The most fascinating part about this timeline, for me, is that it's so short. Feels like forever ago I was using Netscape on Windows 95, but it really wasn't. It's come so far in such a short amount of time.
This most certainly wasn't a starvation diet. I didn't starve myself at any point. I'm not at all convinced my body has broken down any muscle. I'm not in any danger whatsoever.
It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle.
You haven't noticed the muscle loss yet b/c the body prioritizes the breakdown of unused/minimally used muscles. But if you keep this up much longer it will start to effect your ability to perform basic feats of strength.
That rate of weight loss you appear to be achieving also causes massive stress on the cardiovascular system.
You need to talk to a doctor, b/c you may be causing long-lasting, serious damage to your body.
> It sounds exactly like a starvation diet; you can't lose 1 lb/day without losing massive amounts of muscle.
Yes. Yes you can.
Gluconeogenesis is difficult and wasteful. Lipolysis is by comparison a doddle. The body will gleefully favour liberating energy from fat stores for a long time before turning to lean tissue.
The idea of "starvation mode" comes from the Minnesota Starvation Study, where subjects had their intake reduced by 25-50% for six months. They were so completely starved that they exhausted their fat stores and broke down lean tissue for energy.
During my six-day fast, I dropped from 252lbs to 228lbs. After the fast, I leveled out at 233lbs and then continued to drop because I didn't return to my old eating and exercise habits.
