Starvation mode...??

Question

What is the starvation mode marker, for an 18 year old girl, 5'6'' 120 pounds?? Is it 1200 or 1000?? Because I have heard both... when does your metabolism TRULY slow?

Answer 1

It depends on your natural metabolism. You're already close to being under-weight, you are not very tall and you are thin so your metabolism is probably pretty good as it is, unless you're dieting.

Your metabolism will slow down just by starving or dieting, you don't need to go into "starvation" mode to desperately affect your metabolism. Yo-yo dieting, losing weight rapidly and putting it on and then losing it again, losing weight as fast as possible, exercising obsessively, abusing your body with laxatives and by throwing up - they can all severely affect your metabolism.

There is no magical number I can give you because it's different for everyone, depending on your health history (AND MENTAL health history - if you're asking this I'm sure you know that there might be a problem).

I'm your height and near your weight (I'm a few pounds heavier) and when I was in the Army I ate well over 3,500 calories a day at times because I was so active, and didn't gain a pound.

However, when I was your height and weighed a little less than you, and I was 15 years old and was hospitalized for an eating disorder, my metabolism had slowed down. Not just because of what I was doing to my body (not only was my eating disorder not "working" like it should anymore and my weight loss was slowing down) but I was literally dying, with my hair falling out and my heart beginning to eat itself because I wasn't ingesting calories.

Frankly, it's a dark path to walk down, and I would ask you to not worry about starvation mode. If you eat normally, and I do mean eating some ice cream and chips, and not just sugar-free and fat-free everything, and just exercising NORMALLY and having a good time, your metabolism will SPEED UP on it's own. You have to be at a normal weight to function, it's impossible to live very long looking like an anorexic magazine model. I went to one of the best eating disorder clinics in America and there was not only 2 well-known people there but many models, all of which decided to kill themselves for something pretty shallow and meaningless.

I think you should focus on what your daily calorie intake should be, and forget metabolism. Unless you are SERIOUSLY ill and have AIDS or some thyroid disorder, your metabolism will bounce back and you can be like EVERYONE else for once. You can go out to get a burger and fries on a date, you can eat at a buffet, you can have popcorn at the movies without worrying.

Seriously, hun, I've been "well" for years now and even after having a baby, I lost the weight and went back to my healthy weight right off the bat just by eating healthy and exercising and not obsessing about it.