OK. So I finally found you.
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Came by to give an update for anyone interested:
First of all: 30 DAYS SMOKE FREE TODAY!
Still at 2000 cals (about a week in) and after a 3-4 lb increase in weight for a few days.. I have bounced back down to my normal holding pattern of 150-152 lbs. So I'm going to stay at 2000 for another two weeks and if I'm still maintaining I'll be bumping up to 2100. Searching for that TDEE.
My SL 5x5 workouts are good.. I'm feeling more energy and continue to increase weight on all exercises. So I'm very very very happy with that progress!
Still struggling with feeling "fat" and not extremely happy with the amount of fat on top of my muscles at this point but I know I'm just laying a foundation for my future health and I'm committed to seeing this reset through.
Thanks for your support!5 -
Sounds like you are doing well. Congrats on the 30 days!! thats a HUGE accomplishment!!!
Everyone has those "fat" moments, but it does get easier to push them aside, especially when you look at how much strength you have gained:) Think about what the barbell shows for weight and not the scale:)
The fat will melt away when its time and show all those glorious muscles underneath. Concentrate on fueling those lifts and the rest will fall into place:)
Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator1 -
congrats on the 30 days!!!! you can do it! take it one day at a time. I quit over 7 years ago so it CAN be done. quitsmokingmessageboard.com was a great help to me during my early quit, check it out, maybe they can help you too.1
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Congratulations on the 30 days smoke free!
And I LOVE that you are getting stronger! How awesome is that?
You are doing really well working your way up to TDEE. You are building a strong and healthy future for yourself.
And yes, we all have those fat days
It's just all mental mind games, especially as you are increasing your calories.
Hopefully you will find reading this helpful;
http://eatmore2weighless.com/trust-process/
Thanks for the update!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator0 -
Thanks everyone! @empressichel that was a good read for this morning reminding me what I'm doing here. Its a journey and there are so many good things I'm accomplishing I can focus on those.
I'll keep on checking in!3 -
@kerryatoon How's everything going? Send us an update! How are you feeling lately? Still doing 5x5?
Tereza
Team EM2WL0 -
I'm back! I got into a bit of a funk and was pretty much all I could muster to deal with life so I took a break from here for a bit. No excuses really.. just needed a break. So glad you're all still here doing the deal!
So here's what's up with me:(sorry its kindof long, I need to write down my progress so I can see it clearly too)
1. I'm celebrating 58 days smoke free today! WOOT! It's been emotionally difficult as I have been 100% nicotine free for almost 4 weeks. Brain chemistry is a bugger but its getting better every day. I'm still doing it and proud of my accomplishment.
2. I'm still eating at "maintenance" although I've not been tracking the last couple weeks. So my best guess is that I've been eating around 2200 cals on average daily. It's been nice to not be stressing or obsessing around food and I've noticed that many of my good habits continued to be a part of my life which is awesome since I was aiming for a lifestyle change that would be sustainable.
3. I've been eating at estimated maintenance around 2000-2200 cals for 4 weeks. I've gained 6 lbs in the last 7 weeks which I expected during this metabolism reset and quitting smoking. I'm at 156 now and I'm really not too freaked out (which surprises me).
4. I am still lifting heavy at the gym and have continued to make gains on my weights lifted. I'll post my last workout later.
5. So I still have 4-8 weeks left of my reset.. which is nice as I'm enjoying the break.
Since I started at 175 lbs I'm pretty happy to be sitting at 156 right now. Still transitioning my way of thinking about my goals from strictly scale weight to strength and appearance goals, its a slow process to change that but I'm committed to this metabolism reset. I never want to eat 1200 cals again.
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@Kerryatoon kudos on being smoke free. That in itself is HUGE! Plus making gains at the gym, wow, you are on a roll, girl! Eating at maintenance is a great thing to do, specially because you stopped smoking. Tackle one thing at a time and master it before moving on to the next. Thanks you for updating, I loved hearing about your achievements!
This is an excellent reading on consistency: http://eatmore2weighless.com/trust-process/
Tereza
Team EM2WL0 -
Thanks for the update @Kerryatoon That is a MASSIVE achievemnet on being smoke free for 58 days! Congratulations!
So glad to hear that eating more is working for you, that's great that you are smashing it in the gym! Boom!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator0 -
WEEK 5 of Metabolism Reset
64 Days Smoke Free
Hi Ladies! Sorry I'm just having a really hard time getting on here as often since I'm just eating maintenance cals and not stressing the food diary for at least another 6-8 weeks.
