Metabolism Reset

A_Dabauer

So I’ve been kind of implementing EM2WL on my own for a few days now, but remember seeing a MFP group for this, and went looking specifically for it because I’m struggling a lot with eating more.

I’ve a long history with calorie restriction. I was put on my first diet at the age of 9. I wasn’t a ‘fat’ kid but I had recently put on more than a few pounds and my mom thought if she corrected my issues early on (because weight is always a behavior issue) I wouldn’t struggle with my weight as an adult. Since I’m here obviously that strategy failed. LOL! But the time I was a teen I had basically stopped eating. I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, but in retrospect, I had a huge problem with body image, restriction, and bingeing. As I got older my weight spiraled every time I wasn’t starving myself. I never starved myself skinny, but I did starve myself sick on more than a few occasions, not to mention the mental issues associated with these behaviors.

In my early 20’s I was diagnosed with PCOS, and by my mid 30’s my health was falling apart. I found a Doctor that could help me sort through my various interdependent health issues, and now in addition to PCOS I have psoriatic arthritis, and a thyroid problem. At this point I was probably eating 800-1000 calories a day and was my heaviest weight of 220lbs (I’m only 5’3”). Once I had my health issues sorted, I increased my calories to around 1500 cals a day and slowly increased my activity levels. I rather quickly lost down to 180 pounds, and then things just stalled dead. For the last year my calories have been anywhere from 1000-1600 a day. I’ve started running 5KM on a regular basis, my TDEE is from 1800 upwards to 3000 calories some days depending on my activity level, yet I wasn’t losing.

I came to a realization, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results was the definition of insanity. I knew I couldn’t eat less and still maintain the activity levels I’ve grown to love and rely on…so the solution, though painful to comprehend was obvious. I needed to eat more.

I took a total diet break over Christmas, it wasn’t a conscious decision, but I needed it mentally and now I think even more so physically. On Monday I set the goal of eating 2000 calories a day, this is on my low end of my TTDE, and logically seemed a safe place to start. Even though I had been eating as I pleased for the two/three weeks before, the task of eating 2000 calories (of healthy food) seems daunting, physically and mentally. Even though I’ve given up a lot of my eating disordered behaviors, like excessive restriction and bingeing, this process of intentionally eating more has made me realize how much of that still remains. It’s scary to eat more! It’s scary to eat past what I think is full.

As I was reading about metabolism rest, tears welled up in my eyes as I realized how much I need this for my body and my mind to heal. I also realized a few weeks at 2000 calories wasn’t going to fix my issue either. I think I’m going to need a long term reset before I attempt losing again.

Any encouraging words would be greatly appreciated!

jerilynconn

Welcome

Eat at the 2000 cals level for a few weeks. Your body will adjust. Then you can inch up even more until you find that tdee. Its as much mental as it is physical.

Its hard for me too but the time will pass anyways. There is no rush. Let your body and mind heal.

A_Dabauer

Thanks! One day at a time!

On the plus side even though I'm still overweight I've a positive body image, I'm proud of what I've accomplished. Due to my arthritis 2 years ago I couldn't walk more than a few hundred steps, I've strengthened my body day after day until I can now run 5km straight

This all kind of caught me off guard, as I thought I had all my eating disorder behaviours behind me! But I know that I can heal my metabolism, and my mind too!

Jennifer_Lynn_1982

I just sent you a friend request but you are on the right track! Read through the stickies on this group, take your measurements and "before" pictures and keep with it. The scales will lie to you so your measurements will tell you more of the truth. Keep with it, there's a lot of great and encouraging people in this group.

ambsnic17

As mentioned, this group is amazing! Don't be afraid to ask questions!!

justsayinisall

Welcome aboard this train. Just wait, it gets better! I think my story closely resembles yours (very restrictive eating for YEARS and slowly putting on weight, then the "f it" attitude of gorging and eating anything I wanted...that lasted a few years too).

Keep increasing your calories, don't worry about the numbers on the scale yet. Settle in for the long haul. I haven't got this thing figured out yet, as I'm still trying to find my TDEE and just now eating somewhere close to it...I think, but there are lots of good people here that are far more experienced to answer your questions...I can be here for moral support

justsayinisall

just wanted to put this link in. This page is a good read if you are just beginning: http://eatmore2weighless.com/the-metabolism-reset-guide/

A_Dabauer

Thanks ladies! I've been reading/watching a ton of the content here, it's been very helpful in reinforcing I'm heading in the right direction, and helping me put a bit more structure around my long term plans for the health of my metabolism

A_Dabauer

So after reading and watching a lot of the information and threads around here this is my plan for my metabolism reset:

I plan on doing a 12 week reset which maybe more than I need but considering my long history with sever calorie restriction I think planning to take this very slow is going to be wise, both mentally and physically. When I first decided I needed to up my calories my thought process was, up them short term so I can go back to eating the way I currently am. However, as I dig through the resources here, I realize that long term I should be eating at maintenance, not at a deficit. So my goal is to get to eating intuitively at TDEE, then drop my calories for short periods of time when I want to lose. The other factor in taking my time to do the reset is because I’ve Insulin Resistant PCOS my carbs are a bit of a wild card in this equation, and I want to play a bit with where my carb threshold is as well as finding my true TDEE. Traditionally I do what I call moderate carb, and aim for 75-100 grams of fruits and veggie types of carbs. However in the last year I’ve had periods where I’ve been in keto, and it didn’t make any impact on my long term weight loss results. This leads me to believe that carbs alone aren’t the cause of my lack of weight loss.

