metabolic adaptation

  • This topic has 6 voices and 11 replies.
Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #11859

    heather
    Participant

    I'm trying to advise someone against a starvation diet. 800 calories per day. Yep, that's not a typo. How long does it take for your body to adjust to a starvation diet and stop burning as many calories per day as it was before? I would guess one week, but that's just a guess. What do my smarty-pants friends say?

    #227665

    Robert x Oleary
    Participant

    From what I've garnered from a few podcasts and online articles, there's no definitive answer to this, but its widely accepted amongst prep that as long as you are in a depletion diet, your body should be given that long to reverse diet. I've also read in some books that the body can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to adapt to significant caloric changes both in diet and in energy expendature.

    #227666

    heather
    Participant

    awesome, thanks!

    #227667

    Jenelle Brewer
    Participant

    I am going to guess that someone who is considering this type of thing has already dieted a lot and done damage to their metabolism.  In that case, I think their body may be more prone to say, "Oh, HELL no!" -- a lot more quickly than it does for someone who is, say, preparing for their very first competition and has never really dieted much before.I also think it depends on what this "starvation diet" consists of.  800 calories of mostly fat with some protein would get someone into deep ketosis (I would think), which is a completely different metabolic state than someone eating 800 calories with the majority coming from carbs.

    #227668

    Melvin McLain
    Participant

    I tend to agree. 🙂But I'd also think "starvation mode" is a highly individualized response, with a whole array of factors coming in to play - including age, gender, body-type, general health, level of activity, genetics, and (as you mentioned) diet history.

    #227669

    Jenelle Brewer
    Participant

    I tend to agree. 🙂But I'd also think "starvation mode" is a highly individualized response, with a whole array of factors coming in to play - including age, gender, body-type, general health, level of activity, genetics, and (as you mentioned) diet history.

    Exactly.  We are all so unique.  So I think the answer to this one is just a great big:  "It depends."In any case, it does not sound like a good idea, and is just a sad reminder of how desperate people can get in their attempts at weight loss.  🙁  We all know this will not lead anywhere good... so good luck, Heather, trying to convince this person.

    #227670

    heather
    Participant

    yes, totally agree with that. The answer to SO many things is often “it depends”.

    #227671

    If the answer to the question “will I get the body I want by eating 800 calories a day?” is “it depends,” then I really, really, really wouldn't do it.  I just had 800 calories for lunch.  ;D

    #227672

    Richard Schmitt
    Moderator

    Yes ma'am it will depend on the person, and what they're eating as well with that low amount. All fat with some protein, maybe it won't be so bad. Add carbs in the mix and fats, it could end badly. Prime example I have, someone here at work decided to do a similar method, and while it worked (she did lose body fat and weight) for a short time. She blew back up once reentering more food, (more poorly chosen foods) she regained more fat and weight.

    #227673

    heather
    Participant

    If the answer to the question "will I get the body I want by eating 800 calories a day?" is "it depends," then I really, really, really wouldn't do it.  I just had 800 calories for lunch.  ;D

    Amen!

    Yes ma'am it will depend on the person, and what they're eating as well with that low amount. All fat with some protein, maybe it won't be so bad. Add carbs in the mix and fats, it could end badly. Prime example I have, someone here at work decided to do a similar method, and while it worked (she did lose body fat and weight) for a short time. She blew back up once reentering more food, (more poorly chosen foods) she regained more fat and weight.

    This is a program that offers meal replacements. Each one is exactly 160 calories and the protocol is 5 "meals"  ;D (I can't even say that with a straight face) per day. The macros are all a little different but right around 15P | 3F | 20CThe ingredient list is absolutely disgusting. In one of the shakes the second ingredient is fructose.This is a program that my ART doc has brought into his office, so it's many people that will be doing it. The good news is he has brought me in to be their "food coach" and is very open to any changes that I want to make. The hard part will be convincing him to ditch these "meal" replacements. Not impossible, just hard.

    #227674

    Melvin McLain
    Participant

    I hope you love a challenge… 😀

    #227675

    heather
    Participant

    I hope you love a challenge... 😀

    I do  😉

Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

metabolic adaptation

Please login / register in order to chat with others.

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?