Why only 1?

[iamamra]

I bought my fit bit sunday, I have tracked and weighed(to the gram) everything I have eaten. I only lost one pound this week though. Here is my deficit for this week, I eat about 2k calories and burn around 4k a day.

This week deficit

-14,463cals

[SunsetRunner]

sweat test? ..... think I will pass on that lol

I weigh myself just wearing undies, i.e. as less as possible

also I find that a solid floor helps, if the floor bounces/moves as it were, it upsets the weight

even moving it a bit in my kitchen gives different results

as strange as it sounds, you are not eating enough, burning too much, what your body is doing is burning muscle

[SunsetRunner]

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@Knowledge wrote:

I don't buy the starvation mode nonsense. Someone posted a link I read about the topic and it was insightful:

http://wordpress.kylegrieve.com/wp/2011/04/28/the-myth-of-starvation-mode-2/

Why don't I buy it? Because I've lost nearly 36 lbs (of which 10 lbs is roughly water weight) since January 3rd, with a 2000-2500 calorie deficit per day. I burn roughly 3800-4500 calories per day and eat roughly 1300-2000 calories per day with some days a little less (maybe 1100 and others more like 2400). I don't vary it much and I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I am doing a low-carb diet so I can't comment if someone is trying something else but at least on a low-carb diet the calorie deficit doesn't seem to be that important as long as its a deficit!

You know what's interesting? Just for the sake of this post I calculated my entire calorie deficit for the last 6 weeks of my weight loss journey and it turns out to be identical to my weight loss. So yes, its possible our body's metabolism may slow down by a few hundred calories if we under eat, but we'll burn so much more than that with our calorie deficit that it is miniscule in the long run.

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Opinions are respected, but scientific evidence is superior.

There is a "starvation response" initially (not much weight lost compared to calories used, and it tends to discourage individuals at the start of a weight loss program. However, if one persists, the calorie deficit will start to show up as weight loss.Complex carbohydrates are crucial to this process.

Tell me how one can "burn roughly 3800-4500 calories per day". With a base metabolic use of about 2,000 calories per day, that would leave 1,800 to 2,500 to lose through exercise, and that's about 18 to 25 miles of walking or running. That's an impressive amount of exercise every day.

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner can you please provide some scientific studies to back up your claims that "starvation mode" (in the way you are implying it) is scientific fact?  Granted true "starvation mode" i.e. people in famine struck Africa is true, but for the average American limiting your calories is not enough to through your body into this starvation mode.  What happens is the body adapts to the reduced caloric intake and metabolism will slow (this is just a natural reaction).  Plus as you lose weight your body requries less calories to survive in general.  

• "What are the adaptations if fasting is prolonged to the point of starvation? A typical well-nourished 70-kg man has fuel reserves totaling about 161,000 kcal (670,000 kJ; see Table 30.1). The energy need for a 24-hour period ranges from about 1600 kcal (6700 kJ) to 6000 kcal (25,000 kJ), depending on the extent of activity. Thus, stored fuels suffice to meet caloric needs in starvation for 1 to 3 months. However, the carbohydrate reserves are exhausted in only a day." (source)
• "While there is no biologic evidence to support the "starvation mode" myth, there may be behavioral reasons why weight loss stops when calories are severely reduced." (source - although not scholarly)
• "What people generally refer to as “starvation mode” (and sometimes “metabolic damage”) is the body’s natural response to long-term calorie restriction.  It involves the body responding to reduced calorie intake by reducing calorie expenditure in an attempt to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation.  This is a natural physiological response, and isn’t really controversial. It is well accepted by scientists, and the technical term for it is “adaptive thermogenesis” (2)." (source)

Just throwing my 2 cents in on the coversation.  I have found the throwing of the term "starvation mode" is too often used as a scare tactic and excuse by some (not saying that is what you were doing @SunsetRunner ) to explain why they aren't losing weight.  Proper terminology and getting the facts out there help everyone.

[SunsetRunner]

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@dkewatson wrote:

@SunsetRunner can you please provide some scientific studies to back up your claims that "starvation mode" (in the way you are implying it) is scientific fact?  Granted true "starvation mode" i.e. people in famine struck Africa is true, but for the average American limiting your calories is not enough to through your body into this starvation mode.  What happens is the body adapts to the reduced caloric intake and metabolism will slow (this is just a natural reaction).  Plus as you lose weight your body requries less calories to survive in general.  

• "What are the adaptations if fasting is prolonged to the point of starvation? A typical well-nourished 70-kg man has fuel reserves totaling about 161,000 kcal (670,000 kJ; see Table 30.1). The energy need for a 24-hour period ranges from about 1600 kcal (6700 kJ) to 6000 kcal (25,000 kJ), depending on the extent of activity. Thus, stored fuels suffice to meet caloric needs in starvation for 1 to 3 months. However, the carbohydrate reserves are exhausted in only a day." (source)
• "While there is no biologic evidence to support the "starvation mode" myth, there may be behavioral reasons why weight loss stops when calories are severely reduced." (source - although not scholarly)
• "What people generally refer to as “starvation mode” (and sometimes “metabolic damage”) is the body’s natural response to long-term calorie restriction.  It involves the body responding to reduced calorie intake by reducing calorie expenditure in an attempt to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation.  This is a natural physiological response, and isn’t really controversial. It is well accepted by scientists, and the technical term for it is “adaptive thermogenesis” (2)." (source)

Just throwing my 2 cents in on the coversation.  I have found the throwing of the term "starvation mode" is too often used as a scare tactic and excuse by some (not saying that is what you were doing @SunsetRunner ) to explain why they aren't losing weight.  Proper terminology and getting the facts out there help everyone.

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Without going into everything over and over again, it is only at the start of a highly restricted calorie

program, that the body tries to conserve energy (calories), after that it's perfectly OK, as long as there

are enough calories to provide required nutrients. The initial response can be called "starvation mode"

or "your body trying to conserve energy" or "homeostasis", or whatever terminology is wanted.

Here are a couple of articles, in simple colloquial English, that should satisfy most:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/starvation.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/264810-weight-loss-starvation-mode/