So I Ate More, Way More, and Now I'm stuck!

wannabf1t

Hi! It has been a while since I've been here but I'm back and need some help, maybe motivation, reassurance, advice.
Long story short back in august I upped my cals fro 1350 to 2100 trying to find maintenance. Logged for about 12 weeks ( a little lax on weekends) and determined that my maintenance calories were somewhere between 1800-1900 but now I'm not really sure. I started at 122 pounds and in those weeks I put on about 8 pounds. Then, sometime in November I stopped logging and just caring in general I was still working out but not counting or anything (and it felt good!) so in the time until end of January I put on about another 2-4. I'm fluctuating between 132-134 but mostly 132.
I've decided to cut calories and that first week I went down to 130 (from 134 weekend debauchery) but since only fluctuate between 132-134. I haven't been very religious about logging but I think I have a good understanding of my diet since I pretty much eat the same foods.I cut my cals to 1350 but decided to not go so low so I'm at 1500, and nothing, nada. This is very discouraging. I like to think that there is some muscle in those 10lbs but who knows! My measurements are also up 2' on my hips, bust is the same although I think my initial measurement I was bloated and up another 1.5' in my waist, my pants can tell!
Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm looking for maybe posting this will help me be more serious. Any thoughts?

My initial post is here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10233437/ready-to-reset-does-this-look-right#latest

Jennifer_Lynn_1982

I'll let someone else chime in that can say it better but I doubt you're eating enough and you've since suppressed your TDEE by dropping your caloreis down to 1350 or 1500. Have you re-read your original post?

NWCountryGal

I'm a newbie here too wannab, but what I am learning is that for me, my TDEE is about 1800 and some, and I am understanding now that amount of calories will maintain my weight that I am now. I am understanding it in "writing" now, but proved it to myself by maintaining my weight of 124 for 2 months. Now I am going for my goal calories which are 2084. I really screwed up on my macros at first, but am now getting the right "amount" in my diary, and in my cupboards/fridge to my gut;) lol!

I have to be consistent, not perfect, but consistent with this. I am working out like I never have in my life, and loving it! But dang near starved because although I was getting the cals. I wasn't getting my protein intake high enough. You are doing a lot, so I imagine you are right up there with me on needing those 2000 or so cals, with the protein recommended by the "winners" here. Like I said, I am just gaining/reading/listening to people here now, so I can't advise, just share what I'm doing. I'm 63, 5'2", and 124 right now, so yes, big age difference;) My bmr is 1183 or something like that, it's all in my "How am I doing" post. My tdee, like I said is 1800 so if I want to stay at this weight, I eat around that much, but working out like I do, I have to go with my 2000.

And the message is, I may gain some weight, but in all I read, that is sometimes necessary to get my body where it is working all good and proper. I'm not going to focus (try hard not to that is) on the scale as much as the measuring tape. My "goal" of 115 may not be reasonable if I am building my body. I was an utter toothpick when I weighed 115 at age 33. And when I was early 20s, at about 105 or something way skinny, no meat on my bones at all, I don't ever want to go there again, lol;) denise PS keep showing up here, you'll get lots of help;)

jerilynconn

Your cut calories are 1350-1500?

Was that your initial cut numbers?

Thats a very steep deficit- you want to only cut 10-15% off of your tdee.

wannabf1t

Thanks all for the Replies. I'm eating 1500-1600. The 1350 was a moment of panic then I came to my senses since nothing happened. My maintenance is about 1850-1900. I work a desk job so i'm sitting down for most of the day. I've been religiously tracking and measuring since Tuesday and dropped some water weight. I'm sticking to those numbers for now and reassesing later.

NWCountryGal

wannabf1t wrote: »

Thanks all for the Replies. I'm eating 1500-1600. The 1350 was a moment of panic then I came to my senses since nothing happened. My maintenance is about 1850-1900. I work a desk job so i'm sitting down for most of the day. I've been religiously tracking and measuring since Tuesday and dropped some water weight. I'm sticking to those numbers for now and reassesing later.

Doing the same gig wannab, I have mine set back right, that's what the calc said. I had that moment of panicked, and fell back to the "old ideas" but luckily you and I both came to our senses with a lot of help from our friends;)

I feel great, better everyday (only been back on 2 days, lol, but still) I am getting the protein as well as my "goal" cals. If I can be there for you, I will encourage you. I think it's awesome, especially when we don't have anyone around us in the offline world to help or encourage us, to have the people here, easy does it, and like a friend said to me yesterday, when you are consistently hitting those goals, then is when the magic happens, yeehaw!!

