Have you ever not ate?(starved!!)

LowFatMilk

LowFatMilk

New member
Back a couple years ago I had surgery to have my tonsils removed. It was so bad for me that I couldn't eat ice cream, no jello, I basically was living on water for almost two weeks straight. My estimate, less than 300 calories a day average consumed for 14 days.

In those two weeks, even in bed rest I lost like 25lbs. Granted I weighed more than I do now, but it was 25lbs in two weeks. But not just the scale changed. My clothes were all literally hanging off of me. They became far too big. I was secretly quite excited.

I thought well hey, I'll just start from here and get a head start on weight loss. However within a very short time period I gained it all back, and then a little more. Easy come easy go.

Any of you been there?

Edit: Just to make it clear, I don't condone starvation, I'm just sharing my experience (which couldn't really be helped, but still)
 
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That's reason 95% of all dieters fail. They go on starvation diets, once they reach their goals they go back to eating normally and gain it all back. Permanent weight loss is lifestyle change, not a diet.
 
I've tried it for a couple days. Then after the couple days I eat like a 6 foot hero and negated any progress. Starvation is pointless torture.
 
siromar said:
That's reason 95% of all dieters fail. They go on starvation diets, once they reach their goals they go back to eating normally and gain it all back. Permanent weight loss is lifestyle change, not a diet.
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Sounds like Beyonce Knowles.

She lost 20 pounds in just two weeks on the 'master cleanse' programme - fasting and drinking only cayenne pepper, lime and maple syrup-infused water - for the Dreamgirls movie.

What did she do as soon as the movie was finished?

Ate a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts...

... and quickly piled on the weight she had drastically lost.

Something most people end up doing that go on these starvation type diets.
 
Due to some psychological stress I starved myself for 2 weeks when I was 10. I was a gymnast and tiny to begin with (like 4 feet tall and 60 pounds probably).
I just physically could not eat, when I put food in my mouth I would feel sick. I felt like my life was getting out of control (suddenly moving across a continent, leaving all my friends, my sister was sick, my mom pregnant) and eating was my area of control.
I am now aware that this is anorexic behaviour and I am happy that my mom, due to my extreme tininess brought me to the doc after I lost like 15 pounds in 10 days.
I had counselling for a few weeks and started eating normally again. I do not recall a big weight gain, but then... I was 10, and I stayed slim for quite a while after that!

Just thought if we were talking about starving, my story fit,
Camy
 
In December when I was having gall bladder issues, I was reluctant to eat. I dropped 20 lbs in 2 weeks. It was right before I started to try to lose weight and that caused my initial drops to be slow going.
 
Stress from work has caused me to go a week without eating several times a year.
I'll lose 10-15 lbs in that time and then seem like I gain it all back in 2 days.

Thought the same thing as LFMilk more than once that I would start there for weight loss. Unfortunately I never had a plan or anything and gained it all back and then some.
Got to 235 in September this year due to not eating due to stress- was 265 on Christmas.
 
I can relate to not eating because of high stress. A few years ago I went through a very stressful six weeks due to both family health problems and college graduation exams all happening at the same time. I lost about 15lbs very rapidly. Thing is, I really did want to eat during that time, but whenever I tried it would feel like my throat would constrict and I'd start gagging. I basically just lived on shakes and mochas for a few weeks. Then of course I gained those same 15lbs right back as soon as I could eat again. I'm just glad it wasn't more. I think gaining more would've been very easy to do because I remember feeling very weak and depleted at the end of that period. I'm sure I lost a lot of muscle during that time.
 
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I always feel like eating no matter how bad I feel so no. That is likely why I was overweight, nothing like slamming a pizza to take away the blues or eat away the pain of being ill. Starvation isn't something I'm familiar with.
 
Boy can I relate!

5 years ago I went through a great deal of stress in my personal life and droped 70lbs in about 4 1/2 months. I went from a social smoker to 2 packs a day. And I had a high activity level because I have a lot of kids and they were all very little then. I dont' know how I made it. I stoped loosing, and was like this for about 1 1/2 years. My personal life started to get better, I started to eat a bit more, not great choices, just anything really. But sertainly about average intake, and I stedily gained 59lbs back over the following 2 years. Then went though another major tragity. And same thing, couldn't eat, except for dinner, and after dinner. At this point though I did not loose anything, in fact I think I may have lost muscle, and gained fat, because my body looked more blubery at this weight then it did before. Staied like this for another year.

Quite smoking in Jan.And now since I'm on this board, and I'm eating the right amount of calories (in my case, more calories), and I'm exercising. I know I am loosing weight the right way and it will be sustainable. I will never ever forget to eat again! I still don't get hungery during the day , cause I f'd up my body so much I guess. But I force myself to eat, it sounds stupid but I HAD NO idea that your body cared how much you ate. I just thought to much was bad...

No matter what life throughs my way I will put my health first. Leason learned! :Angel_anim:
 
As Siromar pointed out, weight loss is a lifestyle. I actually just wrote an article about the "starvation diet," and it points out exactly why people put the weight back on after their starvation time is over. In essence, it boils down to the fact that you sabotage your metabolism by doing that, and you lose the muscle mass that normally burns off calories.

Here is the article if you want to check out:

Hope2 - Big props to you for getting on a healthy and sustainable program this time around and having a great attitude to boot! :)
 
beachjunkie said:
As Siromar pointed out, weight loss is a lifestyle. I actually just wrote an article about the "starvation diet," and it points out exactly why people put the weight back on after their starvation time is over. In essence, it boils down to the fact that you sabotage your metabolism by doing that, and you lose the muscle mass that normally burns off calories.

