Sport Starvation Mode?

Sport Fitness
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Saphron_Girl

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For the last 9 months, I’ve been on a medically-assisted weight loss program, and have reduced my body fat percentage from 22% to 44%. At the beginning, they put me on a 1300 – 1400 calorie a day diet (I’m a 5’6” female, age 25) in the form of 5 – 6 meals a day, spaced approx. 2 hours apart. This did wonders in speeding up my metabolism and helped me shed body fat. I also started out at about 20 – 30 minutes of cardio activity 3 or 4 times a week. Since then, I’ve increased my fitness regimen to include weight training and more cardio (at a higher intensity level, including dancing, pilates, etc.)… all in all, I exercise 5 days a week, for an hour each session.
However, I haven’t significantly increased my daily caloric intake… I’m probably hovering around 1500 to 1600 cals a day.

I still have unsightly fat storage on certain areas of my body, particularly through my midsection/lower abs that I can’t reduce, no matter what I do. I’ve been plugging away at targeting these areas for the last few months – I can feel that the muscles underneath the fat are much more toned/developed, but you can’t see them… so, I tried reducing my cardio workout intensity and extending the duration (so that I’ll be burning my fat stores instead of glycogen)… but with NO result. I’ve become quite frustrated at my body’s apparent inability to shed this layer of flab, and am wondering if maybe I’m not eating enough to satisfy my fitness level. Are there any symptoms for “Starvation Mode” that I should be looking out for? Is that why I can’t lose the fat?
 
Do you lift at all or just cardio??? How do you feel physically, oh and your little problem from the other thread you posted... BINGO big sign there....
 
I do weight training and cardio. Physically, I feel good... much better than I did when I had all the weight, but I've been slightly depressed and irritable lately.

I thought these issues might be connected...
 
How many grams of fat do you eat each day? And in what amount of time did you lose how many pounds? Your calories aren't super low, but starvation mode is always a possibility...

Sarah
 
Thanks for posting the link to the thread! Wow I wish I had something to tell you but I am just a newbie here. I found this post very intresting and informative though I think this is a good subject I hope to see more input on it.
 
i know im a male and it can be easy to say these sort of things but from what you have said, you have nothing to worry about in terms of needing to burn fat/show muscle etc.

i have the same problem with that last bit of unwanted fat - somedays it can be worse than others. just make sure you're healthy and eating enough and enjoy being in better shape than 90% of everyone around you!

worry less, enjoy what you have done more.
 
sarahfitchic said:
How many grams of fat do you eat each day? And in what amount of time did you lose how many pounds? Your calories aren't super low, but starvation mode is always a possibility...
Click to expand...

Good question! I'd estimate between 20 - 25 grams a day, maybe a bit more. And I lost approx. 60 lbs in 6 - 7 months (about 10 lbs a month).


benelson101 - thanks for your positive comments. They definitely brightened me up. :D
 
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Reply to Starvation Mode

In my humble opinion, when you said you're at about 1400-1500 calories and doing all of that exercise, the first thing that came to my mind is that your body is holding onto the calories because you are not getting enough calories to sustain your activity level. I'm 5'6" and I have a hard time eating as little as 1800 calories! Try to eat a little more, and if you're not already, try eating a little protein with every meal and drink lots of water.

Good luck
Nora
 
BZMAMA89 - that was my thought as well, so I've been supplimenting my regular diet with added protein for the last week and a half (while maintaining the intensity of my work-outs)... and I've gained 5 lbs!

Now I don't know what to think. This is kind of discouraging.
 
Someone mentioned water. I do know getting enough water is very imporant, some say instead of drinking the typical 8 glasses of water a day, you should take your bodyweight and divide it by 2, thats how many ounces of water you should be drinking. So if you were 140lbs you should be drinking 70 ounces of water, just a example. A certain amount of weight gain can be water weight, also depends when you weight yourself. Might also want to watch your sodium intake.
 
The main thing you need to do is see a doctor. Preferably one who works with weight loss people. Have you seen your OBGYN?
 
Brett - thanks for the tips, especially about water/sodium consumption (as for what time of the day that I weigh myself, etc. – you can find out more about the details surrounding my mysterious 5 lb weight gain here, if you're interested.)