Raynn1

Ok so in August in your original post you state your TDEE is 2000... why would you think its less now? You have a few more pounds on you, so if nothing else changed in your activity level, then your TDEE would be slightly higher simply because you are carrying a bit more weight..

In the past few weeks you have jumped your cals up and down and WAAAAYYYY down.. There is no consistency in your numbers at all. You even say you arent logging everything and tracking everyday.
The ONLY way you can succeed at this is to be CONSISTENT. You must track everything, you must stay at your calorie target. Since you havent eaten at your actual TDEE I would highly suggest eating at maintenance for at LEAST 8-10 weeks.

The second you drop calories, you will see a loss.. its a given. Your body loses weight. Any program you do that lowers calories will Always see a drop in the scale for a week, maybe a few weeks.. then your body starts to react and if the calorie level is lower than it should be, it will kick the fire back and start holding back on the fat burning. Thats when the scale goes back up. This is the cycle that most of us get trapped in and why we start lowering the calories more and more. You caught it before you went dangerously low again. But it shows that your body is not at the burn rate it needs to be.


From what i read on your other post and this one, your calorie intake is too low.. your TDEE is higher than 2000, and you are eating almost a 25% deficit. Take it up to your true maintenance and go from there

wannabf1t

Thanks for your reply. I'm trying to work on being consistent. I think my posts were unclear and I was rambling a bit. But let me explain, the reason I started eating 2000+ is because I was doing Crossfit 2-3 a week plus 3 days of weight lifting. I dropped Crossfit and all forms of cardio three weeks into the reset.

I created a spreadsheet were I kept track of everything, including my weight. I logged/reset for 15 weeks and my average amount of calories burned for those weeks was 1861. I ate an average of 1935. At the 14 week marked I had only gained 5-6 pounds which was the last time I logged my weight. After Nov 15th, I stopped logging mostly because I needed a break. I didn't restrict at all during that two month period, i think I overindulged mostly on the weekends.

I truly believe i'm not suppressed and that my TDEE is around those numbers, considering how slow was my weight gain up to when I stopped. If I am correct, then I'm roughly eating at a 15% deficit. What do you think?

Raynn1

The only way to know for sure your TDEE is to track again and watch your weight..eat at what you think maintenance is... then go HIGHER. track your weight patterns. If your weight goes up a bit, but levels out after a few weeks, then you are not at TDEE and need to go up again.

You almost have to eat above TDEE to find your TDEE. If you go above it then your weight will consistently rise in your trend. If you are AT TDEE, then your weight will trend at the same spot.
I still encourage finding your maintenance level first before making any cut. You need to know where the tDEE is exactly and not guess that you are right.. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

I hit what I thought was TDEE based on the calculators and my activity level.. I finally got my eats up to that tdee... then after a reset period i cut... and sure the weight went down for a few weeks.. but guess what,, stalled out and no matter what it wasnt going down.. Unless I continued to cut my calories down. (See the cycle?) I wasted almost two years bouncing around because I thought I was at my correct tdee. It wasnt until I finally listened, and ate ABOVE that number.. and with the help of a monitor, I found my tdee was actually closet to 500 calories ABOVE what the calculators said. So I have once again had to reset, and once again had to push to find that TDEE. and I am *just* hitting that number now


Dont rush the process. Its not worth it. Spinning your heels in a few months because you cut too early and by too much, will only lengthen your tim doing this. Spend the time now just learning about your body, your actual tdee and eating your macros. I promise you, its worth the investment now than spinning heels later.

heybales

NWCountryGal wrote: »

I'm a newbie here too wannab, but what I am learning is that for me, my TDEE is about 1800 and some, and I am understanding now that amount of calories will maintain my weight that I am now. I am understanding it in "writing" now, but proved it to myself by maintaining my weight of 124 for 2 months. Now I am going for my goal calories which are 2084. I really screwed up on my macros at first, but am now getting the right "amount" in my diary, and in my cupboards/fridge to my gut;) lol!

My tdee, like I said is 1800 so if I want to stay at this weight, I eat around that much, but working out like I do, I have to go with my 2000.

Side point here - I think there may be some confusion in this.

