Something I don't understand....... - Weight Loss Message Board

keeprogresin' · 02-01-2007, 07:52 PM

I know there's all this talk about needing to keep your caloric intake up in order to keep your metabolism going and so your body doesnt go in starvation mode, and if you take in too few calories it will be very hard to lose weight. The one thing I don't understand though is what about the people that suffer from anorexia nervosa and bulimia that hardly take in any calories? With all due respect, how do they become so thin, not saying it's good, but if we teach the principle that low caloric intake=no weight loss then I'm wondering how that same principle applies to the above-mentioned group of people. And there are so many that suffer from that and are "successful" in it. The thing I'm arguing is NOT how they lose the weight, but I'm asking why do people say that if caloric intake is too low then you can't lose weight, because there are many that pull it off. Or do people say that? You know what I mean?

WHY DO THEY SAY THAT? NOT HOW DO THEY LOSE THE WEIGHT!

nikki2006 · 02-01-2007, 10:44 PM

if your not anorexic or bulimic then its gonna be hard to eat such few calories for any length of time.. so for you average person, if you were to eat too few calories and then eat normal again (as it will be hard to maintain) you will put it on faster and then to take of the weight u just put on takes eating even less to acheive the same results as the time before.. i think, anyway..

ktt · 02-02-2007, 01:08 AM

HI K

The body does slow metabolism in response to lack of food and goes into survival mode because it thinks something dire is happening so it will start to sacrifice non essentials like hair, skin, nails and conserve energy to keep the vital systems going as long as possible. It'll start stripping off protein from muscles etc. Additionally it will also create intense cravings for food and anyone in starvation mode knows that most people can only deny that for so long since it's like a civil war inside your head screaming at you to eat which is why most extreme quick loss diets fail. Anorexics may be able to overrule those mental sos's from the brain so their bodies are forced into using whatever reserves they have and continue to lose weight. The body can slow it down but it can't stop giving calories when the brain and heart are demanding fuel to operate. Very low calorie dieters however more likely get stuck in the slowed metabolism but eating just enough to satisfy their basic needs.

livinTX · 02-02-2007, 09:56 AM

Well, anorexia and bulimia DO wreak havoc on the metabolism. You may not necessarily SEE it because eating disorder sufferers are so thin, and like some PPs have mentioned, they ignore STRONG STRONG urges by the body to eat. Their metabolism does slow down and get messed up though...this is especially why an ED is such a difficult disease to recover from. Once the ED sufferer has decided to turn to recovery (or is force-fed in the hospital, whichever comes first), the weight piles on quite quickly, it seems, especially to someone suffering with an ED.

I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was in college. At my low point, my weight was probably 80 lb. (I am 5' 4".) To maintain 80 lb., I was eating less than 1000 calories/day (500 if I could manage it), exercising 4-5 hours daily (mostly running), using laxatives, and forcing myself to vomit. Not at all a healthy lifestyle. Once I decided to give recovery a chance because it was so miserable living like that, the weight piled on quite quickly and unevenly. It took about 6 months before my metabolism seemed to start normalizing, closer to a year before I got anything like a normal metabolism again. I'm now recovered for close to 5 years and maintaining my weight at 120 lb., though some parts of the ED like body image never really do improve. I don't want to go back there for the world. It is a scary and miserable place.

This slowed metabolism when recovery begins, makes recovery extremely difficult, and I think it is a large part of the reason why many who suffer with an ED find it just too scary to gain weight: because the slowed metabolism makes the weight gain seem unstoppable.

chevyman · 02-02-2007, 02:58 PM

You need calories for the fuel your body needs to function,with the diffrent food groups you eat you get that fuel.. if you don't comsume enough calories and your body goes into starvation then the brain just don't know what to do because theres not a supply of calories for your body to use and if theres not any.... then you simply run out of gas...sometimes a person can lower there cloric intake from say 3000/4000 a day a to down to say 1500 cal..and still not lose weight in a period of 3 /4 weeks time and they give up....but if that person raises there caloric intake from 1500 to say 2100 or so then they will lose weight its because the metabolic process in our bodys differ from each one of us... but on the normal side if you lower your caloric consuption to a disereable amount any whare from 500 to 800 calories below 2500 daily then you should lose weight based that 2500 cal on your daily intake.

A few years ago I did something really really stupid, I went down to like 200 400 calories a day only eating luttus thats all lettus and water and exerciseing my a** off only to get into starvation mode and I got really really sick...it messed my body and metabolic process all up.

well what that did was put my tryglicrides up high high blowed my ketones sky high probably enough to run ''Atkins out of bussiness, lower my white blood cells throwed me a curve really bad, my fingers and feet started tingly,my feet begain to swell and was really hot feeling....I was put in the hospital for all kinds of test and they found out I was low low on my b-12 causeing all these symtoms,after the Dr's ruled out any form of lukima/cancers and I never drink large amounts of alchol, they said it was the way I had been dieting and that the acids in my stomache had ate out my instric factors......anyway I now have to take b-12 injections twice month for my stupidy for lowering my claoric intake like that.
this is just one of the things lowering your cloric intake can do to your body

but now with that said I did some reserch on the lipo gastic by-pass or the new lap-band and they say after you have that type of surgery you only can consume about 500 calories daily and take vitiman supplements ect,,ect,, but still 500 calories to me is low low? thats what I have a hard time if understanding?

I can't explan it any better than ktt and the others have as for as why you need calories and how the caloic process works and why we need so many caloires to be safe.