Newbie with a ton of questions.....

melsurge83

So I'm 4 weeks into the reset calorie increase. I was advised that I needed to back down on the cardio but not eliminate something that I truly enjoy which I do. I was the cardio queen doing 1.5-2 hrs daily plus lifting. So toning things down I do 4hrs lifting a week w 2.5 hrs cardio a week which lead me to a tdee of 2700 from the em2wl calculator. My Fitbit on average of the week gives a 2866 tdee. I was advised that I could add light walking on top of gym time. I wanna do this reset right with eating to correct honest activity level. Now w adding in light walks raises my Fitbit tdee. Should I be eating more?

TerezaToledo

Yay, Mel, you made it here!
First of all, I must say you are doing amazing by increasing your calories and lifting heavier! You are also tackling the diet mentality change, which is huge in the process. I'd say add the light walks, the will help with sore muscles and relief anxiety. Don't worry about the extra steps and increasing your tdee, just let if happen for now. Keep doing what you are doing, watch the weekly average and if you need, increase you intake once you reach the 2700 and stay there for a bit. Consistency plays a big role here.

Tereza
Team EM2WL

Raynn1

Welcome Melissa! As Tereza has said, at this point you are just working on getting your cals up, not worrying about where they land at yet. Focus on eating more, lifting and whatever cardio you like. just remember, finding TDEE is not just as simple as taking what the calculators say.. Its GETTING to that point and then tweaking after. The ultimate goal to all of this is to be able to eat as much as possible and have fat loss happen. So that means getting TDEE as high as your body needs in order for your cut to be as high as it needs. If you focus too much on a set number that you have in your head because you think you cant possibly eat more than that, then you are adding more stress to your body. Relax and just concentrate on getting your TDEE up to 2700 right now.
Tereza nailed it... Consistency is the big role here

Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator

TerezaToledo

I know that there is so much we want to tackle at the same time and so much we want to make sense of and sort out as fast as we can. But this is a life journey, it's a long to e commitment and you need to give yourself time to let all the info soak in so things fall in the right spot in your mind. But that takes time and I see how much anxiety it can create.

The best and most successful approach is to tackle one thing at a time. Choose the thing that will make the biggest difference or that you need most and keep doing it until it becomes second nature. You got your workouts and protein down and you are working on increasing your calories. I know that eating more has been a hard thing in many situations for you, but I know how committed you are. Keep doing it. Once your reach your TDEE and nail it, then, and only then, it's time to worry about something else.

Any fitness tracker is a great tool and cool gadget to help us understand and estimate our daily burn and caloric needs, but that's it. They do not command our lives and way of living. Besides the fact that they aren't that accurate, specially when there's strength training involved. They cannot tell the difference from the steps and moves we do while lifting a 50 lb barbell from a short walk to the kitchen, for example. But nevertheless, it is always cool to see those calories going up on it.

Being more active throughout the day is always a great idea. Good for your body and soul. Walking, playing with the kids, dancing around, bike rides, anything you do is always welcome. Yes, they will increase your TDEE a bit for that day, but that's not an issue, that will not derail your progress or burn through the hard acquired muscle. Hey, that extra burn can be good to offset the extra cals that weren't accounted for, because logging isn't always perfect. Do things that make you feel happy, because they will help you stay consistent in this journey.

Tereza
Team EM2WL