Looking for reassurance

madsmith123

Having read a lot about EM2WL, I've decided to give it a go.

As expected, I'm feeling full a lot.... and genuinely feeling guilty at the end of the day when I look at my food diary. Which I think says a lot about what low calorie dieting does to your outlook on food... not healthy!

I recently got a personal trainer and have been hitting the gym more than I ever have before. I've been doing lots of weights and I'm loving it.

However, after 3 weeks of eating at my TDEE - 15%cut... (so about 1800 cals) and doing lots of working out I have stayed the same exact weight but my body fat % has gone UP by 2%. I was shocked.

Is this normal? Are all the extra calories I'm eating going on as fat even though I haven't gained scale weight? I feel like I'm gaining strength and ability in the gym, however I'm feeling very full and bloated.

All in all, I'd just like some reassurance. I'm worried that all my work in the gym is being ruined by eating too much. Having been in a "<1200cals during the week//eating what I like at the weekends" cycle for so long, I feel like I'm eating so much!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Maddie

heybales

First, BF% isn't that accurate. Depending on method used best would be 5% accuracy (unless DEXA scan), but probably closer to 10% or worse.
Meaning that 2% move is within the range if inaccuracy and not worth even writing down if it bothers you because it's meaningless right now.

So if you have been eating at 1200 "for so long" - did you do a reset?

And did you jump straight up to 1800 or slowly?

Is doing more than ever before at the start of the 3 weeks, or did you correct TDEE estimate by the fact you are doing more now than 3 weeks ago?

Once you throw out the inaccuracies of the BF% as meaningless, that takes care of some of your other questions.

And so you know - exercise improvements have water weight gain as first response. Take that in to account with no weight change.

katykat79

Hi! To reiterate what Heybales said, EM2WL recommends that you eat at your TDEE for 8-12 weeks, then introduce a cut. Finding TDEE can take some trial and error, but if you've been over-dieted, and who among hasn't been, then you could really benefit from a reset. All the info about what to expect on a reset is available in this forum and on the EM2WL website.

I just finished up my first week of reset, eating about 2500 calories. I have seen a scale increase because I was coming off of no carb. But, I am lifting diligently and I have not gained any inches.

We are all here for you if you need support or have questions!!

retirehappy

Are you tracking your measurements? For me that was huge. I losslast around my waist, and after my reset, I had lost 3 ins. around my waist (ten ins. so far over all). My mental attitude towards food is way more positive as well. I went down two sizes and am about to be wearing another size down, while staying within a 5 lbs. range while resetting. I have yet to get back to my lowest weight before the reset, but if I keep doing down in size, who cares, NOT ME. And I love the progress I have made in my strength and resistance training.

BF measured by calipers is not very reliable. Use your tape measure instead .