My Daily/Weekly Progress
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Wiccandothis
Posts: 855 Member
Hi, I'm Tracy and I had originally posted here (http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10455288/em2wl-and-nursing-newbie#latest), but decided to do my own accountability/progress thread, plus my rants, raves and etc.
A little about me: I have been overweight my whole life...made fun of in high school and what not. I'm trying to be a better role model for my almost 17 year old daughter who is going down the same path as me. I understand that most people she going to school with are overweight as around here it seems to be the norm now days. I don't agree with that at all! I also have a 4 year old son and my newbie 12 weeks old daughter. I am 37 years old, 5'5 and 265 lbs and I want to be around and healthy for them as long as I can and I want to leave a lasting impression for them to be healthy for themselves as well as their family when they have one.
As I stated on my previous discussion thread - When I started on MFP almost 600 days ago, I was given around 1500 calories a day and following CICO. I cycled my calories through the week with the bulk being on Fridays when I needed them the most. I had a pretty high average calorie burn last year while working out 5-6 days a week, which averaged about 8-10 hours each week. I was working my butt off and was always hungry despite trying my best to stay within my calories. I found the EM2WL board back at the beginning of September and started following it immediately! I instantly fell in love with the whole concept of EM2WL and being able to eat more food and still lose weight. After reading up on EM2WL, I became a big believer that the more active you are, the more you should eat to fuel your body. It just makes sense! I decided against doing the metabolism reset, but followed the plan for about 6 weeks and lost an average of 1.5 lbs a week and got to eat more food!! Then I got pregnant, lol. The good thing about that though was that starting EM2WL first got me used to eating more so when my doctor said to eat no less than 2000 calories a day...I was already there! I was able to maintain my weight for a good 4 months give or take a few lbs and didn't really start gaining until around 6 months pregnant. Now that I'm nursing, I have to add 500 calories to that to counteract the calories I'm burning for nursing.
Recently, I decided to just use my time nursing as my metabolism reset as it is advised not to diet while nursing. After having the baby, I started with 2200 calories and have been adding slowly the past few weeks. This week I am up to 2600 calories and am still somewhat maintaining. Next week I will attempt another 100, but I feel like I am cutting it close even though the calculators (plus nursing calories) have me at around 3200 to maintain. That seems like A LOT!! I plan on weaning in about 3-6 more months, so that extra 500 will eventually come off and I can start to cut again. I am so looking forward to seeing my progress once I am able to do so. Until then, this will be my thread and I will update every few days or at least weekly on my progress just so I can keep my thoughts somewhere and in order.
Feel free to add me
Tracy
A little about me: I have been overweight my whole life...made fun of in high school and what not. I'm trying to be a better role model for my almost 17 year old daughter who is going down the same path as me. I understand that most people she going to school with are overweight as around here it seems to be the norm now days. I don't agree with that at all! I also have a 4 year old son and my newbie 12 weeks old daughter. I am 37 years old, 5'5 and 265 lbs and I want to be around and healthy for them as long as I can and I want to leave a lasting impression for them to be healthy for themselves as well as their family when they have one.
As I stated on my previous discussion thread - When I started on MFP almost 600 days ago, I was given around 1500 calories a day and following CICO. I cycled my calories through the week with the bulk being on Fridays when I needed them the most. I had a pretty high average calorie burn last year while working out 5-6 days a week, which averaged about 8-10 hours each week. I was working my butt off and was always hungry despite trying my best to stay within my calories. I found the EM2WL board back at the beginning of September and started following it immediately! I instantly fell in love with the whole concept of EM2WL and being able to eat more food and still lose weight. After reading up on EM2WL, I became a big believer that the more active you are, the more you should eat to fuel your body. It just makes sense! I decided against doing the metabolism reset, but followed the plan for about 6 weeks and lost an average of 1.5 lbs a week and got to eat more food!! Then I got pregnant, lol. The good thing about that though was that starting EM2WL first got me used to eating more so when my doctor said to eat no less than 2000 calories a day...I was already there! I was able to maintain my weight for a good 4 months give or take a few lbs and didn't really start gaining until around 6 months pregnant. Now that I'm nursing, I have to add 500 calories to that to counteract the calories I'm burning for nursing.
Recently, I decided to just use my time nursing as my metabolism reset as it is advised not to diet while nursing. After having the baby, I started with 2200 calories and have been adding slowly the past few weeks. This week I am up to 2600 calories and am still somewhat maintaining. Next week I will attempt another 100, but I feel like I am cutting it close even though the calculators (plus nursing calories) have me at around 3200 to maintain. That seems like A LOT!! I plan on weaning in about 3-6 more months, so that extra 500 will eventually come off and I can start to cut again. I am so looking forward to seeing my progress once I am able to do so. Until then, this will be my thread and I will update every few days or at least weekly on my progress just so I can keep my thoughts somewhere and in order.
