Question About Starvation Mode

Joe said:

Hello all,

I've been trying to lose a few extra pounds through diet and regular exercise. I've read that
total daily calorie intake shouldn't be below 1000 calories daily or your body goes into
starvation mode and ends up storing more fat. My question relates to how many calories I need when
exercising. If I normally eat 2000 calories to maintain my weight, and drop down to about 1500
calories per day, I'm creating 500 calorie deficit. Now, through my exercise (I've been running).
Say, I run 6 miles that same day. On the average, I've burned an additional 600 calories. This
means my net calorie intake for the day is at 900 calories. Does this mean my body would go into
starvation mode, or does it work differently since I actually ate 1500 calories and burned the 600
calories off through exercise as opposed to just not eating 600 calories? Thanks.

joe

We have several mechanisms in place to resist weight/lean mass losses. Anytime you eat less some of
those mechanisms are in operation. You will lose weight but it may not exactly follow the typical
3500 cal deficit = 1 pound, and you can deduct from the same weight you started after you lost
weight. When you lose weight and exercise you become a smaller, leaner, more efficient machine and
your energy requirements will be somewhat less too. You will continue to lose weight but not at the
same rate. Pete

Joe,

Very Low Calorie diets (VLCD) don't have any advantage and have many more risks. Below is
from the NIH:

VLCDs produce greater initial weight loss than LCDs. However, the long-term (> 1 year) weight loss
is not different from that of the
LCD. Evidence Category A.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four RCTs compared VLCDs to LCDs (436-439). The VLCDs provided about 400 to 500 kcal/day, whereas
the LCDs provided approximately 1,000 to 1,500 kcal/day. During the active phase, VLCDs were given
exclusively for 12 to 16 weeks and then were followed by LCDs for a total duration ranging from 24
weeks to 5 years. The participants in these trials were primarily women who were extremely obese.

VLCDs either alone or, usually, combined with behavioral therapy, promoted weight loss of
approximately 13 to 23 kg (28.7 to 50.7 lb) during the active phase of the VLCD intervention,
compared to 9 to 13 kg (19.8 to 28.7 lb) with LCDs. In three of the four studies, VLCDs resulted in
4 to 12 kg (8.8 to 26.5 lb) greater weight loss than the LCDs at the end of the active phase
(436-438). Over the medium term of 6 to 12 months, weight loss on the VLCDs ranged from 1.1 kg (2.4
lb) to as much as 10.4 kg (22.9 lb) greater than weight loss on LCDs. One study did not show a
particular advantage of VLCD over LCD either during the active phase or at 24 weeks (439). After 1
year, there was no long-term advantage of VLCDs over LCDs (436, 437).

"Joe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello all,

I've been trying to lose a few extra pounds through diet and regular exercise. I've read that
total daily calorie intake shouldn't be below 1000 calories daily or your body goes into
starvation mode and ends up storing more fat. My question relates to how many calories I need when
exercising. If I normally eat 2000 calories to maintain my weight, and drop down to about 1500
calories per day, I'm creating 500 calorie deficit. Now, through my exercise (I've been running).
Say, I run 6 miles that same day. On the average, I've burned an additional 600 calories. This
means my net calorie intake for the day is at 900 calories. Does this mean my body would go into
starvation mode, or does it work differently since I actually ate 1500 calories and burned the 600
calories off through exercise as opposed to just not eating 600 calories? Thanks.

joe