Fit1 said:
The main thing you need to do is see a doctor. Preferably one who works with weight loss people. Have you seen your OBGYN?
Click to expand...

Got an appointment set up for tomorrow... pelvic exam and everything. Whoo hoo.

:p
 
my suggestion is that you drink more water,the belly is the most stubborn to go for sure,I know what you mean there.
you could be retaining water/survival mode,how much water are you drinking each day?
is your belly the same size all the way through the day?does it depend on what you eat?

hugs

amanda
xxxxxxxx
 
amandacallan said:
you could be retaining water/survival mode,how much water are you drinking each day?
is your belly the same size all the way through the day?does it depend on what you eat?
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I drink 64 – 70 oz of water a day… is that enough for my height/build? (5’6” mesomorph)
My belly doesn’t really get distended or bloated at different times of the day, unless I eat a lot of foods that fill me up with gas (ie. raw broccoli).
However, I did see a nutritionist this past weekend. After assessing my current physical activity level, she upped my caloric intake from 1300 – 1400 a day to 2200 a day. I’ve been eating like this for the last few days, and it seems like so much more food! I had to will myself to finish lunch yesterday… but the ironic thing is, I’ve dropped 2 lbs since I started eating these 800 extra calories. I guess my body WAS conserving was I was giving it, because it wasn’t quite enough…
 
ooh.. im so quoting this and sending it to ALL the girls i know!
PS: i know lots of girls who either dont eat at all, or eat a salat leave a day.
PS: the above statement is overdramatized a little bit

and about this survival mode, my belly is not the same size during the day, when i eat alot it usually getts bigger, it annoys me:p but its mostly when i eat alot, so im almost hurting:p
 
Saphron_Girl said:
I drink 64 – 70 oz of water a day… is that enough for my height/build? (5’6” mesomorph)
My belly doesn’t really get distended or bloated at different times of the day, unless I eat a lot of foods that fill me up with gas (ie. raw broccoli).
However, I did see a nutritionist this past weekend. After assessing my current physical activity level, she upped my caloric intake from 1300 – 1400 a day to 2200 a day. I’ve been eating like this for the last few days, and it seems like so much more food! I had to will myself to finish lunch yesterday… but the ironic thing is, I’ve dropped 2 lbs since I started eating these 800 extra calories. I guess my body WAS conserving was I was giving it, because it wasn’t quite enough…
Click to expand...

Wow, interesting! I'm curious to know what your workout routine is? I think I may be in the same boat. The last month I've been working out consistently and have been staying around 1500 calories. The scale hasn't budged (well I gained 1/2 pound) so I'm really not sure what to do. I also drink at least 70 oz. water a day. I'm not sure what type of build I have, I'm going to check that out today.
 
Well, if you’re working out consistently, the scale is relatively meaningless. You’re probably losing fat mass and gaining muscle mass to replace it, so your weight is staying relatively the same (or even going up, as muscle weighs more than fat). The best judge of progress is your mirror. :)
For instance, I’m pretty confident that these 2 lbs weren’t water weight that I lost… I’ve been avoiding foods that would make me retain it. And I can actually see a difference in the definition around my mid-section.

As for my workout routine, this is pretty much what it looks like:

1 hour of cardio, 3 – 4 times a week (between 50 and 75 % of my heart-rate reserve. so I’m burning fat stores instead of glycogen stores)
45 min – 1 hour of weight (circuit) training, 3 – 4 times a week (on days I’m not doing my hour of cardio)
15 – 20 min of HIIT, 3 – 4 times a week (immediately after I’m done with my weights)
1 – 2 days a week off for my body to recouperate/repair
 
Thanks!

You're absolutely right about the scale. I definitely see a difference in myself and also clothes feel looser. I know that after another 4 weeks there will be a tremendous difference. Currently I only do three 30 minute sessions of cardio along with 3 sessions of weight training. With cardio I try to do med-high to high intensity intervals each session. This week I am going to try add a longer session of cardio at a lower intensity, no intervals. I think that will will help.

Great workout routine btw, you really seem to be on top of everything :) Best of luck to you.
 
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