Here are my current stats,
Height 5’3”

Weight history:
MFP Starting Weight (August 2014) 222lbs 50% Body Fat
Current Weight 180lbs 37% Body Fat, this is after coming off low carb I’ve been off low carb for 3 weeks and where I’m considering my starting point,
I’ve been as low as 173lbs in earlier in December, trending around 175lbs
Goal weight for 2016, 165lbs
Ultimate Goal weight, 140lbs

Exercise:
Baseline is sedentary but I’ve incorporated the following into my schedule,
Running 2-3 times a week 5-8 Km/run as weather permits as I live in Calgary, Canada
Deepwater workout – twice a week 50 minutes each which is both anaerobic and aerobic
Body Weight Exercise – three times a week 40 minutes each
Downhill Skiing – Once a week 4-5 hours
Drumfit – 2-3 times a week 15-20 minutes each mostly aerobic exercise (this is a fun dance/drumming exercise program done with my 8 year old)

TDEE/BMR:
BMR is around 1400
My Fitbit Charge HR, records my average TDEE around 2100
A traditional TDEE calculator shows a TDEE around 2500

Eating Plan:
I’ve started at 2000 calories a day, and will adjust up from here as required.
I plan on adjusting both calories/carbs throughout my 12 weeks, before attempting to reduce my calories.

Speed here is really my last concern, I want to make progress over the long term, without impacting my metabolism.

Jennifer_Lynn_1982

Hi Angela - I'd recommend also taking a look at @heybales profile - he's got a great spreadsheet to determine your TDEE as well which I think is a great tool that many of us has used (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/user/heybales/profile/heybales?target=&redirected=true). I'd guess your TDEE would fall over 2500 calories/day with all of your activity.

It's usually recommended that you start at something you feel comfortable with (say 2000) and increase by 100 calories/day each week until you start to see an actual gain in weight while keeping your activity level the same.

Week 1 -2000 calories/day
Week 2 - 2100 calories/day
Week 3 - 2200 calories/day....etc.

Keep up with the updates, they're great!

A_Dabauer

Yep Haybales spreadsheet says 2595! Eeep! Seems a daunting amount of calories, but one week at a time I suppose.

I'm going to do some meal planning this weekend to try to make eating a bit less stressful, as I feel like I'm always thinking OMG I've how much left to eat?!? LOL This will also let me be a bit more purposeful with my macro's as this week I've just kind of ate what I could to hit my calorie mark.

heybales

With a Fitbit ChargeHR I'd suggest confirming it's going to be best estimate and use it.
Just TDEE Please spreadsheet is for those with no better estimate.
Well, if you think your BF% is way off compared to average, the bigger Weight Loss spreadsheet could get a better BMR figure and then help tweak Fitbit to use it.

ChargeHR needs about 2 weeks to find some key stats for the exercise calorie burn based on HR - but daily is step based.
If you take meds for your heart that causes artificial lowering or raising - the HR based calorie burns won't be good estimate.

So confirm sometime that your Fitbit stated distance at a daily purposeful pace really matches some known distance.
Then need to adjust the stride length for walking to correct that possibly - to make daily calorie burn more accurate.
Use the Fitbit group on MFP, the FAQ shows how to calculate it.

Then confirm a few normal days on your Fitbit daily graph per 5 min - looking at steps - confirm no steps when you shouldn't have any, and indeed steps when you should.
If any spikes stand out - then may need to fiddle with sensitivity settings so steps are seen correctly.

Then start looking at your emailed Fitbit stats weekly, it'll state clearly what the TDEE is.
You'll of course need to manually log your water workouts as just that - water aerobics or jogging.

A_Dabauer

@haybales Thanks for the advice
I'll work with my Fitbit TDEE for now and slowly inch up to see if its accurate.

I'm going to stay at 2000 calories per day until my weight stablilizes, then work up from there 100 calories at a time until I start gaining again.

The advantage of dieting for the last year with basically zero results is I've developed a lot of patience for the process.

I'm happy to report week two has been much easier psychologically than week one, though physically it's still a struggle to eat so much food! Lol

jerilynconn

PAtience is the key!

Glad things are getting better!