You dream to lose some pounds. Tried everything but it was ineffective. Now, you think starving yourself is the best way to reach the goal. But is it really so? If you starve and don’t get enough calories, your body goes into so to say starvation mode. What is the cause? Your empty stomach sends a message or a signal to your cells to conserve energy if a food doesn’t arrive.

What is starvation mode? Is it real or myth? And what problems it may cause? Read on what happens, when you restrict your calorie intake and what side-effects of starving yourself you may have. Plus find out the answers to your starvation mode questions. Learn if starving is the only option to lose weight.

Is starvation mode real?

Food is your body's fuelStarvation mode: Reality or nonsense, fact or myth, truth or fiction? You consume a few calories – you gain weight. Sounds awkward? Some people believe that once they stop consuming food their body will surely go into starvation mode.

So what is starvation mode? This can be explained as a state in which human’s body responding to prolonged time or periods of low energy intake degrees or levels. Free fatty acids are burnt during these periods of energy abstinence. As a result, your body begins to burn muscle and lean tissue as a fuel source.

Idea
If you want to lose your weight, starvation is not a good idea. Starvation diets are often ineffective, because you can gain your weight back.
Instead, learn how to eat correctly and consult with your physician.

Healthy eating VS Starvation dietWill my body burn muscle or fat? – is a frequently asked question among people who are interested in starvation mode. The answer is muscles.

Our body needs to protect itself in order to have enough energy for the day. The body starts to burn or break down muscles not fat. What do we have then? Loss of muscle mass leads to more fat and as a result of a return of the weight.

A variety of specific and not really pleasant signs of starvation mode can affect people at any moment.

There are 5 starvation mode symptoms. They are:

  1. Fatigue
    Fatigue into starvation modePeople who go into starvation mode often feel fatigue. No matter what they do, even small tasks get them tired. Women can experience absence of their cycle. When it comes to men, they can experience a reduction in testosterone levels which in its turn leads to a decrease in sexual performance.

  2. Headaches or migraines

    Headaches or migrainesThe main cause is not eating enough. The second cause of your headaches is stress your body has because of an insufficient calorie intake. To avoid these symptoms you need to ensure that your diet or what you eat meets your daily needs.

    30% of migraines come out from diet-related issues
  3. Obsession with food
    Obsession with foodA reduction of the intake food when your body is in a starvation mode leads to a reduced metabolism. It’s really dangerous. As far as metabolism is essential in burning calories, a lower or reduced metabolic rate can lead to weight gain. Once you return to normal life and start eating you can regain your weigh which is mostly fat.
  4. Depression
    DepressionYou eat less – you can easily have physiological disorders. Bad mood, depression, anxiety, angriness are all those things anyone may experience when being in a starvation mode.
  5. Binge eating
    Binge eatingBinge eating or food obsession often happens when being in a starvation mode. A body in starvation mode signals that you need immediately increase your food intake. Binge eating can lead to unhealthy eating.
Important
You will experience starvation mode until you start consuming food again. However, when you will start eating you’ll gain more weight.  Any amount of food after depriving the body for so long will be converted into fat.

So is Starvation mode real? Yes, it is. It doesn’t mean it can happen in just a few days. In fact, this is the natural protective mechanism of our body that works to keep you from starving. No matter, who are you – an athlete, a lean bodybuilder or an average man or woman trying to lose weight, you will be impacted by a natural metabolic response.

Is starvation mode a myth? Read the truth

Starvation mode: Myth or fact? Where the truth is? How does the starvation happen?

Here’s how:

  • You go on a starvation diet trying to lose your weight. You eat less – exercise more and even lose some pounds. You are overjoyed at success. What next?
  • After a while, your energy becomes unsteady, you start thinking more about food and become hungry, your metabolic rate declines. Maybe it’s a time to work harder?
  • You start work harder, eating less and spending more hours at the gym. But at this time your weight loss stops. You don’t lose your weight. What’s happening? You can’t explain. Again, you try to work harder.
  • Now, you experience feelings of bloating and depression. You are tired and exhausted. You train more, but…
  • No matter how hard you try – you slowly gain weight. This is the final stage of your starvation mode.
  • You think you need to ease training and eat more. You do this and guess what…
  • You start gaining weight in a fast way and feel really bad.

Some people state that starvation mode is a myth when there are such ones that think it is a truth. Believe or not, but the fact remains when you severely reduce calories – weight loss stops.

Why starvation diets are ineffective

Starvation diets or heavily restricted calorie diets don’t work. Why? To survive, body defense mechanism starts working to protect the body from further loss of weight.

