Hi,

I am 7 days post op and I have a question regardling Starvation Mode. I know what it is and I've been told over and over again that you will not lose if you drop too many calories. Your body will go into starvation mode and not lose any weight. But, since we are on really limited diets post-op with a small number of calories, does that mean I'm in starvation mode?

So i'm confused on how lap band patients can all be losing weight when they are basically in starvation mode. Or is starvation mode just a red herring? Or does the body just give up and start buring fat after a certain amount of time??

I'm confused. Help!!! Opinions needed.

My scars were bonded with adhesive that just wears off. It took about 4 days when I could eat or drink comfortably. It would hurt going down.

I just feel like I have a lot of.pressure in my chest and stomach.....so ready to feel normal again!

I'll be banded for a year on September 28th, and I've really struggled with the starvation mode question. There are rare days that I go over 850 calories. The bulk of my time since being banded, I was in the600-750 calorie range. I've lost 104 pounds since surgery, so I know that you can lose while being under 1000 calories. I think each person's body is different. I know some people need 1000-1200 calories to lose, but I've done pretty well staying under 900 most days.

So far I'm averaging 500 calories per day. Tonight once again not hungry and I ate chilli and sugar free jello. My tummy hurts though. Not gas just a rumbling and sour stomach.

Starvation mode doesn't really exist. Sure you can starve, but that takes generally 72 hours of no Water and food for your body to kick into such a situation.

But what many people who attempt to lose weight eating extremely low calories experience is a metabolic downgrade, which means that your body adapts tot he low calories you are feeding it and when you exceed that number, you eventually gain weight, even though it seems silly to gain weight eating 1200 calories, but consider this.

A woman eats 700 calories a day and loses weight perfectly. However, she hits a plateau and wonders why. Well, instinct tells her to drop her calories even more, which may result in SOME weight-loss but at such low calories you're hardly able to eat enough food to fuel yourself, so then you generally opt to eat more, but adding to your calories causes weight gain because your metabolism has downgraded.

And the only way to really fix such a situation is to lose the insane calorie deficits and eat higher calories. I went through this personally, still am. When I was first starting out I was eating 600-800 calories a day for almost a good 5-6 months, but it worked, but it also ruined my metabolism. So yes I've packed on 10lbs, but my metabolism is re-regulating itself, so nowadays I CAN eat 1800 and lose.

Just something to consider.

Ok, I dont understand how healing stops weight loss?? Shouldnt it enhance weight loss or at least stimulate it? And if the body takes 6 weeks to heal then why are we encourgaged to start working out etc? I just started getting back to the gym, but I dont want to work out for the next month or so and no lose. This will seriously mess with my head.