Here is the article if you want to check out:

Hope2 - Big props to you for getting on a healthy and sustainable program this time around and having a great attitude to boot! :)
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I feel the need to be defensive here, because it seems like you're implying starvation is something I decided to choose as diet (it may not even have been pointed at me, but I'm being defensive because it sounds like it). The fact was that I was not only too sick to take anything down for days (and eventually threw up a lot lot of the nothing I ate), but I was in too much pain to. I did not like the way starving made me felt, and I spent a lot of time crying from the pain from not eating, but my throat was just too sore from the surgery to eat.
 
Lowfatmilk,

I don't think that he was taking a jab at you. I didn't use starvation as a means to get thin either. I wasn't sick like you, but extream stress, is what it is. You loose your apitite completly, and food makes you feel sick, it's horable. I have been overweight ever since I have had my first child, which has been my whole adult life. Never once was seriouse about getting it off, "didn't care", knew "I needed to loose a few poulds", I think I just told myself that because I HAD no time to think of me. I sertainly didn't "choose" a starvation diet either. It effected my life greatly, in a way I'm only starting to realize since being here. Your post sounded like you wanted to know if anyone else has had the experiance of "starving" and then gaining back right? It didn't imply starvation diet, and I don't think anyone took it like that. Don't worry, I don't belive anyone could think that's what you did. And I don't really want anyone to think that of me either, because it krept up on me, it sertainly wasn't intentional, and felt uncontrolible actually. Stress can be very powerful.

beachjunkie,

Thank you! I'm trying... That wasn't a "diet" that was stress indused, just wanted to clear that up.. But I, like many others here are trying to loose weight the healthy way, not necisarily because we "tried" the unhealthy way, but because if we are going to do it, then we need to do it right.. Just in case there was any confushion...

(I type fast and I suck at spelling)

Hope2
 
Yes, my experience wasn't deliberate either. In fact, that was the one time in my life where I really didn't care about the few pounds I've always struggled with, and if I had been trying to drop them for vanity's sake during that period of my life I'd say the attempt was a miserable failure. I may have dropped the weight but I looked like hell (I got down to about 114 and I'm 5'5". It looked too thin on me). I was only 26 at the time but at the end of it I looked like I'd aged ten years in six weeks. Thankfully, resolving the stressful issues, some healthier (if a bit too much) eating, and moisturizing my skin again fixed that.

Its weird how stress can have such a big effect on appetite. If I'm mildly stressed I'll want to eat more chocolate or other junk than I should, but if the stress is really bad I'll just go off solid food altogether.
 
I've "accidently" done it. "Accidently" in means of, I was aware it was happening, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Once during a month of migraines, lost 17lbs. Then 1.5 weeks with some medical issues, lost 25lbs in that time frame. Granted, I usually gain about 5lbs back, but never really anymore. Which I'm still not proud of and I should never cross my fingers on it always going like that, cause one day it WILL catch up to me. But, those loses were unavoidable.

On the other hand/foot...my body naturally goes "meh..I'm tired of food" and I'll hardly eat for weeks on end. Which I KNOW is NOT good! And I'll lose a good chunk of weight, then gain it all back. And that's why I've failed mainly at losing weight.

So now that I'm older and hopefully wiser, I've chosen to get my body and act together and force myself to eat and lose weight the right way. =)

But those "accidental" weight loses, sometimes can't be avoided.
 
I will be honest, I have done that very often. The first time it ever got serious was way back in 2007
I got very i'll and couldn't eat. I'd try to eat but the pain was awful, so I didn't eat much of anything. After a few weeks I didn't eat and I remember looking at food and just wanting it really bad. I' am glad I can eat now, I've probably lost 30 Lbs in 2-3 months that day.
 
when my ball was coming up i starved my self for...a day and thats how long i lasted! in the afternoon i was tired, got a sweat and started to feel sick. It was a school day and everyone could see i was slowing down. In the morning i got in a fight with mum cause i chucked out my breakfast to the dogs when mum tried 2 force me eat breakfast otherwise i don't go to school. i now thank mum for that.

i only just ate 500 calories the past couple of days, i know...bad. ive lost 1kg. woo...but i binged today, so its come back on but ive started a 5gk challenge on the other forum so im 59kg right now. hopefully will be 56kg in a couple of weeks!

xxx
 
Nope - no implications intended! Just pointing out the physiological reasons why losing weight by starvation - regardless of the reason for the starvation - is not a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight.

Apologies if anyone thought I was taking a jab at them personally.
 
Yeah I have deliberatly starved myself, I have a condition where I have tendancies in distructive behaviours, and I actually get off on pain (not sexually, kinda sado masochistic). So it felt good to starve myself :S

I'd eat a normal breakfast, then like a banana then a few bites of dinner. It was so hard to get to sleep on an empty stomach but lying there at the end of the day with that accomplishment felt good.

Thats sick lol
Im better now though
 
To answer the OP, yes. I went from around 245lbs to 175lbs in 5 months by aiming for 700 calories a day (I'm a guy, 6'1 btw), sometimes I went over, so I made up by eating less the next couple of days. The longest I ever went without any food was 3 days. It definitely was hard at the start, but as I went on and saw that it actually worked and that I was losing weight, I started to enjoy feeling hungry and it got easy.

I've gone back to eating normally this past couple of months and, contrary to what most people seem to experience, I've lost another 10lbs. At 175 I would have agreed with the 'skinny fat person' article, but the last 10lbs seems to have fixed that. I have lost a lot of my muscle mass, but given the effect that being overweight had on my life, it was worth it.
 
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