11: Starvation Mode

Anyone who diets, will at some point, go through a weight loss stall or a weight loss plateau.  Many people will tell you that your body may have entered “Starvation Mode”.  In starvation mode your body “thinks” you are starving and will no longer allow you to lose any more weight. But is “starvation mode” really a thing?  And if so, what can you do about it?In today’s episode The Nutrition Grouch questions the validity of “starvation mode” and surmises that it is an overly simplistic made-up term used to describe a complex phenomenon.Weight loss stalls and plateaus are usually fairly explainable:Body mass loss – less metabolically active tissue – lower resting metabolic rateEat less food – decreased thermic effect of foodWeigh less – decreased thermic effect of physical activityLess dietary adherence – more foods “sneak” or are “allowed” back into your dietFood logging stops or is less accurateDietary motivation and prioritization of diet decreasesLess meal replacements – replaced with higher calorie “real food”Life is busy – gets in the wayYet, there are times when your metabolic rate decreases further than you would expect it to and your dietary adherence seems to still be good.  This isn’t starvation mode, this is adaptive thermogenesis.The Nutrition Grouch details how energy expenditure is measured (body composition, oxygen consumption or a predictive equation) and how in adaptive thermogenesis energy expenditure (calories burned) is lower than expected.  But what can you do about it?NothingEating more calories won’t fix it, weight training won’t fix it, high protein diets won’t fix it, weight loss medications won’t fix it.Your numbers are what your numbers are.  But despite the hand that you’re dealt, you can’t use it as an excuse.  Once you start playing the blame game, you lose/forfeit/cede control and that’s not a winning strategy.But don’t despair, whether you experience adaptive thermogenesis or not, you will still do many of the same things you otherwise would.Meal planFood logSelf-weighGet in a weekly meal cycleExerciseIdentify and overcome obstaclesControl your food environmentUse meal replacementsDecide how much effort versus reward you are putting into and getting out of dietingAt the end of the day, do the best that you can do.  That’s all anyone can ask of you and that’s all you can ask of yourself.