So what I've learned is that if you eat too few calories, your body will start to store whatever you eat as fat and you'll get nowhere. But I've also learned that if you go too long without eating, your body's metabolism slows down and it burns less calories.

My question is, if you eat fewer calories (800-1000 defecit) but eat high-volume foods that will keep you from feeling hungry, will the body react by burning fat for energy or will it try to store whatever it gets?

What I don't understand is how the body can NOT burn fat when a person is only eating, say, 1300 calories a day and keeping their metabolism moving.

The person does burn fat. If a person was no longer able to use fat as an energy substrate; that person wouldn't be living.

The "starvation" mode you are referring to is well over hyped. The reduction in BMR is not near as substantial as popular opinion suggest.

800-1000 is too high of a deficit. Generally (of course it varies from person to person), a deficit larger than about 500 calories per day over a period of time will cause a person to go into a "starvation state" in which the body hordes calories as fats. This is independent of the "feeling of hunger." Slowing your metabolism doesn't really change your deficit either, it just means that your body is having to slow itself down to cope with the energy deficiency, which includes slowing regeneration of various tissues such as muscle.

Long story short, make sure you are getting enough vitamin/mineral laden calories.

Tell it to this kid

So if I have a daily energy expenditure of 2300 cal, and I eat 1300 cal of food at regular intervals during the day that keep the metabolism rolling, there shouldn't be any problems? Seems to go in the opposite direction of what I read all over the forum, but it seems like it would work...

A 1000 calorie per day deficit is not healthy. Your body very well may enter a starvation mode and start hording calories, not to mention the fact that getting a even a minimal amount of nutrients is going to be difficult at best.

Try not to forget that the picture Phate posted is of an actual starving child. The metabolic dynamics are rather different.

I guess I'm just locked in a paradox in my head;

On one hand, if you don't eat enough, your body will horde calories. I assume this means that those calories will turn into fat.

On the other hand, if you don't eat enough, you'll lose weight? Reference to the skin-and-bones child pic.

Also what's so bad about starving if you can send enough food through you that you don't get hungry? Isn't the definition of starving feeling hungry?

I'm still a newbie, so excuse me if I make some incorrect assumptions.

No, starvation is not "feeling hungry." Starvation is the state the body enters when it is not receiving enough nutrients to properly sustain itself, so it begins to feed on itself... meaning that it does not limit itself to fat reserves, but also includes muscle and other tissues. You do not want to starve yourself, because long term starvation can have serious impact on life expectancy, and even short term starvation (such as limited annorexic periods) can have large negative impact on the longevity and proper functioning of bodily organs.

As for the picture itself, if the young boy was ever fed properly, it is very likely that once a proper food source was removed, the initial stages of starvation included hording of calories as fats until the body was no longer able to maintain itself and had to turn and use those fats. That point occurs quite a ways along in the process of starvation, and it is very likely that other critical organs were already being impacted by malnutrition.

If you are trying to lose weight, you need to look for a proper diet that delivers at the very least a minimal amount of nutrients (carbs/fats/proteins/vitamins/minerals/water) for your body to maintain itself; this should be coupled with a proper exercise program. This is not just because it's the healthiest course of action, it's also because, with the proper motivation, it is the easiest to adhere to. I am of course talking about a lifestyle change.

I recommend you see a licensed nutritionist as well as a certified personal trainer for a full rundown on why it's important to lose weight the right way.

If you eat below your maintenance level how would you store fat? Your body wouldn't store fat, it just wouldn't want to lose it, but if you continue eating way below maintenance level long enough you will lose it.

Absolutely correct. If one does it long enough: The body has no choice but to eat itself for dinner.


Best regards,


Chillen

Starvation mode doesn't mean you're hungry nor does it mean you'll get fat.

What starvation mode is referring to is the fact that your body is compensating with the lesser energy. In effect, your body tries to use less for more. It's a survival tactic that helped our cave grandparents lived. You can replace "starvation mode" with something like "survival mode," which might make more sense to you. It only works for a limited time before you look like that poor kid in the picture.

The reason why so many people have problems keeping weight off after losing so much is because they went into a severe low-calories diet, then after they're done, they return to normal food. Like going from a 3000 calories diet to a 1200 calories diet without any understanding of the profound effect that has on the body in the long run. Simply put, your body doesn't understand that there is McDonalds around every corner; it only knows one thing and that it has no food right now, and it needs food. You can think of this single thought mind like that of Charlie: he only understands cut throat. Both are deadly, and both don't understand anything else.

Maintaining your healthy weight is easy: eat, live, and play. Notice I said "healthy" weight, and this weight might be more than some guideline, and will increase with age. Of course, not everyone will have ripped six-packs abs at 70 nor will everyone have super lean bodies at the age of 20. So worry not so much about what your weight is.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I think I understand it now.

Just to clarify; The effect of being hungry and slowing down your metabolism is legit, correct? It really is better to eat smaller portions at regular intervals during the day and one should keep from feeling excessively hungry?

And also, is it okay to eat 500 calories below maintainence and then burn off 1000 calories by running 4 miles in the morning and 4 in the evening? Or does that count as a defecit?

Whether you eat 6 smaller meals or three larger meals does not effect your BMR. The act of eating 6 meals a day is great to help stave off feelings of hunger so you dont snack unnecessarily.

Your calorie deficit should be calculated taking your activity level into account. You are effectively giving yourself a 1500 calorie defecit by running morning and night.

...so if 500 calories is the recommended defecit, a person is limited to dropping 1lb/week?

No... when I did my numbers originally, they were wrong... a healthy weight loss is actually 1-2 pounds a week, so up to 1000 calories deficit is not detrimental, so long as the majority of the deficit is created by exercise, otherwise, just cutting 1000 calories out of a diet may create a nutrient deficiency as well.