Well, Dr. Layne Norton do covers a lot about metabolic damage lately especially mid this year. I doubt he have anything to talk about starvation mode and metabolic damage if it's a myth.

SOS

This post has been edited by alien9: Aug 25 2014, 04:01 PM

I see, thanks for the link. Good read there.

I have some questions about something that I can't really figure out myself. Lets say my gf, who have been trying to slim down.

Her details:-

155cm (yes chibi )
weighs around 38-39kg.
currently eating at only 900 calories.

she previously tried eating 1000 calories for quite sometime and the scale isn't moving. Once she got to 900 calories, she got off 40kg and it's now around 38kg+.

Her process has stalled for quite long now. She hits the gym almost as often as me (bout 5-6 days/week). She's doing what I do but with lighter weights and shorter rest time.

Her daily intake is already dangerously low and she's still stalling. Is this the example of metabolic damage?

Her smaller body doesn't require that much calories to maintain therefore the weight stalled or going too slow. Bones, organs, blood, water and skin has weight too. So if she wants to decrease further faster, either starve herself or sorry to say, remove organs or bones.

Don't use scale that much. Ask her to use mirror, if she look puffy then cut out salt and sugar to prevent water retention. Eat more fiber that helps flush them out.

Wait, why she have to resort to starve herself or remove organs n stuff? I'm talking about having a slight deficit. The scale, I understand shouldn't be too obsessed with numbers but it's one of the monitoring tool. she measures daily to have more data to work with.

guys, its been 2 weeks since i started my diet. now, i feel weak and i think my body is smaller, im craving for food, i cant lift as i lift normally, so i reduce reps and sets just like Dr. Layne Norton article mention by alien9 said.

my abs make a little progress, i can see it comparing last time almost none. i think my bf is like 15%-17%. its a good process by just 2 week.

so now, im wondering, how do u guys cutting and bulking, what do u do for your diets? im wondering while im diet, should i add more weight? or maintain?

before this im on calorie surplus. and it feels great, i can do many sets and reps. i feel stronger too. now im weak. makes me wonder if i eat more and exercise more but maintain by calorie deficit, will i achieved my goal(reduce bf)?

situation: eat by 2.5k cal and burns 500 cal through cardio. a total of 2k cal at the end of the day. will it works?

nah.. just joking on that part..
What i meant is that your gf's is already below ideal weight.. her progress will stall or go real slow.. i mean real sloooooooooooow even if she's at calorie deficit.. can you reduce the weight of your bones, organs, blood, skins, etc? idk man..

If you feel weak eating less then don't do so. Just eat at maintenance calorie, then workout to make it in deficit. How much you can cut depends on your training intensity.

Maybe I wasn't being clear on my post. She's still at around 22%+ bodyfat. Noticeable fat around arms, thighs and belly.

You are likely having too much deficit. Back then when I was cutting, my lifts did not decrease much and at most I was only feeling hungry. Strength wise I pretty much retain most of it.

You should periodically incorporate either a greater deficit or more cardio when your cutting process stalls. Try increasing cardio from 15 mins to 30 mins. And when the progress stops, add more deficit. Don't go batshit crazy having super deficit.

40kg x 22% = 8.8kg
38kg x 22% = 8.36kg

8.8kg - 8.36kg = Lost 0.44kg fat. How long does it take? and those measurement might not be accurate. Female has higher bodyfat compare to mens.

Try lifting heavy, minimize cardio and increase protein intake.

I understand how long it takes to burn those fat off, I also know that the measurements are not accurate. Not trying to be an ass but I'm not a total newbie when it comes to cutting.

She's already doing minimal cardio, decent protein intake and doing the same routine as mine. She's mainly weight lifting in the gym.

All I'm asking if this is the case of metabolic damage.

What is metabolic damage? If your metabolism shutdown, you'd be dead.

At 900calories you have to be very strict on your diet because every calorie counts. Zero room for fun food or seasoning. Most food has to be boiled with water. Only can drink plain water. How is she going to hit her macros to aid the fat loss? Even if she does hit her macros, there will be other nutrition deficiency which is bad for health.

How accurate is the calorie count? How long have she been doing this? How accurate is her weight? Did she cheat on scale or food? How stress is her with this dieting plan? There's a lot of factors even if you submit those to researchers, they need months to give you definite answer. We are all here to give you guesstimate advise only. If it doesn't work then find other approach.

Very low calorie diet does work really well for people with bigger body. Your gf's body is small therefore the metabolic rate really slowed down and if she lower the calories any further, she will lose more muscle mass than fat which already happened.

I will advise your gf to stay away from this advanced dieting program.
Not the program fail you, but she fail the program.

Does she feel tired all the time? Are her poundages increasing? Is it hard for her to lose weight? What's her diet like? Was she overweight before? Did she lose a drastic amount of weight from starvation diets? Is her weight consistent? If so for how long?

Slow fat loss does not equal metabolic damage. Don't make a big deal out of it. There simply isn't enough data provided to know for sure it's metabolic damage.

no1 will noe till she tested. try refeed for few days. after dat if still no different, i guess need to go abit more extreme..

i'm pretty sure starvation mode is just a myth.. to an extend.

5-6 days a week of gym and her calorie intake is 900kcal + she have 22% bf? Doesn't it sound like super way off?

I guess at your current level, you should know what this looks like. Extremely low calorie intake + excessive exercises without adequate nutrition won't lead you to anywhere at all. I would say that she is having metabolic damage. You can check yourself from Dr. Layne Norton vid of symptoms of MD.