Feel free to add me
Tracy
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Replies
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Ok, this week I wanted to start focusing on my protein intake and thought I did really well today. Um...no. I only hit 15% of my 30% goal! It is really hard for me to ever eat enough protein to be able to hit that goal. Any suggestions? I have already switched from egg whites to whole eggs, I use 1% milk because I don't really care for anything more fatty than that, I started to incorporate more nuts, beef jerky and cheese. I really need to get to the grocery store and stock up on higher protein foods.
Today I ate 2,908 and my calorie burn was around 3,970. Definitely not my normal daily activity. The hubby and I went for a nice long 5.5 mile walk around the lake here Something we haven't done in a long time since before I got pregnant. I know I probably should have eaten more because of my higher calorie burn, but we got home so late and I'm trying to get out of the habit of eating too late. 0 -
Its okay to not eat more, unless you were starving. If you did that daily or several times a week and you consistently had a higher burn then you would need to up your calories.
Do you eat meat or poultry? The easiest way I had protein is by eating more chicken. I will have 6-8 ounces instead of the 3-4 oz servings. A lot of protein per ounce.
Cottage cheese. I don't mind it plain but if you regularly eat yogurt, try adding some cottage cheese for more protein.0 -
Sometimes after a high burn day, you will find you are hungry the day AFTER the high burn, so if you are, just make sure to eat, even if that day is sedentary!
On the protein; meats, eggs, milk, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, lentils, beans and it's always an option to use protein shakes and bars too.
Ichel
EM2WL ambassador and moderator2 -
@saranharm Yes, I do eat meat and poultry. I love chicken, but sometimes I get burnt out on eating it too much. I need to start preparing it like I used to at the beginning of the week to have on hand. I love cottage cheese and my favorite is to eat it with grapefruit...yum! Going to the store tomorrow so I'll make sure to pick up some high protein items.
@empressichel I was extra hungry this morning and ended up having a pretty hefty breakfast to start my day out good.1 -
@Wiccandothis
Yes, the body balances itself out and tells us what it needs if we only stop to listen.
Great way to start your day!
Ichel
EM2WL ambassador and moderator0 -
@empressichel Seems similar to calorie cycling. Before I stated with EM2WL, I followed CICO and used to cycle my calories throughout the week. Would the same concept apply here? Like if I eat more one day and less the next or burn more calories one day and less the next and total it all out for the week to keep a daily average for the week. I liked switching it up fault like that, but don't know if it could work along with EM2WL.0
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@Wiccandothis
In theory yes it would work. We should be looking at averages over a week or so rather than trying to be 'perfect' everyday. Like I look at my macros over a week. Some days might be 27% others are 33%, so generally it balances out over time.
One thing to be careful with when you are starting out is not to over complicate things, especially with the calories.
I eat an average of the same every day regardless of activity, unless I have a crazy gardening or hiking day where I would eat a LOT more.
The simplicity of knowing you are hitting the same calories very day can be much easier and also stops any risk of restrict/binge cycle of for example restricting more during the week then eating a lot more over the weekend. Or using activity as a way to 'earn' calories.
Just a few diet mentality things to watch out for as they will try to creep back in if you give them any chance at all!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and moderator2 -
Week 1 update:
Day - Consumed - Burned - Weight
Friday - 2661 - 2536 - 265.2
Saturday - 2591- 3232 - 264.6
Sunday - 3109 - 2566 - 265.7
Monday - 2909 - 3986 - 267.2
Tuesday - 2886 - 2708 - 267.1
Wednesday - 2888 - 3089 - 266.9
Thursday - 3431 - 3280 - 265.3
Total =20475 - 21397 for a total deficit for the week of 922 calories and my end weight this morning was 267.7 (only because I had a rather large dinner pretty late in the evening yesterday so I'm sure my weight increase overnight is from that and water retention.
I learned a lot during my first official week of really trying to keep my calories up and I upped my activity as well. I learned that even if I am under/over in calories from day to day, it does balance out by the weeks end. I think I did a pretty good job of staying close to my TDEE for the week by only having a 922 calorie deficit. I had a hard time in the beginning with wanting to up my calories this much. I aimed for around 2600 calories each day and added calories depending on my activity for the day. My TDEE target according to the calculator is 2664 for light activity without adding in the 500 for nursing. However if you look at my MFP goals, I have it set rather weird. I have my goal set at 2200, but I have a negative entry for nursing that is set at 400 totaling the 2600. Today I am going to up my goal to 2300 and change the negative nursing entry to 500. Being as though my activity has been pretty good and I have eaten an average of 2925 a day this week, I think It'll be okay to up it to 2800 and see what happens. I'm still nowhere near where I should be at with nursing, which is between 2800-3500 depending on my activity, but I'm getting there. I really am enjoying the whole process of upping my calories...maybe a little too much, lol. But even with all the food I ate this week, I really haven't gained any weight other than water weight. Hopefully this upcoming week will be just as great!2 -
Way to be positive.0
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I justwant to say that it seems like a crazy idea to add calories in the beginning, but once you start eating them, lots of things change. Specially with nursing, you will need those calories. And eating more and keeping the same weight, woohoo!
