Starvation Mode - Is It Real?

Starvation mode.

You may have heard the term passed around from time to time in the fitness industry…

Starvation mode is the idea that, when you don't consume ENOUGH calories, your body goes into a state where it holds on to or ‘stores’ your calories, preventing you from losing weight.

Basically, it’s the idea that your body won't lose weight because you’re not eating enough.

To start, I want to establish one thing…

Starvation mode is NOT real.

It is physiologically impossible for eating too few calories to be preventing you from losing weight.

But there are a lot of people who legitimately feel like they are starving themselves everyday, yet still aren’t losing weight.

And this can be SUPER frustrating for people.

After all, you feel like you are working your ass off trying to eat less, yet you STILL aren’t losing weight!

This is something I hear all the time with clients when they first join my online coaching program (link).

There are two main reasons why this might be happening, why someone FEELS like they are starving themselves yet still aren’t losing weight.

(And neither is starvation mode)

So in this article, I’m going to go through BOTH reasons that cause this to happen, and exactly how to ultimately solve this problem!

The first reason is…

YOU ARE OVER RESTRICTING (for SOME of the week)

This is something that I see all the time. 

When you want to lose weight, a lot of times the initial thought is that you need to be SUPER restrictive.

And take calories extremely low with the hopes of dropping weight fast.

Here is why this is NOT an effective strategy, and why this causes many people to think that they’re in starvation mode. 

When you take calories super low, like 1,000 calories below maintenance for example…

You may be able to do this a few days per week, but for most people, the deficit is WAY too aggressive to maintain.

So what ends up happening is, you may eat in that super harsh deficit for a few days, but you end up being fucking STARVING…

And then you end up OVEREATING on the other days of the week since you’re so hungry from eating in such a harsh deficit.

So even though you worked so hard to eat in such a harsh deficit for a few days, you end up either back at maintenance or possibly in a surplus at the end of the week.

And in the end, you either don't lose any weight, or you gain weight.

Here is what this would look like in terms of weekly calories, in this example maintenance is 2,000 calories…

M - 1,000 cals

T - 1,000 cals

W - 1,000 cals

Th - 2,000 cals

F - 3,000 cals 

S - 3,000 cals

Su - 3,000 cals

Total - 14,000 cals

So, even after 3 days of eating in a SUPER aggressive deficit, 1 day eating at maintenance, and then 3 days eating in a surplus…

In this example, this person ended up at maintenance at the end of the week (because 2,000 calories x 7 days = 14,000 calories/week)

And they would have lost no weight at the end of the week.

This is where a lot of people get frustrated (understandably so) and think that their lack of weight loss is a result of ‘starvation mode.’

When in reality, while their lack of weight loss is partially due to over-restriction, it’s REALLY due to overconsumption as a result of the restriction.

This is why I recommend most people eat in a 250-500 calorie deficit if their goal is to lose fat/lose weight.

Because this is a much more SUSTAINABLE deficit, and you are much more likely to be able to maintain it at least 80% of the time. 

The second reason is…

YOU AREN’T EATING AS FEW CALORIES AS YOU THINK

This is another thing that I see pretty commonly with people who think they’re in starvation mode.

When someone thinks they’re in starvation mode, they think they are eating too few calories, and that this is causing them to not lose weight.

And in many cases, the reason for this is that they aren’t eating as few calories as they think.

There are a few explanations for this…

One is that you aren’t tracking accurately.

Tracking your food (tracking your macronutrients) can be difficult and confusing, ESPECIALLY if you’ve never done it before.

And it’s very common to make a few ‘mistakes’ here and there. 

Something as small as not measuring portions properly, can lead to underestimating your daily calories and getting very frustrated with lack of progress.

Similar to not tracking accurately, another explanation is leaving certain foods out when you’re tracking. 

This is another super common mistake, some people might not be including smaller things like drinks or oils and sauces.

It’s easy to forget things like your frappuccino from the morning, or your glass of wine at night, or even the dressing or sauce on your lunch. 

These are all things that have calories, and if you aren’t including them in your tracking you are going to have a really hard time tracking your calories accurately and reaching your goals.  

So these are all reasons that can very easily make someone FEEL like they’re in starvation mode.

But in the end, starvation mode is NOT real. 

The thing preventing your weight loss isn’t the fact that you aren’t eating enough calories…

It’s the fact that you’re eating too many calories.

So, you are NOT in starvation mode, I promise :)

Thanks so much for reading! 

Remember that starvation mode is NOT real (despite what some social media trainers might tell you)…

But, there are numerous reasons why you might THINK you’re in starvation mode…

And by understanding those, it will become much easier to make awesome progress and continue to lose weight!

I hope this article helps you and if you have any follow up questions (or any other questions) please don’t hesitate to reach out! 

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