90% of people who used starvation diets regained the weight

You don’t have to EAT LESS - You just have to EAT RIGHTWhen you don’t get enough calories or nutrition to sustain normal functioning – levels of hormone Leptin in your body change. This hormone is your starvation response.  Once your fat stores decrease, Leptin levels begin to decrease. The brain receives the signal to begin the starvation response. At that moment energy consumption begins to decrease and appetite signal increases.

As a result, you have more problems than you had before. Excess weight is what you get in the end. Starvation mode is not a fairy-tale. It does exist. There are only two effective options for helping to decrease the stress on metabolism without gaining weight in the process.

To lose weight choose one of them:

  • Option 1: Eat less – exercise less.
  • Option 2: Eat more – exercise more.

Eat and exercise

Warning
Do not starve your body. When it comes to losing the weight, cutting calories is essential. But it doesn’t mean you need to starve.
To keep your body out of starvation mode, try to eat small meals throughout the day.

Don't starve yourselfStarvation diet can be explained as cutting caloric intake to less than fifty percent of what your body requires. The fear of most people is that going into starvation mode will fundamentally reduce their metabolic rate. In fact, it’s true – your metabolic rate will be reduced with the excessive calorie deficit.

Why you should not starve yourself to lose weight

For the best weight loss results, your total calorie intake should be below what you burn. However, this does not necessarily mean that you should cut out completely the calories you consume. It would not make sense either. Starving yourself could offer immediate weight loss. Nevertheless, it is not a long-term weight loss solution.

Here are more reasons why you should not starve yourself with the hope to lose weight:

  • It is hard to get sleep
    Starvation mode can bring you sleep issues. It will be harder for you to sleep because your whole concentration will be on getting food into your stomach.
    Can't sleep
  • Concentration gets complicated
    If you do not have anything on your belly, it will be very hard for you to concentrate even on the easiest tasks. All the focus will be on your body, which constantly screams at you to consume something.
  • Starvation is painful
    Starvation can be quite painful, especially when you only consume very little food for more than two days.
  • Be ready for mood swings
    A nasty effect of being in the starvation mode is that you tend to become quite moody. You might suffer extreme levels of both anger and happiness in an instant, without any good reason.
  • You feel worse about yourself
    Starving yourself for a long time, automatically makes you want to spoil yourself with some good food. Doing this makes you feel bad about your decisions.

9 best ways to lose weight without having to starve yourself

Food is one of the best things ever and missing it to achieve a small waist is certainly not worth it. Therefore, starving yourself is not the way to go about ensuring proper weight loss. So, how do you go about weight loss without starving?

  1. Fill up with fiber
    Consuming fiber-rich foods is critical as it helps you feel full for longer. This is essential as it makes you take in lesser calories, ensuring proper weight loss.
  2. Have a plan
    You need to understand that weight loss takes time. Therefore, you should come up with a long-term plan and divide it into various short-term objectives.
  3. Prepare your meals
    CookingCooking your own food is essential if you want to maintain a good weight. This is because it allows you to take note of the number of calories in your diet. Since you want to achieve weight loss, you will cook with ingredients that are going to help you achieve exactly that. For more information on what to eat to get ripped, go here.
  4. Get sufficient sleep
    Sleep helps you feel full as it increases satiety hormones while reducing hormones related to hunger. It also allows you to recover after working out. For the best weight loss results, consider having over 8 hours of sleep a day.
  5. Consume lots of water
    Taking a lot of water helps you feel full and eliminates any misunderstood hunger pangs. Thus, consider taking a water bottle with you everywhere you go.
    Water information
  6. Reward yourself in non-food ways
    It is natural for people to reward themselves with good food after completing a certain task. Nevertheless, if you would like to achieve good weight loss results, then you should consider rewarding yourself in other ways, like getting your hair done, going to the spa, or taking a nap.
  7. Hide those junks
    If you constantly feel the urge to consume your favorite junk foods, you must be willing to store such snacks in places where they are not visible to you. Doing this will assist to remind you of your body objectives when you feel tempted.
  8. Get active
    As aforementioned, consuming a healthy diet is important for achieving outstanding weight loss results. Nevertheless, working out accelerates the whole process. For the best results, we advise that you combine cardio and resistance training in your routine. Cardio helps burn the calories, while resistance training ensures healthy muscle growth. For more information on workouts to get ripped, go here.
  9. Go slow during happy hours
    Beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks are great, as far as they are taken in moderation. Despite this, most people tend to overindulge especially during parties and social gatherings. If you want to achieve good weight loss results, you ought to go slow on excessive drinking since this adds many calories to your body.

No need to go into starvation mode. Remember, balance intake is a key to any weight loss programme. Make some small changes. Limit your daily calories to an amount recommended by your nutritionist. Nutrient-rich diet and moderate exercise help to go out of starvation mode. Remember, you deserve to stay healthy!

You can find further details of Weight Loss Strategies here.