Tereza
Team EM2WL0 -
Looks to me like you are doing a great job!
And it's absolutely OK to be enjoying the extra food! Food is meant to be enjoyed.
Well done on consistently having the calories up!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator0 -
I may be enjoying the extra food a little bit too much, lol. I have made some bad choices the past few days and since my weigh in on Thursday morning, I have gained 7.1 lbs!!! I would love to blame the process, but I know it's my fault and my poor choices that caused my gains. Yesterday we had a baby shower and then last night my sister in law ordered the fight and invited us over for food and drinks. I ate plenty of "appetizers" and had quite a few drinks. I'm hoping my weight will stabilize over the next week or so. Tomorrow is a new day and I have a positive outlook to bring myself past this weekend.2
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You know having a weekend like that is fine. It's apart of life, part of this lifestyle.
All you have to do is make sure that when it's over, you get straight back on track with your macros, calorie goals, activity goals. Obviously if it was happening every weekend then you need to look deeper into the mentality that is creating it, i.e. is it actually restrict/binge cycles or if you are being too 'perfect' and strict during the week, then sometimes that's why we let loose a bit on the weekend.
If it's just a once in a while, it's fine, no shame, no guilt, just enjoyment!
I'm sure that scale weight will be due to unusual foods with high sodium more than anything.
Just stay focused and keep that wonderful positive attitude and you will be just fine!
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and moderator0 -
Always do the math to see that it was not just fat - in case you think that is any part of it.
7.1 lbs x 3500 cal / 3 days = 8283 calories in surplus each of those 3 days. If it was 4 days do the math.
Do you imagine any way possible you could even eat that many calories, let alone above and beyond maintenance calories?
Each day?
You likely had more sodium for one thing - that's just water retained then.
And if you normally eat lower sodium than you would on average, then you just saw some of the water weight gain you'd get going back to normal daily diet.
If you eat low sodium purely for the effect of less water weight, and no actual health issues - don't worry about.
Some of the water weight could be increased glucose storage in muscles - because it was lower than potential because you are still eating in a diet lower than maintenance.
And then you might have had your last weigh-in on an invalid day and had known expected reasons for lower water weight than average, and now went above.
What you saw was just an increased "wedding cake syndrome".
Women in wedding part diet badly all week to fit in dresses on Sat.
They eat 1 piece of cake at reception, and gain 5 lbs the next day.
Though what they ate weighed in total maybe 1 lb at most.1 -
Week 1 update:
Day - Consumed - Burned - Weight
Friday - 3306 - 3440 - 267.7
Saturday - 3486 - 2912 - 269.2
Sunday - 2959 - 2612 - 272.4
Monday - 2925 - 2774 - forgot to weigh
Tuesday - 2861 - 2982 - 268.1
Wednesday - 2856 - 2988 - 268.3
Thursday - 3063 - 3160 - 268.1
Total= 21456 - 20868 for an overage for the week of 588 and an end weight on Friday morning of 268.0. I upped my calories by 100 on Friday and I didn't gain much during the week so I upped again this past Friday. I hope I'm not going too fast, but I'm up to 2900 and as you can see I've been eating that anyway. This morning I was up to 269.9, but I am always up on Monday's due to weekend indulges...which usually balances out by midweek. I think 3000 may be about the highest I can go and I'm perfectly fine with that. If I'm maintaining on around 3000 calories and burning around the same with averages of 3065 in and 2981 out, I'm assuming I'm not really burning 500 a day during nursing or I'd be able to maintain somewhere closer to 3100 - 3500. I plan on upping to 3000 on Friday and I'll stay there a few weeks to see where it takes me. I really don't want to get over 270! I feel like I'm going backwards by gaining, but I know it will pay off in the long run.1 -
Ugh...I'm officially back at my pregnancy weight of 270! This head game is really frustrating me. I'm trying to push past it though and attempting to have trust in the process. I just hate going backwards!1
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Hang out at that level for a while, there is no rush. Gotta let your body know you are serious and aren't going to drop too low again.1
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I'd also suggest not weighing at all on an invalid day, if you are going to.
Because you know full well you have known expected water weight fluctuations still happening on Mon morning - so why give mind invalid numbers to look at.
Perhaps Sat morning would be better, if Fri was a normal sodium level eating day, and not a big workout day but rest day instead.1 -
If the scale is doing a number on you mentally, just put it to one side for a while.
http://eatmore2weighless.com/why-you-need-to-break-up-with-your-scale/
You can gauge progress from pics, energy levels, mood and other things.
And you've got to not look at it as going backwards! You are going forwards! Repairing damage done both physically and mentally from previous diets.
Just got to keep the long term picture in mind, I know it's hard. It takes a lot of patience but you can do it! Keep keeping on.
Ichel
EM2WL Ambassador and moderator0