TDEE - as Total Daily Energy Expenditure - should include exercise.
If you have a Fitbit or such and log all workouts it's not valid estimating - you can eat what it says you burn each day to maintain.
Otherwise you use a tool to estimate average daily based on average planned weekly activity of everything.

If your TDEE is 1800 - then your goal with 2000 eating level is to gain weight?

And if you don't have a heavy progressive weight lifting routine going (which your other thread says you don't) - you will only be gaining fat.

Just want to confirm that is your goal right now - which hey, for some they do need to gain fat.

wannabf1t

Thanks Raynn1. It is something to think about. Maybe I think 1800-1900 is my TDEE because I felt confortable eating at that level and after a while my weight was leveling out. Now I wished I hadn't stopped logging!

Heybales, that is including my exercise. I wear heart rate monitor ( I know you have explained to me the difference between using it for weights and cardio) . On my rest days it is anywhere from 1400-1600 depending on my level of activity.

I was following PHUL but stalled after a while. I continue to follow that routine. I started with the purpose of finding TDEE, I also knew that gaining was part of the deal, now when I started to see more fat gains that's when I was not as ok. And I did not need to gain fat because I think I was around 23-25% already. I'm only 5'2" so weight gain as little as it may be shows really soon. My plan now is to lose weight to at least where my pants are not cutting me in half.

NWCountryGal

Ok, I'm confused again:( I thought, by those calculations on the link in the quick start guide (the free guide) were what to follow. My BMR is 1100 something here's mine:



So am I not supposed to eat "more" to build muscle, and lose fat? I have only a little left (fat) to lose as I already lost from 142 just walking 18-24 miles a week. And if I am right, isn't that for anyone at any weight?

jerilynconn

Denise,
Let me see if i understand you.

You put in your goal as bulk/build muscle. So in that case you want to eat more than your tdee (and you've got to have your protein % up because thats what you need for muscles!)

@NWCountryGal

NWCountryGal

That's what I thought I was doing right, and yes, for that goal. I still have a little fat, but I am using the measuring tape more, way more, plus, how much is hanging over my belt etc. LOL!

So I am doing the right thing, eating more, to lose fat (that's the only weight we want to lose right?). I am lifting now, even though only weight "machines" I am lifting, pulling etc. Even getting some definition already. I dance just for fun, and a sort of warm up to the machines. I decided today that I really got my heart rate up, and did a wild routine for 40 minutes, so no weights today. I use my legs so much, I didn't want to overkill. Plus I like going every day, and I can do dance in between each "lifting" day. What do you thing, sound ok Sara? Thanks, denise;)

jerilynconn

I think thats okay! You'll probably have amazing "newbie gains". And you'll have some great recomp. After a while of bulking (progressively lift more weight and learn some free weights/ dumbbells/barbell) you could do a small cut to lose a bit of fat.

NWCountryGal

saranharm wrote: »

I think thats okay! You'll probably have amazing "newbie gains". And you'll have some great recomp. After a while of bulking (progressively lift more weight and learn some free weights/ dumbbells/barbell) you could do a small cut to lose a bit of fat.

Ok, so building the muscle isn't going to burn the fat off at the same time it's building? That's where I am not understanding. There used to be a setting in one of the popular calcs used around here, called build muscle/burn fat. That's my goal I don't want to bulk up with muscle and still be stuck with fat?

NWCountryGal

Ok, I'm going to get off this ladies thread, that's not right for me to go on with this, when it's her topic;) denise

jerilynconn

There is a lot of disagreement on whether you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. From what i have read, its hard to effectively do both but not impossible. It may be easier since you've just started.

It would be better to build muscle first, then shed fat to reveal definition. Plus, you can eat more with more muscle.

wannabf1t

I think that building muscle while SLOWLY getting rid of fat is recomping. Bulking is focusing on building muscle by eating at a surplus and lifting heavy. Yes, you will build muscle but you will inevitable gain fat as well because of the excess calories. I was told here on MFP that if body fat was over 25% percent it was not ideal to bulk because your are already at the high range of the normal % percentage. I do not know if this is true.
Maybe recomping if you have the patience. There is a very informative thread about the subject on the maintenance forum.

NWCountryGal

I'm betting you are absolutely right and this really isn't the place for me

NWCountryGal

plus the fact that most of the people I've asked for help are not answering me I must of hit a nerve so I do wish you the best of luck but I am getting out of this MSP as well as the eat more to weigh less because there are too many captains running the ship