I can share some of what's going on with me. I'm working really hard at the gym, have disposed of my scale and measuring tape and am focused on my strength and developing a healthy relationship with food. When I look in the mirror I'm not 100% happy with what I see.. I think I'm still going to be cutting this last 15-20 lbs once I'm done with my reset but I am STILL seeing increases in what I can lift and still fitting into the clothes I was fitting into almost 10 lbs ago. So I don't know where I'll be in my head 2 months from now. I don't know the answers.. but I do know that I'm trying to shift my focus onto enjoying life, loving my body as it is right now and appreciating all it can do. I think of myself as in recovery from a pretty unhealthy relationship with food and my body image.
I do know that I feel good. I don't panic when I eat a cookie.. I don't feel hungry all the time.. I am making progress at the gym.. and I'm proud of how hard I'm working. I"m here and going to keep sharing and I love hearing how you're all doing too. I think we learn a lot from each other. Hope you all have a great week!!!!
Here is my workout from last night.. Broke 3 personal records for my Stronglifts program!
Treadmill Walk/sprint 1/2 mile
Squat: 5x5 130 lbs
Bench Press: 5x5 80 lbs
Pendlay Rows: 5x5 90 lbs
Accessories (HIIT Style)
Face pulls: 3x10 70lbs
Assisted dips: 3x10 90lbs4 -
You are doing so well!!!0
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Have you signed up for our Crushing The Diet Mentality Workshop yet? It sounds like it might be just what you need right now! You can sign up at www.crushthediet.com
Anitra
Team EM2WL0 -
those are some pretty big accomplishments in your mentality! Thats a Big deal! The next step is learning to love yourself. Sometimes we have to fake it til you make it. When you look in the mirror, find at least two things daily that you like about yourself. Focus on the changes you have made and the things you have changed in your life all because you are feeding your body right. You are fitting into the same clothes and lifting heavier. Those are big big changes! Focus on those and not where you might be in a few months. Concentrate on the NOW. You are more than two months smoke free. You are not feeling guilty eating cookies! You make progress at the gym and you broke records!! Celebrate those!!
Keep doing what you are doing,. Hone in on those macros and get the eats in. You are doing awesome!
Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator1 -
This is so good to read.
LOVE how you are still seeing lifting increases in the gym and no increase in your clothes !
The right amount of food does a body good.
I think you are doing absolutely the best thing for you right now - taking time to heal your relationship with food and develop self love.
Fantastic on being smoke free as well.
Such big accomplishments to celebrate already!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator1 -
UGH feeling like quitting this reset! I'm feeling like I need a CUT REALLY BAD!
6 weeks into my metabo-reset and I'm getting really frustrated. I've gained 8-10 lbs already and I'm starting to feel like chickening out. I AM seeing gains at the gym.. lifting heavier & heavier but my clothes are getting tighter too. Still not smoking (71 days now) and I'm sure that quitting has changed my metabolism too. SO I"m feeling like saying screw this and going on a deficit, but I also don't want to rush my reset and mess it up again. It's just hard since I'm seeing and feeling soooo FLUFFY. I need encouragement or some kind of hope that this will be worth it. Is it normal to gain this much during a reset? Do I need to be doing something different? More cardio or something? AGH! 0 -
Hi!
I gained 17 pounds during my reset. I thought I could get away with 8 weeks, nope!!!
After a cut I determined (with help from these ladies) I wasn't ready. I am back at maintenance and I have been eating here for almost 2 months since ending my cut and working back up to tdee. I haven't gained any additional weight since slowly going back to tdee and staying there.
Stay the course. It will be OK! When you do go to cut you will be successful. But only if you are patient now!3 -
I know this part of the process sucks and I know the feeling of looking in the mirror and feeling fluffy (I just got back from 35 days vacay with no logging and lower TDEE). But keep moving. Time will pass anyway. Jumping into a cut now will only set you up for not losing. Don't rush, take a deep breath, you can do this. Specially because you are doing two hard things at the same time, when we usually recommend one change at a time. Focus on the gains. Look in the mirror, find thing about yourself that you like, no matter what.
Tereza
Team EM2WL0 -
Well If im honest with my gains, I gained about 35 pounds. Granted not all of that was "reset".. a lot was me saying "FU" to my reset..
So let me tell you about mine...
I did a reset a long while back. Reset to what I thought was TDEE... did 8 weeks, gained maybe 5 pounds.. was feeling pretty good.. Then anxiously and impatiently Cut.
Nothing happened. I couldnt lose a pound no matter what I did... I tried cutting a little more.. and started gaining back a few pounds... then I pretty much jumped around a little because I was CERTAIN I was at TDEE and SHOULD see something happening.
I tried cutting once more and this time I was almost 600 cals below "TDEE"... which was way too much... which meant I was restricting... Dieting if you will...Thankfully I realized that before I really slashed cals.
