your metabolism slows because you weigh less.....if you're severely restricting calories and have got tent o the point where your heart rate has slowed and your energy levels have plummeted....yes, your metabolic rate will slow....SLIGHTLY. It's not as drastic as you think.

If starvation mode were a real thing, anorexics wouldn't become underweight and we wouldn't have a problem with people starving to death in our world. It's just the most popular "nutrition" concept around right now....being obsessed with metabolic rate and eating frequently. In the 80's and 90's, everyone was obsessed with carbs and cutting out meat....now it's protein and eating frequently to keep your metabolic rate up....in a few years it will be something else.

 

I don't believe in starvation mode and I'm not overweight. I go crazy when I see people flipping out saying that they've only eaten 500 calories a day for weeks on end AND exercised and they haven't lost a pound or have gained weight.....it's IMPOSSIBLE. As you lose weight your metabolism slows because you weigh less.....if you're severely restricting calories and have got tent o the point where your heart rate has slowed and your energy levels have plummeted....yes, your metabolic rate will slow....SLIGHTLY. It's not as drastic as you think.

If starvation mode were a real thing, anorexics wouldn't become underweight and we wouldn't have a problem with people starving to death in our world. It's just the most popular "nutrition" concept around right now....being obsessed with metabolic rate and eating frequently. In the 80's and 90's, everyone was obsessed with carbs and cutting out meat....now it's protein and eating frequently to keep your metabolic rate up....in a few years it will be something else.

Agreed. I think a lot of the time, people underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how many calories they burn while exercising.

And yes, the metabolic slow-down is generally not significant enough to counteract the huge calorie deficit created by restricting to very low calories.

 

Both the OP post and this ^^^ makes sense to me.

I would love to know what you guys think about someone working out while fasting.

With my limited knowledge I'm assuming its not a great idea because no new amino acids are coming into the system so surely your going to just say bye bye to those muscles a little bit at a time no ?

I see loads of fasting websites well the forums mostly and everyone's like yea "the fat will turn into muscle" but how the hell can fat do that because on a molecular level they are so dam different no no no it cant right ? I mean wtf fats designed for insulation, physical protection and a fantastic energy store. Muscle tissue is mostly made up of proteins not lipids and has a totally different job.

Forgive me I haven't been to school for a very long time and cant remember a whole bunch.

It just seems clear to me that exercise and fasting don't go together but then again the body is kinda strange sometimes I guess.

Anyone got an educated opinion on this ? I would love to hear it because in all honesty I would love to understand this all better.

Well, first, fat cannot "turn into muscle." Fat and muscle are different tissues. I think what people are TRYING to say when they say "the fat will turn into muscle" is that when you simultaneously build muscle mass and lose fat, you will have a higher ratio of muscle to fat (makes sense right?).

As far as exercising while fasting, I'm still learning about that. These are my theories:

So, there really two types of exercise that I care about: exercises that burn calories (aerobic activities) and exercises that build/tone muscle mass.

Fasting & calorie-burning exercises: it makes sense to me, following the calories in/calories out logic (the whole, if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight), it makes sense that while taking in very low calories (800 or less, generally speaking)which already creates a deficit since we all burn a certain amount of calories just by existing (called your BMR or RMR), if you burn even more calories through exercising aerobically (running, walking, jogging, whatever gets your heart rate and respiration up), you will create an even larger calorie deficit and therefore lose more weight.

Fasting & muscle building/toning exercises: this one, I haven't had as much experience with. I've heard different things from different people. Some say it's very difficult if not impossible to build muscle while fasting, or that you will lose muscle mass/tone. Others say your muscles will rebuild themselves just like any other person doing exercises that will build/tone muscle mass (weight lifting, resistance exercises, pilates, etc). It seems to ME that the body might take care of muscles differently than fat during a state of very low calorie intake, but I'm not sure how that would present itself. It makes sense to me that the body would be able to, in its sophisticated survival safeties it always seems to have in place, make sure that muscle, if damaged (which is what you do when you lift weights, etc.), would be able to be repaired by some internal process. However, that is just a guess on my part, as I don't have a lot of experience with building/losing muscle mass really. Other peoples' opinions/experiences would be appreciated on this one!

I do know that protein helps with muscle repaid (as well as other necessary functions of the body).

I'm taking in 150g of protein a day. So, I'm going to be starting a weight lifting/resistance exercises/pilates regimen so I'll be interested to see how my lean body mass increases or decreases. I'm currently at 150lbs lean body mass. We'll see, I guess!

 

Lol you are funny!

i don't see what is so funny about it. i was just sharing my personal experience. before i had that happen, i had gone from obese to normal weight the "healthy way" and then gained the weight back. i started losing the weight again healthily but when i was desperate to lose the weight again as fast as possible, that's when i started restricting heavily and that happened. so it isn't like i'm inexperienced and was miscounting calories or any such nonsense. i was extremely strict with everything and knew exactly what i was doing. i know people on here very much want to believe that starvation mode is a myth but i am not so sure based on my personal experience.

 

i don't see what is so funny about it. i was just sharing my personal experience. before i had that happen, i had gone from obese to normal weight the "healthy way" and then gained the weight back. i started losing the weight again healthily but when i was desperate to lose the weight again as fast as possible, that's when i started restricting heavily and that happened. so it isn't like i'm inexperienced and was miscounting calories or any such nonsense. i was extremely strict with everything and knew exactly what i was doing. i know people on here very much want to believe that starvation mode is a myth but i am not so sure based on my personal experience.

That's okay to share your personal experience and what you believe. I expressed what I believe, and you have every right to do the same. Even if we don't agree, I can still respect your truth and your experience.

 

Man Still no clue about these subjects. Honestly the more I read and learn the more muddy the water gets.

 

i don't see what is so funny about it. i was just sharing my personal experience. before i had that happen, i had gone from obese to normal weight the "healthy way" and then gained the weight back. i started losing the weight again healthily but when i was desperate to lose the weight again as fast as possible, that's when i started restricting heavily and that happened. so it isn't like i'm inexperienced and was miscounting calories or any such nonsense. i was extremely strict with everything and knew exactly what i was doing. i know people on here very much want to believe that starvation mode is a myth but i am not so sure based on my personal experience.

Oh you were serious.

If starvation mode was real and people stopped losing weight on little intake people would not from starvation. Sorry if I offended you, I thought you wrre being sarcastic.

 

Muscles are easier to burn down because it's of protein-chains whoch is easier to loosen for your body. Fat will be burnt in the same time but it's HARDER to cut in its components than muscles.... so you need to train your muscles OR your body WILL use your muscles before your fat.

I can explain it completely biological if you want but I'm not that goo in english so i hope I don't have to