I went back to up my "tdee"... and tried again.. Spent a few months once again trying to cut and see results, and got nowhere. Only then did I finally admit I was NOT at TDEE...(not even paying attention that I didnt stay at tdee for any great length of time) Then i eventually said "FK it" and decided to just stop tracking and ate whatever the hell I wanted...
Thats where I gained most of my weight.
And then when i finally decided enough was enough.. I was 35+lbs heavier, STILL not at TDEE and still trying to figure out it. It took me another year to finally GET to my real TDEE, and I am currently still sitting on my TDEE for the past 5ish months.
What I can tell you, is the 3+ YEARS it took me to stop fighting it, to stop getting anxious to cut... to stop WISHING I could cut, is 3+ YEARS longer my journey has taken. All because I rushed the process. What I can tell you, is when I stopped worry about WHEN I would cut, I began to truly let myself enjoy the reset phase, get my macros perfectly lined up, get my MINDSET straightened out, is when the magic truly happens. I have been happily at TDEE for the last 5ish months.. I have zero idea if I have gained any weight since truly hitting tdee, but I can tell you I havent increased in size in the past 5 months. But what I have gained is a whole new approach on my life.. a new look on how I view things, and a realization that i HAD to do my journey the way I did it, so I might be able to STOP others from repeating it.
I know its hard. I know you think 8 weeks is a long time. I know you want to cut and see results. Trust me. The longer you can spend AT TDEE, the way more successful your journey will be. Thinking in an 8 week chunk is diet mentality. "I want quick results and I want them NOW!!!" If you truly want to change your lifestyle and make this work, you have to let go of that thinking. Use this time as a way to get your body burning to it full max.. Get your lifts in the gym busting through all kinds of PRs... If your clothes are making you feel fluffy, then go buy something that fits you NOW and that you can feel good about yourself in. I truly wished I had done that a lot earlier when I started busting seams in my pants..
You are truly doing an amazing job. I know it feels completely backwards to everything you have ever been taught about dieting.. but trust me, the end result is so much better than the wheel spinning you will set yourself on if you try cutting now. Give yourself the time at TDEE. Give your mindset the time.. Breathe, relax and remember your reasons why you are here and why your past dieting life never worked.
We are here for you.
Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator4 -
This is the toughest part. We all hit this wall and it sucks. Big time.
We just want it finished and to be where we want to be now. But this process takes time and patience and like the ladies above have said, the longer you can hold out at your TDEE the better the cut process in the future will work.
We have to try and get away from those quick fix thoughts, like add in more cardio, cut calories.
This is your body, your metabolism it needs time to heal from your restricting past. We can't just get it to snap out of it. It has to learn to trust you again.
And the most important bit of advice from all of us who have been there, is don't rush your reset. You will just end up having to go through it all again, maybe twice, maybe three times more, whereas if we'd just stuck it out, believed we could do it we wouldn't of wasted so much time.
This is when all the mental strength you have must be drawn on. Your body is doing what it needs to do, but getting our thinking in line at this time is harder. (insert all the cliches like trust the process, patience is key etc etc)
You can do this. Focus on all the positives. Not smoking. Strength gains.
If the scale is really freaking you out, put it to one side during reset. Like Kelly says, buy clothes that you feel comfortable in now. You must love yourself through every step of this process.
Hope today is a better day for you. You have all the support from us here.
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator
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Hey Ladies.. thank you so much for the input.. I have a confession to make: I've been just kinda letting it all hang out and indulging pretty much however I want to.. lol. EEEEK! I went through about 2 weeks where I ate a whole tub of ben&Jerry's.. seriously that's like 1000 cals right there! Wasn't sweating my macros.. loving carbs.. etc. I was letting myself have whatever partly because of the metabolism reset thing and mostly (honestly) because I just said screw it.. I'm quitting smoking.. I'm gonna worry about one thing at a time.
I have still been lifting weights and having consistent increases in lifts so I was also affectionately calling it a "Dirty Bulk".. hahahaaa. SOOOOOO now I've reached that point.. I've officially gained 10 pounds and I'm done with this "dirty bulk" lol.
Back to tracking and logging ALL FOOD for me..I'm still going to stay at the metabolism reset level of about 2000-2200 cals but I HAVE GOT TO get back to tracking religiously.
THE GOOD NEWS is that I am able to deal with these things today.. I don't have to go completely off the rails either direction.. I can cut myself some slack but also know when its time to get a little more consistent and attentive. AND here's the best part.. I DON'T HATE MYSELF for letting up a bit. I love myself enough to know that I needed a break from calorie counting while I went through the first few months of quitting smoking. I'm back on track as of today and while I don't expect to lose any weight for the next 6-8 or so weeks of my reset.. I'm going to be consistent about tracking and hope to not gain too much more.
Thanks for your support!
77 DAYS QUIT!2
